Yeremia 50:12-13

50:12 But Babylonia will be put to great shame.

The land where you were born ¹  will be disgraced.

Indeed, ²  Babylonia will become the least important of all nations.

It will become a dry and barren desert.

50:13 After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited. ³ 

It will be totally desolate.

All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn

because of all the disasters that have happened to it. ⁴ 

Yeremia 25:12

25:12 “‘But when the seventy years are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation ⁵  for their sins. I will make the land of Babylon ⁶  an everlasting ruin. ⁷  I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁸ 

Yeremia 51:26

51:26 No one will use any of your stones as a cornerstone.

No one will use any of them in the foundation of his house.

For you will lie desolate forever,” ⁹ 

says the Lord. ¹⁰ 

Yeremia 51:37-38

51:37 Babylon will become a heap of ruins.

Jackals will make their home there. ¹¹ 

It will become an object of horror and of hissing scorn,

a place where no one lives. ¹² 

51:38 The Babylonians are all like lions roaring for prey.

They are like lion cubs growling for something to eat. ¹³ 

Yeremia 51:43

51:43 The towns of Babylonia have become heaps of ruins.

She has become a dry and barren desert.

No one lives in those towns any more.

No one even passes through them. ¹⁴ 

Yeremia 51:62-64

51:62 Then say, ‘O Lord, you have announced that you will destroy this place so that no people or animals live in it any longer. Certainly it will lie desolate forever!’ 51:63 When you finish reading this scroll aloud, tie a stone to it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates River. ¹⁵  51:64 Then say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again because of the judgments ¹⁶  I am ready to bring upon her; they will grow faint.’”

The prophecies of Jeremiah end here. ¹⁷ 

Yesaya 13:20-22

13:20 No one will live there again;

no one will ever reside there again. ¹⁸ 

No bedouin ¹⁹  will camp ²⁰  there,

no shepherds will rest their flocks ²¹  there.

13:21 Wild animals will rest there,

the ruined ²²  houses will be full of hyenas. ²³ 

Ostriches will live there,

wild goats will skip among the ruins. ²⁴ 

13:22 Wild dogs will yip in her ruined fortresses,

jackals will yelp in the once-splendid palaces. ²⁵ 

Her time is almost up, ²⁶ 

her days will not be prolonged. ²⁷ 

Yesaya 14:23

14:23 “I will turn her into a place that is overrun with wild animals ²⁸ 

and covered with pools of stagnant water.

I will get rid of her, just as one sweeps away dirt with a broom,” ²⁹ 

says the Lord who commands armies.

Yesaya 34:11-17

34:11 Owls and wild animals ³⁰  will live there, ³¹ 

all kinds of wild birds ³²  will settle in it.

The Lord ³³  will stretch out over her

the measuring line of ruin

and the plumb line ³⁴  of destruction. ³⁵ 

34:12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom

and all her officials will disappear. ³⁶ 

34:13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;

thickets and weeds will grow ³⁷  in her fortified cities.

Jackals will settle there;

ostriches will live there. ³⁸ 

34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; ³⁹ 

wild goats will bleat to one another. ⁴⁰ 

Yes, nocturnal animals ⁴¹  will rest there

and make for themselves a nest. ⁴² 

34:15 Owls ⁴³  will make nests and lay eggs ⁴⁴  there;

they will hatch them and protect them. ⁴⁵ 

Yes, hawks ⁴⁶  will gather there,

each with its mate.

34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! ⁴⁷ 

Not one of these creatures will be missing, ⁴⁸ 

none will lack a mate. ⁴⁹ 

For the Lord has issued the decree, ⁵⁰ 

and his own spirit gathers them. ⁵¹ 

34:17 He assigns them their allotment; ⁵² 

he measures out their assigned place. ⁵³ 

They will live there ⁵⁴  permanently;

they will settle in it through successive generations.

Wahyu 18:2

18:2 He ⁵⁵  shouted with a powerful voice:

“Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great!

She ⁵⁶  has become a lair for demons,

a haunt ⁵⁷  for every unclean spirit,

a haunt for every unclean bird,

a haunt for every unclean and detested beast. ⁵⁸ 

Wahyu 18:21-24

18:21 Then ⁵⁹  one powerful angel picked up a stone like a huge millstone, threw it into the sea, and said,

“With this kind of sudden violent force ⁶⁰ 

Babylon the great city will be thrown down ⁶¹ 

and it will never be found again!

18:22 And the sound of the harpists, musicians,

flute players, and trumpeters

will never be heard in you ⁶²  again.

No ⁶³  craftsman ⁶⁴  who practices any trade

will ever be found in you again;

the noise of a mill ⁶⁵  will never be heard in you again.

