Jeremiah 48:3-5

48:3 Cries of anguish will arise in Horonaim,

‘Oh, the ruin and great destruction!’

48:4 “Moab will be crushed.

Her children will cry out in distress. ¹ 

48:5 Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith,

weeping continually as they go. ² 

For on the road down to Horonaim

they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction. ³ 

Jeremiah 50:22

50:22 The noise of battle can be heard in the land of Babylonia. ⁴ 

There is the sound of great destruction.

Jeremiah 50:27

50:27 Kill all her soldiers! ⁵ 

Let them be slaughtered! ⁶ 

They are doomed, ⁷  for their day of reckoning ⁸  has come,

the time for them to be punished.”

Jeremiah 50:43

50:43 The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear ⁹ 

when he hears news of their coming. ¹⁰ 

Anguish will grip him,

agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. ¹¹ 

Jeremiah 50:46

50:46 The people of the earth will quake when they hear Babylon has been captured.

Her cries of anguish will be heard by the other nations.” ¹² 

Isaiah 13:6-9

13:6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment ¹³  is near;

it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge. ¹⁴ 

13:7 For this reason all hands hang limp, ¹⁵ 

every human heart loses its courage. ¹⁶ 

13:8 They panic –

cramps and pain seize hold of them

like those of a woman who is straining to give birth.

They look at one another in astonishment;

their faces are flushed red. ¹⁷ 

13:9 Look, the Lord’s day of judgment ¹⁸  is coming;

it is a day of cruelty and savage, raging anger, ¹⁹ 

destroying ²⁰  the earth ²¹ 

and annihilating its sinners.

Isaiah 15:5

15:5 My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight, ²² 

and for the fugitives ²³  stretched out ²⁴  as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah.

For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith;

they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim. ²⁵ 

Zephaniah 1:10

1:10 On that day,” says the Lord,

“a loud cry will go up ²⁶  from the Fish Gate, ²⁷ 

wailing from the city’s newer district, ²⁸ 

and a loud crash ²⁹  from the hills.

Revelation 18:17-19

18:17 because in a single hour such great wealth has been destroyed!” ³⁰ 

And every ship’s captain, ³¹  and all who sail along the coast ³²  – seamen, and all who ³³  make their living from the sea, stood a long way off 18:18 and began to shout ³⁴  when they saw the smoke from the fire that burned her up, ³⁵  “Who is like the great city?” 18:19 And they threw dust on their heads and were shouting with weeping and mourning, ³⁶ 

“Woe, Woe, O great city –

in which all those who had ships on the sea got rich from her wealth –

because in a single hour she has been destroyed!” ³⁷ 

[48:4]  ¹ tc The reading here follows the Qere צְעִירֶיהָ (tsÿ’ireha) which is the same noun found in Jer 14:3 in the sense of “servants.” Here it refers to the young ones, i.e., the children (cf. the use of the adjective BDB 859 s.v. I צָעִיר 2 and see Gen 43:33). Many of the modern commentaries and a few of the modern English versions follow the Greek version and read “their cry is heard as far as Zoar” (reading צֹעֲרָה, tso’arah; see, for example, J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 699, n. 4, and BDB 858 s.v. צֹעַר). However, that leaves the verb with an indefinite subject (the verb is active 3rd plural not passive) not otherwise identified in the preceding context. Many of the modern English versions such as NRSV, NJPS, NIV retain the Hebrew as the present translation has done. In this case the masculine plural noun furnishes a logical subject for the verb.

[48:5]  ² tn Or “Indeed her fugitives will…” It is unclear what the subject of the verbs are in this verse. The verb in the first two lines “climb” (יַעֲלֶה, ya’aleh) is third masculine singular and the verb in the second two lines “will hear” (שָׁמֵעוּ, shame’u) is third common plural. The causal particles at the beginning of the two halves of the verse suggest some connection with the preceding, so the translation assumes that the children are still the subject. In this case the singular verb would be a case of the distributive singular already referred to in the translator’s note on 46:15. The parallel passage in Isa 15:5 refers to the “fugitives” (בְּרִיחֶהָ, bÿrikheha) with the same singular verb as here and that may be the implied subject here.

[48:5]  ³ tn Heb “the distresses of the cry of destruction.” Many commentaries want to leave out the word “distresses” because it is missing from the Greek version and the parallel passage in Isa 15:5. However, it is in all the Hebrew mss and in the other early versions, and it is hard to see why it would be added here if it were not original.

[50:22]  ⁴ tn The words “of Babylonia” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They have been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.

[50:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “Kill all her young bulls.” Commentators are almost universally agreed that the reference to “young bulls” is figurative here for the princes and warriors (cf. BDB 831 s.v. פַּר 2.f, which compares Isa 34:7 and Ezek 39:18). This is virtually certain because of the reference to the time coming for them to be punished; this would scarcely fit literal bulls. For the verb rendered “kill” here see the translator’s note on v. 21.

[50:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “Let them go down to the slaughter.”

[50:27]  ⁷ tn Or “How terrible it will be for them”; Heb “Woe to them.” See the study note on 22:13 and compare the usage in 23:1; 48:1.

