Yeremia 51:24

51:24 “But I will repay Babylon

and all who live in Babylonia

for all the wicked things they did in Zion

right before the eyes of you Judeans,” ¹ 

says the Lord. ² 

Yeremia 51:56

51:56 For a destroyer is attacking Babylon. ³ 

Her warriors will be captured;

their bows will be broken. ⁴ 

For the Lord is a God who punishes; ⁵ 

he pays back in full. ⁶ 

Ulangan 32:35

32:35 I will get revenge and pay them back

at the time their foot slips;

for the day of their disaster is near,

and the impending judgment ⁷  is rushing upon them!”

Ayub 21:19

21:19 You may say, ⁸  ‘God stores up a man’s ⁹  punishment for his children!’ ¹⁰ 

Instead let him repay ¹¹  the man himself ¹² 

so that ¹³  he may know it!

Yeremia 25:14

25:14 For many nations and great kings will make slaves of the king of Babylon and his nation ¹⁴  too. I will repay them for all they have done!’” ¹⁵ 

[51:24]  ¹ tn Or “Media, you are my war club…I will use you to smash…leaders. So before your very eyes I will repay…for all the wicked things they did in Zion.” For explanation see the translator’s note on v. 20. The position of the phrase “before your eyes” at the end of the verse after “which they did in Zion” and the change in person from second masculine singular in vv. 20b-23 (“I used you to smite”) to second masculine plural in “before your eyes” argue that a change in referent/addressee occurs in this verse. To maintain that the referent in vv. 20-23 is Media/Cyrus requires that this position and change in person be ignored; “before your eyes” then is attached to “I will repay.” The present translation follows J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 757) and F. B. Huey (Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 423) in seeing the referent as the Judeans who had witnessed the destruction of Zion/Jerusalem. The word “Judean” has been supplied for the sake of identifying the referent for the modern reader.

[51:24]  ² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:56]  ³ tn Heb “for a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon.”

[51:56]  ⁴ tn The Piel form (which would be intransitive here, see GKC 142 §52.k) should probably be emended to Qal.

[51:56]  ⁵ tn Or “God of retribution.”

[51:56]  ⁶ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “he certainly pays one back.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form here describes the Lord’s characteristic actions. Another option is to take it as referring specifically to his judgment on Babylon, in which case one should translate, “he will pay (Babylon) back in full.”

[32:35]  ⁷ tn Heb “prepared things,” “impending things.” See BDB 800 s.v. עָתִיד.

[21:19]  ⁸ tn These words are supplied. The verse records an idea that Job suspected they might have, namely, that if the wicked die well God will make their children pay for the sins (see Job 5:4; 20:10; as well as Exod 20:5).

[21:19]  ⁹ tn The text simply has אוֹנוֹ (’ono, “his iniquity”), but by usage, “the punishment for the iniquity.”

[21:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “his sons.”

[21:19]  ¹¹ tn The verb שָׁלַם (shalam) in the Piel has the meaning of restoring things to their normal, making whole, and so reward, repay (if for sins), or recompense in general.

[21:19]  ¹² tn The text simply has “let him repay [to] him.”

[21:19]  ¹³ tn The imperfect verb after the jussive carries the meaning of a purpose clause, and so taken as a final imperfect: “in order that he may know [or realize].”

[25:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “make slaves of them.” The verb form here indicates that the action is as good as done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). For the use of the verb rendered “makes slaves” see parallel usage in Lev 25:39, 46 (cf. BDB 713 s.v. עָבַד 3).

[25:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.” The two phrases are synonymous; it would be hard to represent them both in translation without being redundant. The translation attempts to represent them by the qualifier “all” before the first phrase.