Discovery BoxJeremiah 51:24
Context51:24 “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,” 1
says the Lord. 2
Jeremiah 51:35
Context51:35 The person who lives in Zion says,
“May Babylon pay for the violence done to me and to my relatives.”
Jerusalem says,
“May those living in Babylonia pay for the bloodshed of my people.” 3
Jeremiah 50:15
Context50:15 Shout the battle cry from all around the city.
She will throw up her hands in surrender. 4
Her towers 5 will fall.
Her walls will be torn down.
Because I, the Lord, am wreaking revenge, 6
take out your vengeance on her!
Do to her as she has done!
Jeremiah 50:28
Context50:28 Listen! Fugitives and refugees are coming from the land of Babylon.
They are coming to Zion to declare there
how the Lord our God is getting revenge,
getting revenge for what they have done to his temple. 7
Psalms 74:3-11
Context74:3 Hurry and look 8 at the permanent ruins,
and all the damage the enemy has done to the temple! 9
74:4 Your enemies roar 10 in the middle of your sanctuary; 11
they set up their battle flags. 12
74:5 They invade like lumberjacks
swinging their axes in a thick forest. 13
74:6 And now 14 they are tearing down 15 all its engravings 16
74:7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground. 19
74:8 They say to themselves, 20
“We will oppress all of them.” 21
They burn down all the places where people worship God in the land. 22
74:9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence; 23
there are no longer any prophets 24
and we have no one to tell us how long this will last. 25
74:10 How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?
Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
74:11 Why do you remain inactive?
Intervene and destroy him! 26
Psalms 83:3-9
Context83:3 They carefully plot 27 against your people,
and make plans to harm 28 the ones you cherish. 29
83:4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! 30
Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
83:5 Yes, 31 they devise a unified strategy; 32
they form an alliance 33 against you.
83:6 It includes 34 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites, 35
83:7 Gebal, 36 Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre. 37
83:8 Even Assyria has allied with them,
lending its strength to the descendants of Lot. 38 (Selah)
83:9 Do to them as you did to Midian 39 –
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River! 40
Habakkuk 2:17-20
Context2:17 For you will pay in full for your violent acts against Lebanon; 41
terrifying judgment will come upon you because of the way you destroyed the wild animals living there. 42
You have shed human blood
and committed violent acts against lands, cities, and those who live in them.
2:18 What good 43 is an idol? Why would a craftsman make it? 44
What good is a metal image that gives misleading oracles? 45
Why would its creator place his trust in it 46
and make 47 such mute, worthless things?
2:19 The one who says to wood, ‘Wake up!’ is as good as dead 48 –
he who says 49 to speechless stone, ‘Awake!’
Can it give reliable guidance? 50
It is overlaid with gold and silver;
it has no life’s breath inside it.
2:20 But the Lord is in his majestic palace. 51
The whole earth is speechless in his presence!” 52
Zechariah 12:2-3
Context12:2 “I am about to make Jerusalem 53 a cup that brings dizziness 54 to all the surrounding nations; indeed, Judah will also be included when Jerusalem is besieged. 12:3 Moreover, on that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy burden 55 for all the nations, and all who try to carry it will be seriously injured; 56 yet all the peoples of the earth will be assembled against it.
Zechariah 14:2
Context14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem 57 to wage war; the city will be taken, its houses plundered, and the women raped. Then half of the city will go into exile, but the remainder of the people will not be taken away. 58
Zechariah 14:12
Context14:12 But this will be the nature of the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will decay while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot away in their sockets, and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths.
[51:24] 1 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] 2 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[51:35] 3 tn Heb “‘The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,’ says the one living in Zion. ‘My blood be upon those living in Chaldea,’ says Jerusalem.” For the usage of the genitive here in the phrase “violence done to me and my relatives” see GKC 414 §128.a (a construct governing two objects) and IBHS 303 §16.4d (an objective genitive). For the nuance of “pay” in the sense of retribution see BDB 756 s.v. עַל 7.a(b) and compare the usage in Judg 9:24. For the use of שְׁאֵר (shÿ’er) in the sense of “relatives” see BDB 985 s.v. שְׁאֵר 2 and compare NJPS. For the use of “blood” in this idiom see BDB 197 s.v. דָּם 2.k and compare the usage in 2 Sam 4:11; Ezek 3:18, 20. The lines have been reversed for better English style.
