Jeremiah 51:20-24

51:20 “Babylon, ¹  you are my war club, ² 

my weapon for battle.

I used you to smash nations. ³ 

I used you to destroy kingdoms.

51:21 I used you to smash horses and their riders. ⁴ 

I used you to smash chariots and their drivers.

51:22 I used you to smash men and women.

I used you to smash old men and young men.

I used you to smash young men and young women.

51:23 I used you to smash shepherds and their flocks.

I used you to smash farmers and their teams of oxen.

I used you to smash governors and leaders.” ⁵ 

51:24 “But I will repay Babylon

and all who live in Babylonia

for all the wicked things they did in Zion

right before the eyes of you Judeans,” ⁶ 

says the Lord. ⁷ 

Isaiah 14:4-6

14:4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: ⁸ 

“Look how the oppressor has met his end!

Hostility ⁹  has ceased!

14:5 The Lord has broken the club of the wicked,

the scepter of rulers.

14:6 It ¹⁰  furiously struck down nations

with unceasing blows. ¹¹ 

It angrily ruled over nations,

oppressing them without restraint. ¹² 

Isaiah 14:12-17

14:12 Look how you have fallen from the sky,

O shining one, son of the dawn! ¹³ 

You have been cut down to the ground,

O conqueror ¹⁴  of the nations! ¹⁵ 

14:13 You said to yourself, ¹⁶ 

“I will climb up to the sky.

Above the stars of El ¹⁷ 

I will set up my throne.

I will rule on the mountain of assembly

on the remote slopes of Zaphon. ¹⁸ 

14:14 I will climb up to the tops ¹⁹  of the clouds;

I will make myself like the Most High!” ²⁰ 

14:15 But you were brought down ²¹  to Sheol,

to the remote slopes of the pit. ²² 

14:16 Those who see you stare at you,

they look at you carefully, thinking: ²³ 

“Is this the man who shook the earth,

the one who made kingdoms tremble?

14:17 Is this the one who made the world like a desert,

who ruined its ²⁴  cities,

and refused to free his prisoners so they could return home?”’ ²⁵ 

Revelation 18:16

18:16 saying,

“Woe, woe, O great city –

dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet clothing, ²⁶ 

and adorned with gold, ²⁷  precious stones, and pearls –

[51:20]  ¹ tn Or “Media.” The referent is not identified in the text; the text merely says “you are my war club.” Commentators in general identify the referent as Babylon because Babylon has been referred to as a hammer in 50:23 and Babylon is referred to in v. 25 as a “destroying mountain” (compare v. 20d). However, S. R. Driver, Jeremiah, 317, n. c maintains that v. 24 speaks against this. It does seem a little inconsistent to render the vav consecutive perfect at the beginning of v. 24 as future while rendering those in vv. 20b-23 as customary past. However, change in person from second masculine singular (vv. 20b-23) to the second masculine plural in “before your very eyes” and its position at the end of the verse after “which they did in Zion” argue that a change in address occurs there. Driver has to ignore the change in person and take “before your eyes” with the verb “repay” at the beginning to maintain the kind of consistency he seeks. The vav (ו) consecutive imperfect can be used for either the customary past (GKC 335-36 §112.dd with cross reference back to GKC 331-32 §112.e) or the future (GKC 334 §112.x). Hence the present translation has followed the majority of commentaries (and English versions like TEV, NCV, CEV, NIrV) in understanding the referent as Babylon and v. 24 being a transition to vv. 25-26 (cf., e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 356-57, and J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 756-57). If the referent is understood as Media then the verbs in vv. 20-23 should all be translated as futures. See also the translator’s note on v. 24.

[51:20]  ² tn This Hebrew word (מַפֵּץ, mappets) only occurs here in the Hebrew Bible, but its meaning is assured from the use of the verbs that follow which are from the same root (נָפַץ, nafats) and there is a cognate noun מַפָּץ (mappats) that occurs in Ezek 9:2 in the sense of weapon of “smashing.”

[51:20]  ³ tn Heb “I smash nations with you.” This same structure is repeated throughout the series in vv. 20c-23.

[51:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “horse and its rider.” However, the terms are meant as generic or collective singulars (cf. GKC 395 §123.b) and are thus translated by the plural. The same thing is true of all the terms in vv. 21-23b. The terms in vv. 20c-d, 23c are plural.

[51:23]  ⁵ tn These two words are Akkadian loan words into Hebrew which often occur in this pairing (cf. Ezek 23:6, 12, 23; Jer 51:23, 28, 57). BDB 688 s.v. סָגָן (sagan) gives “prefect, ruler” as the basic definition for the second term but neither works very well in a modern translation because “prefect” would be unknown to most readers and “ruler” would suggest someone along the lines of a king, which these officials were not. The present translation has chosen “leaders” by default, assuming there is no other term that would be any more appropriate in light of the defects noted in “prefect” and “ruler.”