18:23 Even the light from a lamp

will never shine in you again!

The voices of the bridegroom and his bride

will never be heard in you again.

For your merchants were the tycoons of the world,

because all the nations ⁶⁶  were deceived by your magic spells! ⁶⁷ 

18:24 The ⁶⁸  blood of the saints and prophets was found in her, ⁶⁹ 

along with the blood ⁷⁰  of all those who had been killed on the earth.”

[50:12]  ¹ tn Heb “Your mother will be utterly shamed, the one who gave you birth…” The word “mother” and the parallel term “the one who gave you birth” are used metaphorically for the land of Babylonia. For the figure compare the usage in Isa 50:1 (Judah) and Hos 2:2, 5 (2:4, 7 HT) and see BDB 52 s.v. אֵם 2 and 408 s.v. יָלַד Qal.2.c.

[50:12]  ² tn Heb “Behold.” For the use of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.

[50:13]  ³ tn Heb “From [or Because of] the wrath of the Lord it will be uninhabited.” The causal connection is spelled out more clearly and actively and the first person has been used because the speaker is the Lord. The referent “it” has been spelled out clearly from the later occurrence in the verse, “all who pass by Babylon.”

[50:13]  ⁴ sn Compare Jer 49:17 and the study note there and see also the study notes on 18:16 and 19:8.

[25:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “that nation.”

[25:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for the use of the term “Chaldeans.”

[25:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “I will visit upon the king of Babylon and upon that nation, oracle of the Lord, their iniquity even upon the land of the Chaldeans and I will make it everlasting ruins.” The sentence has been restructured to avoid ambiguity and to conform the style more to contemporary English.

[25:12]  sn Compare Isa 13:19-22 and Jer 50:39-40.

[25:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:26]  ⁹ tn This is a fairly literal translation of the original which reads “No one will take from you a stone for a cornerstone nor a stone for foundations.” There is no unanimity of opinion in the commentaries, many feeling that the figure of the burned mountain continues and others feeling that the figure here shifts to a burned city whose stones are so burned that they are useless to be used in building. The latter is the interpretation adopted here (see, e.g., F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 423; W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:426; NCV).

[51:26]  sn The figure here shifts to that of a burned-up city whose stones cannot be used for building. Babylon will become a permanent heap of ruins.

[51:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:37]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a heap of ruins, a haunt for jackals.” Compare 9:11.

[51:37]  ¹² tn Heb “without an inhabitant.”

[51:38]  ¹³ tn Heb “They [the Babylonians] all roar like lions. They growl like the cubs of lions.” For the usage of יַחְדָו (yakhdav) meaning “all” see Isa 10:8; 18:6; 41:20. The translation strives to convey in clear terms what is the generally accepted meaning of the simile (cf., e.g., J. Bright, Jeremiah [AB], 358, and J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 762).

[51:43]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Its towns have become a desolation, [it has become] a dry land and a desert, a land which no man passes through them [referring to “her towns”] and no son of man [= human being] passes through them.” Here the present translation has followed the suggestion of BHS and a number of the modern commentaries in deleting the second occurrence of the word “land,” in which case the words that follow are not a relative clause but independent statements. A number of modern English versions appear to ignore the third feminine plural suffixes which refer back to the cities and refer the statements that follow to the land.

[51:63]  ¹⁵ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied for clarity.

[51:64]  ¹⁶ tn Or “disaster”; or “calamity.”

[51:64]  ¹⁷ sn The final chapter of the book of Jeremiah does not mention Jeremiah or record any of his prophecies.

[13:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “she will not be inhabited forever, and she will not be dwelt in to generation and generation (i.e., forever).” The Lord declares that Babylon, personified as a woman, will not be inhabited. In other words, her people will be destroyed and the Chaldean empire will come to a permanent end.

[13:20]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Arab” (NAB, NASB, NIV); cf. CEV, NLT “nomads.”

[13:20]  ²⁰ tn יַהֵל (yahel) is probably a corrupted form of יֶאֱהַל (ye’ehal). See GKC 186 §68.k.

[13:20]  ²¹ tn The words “their flocks” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text does not supply the object here, but see Jer 33:12.

[13:21]  ²² tn The word “ruined” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[13:21]  ²³ tn The precise referent of this word in uncertain. See HALOT 29 s.v. *אֹחַ. Various English versions translate as “owls” (e.g., NAB, NASB), “wild dogs” (NCV); “jackals” (NIV); “howling creatures” (NRSV, NLT).

[13:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “will skip there.”

