Jeremiah 7:33

7:33 Then the dead bodies of these people will be left on the ground for the birds and wild animals to eat. ¹  There will not be any survivors to scare them away.

Jeremiah 8:2

8:2 They will be spread out and exposed to the sun, the moon and the stars. ²  These are things they ³  adored and served, things to which they paid allegiance, ⁴  from which they sought guidance, and worshiped. The bones of these people ⁵  will never be regathered and reburied. They will be like manure used to fertilize the ground. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 9:22

9:22 Tell your daughters and neighbors, ‘The Lord says,

“The dead bodies of people will lie scattered everywhere

like manure scattered on a field.

They will lie scattered on the ground

like grain that has been cut down but has not been gathered.”’” ⁷ 

Jeremiah 16:4

16:4 They will die of deadly diseases. No one will mourn for them. They will not be buried. Their dead bodies will lie like manure spread on the ground. They will be killed in war or die of starvation. Their corpses will be food for the birds and wild animals.

Jeremiah 22:19

22:19 He will be left unburied just like a dead donkey.

His body will be dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.’” ⁸ 

Jeremiah 34:20

34:20 I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals. ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 28:26

28:26 Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off.

Psalms 79:2-3

79:2 They have given the corpses of your servants

to the birds of the sky; ¹⁰ 

the flesh of your loyal followers

to the beasts of the earth.

79:3 They have made their blood flow like water

all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them. ¹¹ 

Revelation 19:18-21

19:18 to eat ¹²  your fill ¹³  of the flesh of kings,

the flesh of generals, ¹⁴ 

the flesh of powerful people,

the flesh of horses and those who ride them,

and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, ¹⁵ 

and small and great!”

19:19 Then ¹⁶  I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 19:20 Now ¹⁷  the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf ¹⁸  – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. ¹⁹  19:21 The ²⁰  others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged ²¹  themselves with their flesh.

[7:33]  ¹ tn Heb “Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.”

[8:2]  ² tc MT, 4QJer^a and LXX read “the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven,” but 4QJer^c reads “the sun and all the stars.”

[8:2]  ³ tn Heb “the sun, moon, and host of heaven which they…”

[8:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “followed after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for the idiom.

[8:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “they will not” but the referent is far enough removed that it might be ambiguous.

[8:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “like dung/manure on the surface of the ground.”

[9:22]  ⁷ tn Or “‘Death has climbed…city squares. And the dead bodies of people lie scattered…They lie scattered…but has not been gathered.’ The Lord has told me to tell you this.” Or “For death will climb…It will enter…It will take away…who gather in the city squares. So tell your daughters and neighbors, ‘The Lord wants you to say, “The dead bodies of people lie scattered…They lie scattered…has not been gathered.”’” The main causes of ambiguity are the particle כִּי (ki) introducing v. 21 and the verb form דַּבֵּר (dabber) at the beginning of v. 22. כִּי may be interpreted as introducing a causal sentence giving Jeremiah’s grounds for the commands of v. 19 in which case the verbs would best be understood as prophetic perfects (as in the second alternate translation). Or it may be interpreted as introducing the content of the lament the women are to teach their daughters and neighbors (as in the translation adopted and in the first alternate translation). The form דַּבֵּר may be interpreted as a Piel masculine singular imperative addressed to Jeremiah (as in the first alternate translation where it is placed at the end for the sake of clarity) or as a Piel infinitive absolute either explaining what the woman are to teach their daughters and neighbors (as in the second alternate translation; cf. GKC 341 §113.h, i for this use of the infinitive absolute) or as equivalent to an imperative addressed to the women telling them to tell their daughters and neighbors the reason for the lament, i.e., the Lord’s promise of widespread death (cf. GKC 346 §113.bb for this use of the infinitive absolute). The translation chosen has opted for v. 21 as the content of the lament and v. 22 as the further explanation that Jeremiah has the women pass on to their neighbors and daughters. This appears to this interpreter to create the least confusion and dislocation in the flow of the passage.

[22:19]  ⁸ sn A similar judgment against this ungodly king is pronounced by Jeremiah in 36:30. According to 2 Chr 36:6 he was bound over to be taken captive to Babylon but apparently died before he got there. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar ordered his body thrown outside the wall in fulfillment of this judgment. The Bible itself, however, does not tell us that.

[34:20]  ⁹ sn See this same phrase in Jer 7:33; 16:4; 19:7.

[79:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[as] food for the birds of the sky.”

[79:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they have poured out their blood like water, all around Jerusalem, and there is no one burying.”

[19:18]  ¹² tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause, insofar as it is related to the first imperative, has the force of an imperative.

[19:18]  ¹³ tn The idea of eating “your fill” is evident in the context with the use of χορτάζω (cortazw) in v. 21.

[19:18]  ¹⁴ 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).

[19:18]  ¹⁵ tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[19:19]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[19:20]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.

[19:20]  ¹⁸ tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”

[19:20]  ¹⁹ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[19:21]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:21]  ²¹ tn On the translation of ἐχορτάσθησαν (ecortasqhsan) BDAG 1087 s.v. χορτάζω 1.a states, “of animals, pass. in act. sense πάντα τὰ ὄρνεα ἐχορτάσθησαν ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτῶν all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh Rv 19:21 (cp. TestJud. 21:8).”