Isaiah 14:13-15

14:13 You said to yourself, ¹ 

“I will climb up to the sky.

Above the stars of El ² 

I will set up my throne.

I will rule on the mountain of assembly

on the remote slopes of Zaphon. ³ 

14:14 I will climb up to the tops ⁴  of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High!” ⁵ 

14:15 But you were brought down ⁶  to Sheol,

to the remote slopes of the pit. ⁷ 

Isaiah 47:7-8

47:7 You said,

‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ ⁸ 

You did not think about these things; ⁹ 

you did not consider how it would turn out. ¹⁰ 

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ¹¹ 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ¹² 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ¹³ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 49:4

49:4 Why do you brag about your great power?

Your power is ebbing away, ¹⁵  you rebellious people of Ammon, ¹⁶ 

who trust in your riches and say,

‘Who would dare to attack us?’

Revelation 18:7-8

18:7 As much as ¹⁷  she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, ¹⁸  to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, ¹⁹  ‘I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’ 18:8 For this reason, she will experience her plagues ²⁰  in a single day: disease, ²¹  mourning, ²²  and famine, and she will be burned down ²³  with fire, because the Lord God who judges her is powerful!”

[14:13]  ¹ tn Heb “you, you said in your heart.”

[14:13]  ² sn In Canaanite mythology the stars of El were astral deities under the authority of the high god El.

[14:13]  ³ sn Zaphon, the Canaanite version of Olympus, was the “mountain of assembly” where the gods met.

[14:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “the high places.” This word often refers to the high places where pagan worship was conducted, but here it probably refers to the “backs” or tops of the clouds. See HALOT 136 s.v. בָּמָה.

[14:14]  ⁵ sn Normally in the OT the title “Most High” belongs to the God of Israel, but in this context, where the mythological overtones are so strong, it probably refers to the Canaanite high god El.

[14:15]  ⁶ tn The prefixed verb form is taken as a preterite. Note the use of perfects in v. 12 to describe the king’s downfall.

[14:15]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term בּוּר (bor, “cistern”) is sometimes used metaphorically to refer to the place of the dead or the entrance to the underworld.

[47:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”

[47:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”

[47:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”

[47:8]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ¹² tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[47:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

[47:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

[49:4]  ¹⁵ tn Or “Why do you brag about your valleys, about the fruitfulness of your valleys.” The meaning of the first two lines of this verse are uncertain primarily due to the ambiguity of the expression זָב עִמְקֵךְ (zav ’imqekh). The form זָב (zav) is either a Qal perfect or Qal participle of a verb meaning flow. It is common in the expression “a land flowing with milk and honey” and is also common to refer to the seminal discharge or discharge of blood which makes a man or woman unclean. BDB 264 s.v. זוּב Qal.2 sees it as an abbreviation of the idea of “flowing with milk and honey” and sees it as referring to the fertility of Ammon’s valley. However, there are no other examples of such an ellipsis. Several of the modern English versions and commentaries have taken the word עֵמֶק (’emeq) not as a reference to a valley but to the homonym cited in the note on 47:5 and see the reference here to the flowing away of Ammon’s strength. That interpretation is followed here. Instead of explaining the plural ending on עֲמָקִים (’amaqim) as being an enclitic ם (mem) as others who follow this interpretation (e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 325), the present translation understands the plural as a plural of amplification (cf. GKC 397-98 §124.e and compare the noun “might” in Isa 40:26).

[49:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “apostate daughter.” This same term is applied to Israel in Jer 31:22 but seems inappropriate here to Ammon because she had never been loyal to the Lord and could not hence be called “apostate.” However, if it is used of the fact that she rebelled against the Lord’s servant, Nebuchadnezzar, it might be appropriate (cf. Jer 27:6, 8). Hence the term “rebellious” is used in the translation to represent it. The word “daughter” is again a personification of the land (cf. BDB 123 s.v. בַּת 3) and is here translated “people of Ammon” to make it easier for the modern reader to identify the referent.

[18:7]  ¹⁷ tn “As much as” is the translation of ὅσα (Josa).

[18:7]  ¹⁸ tn On the term ἐστρηνίασεν (estrhniasen) BDAG 949 s.v. στρηνιάω states, “live in luxury, live sensually Rv 18:7. W. πορνεύειν vs. 9.”

[18:7]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “said in her heart,” an idiom for saying something to oneself.

[18:8]  ²⁰ tn Grk “For this reason, her plagues will come.”

[18:8]  ²¹ tn Grk “death.” θάνατος (qanatos) can in particular contexts refer to a manner of death, specifically a contagious disease (see BDAG 443 s.v. 3; L&N 23.158).

[18:8]  ²² tn This is the same Greek word (πένθος, penqo") translated “grief” in vv. 7-8.

[18:8]  ²³ tn Here “burned down” was used to translate κατακαυθήσεται (katakauqhsetai) because a city is in view.