Jeremiah 50:21

The Lord says, ¹  “Attack ²  the land of Merathaim and the people who live in Pekod! ³  Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them! ⁴  Do just as I have commanded you! ⁵ 

biblegateway Jer 50:21

"Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them," declares the LORD. "Do everything I have commanded you.

biblegateway Jer 50:21

"Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Slay and utterly destroy them," declares the LORD, "And do according to all that I have commanded you.

biblegateway Jer 50:21

"Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim and against the people of Pekod. Yes, march against Babylon, the land of rebels, a land that I will judge! Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them, as I have commanded you," says the LORD.

biblegateway Jer 50:21

"Attack Merathaim, land of rebels! Go after Pekod, country of doom! Hunt them down. Make a clean sweep." GOD's Decree. "These are my orders. Do what I tell you.

SABDAweb Jer 50:21

Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the people of Pekod; put them to death and send destruction after them, says the Lord, and do everything I have given you orders to do.

bibleoremus Jer 50:21

Go up to the land of Merathaim; go up against her, and attack the inhabitants of Pekod and utterly destroy the last of them, says the LORD; do all that I have commanded you.

biblegateway Jer 50:21

"Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Waste and utterly destroy them," says the LORD, "And do according to all that I have commanded you.

biblegateway Jer 50:21

The Lord says, ¹  “Attack ²  the land of Merathaim and the people who live in Pekod! ³  Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them! ⁴  Do just as I have commanded you! ⁵ 

¹ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

² sn The commands in this verse and in vv. 26-27 are directed to the armies from the north who are referred to in v. 3 as “a nation from the north” and in v. 9 as a “host of mighty nations from the land of the north.” The addressee in this section shifts from one referent to another.

³ sn Merathaim…Pekod. It is generally agreed that the names of these two regions were chosen for their potential for wordplay. Merathaim probably refers to a region in southern Babylon near where the Tigris and Euphrates come together before they empty into the Persian Gulf. It was known for its briny waters. In Hebrew the word would mean “double rebellion” and would stand as an epithet for the land of Babylon as a whole. Pekod refers to an Aramean people who lived on the eastern bank of the lower Tigris River. They are mentioned often in Assyrian texts and are mentioned in Ezek 23:23 as allies of Babylon. In Hebrew the word would mean “punishment.” As an epithet for the land of Babylon it would refer to the fact that Babylon was to be punished for her double rebellion against the Lord.

⁴ tn Heb “Smite down and completely destroy after them.” The word translated “kill” or “smite down” is a word of uncertain meaning and derivation. BDB 352 s.v. III חָרַב relates it to an Aramaic word meaning “attack, smite down.” KBL 329-30 s.v. II חָרַב sees it as a denominative from the word חֶרֶב (kherev, “sword”), a derivation which many modern commentaries accept and reflect in a translation “put to the sword.” KBL, however, gives “to smite down; to slaughter” which is roughly the equivalent of the meaning assigned to it in BDB. The word only occurs here and in v. 27 in the Qal and in 2 Kgs 3:23 in the Niphal where it means something like “attacked one another, fought with one another.” Many commentators question the validity of the word “after them” (אַחֲרֵיהֶם, ’akharehem) which occurs at the end of the line after “completely destroy.” The Targum reads “the last of them” (אַחֲרִיתָם, ’akharitam) which is graphically very close and accepted by some commentators. The present translation has chosen to represent “after them” by a paraphrase at the beginning “pursue them.”

⁴ sn For the concept underlying the words translated here “completely destroy” see the study note on Jer 25:9.

⁵ tn Heb “Do according to all I have commanded you.”