Yesaya 47:1

Babylon Will Fall

47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,

O virgin ¹  daughter Babylon!

Sit on the ground, not on a throne,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, ²  you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.

Yeremia 13:18

13:18 The Lord told me, ³ 

“Tell the king and the queen mother,

‘Surrender your thrones, ⁴ 

for your glorious crowns

will be removed ⁵  from your heads. ⁶ 

Yeremia 48:18

48:18 Come down from your place of honor;

sit on the dry ground, ⁷  you who live in Dibon. ⁸ 

For the one who will destroy Moab will attack you;

he will destroy your fortifications.

Yehezkiel 30:6

30:6 “‘This is what the Lord says:

Egypt’s supporters will fall;

her confident pride will crumble. ⁹ 

From Migdol to Syene ¹⁰  they will die by the sword within her,

declares the sovereign Lord.

[47:1]  ¹ tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).

[47:1]  ² tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).

[13:18]  ³ tn The words “The Lord told me” are not in the text but are implicit in the shift from second plural pronouns in vv. 15-17 to second singular in the Hebrew text of this verse. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[13:18]  ⁴ tn Or “You will come down from your thrones”; Heb “Make low! Sit!” This is a case of a construction where two forms in the same case, mood, or tense are joined in such a way that one (usually the first) is intended as an adverbial or adjectival modifier of the other (a figure called hendiadys). This is also probably a case where the imperative is used to express a distinct assurance or promise. See GKC 324 §110.b and compare the usage in Isa 37:30 and Ps 110:2.

[13:18]  sn The king and queen mother are generally identified as Jehoiachin and his mother who were taken into captivity with many of the leading people of Jerusalem in 597 b.c. See Jer 22:26; 29:2; 2 Kgs 24:14-16.

[13:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “have come down.” The verb here and those in the following verses are further examples of the “as good as done” form of the Hebrew verb (the prophetic perfect).

[13:18]  ⁶ tc The translation follows the common emendation of a word normally meaning “place at the head” (מַרְאֲשׁוֹת [mar’ashot] plus pronoun = מַרְאֲוֹשׁתֵיכֶם [mar’aoshtekhem]) to “from your heads” (מֵרָאשֵׁיכֶם, mera’shekhem) following the ancient versions. The meaning “tiara” is nowhere else attested for this word.

[48:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “sit in thirst.” The abstract “thirst” is put for the concrete, i.e., thirsty or parched ground (cf. Deut 8:19; Isa 35:7; Ps 107:33) for the concrete. There is no need to emend to “filth” (צֹאָה [tso’ah] for צָמָא [tsama’]) as is sometimes suggested.

[48:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “inhabitant of Daughter Dibon.” “Daughter” is used here as often in Jeremiah for the personification of a city, a country, or its inhabitants. The word “inhabitant” is to be understood as a collective as also in v. 19.

[48:18]  sn Dibon was an important fortified city located on the “King’s Highway,” the main north-south road in Transjordan. It was the site at which the Moabite Stone was found in 1868 and was one of the cities mentioned on it. It was four miles north of the Arnon River and thirteen miles east of the Dead Sea. It was one of the main cities on the northern plateau and had been conquered from Sihon and allotted to the tribe of Reuben (Josh 13:17).

[30:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “come down.”

[30:6]  ¹⁰ sn Syene is known as Aswan today.