Mazmur 7:13

7:13 He prepares to use deadly weapons against him; ¹ 

he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows. ² 

Yesaya 41:2

41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east? ³ 

Who ⁴  officially commissions him for service? ⁵ 

He hands nations over to him, ⁶ 

and enables him to subdue ⁷  kings.

He makes them like dust with his sword,

like windblown straw with his bow. ⁸ 

Yeremia 50:9

50:9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon

a host of mighty nations ⁹  from the land of the north.

They will set up their battle lines against her.

They will come from the north and capture her. ¹⁰ 

Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier ¹¹ 

who does not return from the battle empty-handed. ¹² 

Yeremia 50:14

50:14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon,

all you soldiers who are armed with bows. ¹³ 

Shoot ¹⁴  all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! ¹⁵ 

For she has sinned against the Lord.

Yeremia 50:29

50:29 “Call for archers ¹⁶  to come against Babylon!

Summon against her all who draw the bow!

Set up camp all around the city!

Do not allow anyone to escape!

Pay her back for what she has done.

Do to her what she has done to others.

For she has proudly defied me, ¹⁷ 

the Holy One of Israel. ¹⁸ 

[7:13]  ¹ tn Heb “and for him he prepares the weapons of death.”

[7:13]  ² tn Heb “his arrows into flaming [things] he makes.”

[41:2]  ³ sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).

[41:2]  ⁴ tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.

[41:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”

[41:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”

[41:2]  ⁷ tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yardÿ) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has יוֹרִד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).

[41:2]  ⁸ sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.

[50:9]  ⁹ sn Some of these are named in Jer 51:27-28.

[50:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “She will be captured from there (i.e., from the north).”

[50:9]  ¹¹ tc Read Heb ַָמשְׂכִּיל (moskil) with a number of Hebrew mss and some of the versions in place of מַשְׁכִּיל (mashkil, “one who kills children”) with the majority of Hebrew mss and some of the versions. See BHS note d for the details.

[50:9]  ¹² tn Or more freely, “Their arrows will be as successful at hitting their mark // as a skilled soldier always returns from battle with plunder.”

[50:9]  sn I.e., none of the arrows misses its mark.

[50:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “all you who draw the bow.”

[50:14]  ¹⁴ tc The verb here should probably be read as a Qal imperative יְרוּ (yÿru) from יָרָה (yarah) with a few Hebrew mss rather than a Qal imperative יְדוּ (yidu) from יָדָה (yadah) with the majority of Hebrew mss. The verb יָדָה (yadah) does not otherwise occur in the Qal and only elsewhere in the Piel with a meaning “cast” (cf. KBL 363 s.v. I יָדָה). The verb יָרָה (yarah) is common in both the Qal and the Hiphil with the meaning of shooting arrows (cf. BDB 435 s.v. יָרָה Qal.3 and Hiph.2). The confusion between ד (dalet) and ר (resh) is very common.

[50:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Shoot at her! Don’t save any arrows!”

[50:29]  ¹⁶ tn For this word see BDB 914 s.v. III רַב and compare usage in Prov 26:10 and Job 16:12 and compare the usage of the verb in Gen 49:23. Based on this evidence, it is not necessary to emend the form to רֹבִים (rovim) as many commentators contend.

[50:29]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for she has acted insolently against the Lord.” Once again there is the problem of the Lord speaking about himself in the third person (or the prophet dropping his identification with the Lord). As in several other places the present translation, along with several other modern English versions (TEV, CEV, NIrV), has substituted the first person to maintain consistency with the context.

[50:29]  ¹⁸ sn The Holy One of Israel is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah. It is applied to the Lord only here and in 51:5 in the book of Jeremiah. It is a figure where an attribute of a person is put as a title of a person (compare “your majesty” for a king). It pictures the Lord as the sovereign king who rules over his covenant people and exercises moral authority over them.