[50:15] 4 tn Heb “She has given her hand.” For the idiom here involving submission/surrender see BDB 680 s.v. נָתַן Qal.1.z and compare the usage in 1 Chr 29:24; 2 Chr 30:8. For a different interpretation, however, see the rather complete discussion in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 366) who see this as a reference to making a covenant. The verb in this line and the next two lines are all Hebrew perfects and most translators and commentaries see them as past. God’s Word, however, treats them as prophetic perfects and translates them as future. This is more likely in the light of the imperatives both before and after.
[50:15] 5 tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The definition here follows that of HALOT 91 s.v. אָשְׁיָה, which defines it on the basis of an Akkadian word and treats it as a loanword.
[50:15] 6 tn Heb “Because it is the
[50:28] 7 tn Heb “Hark! Fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of the
[74:3] 8 tn Heb “lift up your steps to,” which may mean “run, hurry.”
[74:3] 9 tn Heb “everything [the] enemy has damaged in the holy place.”
[74:4] 10 tn This verb is often used of a lion’s roar, so the psalmist may be comparing the enemy to a raging, devouring lion.
[74:4] 11 tn Heb “your meeting place.”
[74:4] 12 tn Heb “they set up their banners [as] banners.” The Hebrew noun אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) here refers to the enemy army’s battle flags and banners (see Num 2:12).
[74:5] 13 tn Heb “it is known like one bringing upwards, in a thicket of wood, axes.” The Babylonian invaders destroyed the woodwork in the temple.
[74:6] 14 tn This is the reading of the Qere (marginal reading). The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and a time.”
[74:6] 15 tn The imperfect verbal form vividly describes the act as underway.
[74:6] 16 tn Heb “its engravings together.”
[74:6] 17 tn This Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT (see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 49-50).
[74:6] 18 tn This Hebrew noun occurs only here in the OT. An Akkadian cognate refers to a “pickaxe” (cf. NEB “hatchet and pick”; NIV “axes and hatchets”; NRSV “hatchets and hammers”).
[74:7] 19 tn Heb “to the ground they desecrate the dwelling place of your name.”
[74:8] 20 tn Heb “in their heart.”
[74:8] 21 tc Heb “[?] altogether.” The Hebrew form נִינָם (ninam) is problematic. It could be understood as the noun נִין (nin, “offspring”) but the statement “their offspring altogether” would make no sense here. C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs (Psalms [ICC], 2:159) emends יָחַד (yakhad, “altogether”) to יָחִיד (yakhid, “alone”) and translate “let their offspring be solitary” (i.e., exiled). Another option is to understand the form as a Qal imperfect first common plural from יָנָה (yanah, “to oppress”) with a third masculine plural pronominal suffix, “we will oppress them.” However, this verb, when used in the finite form, always appears in the Hiphil. Therefore, it is preferable to emend the form to the Hiphil נוֹנֵם (nonem, “we will oppress them”).
[74:8] 22 tn Heb “they burn down all the meeting places of God in the land.”
[74:9] 23 tn Heb “our signs we do not see.” Because of the reference to a prophet in the next line, it is likely that the “signs” in view here include the evidence of God’s presence as typically revealed through the prophets. These could include miraculous acts performed by the prophets (see, for example, Isa 38:7-8) or object lessons which they acted out (see, for example, Isa 20:3).
[74:9] 24 tn Heb “there is not still a prophet.”
[74:9] 25 tn Heb “and [there is] not with us one who knows how long.”
[74:11] 26 tn Heb “Why do you draw back your hand, even your right hand? From the midst of your chest, destroy!” The psalmist pictures God as having placed his right hand (symbolic of activity and strength) inside his robe against his chest. He prays that God would pull his hand out from under his robe and use it to destroy the enemy.