[51:24]  ⁶ tn Or “Media, you are my war club…I will use you to smash…leaders. So before your very eyes I will repay…for all the wicked things they did in Zion.” For explanation see the translator’s note on v. 20. The position of the phrase “before your eyes” at the end of the verse after “which they did in Zion” and the change in person from second masculine singular in vv. 20b-23 (“I used you to smite”) to second masculine plural in “before your eyes” argue that a change in referent/addressee occurs in this verse. To maintain that the referent in vv. 20-23 is Media/Cyrus requires that this position and change in person be ignored; “before your eyes” then is attached to “I will repay.” The present translation follows J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 757) and F. B. Huey (Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 423) in seeing the referent as the Judeans who had witnessed the destruction of Zion/Jerusalem. The word “Judean” has been supplied for the sake of identifying the referent for the modern reader.

[51:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[14:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “you will lift up this taunt over the king of Babylon, saying.”

[14:4]  ⁹ tc The word in the Hebrew text (מַדְהֵבָה, madhevah) is unattested elsewhere and of uncertain meaning. Many (following the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) assume a dalet-resh (ד-ר) confusion and emend the form to מַרְהֵבָה (marhevah, “onslaught”). See HALOT 548 s.v. II *מִדָּה and HALOT 633 s.v. *מַרְהֵבָה.

[14:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “he” (cf. KJV; NCV “the king of Babylon”). The present translation understands the referent of the pronoun (“it”) to be the “club/scepter” of the preceding line.

[14:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “it was striking down nations in fury [with] a blow without ceasing.” The participle (“striking down”) suggests repeated or continuous action in past time.

[14:6]  ¹² tn Heb “it was ruling in anger nations [with] oppression without restraint.” The participle (“ruling”) suggests repeated or continuous action in past time.

[14:12]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text has הֵילֵל בֶּן־שָׁחַר (helel ben-shakhar, “Helel son of Shachar”), which is probably a name for the morning star (Venus) or the crescent moon. See HALOT 245 s.v. הֵילֵל.

[14:12]  ¹⁴ tn Some understand the verb to from חָלַשׁ (khalash, “to weaken”), but HALOT 324 s.v. II חלשׁ proposes a homonym here, meaning “to defeat.”

[14:12]  ¹⁵ sn In this line the taunting kings hint at the literal identity of the king, after likening him to the god Helel and a tree. The verb גָדַע (gada’, “cut down”) is used of chopping down trees in 9:10 and 10:33.

[14:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “you, you said in your heart.”

[14:13]  ¹⁷ sn In Canaanite mythology the stars of El were astral deities under the authority of the high god El.

[14:13]  ¹⁸ sn Zaphon, the Canaanite version of Olympus, was the “mountain of assembly” where the gods met.

[14:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the high places.” This word often refers to the high places where pagan worship was conducted, but here it probably refers to the “backs” or tops of the clouds. See HALOT 136 s.v. בָּמָה.

[14:14]  ²⁰ sn Normally in the OT the title “Most High” belongs to the God of Israel, but in this context, where the mythological overtones are so strong, it probably refers to the Canaanite high god El.

[14:15]  ²¹ tn The prefixed verb form is taken as a preterite. Note the use of perfects in v. 12 to describe the king’s downfall.

[14:15]  ²² tn The Hebrew term בּוּר (bor, “cistern”) is sometimes used metaphorically to refer to the place of the dead or the entrance to the underworld.

[14:16]  ²³ tn The word “thinking” is supplied in the translation in order to make it clear that the next line records their thoughts as they gaze at him.

[14:17]  ²⁴ tc The pronominal suffix is masculine, even though its antecedent appears to be the grammatically feminine noun “world.” Some have suggested that the form עָרָיו (’arayv, plural noun with third masculine singular suffix) should be emended to עָרֶיהָ (’areha, plural noun with third feminine singular suffix). This emendation may be unnecessary in light of other examples of lack of agreement a suffix and its antecedent noun.

[14:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and his prisoners did not let loose to [their] homes.” This really means, “he did not let loose his prisoners and send them back to their homes.’ On the elliptical style, see GKC 366 §117.o.

[18:16]  ²⁶ tn The word “clothing” is supplied to clarify that the words “purple” and “scarlet” refer to cloth or garments rather than colors.

[18:16]  ²⁷ tn Grk “gilded with gold” (an instance of semantic reinforcement, see L&N 49.29).