Discovery BoxIsaiah 34:5-6
Context34:5 He says, 1 “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. 2
Look, it now descends on Edom, 3
on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”
34:6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,
it is covered 4 with fat;
it drips 5 with the blood of young rams and goats
and is covered 6 with the fat of rams’ kidneys.
For the Lord is holding a sacrifice 7 in Bozrah, 8
a bloody 9 slaughter in the land of Edom.
Jeremiah 48:10
Context48:10 A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!
A curse on anyone who keeps from carrying out his destruction! 10
Jeremiah 50:35-40
Context50:35 “Destructive forces will come against the Babylonians,” 11 says the Lord. 12
“They will come against the people who inhabit Babylonia,
against her leaders and her men of wisdom.
50:36 Destructive forces will come against her false prophets; 13
they will be shown to be fools! 14
Destructive forces will come against her soldiers;
they will be filled with terror! 15
50:37 Destructive forces will come against her horses and her 16 chariots.
Destructive forces will come against all the foreign troops within her; 17
they will be as frightened as women! 18
Destructive forces will come against her treasures;
they will be taken away as plunder!
50:38 A drought will come upon her land;
her rivers and canals will be dried up. 19
All of this will happen because her land is filled with idols. 20
Her people act like madmen because of 21 those idols they fear. 22
50:39 Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there.
Ostriches 23 will dwell in it too. 24
But no people will ever live there again.
No one will dwell there for all time to come. 25
50:40 I will destroy Babylonia just like I did
Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns.
No one will live there. 26
No human being will settle in it,”
says the Lord. 27
Ezekiel 38:21-23
Context38:21 I will call for a sword to attack 28 Gog 29 on all my mountains, declares the sovereign Lord; every man’s sword will be against his brother. 38:22 I will judge him with plague and bloodshed. I will rain down on him, his troops and the many peoples who are with him a torrential downpour, hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 38:23 I will exalt and magnify myself; I will reveal myself before many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’
Revelation 19:18
Context19:18 to eat 30 your fill 31 of the flesh of kings,
the flesh of generals, 32
the flesh of powerful people,
the flesh of horses and those who ride them,
and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, 33
and small and great!”
[34:5] 1 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.
[34:5] 2 tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has תראה (“[my sword] appeared [in the heavens]”), but this is apparently an attempt to make sense out of a difficult metaphor. Cf. NIV “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.”
[34:5] 3 sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.
[34:6] 4 tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.
[34:6] 5 tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:6] 6 tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:6] 7 tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”
[34:6] 8 sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.
[34:6] 9 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[48:10] 10 tn Heb “who withholds his sword from bloodshed.” This verse is an editorial aside (or apostrophe) addressed to the Babylonian destroyers to be diligent in carrying out the work of the
[50:35] 11 tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” For explanation of the rendering see the study note on 21:4. There is no verb in this clause. Therefore it is difficult to determine whether this should be understood as a command or as a prediction. The presence of vav (ו) consecutive perfects after a similar construction in vv. 36b, d, 37c, 38a and the imperfects after “therefore” (לָכֵן, lakhen) all suggest the predictive or future nuance. However, the vav consecutive perfect could be used to carry on the nuance of command (cf. GKC 333 §112.q) but not in the sense of purpose as NRSV, NJPS render them.
[50:35] 12 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[50:36] 13 tn The meaning and the derivation of the word translated “false prophets” is uncertain. The same word appears in conjunction with the word for “diviners” in Isa 44:25 and probably also in Hos 11:6 in conjunction with the sword consuming them “because of their counsel.” BDB 95 s.v. III בַּד b sees this as a substitution of “empty talk” for “empty talkers” (the figure of metonymy) and refer to them as false prophets. KBL 108 s.v. II בַּד emends the form in both places to read בָּרִים (barim) in place of בַּדִּים (baddim) and defines the word on the basis of Akkadian to mean “soothsayer” (KBL 146 s.v. V בָּר). HALOT 105 s.v. V בַּד retains the pointing, derives it from an Amorite word found in the Mari letters, and defines it as “oracle priest.” However, G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 368) call this identification into question because the word only occurs in one letter from Mari and its meaning is uncertain there. It is hazardous to emend the text in two places, perhaps even three, in light of no textual evidence in any of the passages and to define the word on the basis of an uncertain parallel. Hence the present translation opts here for the derivation and extended definition given in BDB.
[50:36] 14 tn This translation follows the suggestion of BDB 383 s.v. I יָאַל Niph.2. Compare the usage in Isa 19:13 and Jer 5:4.