[50:27]  ⁸ tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[50:43]  ⁹ tn Heb “his hands will drop/hang limp.” For the meaning of this idiom see the translator’s note on 6:24.

[50:43]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The king of Babylon hears report of them and his hands hang limp.” The verbs are translated as future because the passage is prophetic and the verbs may be interpreted as prophetic perfects (the action viewed as if it were as good as done). In the parallel passage in 6:24 the verbs could be understood as present perfects because the passage could be viewed as in the present. Here it is future.

[50:43]  ¹¹ sn Compare Jer 6:22-24 where almost the same exact words as 50:41-43 are applied to the people of Judah. The repetition of prophecies here and in the following verses emphasizes the talionic nature of God’s punishment of Babylon; as they have done to others, so it will be done to them (cf. 25:14; 50:15).

[50:46]  ¹² tn Heb “among the nations.” With the exception of this phrase, the different verb in v. 46a, the absence of a suffix on the word for “land” in v. 45d, the third plural suffix instead of the third singular suffix on the verb for “chase…off of,” this passage is identical with 49:19-21 with the replacement of Babylon or the land of the Chaldeans for Edom. For the translation notes explaining the details of the translation here see the translator’s notes on 49:19-21.

[13:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “the day of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).

[13:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “like destruction from the sovereign judge it comes.” The comparative preposition (כְּ, kÿ) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the destruction unleashed will have all the earmarks of divine judgment. One could paraphrase, “it comes as only destructive divine judgment can.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x.

[13:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “drop”; KJV “be faint”; ASV “be feeble”; NAB “fall helpless.”

[13:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “melts” (so NAB).

[13:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “their faces are faces of flames.” Their faces are flushed with fear and embarrassment.

[13:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “the day of the Lord.”

[13:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[with] cruelty, and fury, and rage of anger.” Three synonyms for “anger” are piled up at the end of the line to emphasize the extraordinary degree of divine anger that will be exhibited in this judgment.

[13:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “making desolate.”

[13:9]  ²¹ tn Or “land” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT).

[15:5]  ²² tn Heb “for Moab.” For rhetorical purposes the speaker (the Lord?, see v. 9) plays the role of a mourner.

[15:5]  ²³ tn The vocalization of the Hebrew text suggests “the bars of her gates,” but the form should be repointed to yield, “her fugitives.” See HALOT 156-57 s.v. בָּרִחַ, and BDB 138 s.v. בָּרִיהַ.

[15:5]  ²⁴ tn The words “are stretched out” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “For the ascent of Luhith, with weeping they go up it; for [on] the road to Horonaim an outcry over shattering they raise up.”

[1:10]  ²⁶ tn The words “will go up” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[1:10]  ²⁷ sn The Fish Gate was located on Jerusalem’s north side (cf. 2 Chr 33:14; Neh 3:3; 12:39).

[1:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “from the second area.” This may refer to an area northwest of the temple where the rich lived (see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah [AB 25A], 86; cf. NASB, NRSV “the Second Quarter”; NIV “the New Quarter”).

[1:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “great breaking.”

[18:17]  ³⁰ tn On ἠρημώθη (hrhmwqh) L&N 20.41 states, “to suffer destruction, with the implication of being deserted and abandoned – ‘to be destroyed, to suffer destruction, to suffer desolation.’ ἐρημόομαι: μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη ὁ τοσοῦτος πλοῦτος ‘such great wealth has been destroyed within a single hour’ Re 18:17.”

[18:17]  ³¹ tn On κυβερνήτης (kubernhth") BDAG 574 s.v. 1 states, “one who is responsible for the management of a ship, shipmaster, lit. Rv 18:17.”

[18:17]  ³² tn Or perhaps, “everyone who sails as a passenger.” On πλέων (plewn) BDAG 825 s.v. πλέω states, “πᾶς ὁ ἐπὶ τόπον πλέων everyone who sails to a place = seafarer, sea traveler…Rv 18:17. The vv.ll.…have led to various interpretations. Some render: everyone who sails along the coast…See EbNestle, Einführung in das Griech. NT 1909, 182; AFridrichsen, K. Hum. Vetensk.-Samf. i Upps. Årsb. ’43, 31 note ὁ ἐπίτοπον πλέων=one who sails occasionally, a passenger. – S. also IHeikel, StKr 106, ’34/’35, 317).”

[18:17]  ³³ tn Grk “and as many as.”

[18:18]  ³⁴ tn Here the imperfect ἔκραζον (ekrazon) has been translated ingressively.

[18:18]  ³⁵ tn Grk “from the burning of her, saying.” For the translation “the smoke from the fire that burned her up,” see L&N 14.63. Here the participle λέγοντες (legontes, “saying”) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.

[18:19]  ³⁶ tn Grk “with weeping and mourning, saying.” Here the participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated because it is redundant in contemporary English.

[18:19]  ³⁷ tn On ἡρημώθη (Jhrhmwqh) L&N 20.41 states, “to suffer destruction, with the implication of being deserted and abandoned – ‘to be destroyed, to suffer destruction, to suffer desolation.’ ἐρημόομαι: μιᾷ ὥρᾳ ἠρημώθη ὁ τοσοῦτος πλοῦτος ‘such great wealth has been destroyed within a single hour’ Re 18:17.”