Yeremia 51:58

51:58 This is what the Lord who rules over all ¹  says,

“Babylon’s thick wall ²  will be completely demolished. ³ 

Her high gates will be set on fire.

The peoples strive for what does not satisfy. ⁴ 

The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.” ⁵ 

Yeremia 51:2

51:2 I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff. ⁶ 

They will winnow her and strip her land bare. ⁷ 

This will happen when ⁸  they come against her from every direction,

when it is time to destroy her. ⁹ 

1 Raja-raja 1:4

1:4 The young woman was very beautiful; she became the king’s nurse and served him, but the king did not have sexual relations with her. ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 25:12

25:12 The fortified city (along with the very tops of your ¹¹  walls) ¹²  he will knock down,

he will bring it down, he will throw it down to the dusty ground. ¹³ 

Yeremia 50:15

50:15 Shout the battle cry from all around the city.

She will throw up her hands in surrender. ¹⁴ 

Her towers ¹⁵  will fall.

Her walls will be torn down.

Because I, the Lord, am wreaking revenge, ¹⁶ 

take out your vengeance on her!

Do to her as she has done!

[51:58]  ¹ sn See the note at Jer 2:19.

[51:58]  ² tn The text has the plural “walls,” but many Hebrew mss read the singular “wall,” which is also supported by the ancient Greek version. The modifying adjective “thick” is singular as well.

[51:58]  ³ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “will certainly be demolished.”

[51:58]  ⁴ tn Heb “for what is empty.”

[51:58]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the nations for fire, and they grow weary.”

[51:2]  ⁶ tn Or “I will send foreign people against Babylonia.” The translation follows the reading of the Greek recensions of Aquila and Symmachus and the Latin version (the Vulgate). That reading is accepted by the majority of modern commentaries and several of the modern versions (e.g., NRSV, REB, NAB, and God’s Word). It fits better with the verb that follows it than the reading of the Hebrew text and the rest of the versions. The difference in the two readings is again only the difference in vocalization, the Hebrew text reading זָרִים (zarim) and the versions cited reading זֹרִים (zorim). If the Hebrew text is followed, there is a wordplay between the two words, “foreigners” and “winnow.” The words “like a wind blowing away chaff” have been supplied in the translation to clarify for the reader what “winnow” means.

[51:2]  sn Winnowing involved throwing a mixture of grain and chaff (or straw) into the air and letting the wind blow away the lighter chaff, leaving the grain to fall on the ground. Since God considered all the Babylonians chaff, they would all be “blown away.”

[51:2]  ⁷ tn Or “They will strip her land bare like a wind blowing away chaff.” The alternate translation would be necessary if one were to adopt the alternate reading of the first line (the reading of the Hebrew text). The explanation of “winnow” would then be necessary in the second line. The verb translated “strip…bare” means literally “to empty out” (see BDB 132 s.v. בָּקַק Polel). It has been used in 19:7 in the Qal of “making void” Judah’s plans in a wordplay on the word for “bottle.” See the study note on 19:7 for further details.

[51:2]  ⁸ tn This assumes that the particle כִּי (ki) is temporal (cf. BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.a). This is the interpretation adopted also by NRSV and G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 349. J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 345) and J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 747, n. 3) interpret it as asseverative or emphatic, “Truly, indeed.” Many of the modern English versions merely ignore it. Reading it as temporal makes it unnecessary to emend the following verb as Bright and Thompson do (from הָיוּ [hayu] to יִהְיוּ [yihyu]).

[51:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “in the day of disaster.”

[1:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “did not know her.”

[25:12]  ¹¹ sn Moab is addressed.

[25:12]  ¹² tn Heb “a fortification, the high point of your walls.”

[25:12]  ¹³ tn Heb “he will bring [it] down, he will make [it] touch the ground, even to the dust.”

[50:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “She has given her hand.” For the idiom here involving submission/surrender see BDB 680 s.v. נָתַן Qal.1.z and compare the usage in 1 Chr 29:24; 2 Chr 30:8. For a different interpretation, however, see the rather complete discussion in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 366) who see this as a reference to making a covenant. The verb in this line and the next two lines are all Hebrew perfects and most translators and commentaries see them as past. God’s Word, however, treats them as prophetic perfects and translates them as future. This is more likely in the light of the imperatives both before and after.

[50:15]  ¹⁵ tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The definition here follows that of HALOT 91 s.v. אָשְׁיָה, which defines it on the basis of an Akkadian word and treats it as a loanword.

[50:15]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Because it is the Lord’s vengeance.” The first person has again been used because the Lord is the speaker and the nominal expression has been turned into a verbal one more in keeping with contemporary English style.