[13:22]  ²⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “wild dogs will yip among his widows, and jackals in the palaces of pleasure.” The verb “yip” is supplied in the second line; it does double duty in the parallel structure. “His widows” makes little sense in this context; many emend the form (אַלְמנוֹתָיו, ’almnotayv) to the graphically similar אַרְמְנוֹתֶיהָ (’armÿnoteha, “her fortresses”), a reading that is assumed in the present translation. The use of “widows” may represent an intentional wordplay on “fortresses,” indicating that the fortresses are like dejected widows (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:308, n. 1).

[13:22]  ²⁶ tn Heb “near to come is her time.”

[13:22]  ²⁷ sn When was the prophecy of Babylon’s fall fulfilled? Some argue that the prophecy was fulfilled in 689 b.c. when the Assyrians under Sennacherib sacked and desecrated the city (this event is alluded to in 23:13). This may have been an initial phase in the fulfillment of the prophecy, but the reference to the involvement of the Medes (v. 17) and the suggestion that Babylon’s demise will bring about the restoration of Israel (14:1-2) indicate that the fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians in 538 b.c. is the primary focus of the prophecy. (After all, the Lord did reveal to Isaiah that the Chaldeans [not the Assyrians] would someday conquer Jerusalem and take the people into exile [see 39:5-7].) However, the vivid picture of destruction in vv. 15-22 raises a problem. The Medes and Persians did not destroy the city; in fact Cyrus’ takeover of Babylon, though preceded by a military campaign, was relatively peaceful and even welcomed by some Babylonian religious officials. How then does one explain the prophecy’s description of the city’s violent fall? As noted above, the events of 689 b.c. and 538 b.c. may have been merged in the prophecy. However, it is more likely that the language is stylized and exaggerated for rhetorical effect. See Isa 34:11-15; Jer 50:39-40 (describing Babylon’s fall in 538 b.c.); 51:36-37 (describing Babylon’s fall in 538 b.c.); Zeph 2:13-15; the extra-biblical Sefire treaty curses; and Ashurbanipal’s description of the destruction of Elam in his royal annals. In other words, the events of 538 b.c. essentially, though not necessarily literally, fulfill the prophecy.

[14:23]  ²⁸ tn Heb “I will make her into a possession of wild animals.” It is uncertain what type of animal קִפֹּד (qippod) refers to. Some suggest a rodent (cf. NASB, NRSV “hedgehog”), others an owl (cf, NAB, NIV, TEV).

[14:23]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction.”

[34:11]  ³⁰ tn קָאַת (qa’at) refers to some type of bird (cf. Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). קִפּוֹד (qippod) may also refer to a type of bird (NAB “hoot owl”; NIV “screech owl”; TEV “ravens”), but some have suggested a rodent may be in view (cf. NCV “small animals”; ASV “porcupine”; NASB, NRSV “hedgehog”).

[34:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV).

[34:11]  ³² tn The Hebrew text has יַנְשׁוֹף וְעֹרֵב (yanshof vÿ’orev). Both the יַנְשׁוֹף (“owl”; see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16) and עֹרֵב (“raven”; Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14) were types of wild birds.

[34:11]  ³³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[34:11]  ³⁴ tn Heb “stones,” i.e., the stones used in a plumb bob.

[34:11]  ³⁵ sn The metaphor in v. 11b emphasizes that God has carefully planned Edom’s demise.

[34:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “will be nothing”; NCV, TEV, NLT “will all be gone.”

[34:13]  ³⁷ tn The words “will grow” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[34:13]  ³⁸ tc Heb “and she will be a settlement for wild dogs, a dwelling place for ostriches.” The translation assumes an emendation of חָצִיר (khatsir, “grass”) to חָצֵר (khatser, “settlement”). One of the Qumran scrolls of Isaiah (1QIsa^a) supports this emendation (cf. HALOT 344 s.v. II חָצִיר)

[34:14]  ³⁹ tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”

[34:14]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”

[34:14]  ⁴¹ tn The precise meaning of לִּילִית (lilit) is unclear, though in this context the word certainly refers to some type of wild animal or bird. The word appears to be related to לַיְלָה (laylah, “night”). Some interpret it as the name of a female night demon, on the basis of an apparent Akkadian cognate used as the name of a demon. Later Jewish legends also identified Lilith as a demon. Cf. NRSV “Lilith.”

[34:14]  ⁴² tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”

[34:15]  ⁴³ tn Hebrew קִפּוֹז (qippoz) occurs only here; the precise meaning of the word is uncertain.

[34:15]  ⁴⁴ tn For this proposed meaning for Hebrew מָלַט (malat), see HALOT 589 s.v. I מלט.

[34:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and brood [over them] in her shadow.”