[83:3] 27 tn Heb “they make crafty a plot.”
[83:3] 28 tn Heb “and consult together against.”
[83:3] 29 tn The passive participle of the Hebrew verb צָפַן (tsafan, “to hide”) is used here in the sense of “treasured; cherished.”
[83:4] 30 tn Heb “we will cause them to disappear from [being] a nation.”
[83:5] 32 tn Heb “they consult [with] a heart together.”
[83:5] 33 tn Heb “cut a covenant.”
[83:6] 34 tn The words “it includes” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[83:6] 35 sn The Hagrites are also mentioned in 1 Chr 5:10, 19-20.
[83:7] 36 sn Some identify Gebal with the Phoenician coastal city of Byblos (see Ezek 27:9, where the name is spelled differently), though others locate this site south of the Dead Sea (see BDB 148 s.v. גְּבַל; HALOT 174 s.v. גְּבַל).
[83:7] 37 map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[83:8] 38 tn Heb “they are an arm for the sons of Lot.” The “arm” is here a symbol of military might.
[83:9] 39 tn Heb “do to them like Midian.”
[83:9] 40 sn The psalmist alludes here to Gideon’s victory over the Midianites (see Judg 7-8) and to Barak’s victory over Jabin’s army, which was led by his general Sisera (Judg 4-5).
[2:17] 41 tn Heb “for the violence against Lebanon will cover you.”
[2:17] 42 tc The Hebrew appears to read literally, “and the violence against the animals [which] he terrified.” The verb form יְחִיתַן (yÿkhitan) appears to be a Hiphil imperfect third masculine singular with third feminine plural suffix (the antecedent being the animals) from חָתַת (khatat, “be terrified”). The translation above follows the LXX and assumes a reading יְחִתֶּךָ (yÿkhittekha, “[the violence against the animals] will terrify you”; cf. NRSV “the destruction of the animals will terrify you”; NIV “and your destruction of animals will terrify you”). In this case the verb is a Hiphil imperfect third masculine singular with second masculine singular suffix (the antecedent being Babylon). This provides better symmetry with the preceding line, where Babylon’s violence is the subject of the verb “cover.”
[2:18] 43 tn Or “of what value.”
[2:18] 44 tn Heb “so that the one who forms it fashions it?” Here כִּי (ki) is taken as resultative after the rhetorical question. For other examples of this use, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §450.
[2:18] 45 tn Heb “or a metal image, a teacher of lies.” The words “What good is” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line. “Teacher of lies” refers to the false oracles that the so-called god would deliver through a priest. See J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (OTL), 126.
[2:18] 46 tn Heb “so that the one who forms his image trusts in it?” As earlier in the verse, כִּי (ki) is resultative.
[2:19] 48 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who says.” On the term הוֹי (hoy) see the note on the word “dead” in v. 6.
[2:19] 49 tn The words “he who says” in the translation are supplied from the previous parallel line.
[2:19] 50 tn Though the Hebrew text has no formal interrogative marker here, the context indicates that the statement should be taken as a rhetorical question anticipating the answer, “Of course not!” (so also NIV, NRSV).
[2:20] 51 tn Or “holy temple.” The
[2:20] 52 tn Or “Be quiet before him, all the earth!”
[12:2] 53 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[12:2] 54 sn The image of a cup that brings dizziness is that of drunkenness. The
[12:3] 55 tn Heb “heavy stone” (so NRSV, TEV, NLT); KJV “burdensome stone”; NIV “an immovable rock.”
[12:3] 56 sn In Israel’s and Judah’s past they had been uprooted by various conquerors such as the Assyrians and the Babylonians. In the eschaton, however, they will be so “heavy” with God’s glory and so rooted in his promises that no nation will be able to move them.
[14:2] 57 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[14:2] 58 tn Heb “not be cut off from the city” (so NRSV); NAB “not be removed.”