[50:36] 15 tn The verb here (חָתַת, khatat) could also be rendered “be destroyed” (cf. BDB 369 s.v. חָתַת Qal.1 and compare the usage in Jer 48:20, 39). However, the parallelism with “shown to be fools” argues for the more dominant usage of “be dismayed” or “be filled with terror.” The verb is found in parallelism with both בּוֹשׁ (bosh, “be ashamed, dismayed”) and יָרֵא (yare’, “be afraid”) and can refer to either emotion. Here it is more likely that they are filled with terror because of the approaching armies.
[50:37] 16 tn Hebrew has “his” in both cases here whereas the rest of the possessive pronouns throughout vv. 35-37 are “her.” There is no explanation for this switch unless the third masculine singular refers as a distributive singular to the soldiers mentioned in the preceding verse (cf. GKC 464 §145.l). This is probably the case here, but to refer to “their horses and their chariots” in the midst of all the “her…” might create more confusion than what it is worth to be that pedantic.
[50:37] 17 tn Or “in the country,” or “in her armies”; Heb “in her midst.”
[50:37] 18 tn Heb “A sword against his horses and his chariots and against all the mixed company [or mixed multitude] in her midst and they will become like women.” The sentence had to be split up because it is too long and the continuation of the second half with its consequential statement would not fit together with the first half very well. Hence the subject and verb have been repeated. The Hebrew word translated “foreign troops” (עֶרֶב, ’erev) is the same word that is used in 25:20 to refer to the foreign peoples living in Egypt and in Exod 12:38 for the foreign people that accompanied Israel out of Egypt. Here the word is translated contextually to refer to foreign mercenaries, an identification that most of the commentaries and many of the modern English versions accept (see, e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 355; NRSV; NIV). The significance of the simile “they will become like women” has been spelled out for the sake of clarity.
[50:38] 19 tc Heb “a drought against her waters and they will dry up.” Several of the commentaries and modern English versions accept the emendation proposed by BHS and read here “sword” (חֶרֶב [kherev] in place of חֹרֶב [khorev], the change of only one vowel) in keeping with the rest of the context. According to BHS this reading is supported by the Lucianic and Hexaplaric recensions of the LXX (the Greek version) and the Syriac version. In this case the drying up of the waters (of the canals) is attributed to neglect brought about by war conditions. However, it is just as likely that these versions are influenced by the repetition of the word “sword” as the Hebrew and the other versions are influenced by the concept of “drying up” of the waters to read “drought.” Hence the present translation, along with the majority of modern English versions, retains the Hebrew “drought.”
[50:38] 20 tn Heb “for it is a land of idols.” The “for,” however, goes back to the whole context not just to the preceding prediction (cf. BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 1.c and compare usage in Isa 21:6 listed there).
[50:38] 21 tc Or “Her people boast in.” This translation is based on the reading of the majority of Hebrew
[50:38] 22 tn Heb “by the terrors.” However, as HALOT 40 s.v. אֵימָה indicates these are “images that cause terror” (a substitution of the effect for the cause). The translation of this line follows the interpretation of the majority of modern English versions and all the commentaries consulted. NIV, NCV, and God’s Word reflect a different syntax, understanding the subject to be the idols just mentioned rather than “her people” which is supplied here for the sake of clarity (the Hebrew text merely says “they.”) Following that lead, one could render “but those idols will go mad with terror.” This makes excellent sense in the context which often refers to effects (vv. 36b, d, 37c, 38b) of the war that is coming. However, that interpretation does not fit as well with the following “therefore/so,” which basically introduces a judgment or consequence after an accusation of sin.
[50:39] 23 tn The identification of this bird has been called into question by G. R. Driver, “Birds in the Old Testament,” PEQ 87 (1955): 137-38. He refers to this bird as an owl. That identification, however, is not reflected in any of the lexicons including the most recent, which still gives “ostrich” (HALOT 402 s.v. יַעֲנָה) as does W. S. McCullough, “Ostrich,” IDB 3:611. REB, NIV, NCV, and God’s Word all identify this bird as “owl/desert owl.”
[50:39] 24 tn Heb “Therefore desert creatures will live with jackals and ostriches will live in it.”
[50:39] 25 tn Heb “It will never again be inhabited nor dwelt in unto generation and generation.” For the meaning of this last phrase compare the usage in Ps 100:5 and Isaiah 13:20. Since the first half of the verse has spoken of animals living there, it is necessary to add “people” and turn the passive verbs into active ones.
[50:40] 26 tn Heb “‘Like [when] God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns,’ oracle of the
[50:40] 27 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[38:21] 29 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Gog, cf. v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[19:18] 30 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause, insofar as it is related to the first imperative, has the force of an imperative.
[19:18] 31 tn The idea of eating “your fill” is evident in the context with the use of χορτάζω (cortazw) in v. 21.
[19:18] 32 tn Grk “chiliarchs”; normally a chiliarch was a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).