[34:15]  ⁴⁶ tn The precise meaning of דַּיָּה (dayyah) is uncertain, though the term appears to refer to some type of bird of prey, perhaps a vulture.

[34:16]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”

[34:16]  sn It is uncertain what particular scroll is referred to here. Perhaps the phrase simply refers to this prophecy and is an admonition to pay close attention to the details of the message.

[34:16]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “one from these will not be missing.” הֵנָּה (hennah, “these”) is feminine plural in the Hebrew text. It may refer only to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or may include all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[34:16]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”

[34:16]  ⁵⁰ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and a few medieval mss have פִּיהוּ (pihu, “his mouth [has commanded]”), while a few other medieval mss read פִּי יְהוָה (pi yÿhvah, “the mouth of the Lord [has commanded]”).

[34:16]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and his spirit, he gathers them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[34:17]  ⁵² tn Heb “and he causes the lot to fall for them.” Once again the pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[34:17]  ⁵³ tn Heb “and his hand divides for them with a measuring line.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) now switches to masculine plural, referring to all the animals and birds mentioned in vv. 11-15, some of which were identified with masculine nouns. This signals closure for this portion of the speech, which began in v. 11. The following couplet (v. 17b) forms an inclusio with v. 11a through verbal repetition.

[34:17]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV); NCV “they will own that land forever.”

[18:2]  ⁵⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style

[18:2]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “It” (the subject is embedded in the verb in Greek; the verb only indicates that it is third person). Since the city has been personified as the great prostitute, the feminine pronoun was used in the translation.

[18:2]  ⁵⁷ tn Here BDAG 1067 s.v. φυλακή 3 states, “a place where guarding is done, prison…Of the nether world or its place of punishment (πνεῦμα 2 and 4c) 1 Pt 3:19 (BReicke, The Disobedient Spirits and Christian Baptism ’46, 116f). It is in a φ. in the latter sense that Satan will be rendered harmless during the millennium Rv 20:7. The fallen city of Babylon becomes a φυλακή haunt for all kinds of unclean spirits and birds 18:2ab.”

[18:2]  ⁵⁸ tc There are several problems in this verse. It seems that according to the ms evidence the first two phrases (i.e., “and a haunt for every unclean spirit, and a haunt for every unclean bird” [καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς πνεύματος ἀκαθάρτου καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς ὀρνέου ἀκαθάρτου, kai fulakh panto" pneumato" akaqartou kai fulakh panto" orneou akaqartou]) are to be regarded as authentic, though there are some ms discrepancies. The similar beginnings (καὶ φυλακὴ παντός) and endings (ἀκαθάρτου) of each phrase would easily account for some mss omitting one or the other phrase. The third phrase (“a haunt for every unclean animal” [καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς θηρίου ἀκαθάρτου, kai fulakh panto" qhriou akaqartou]), however, is more problematic since it is missing in several important mss (א C 051 Ï). The passage as a whole, including the third phrase, seems to be an allusion to Isa 13:21 and 34:11. It seems reasonable, in such a case, to assume that since there is good ms evidence to support the third phrase (A 1611 2329 al), it probably dropped out of certain mss because of its similarity to the two preceding clauses. It is the presence of all three phrases in the original that most likely gave rise to the divergent ms evidence extant today.

[18:21]  ⁵⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[18:21]  ⁶⁰ tn On ὅρμημα ({ormhma) BDAG 724 s.v. states, “violent rush, onset ὁρμήματι βληθήσεται Βαβυλών Babylon will be thrown down with violence Rv 18:21.” L&N 68.82 refers to the suddenness of the force or violence.

[18:21]  ⁶¹ sn Thrown down is a play on both the words and the action. The angel’s action with the stone illustrates the kind of sudden violent force with which the city will be overthrown.

[18:22]  ⁶² tn The shift to a second person pronoun here corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:22]  ⁶³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:22]  ⁶⁴ tn On this term BDAG 1001 s.v. τεχνίτης states, “craftsperson, artisan, designer…Of a silversmith Ac 19:24, 25 v.l., 38….Of a potter 2 Cl 8:2 (metaph., cp. Ath. 15:2). πᾶς τεχνίτης πάσης τέχνης Rv 18:22.”

[18:22]  ⁶⁵ tn This is a different Greek word (μύλος, mulos) from the one for the millstone in v. 21 (μύλινος, mulinos). See L&N 7.68.

[18:23]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[18:23]  ⁶⁷ tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”

[18:24]  ⁶⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:24]  ⁶⁹ tn The shift in pronouns from second to third person corresponds to the Greek text.

[18:24]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “and of all.” The phrase “along with the blood” has been repeated from the previous clause for stylistic reasons.