2 Tawarikh 24:24

24:24 Even though the invading Syrian army was relatively weak, the Lord handed over to them Judah’s very large army, ¹  for the people of Judah ²  had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. The Syrians ³  gave Joash what he deserved. ⁴ 

Yeremia 15:3

15:3 “I will punish them in four different ways: I will have war kill them. I will have dogs drag off their dead bodies. I will have birds and wild beasts devour and destroy their corpses. ⁵ 

Yehezkiel 14:21

14:21 “For this is what the sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send my four terrible judgments – sword, famine, wild animals, and plague – to Jerusalem ⁶  to kill both people and animals!

[24:24]  ¹ tn Heb “though with a small amount of men the army of Aram came, the Lord gave into their hand an army [that was] very large.”

[24:24]  ² tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people of Judah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:24]  ³ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the Syrians) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “executed judgments [on] Joash.”

[15:3]  ⁵ tn The translation attempts to render in understandable English some rather unusual uses of terms here. The verb translated “punish” is often used that way (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.A.3 and compare usage in Jer 11:22, 13:21). However, here it is accompanied by a direct object and a preposition meaning “over” which is usually used in the sense of appointing someone over someone (cf. BDB 823 s.v. פָּקַד Qal.B.1 and compare usage in Jer 51:27). Moreover the word translated “different ways” normally refers to “families,” “clans,” or “guilds” (cf. BDB 1046-47 s.v. מִשְׁפָּחָה for usage). Hence the four things mentioned are referred to figuratively as officers or agents into whose power the Lord consigns them. The Hebrew text reads: “I will appoint over them four guilds, the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, the birds of the skies and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy.”

[14:21]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.