Jeremiah 50:35

50:35 “Destructive forces will come against the Babylonians,” ¹  says the Lord. ² 

“They will come against the people who inhabit Babylonia,

against her leaders and her men of wisdom.

Jeremiah 51:28

51:28 Prepare the nations to do battle against her. ³ 

Prepare the kings of the Medes.

Prepare their governors and all their leaders. ⁴ 

Prepare all the countries they rule to do battle against her. ⁵ 

[50:35]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:28]  ³ tn See the first translator’s note on 51:27 and compare also 6:4 and the study note there.

[51:28]  ⁴ tn See the translator’s note at 51:23 for the rendering of the terms here.

[51:28]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text has a confusing switch of possessive pronouns in this verse: “Consecrate the nations against her, the kings of the Medes, her governors and prefects, and all the land of his dominion.” This has led to a number of different resolutions. The LXX (the Greek version) renders the word “kings” as singular and levels all the pronouns to “his,” paraphrasing the final clause and combining it with “king of the Medes” to read “and of all the earth.” The Latin Vulgate levels them all to the third masculine plural, and this is followed by the present translation as well as a number of other modern English versions (NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV, NCV). The ASV and NJPS understand the feminine to refer to Media, i.e., “her governors and all her prefects” and understand the masculine in the last line to be a distributive singular referring back to the lands each of the governors and prefects ruled over. This is probably correct but since governors and prefects refer to officials appointed over provinces and vassal states it amounts to much the same interpretation that the Latin Vulgate, the present translation, and other modern English versions have given.