Yeremia 50:9

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

a host of mighty nations ¹  from the land of the north.

They will set up their battle lines against her.

They will come from the north and capture her. ² 

Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier ³ 

who does not return from the battle empty-handed. ⁴ 

Yeremia 51:31

51:31 One runner after another will come to the king of Babylon.

One messenger after another will come bringing news. ⁵ 

They will bring news to the king of Babylon

that his whole city has been captured. ⁶ 

[50:9]  ¹ sn Some of these are named in Jer 51:27-28.

[50:9]  ² tn Heb “She will be captured from there (i.e., from the north).”

[50:9]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[51:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “Runner will run to meet runner and…” The intent is to portray a relay of runners carrying the news that follows on in vv. 31d-33 to the king of Babylon. The present translation attempts to spell out the significance.

[51:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “Runner will run to meet runner and messenger to meet messenger to report to the king of Babylon that his city has been taken in [its] entirety.” There is general agreement among the commentaries that the first two lines refer to messengers converging on the king of Babylon from every direction bringing news the sum total of which is reported in the lines that follow. For the meaning of the last phrase see BDB 892 s.v. קָצֶה 3 and compare the usage in Gen 19:4 and Isa 56:11. The sentence has been broken down and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style.