Yesaya 13:5

13:5 They come from a distant land,

from the horizon. ¹ 

It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, ² 

coming to destroy the whole earth. ³ 

Yesaya 13:18

13:18 Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; ⁴ 

they have no compassion on a person’s offspring, ⁵ 

they will not ⁶  look with pity on children.

[13:5]  ¹ tn Heb “from the end of the sky.”

[13:5]  ² tn Or “anger”; cf. KJV, ASV “the weapons of his indignation.”

[13:5]  ³ tn Or perhaps, “land” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NLT). Even though the heading and subsequent context (see v. 17) indicate Babylon’s judgment is in view, the chapter has a cosmic flavor that suggests that the coming judgment is universal in scope. Perhaps Babylon’s downfall occurs in conjunction with a wider judgment, or the cosmic style is poetic hyperbole used to emphasize the magnitude and importance of the coming event.

[13:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “and bows cut to bits young men.” “Bows” stands by metonymy for arrows.

[13:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “the fruit of the womb.”

[13:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “their eye does not.” Here “eye” is a metonymy for the whole person.