Jeremiah 51:13

51:13 “You who live along the rivers of Babylon, ¹ 

the time of your end has come.

You who are rich in plundered treasure,

it is time for your lives to be cut off. ² 

Jeremiah 49:2

49:2 Because you did that,

I, the Lord, affirm that ³  a time is coming

when I will make Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon,

hear the sound of the battle cry.

It will become a mound covered with ruins. ⁴ 

Its villages will be burned to the ground. ⁵ 

Then Israel will take back its land

from those who took their land from them.

I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁶ 

[51:13]  ¹ sn Babylon was situated on the Euphrates River and was surrounded by canals (also called “rivers”).

[51:13]  ² tn Heb “You who live upon [or beside] many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, the cubit of your cutting off.” The sentence has been restructured and paraphrased to provide clarity for the average reader. The meaning of the last phrase is debated. For a discussion of the two options see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 2:423. Most modern commentaries and English versions see an allusion to the figure in Isa 38:12 where the reference is to the end of life compared to a tapestry which is suddenly cut off from the loom. Hence, NRSV renders the last line as “the thread of your life is cut” and TEV renders “its thread of life is cut.” That idea is accepted also in HALOT 141 s.v. בצע Qal.1.

[49:2]  ³ tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[49:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “a desolate tel.” For the explanation of what a “tel” is see the study note on 30:18.

[49:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “Its daughters will be burned with fire.” For the use of the word “daughters” to refer to the villages surrounding a larger city see BDB 123 s.v. I בַּת 4 and compare the usage in Judg 1:27.

[49:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “says the Lord.” The first person is used to maintain the first person address throughout.