Yesaya 43:14

The Lord Will Do Something New

43:14 This is what the Lord says,

your protector, ¹  the Holy One of Israel: ² 

“For your sake I send to Babylon

and make them all fugitives, ³ 

turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. ⁴ 

Yeremia 51:12

51:12 Give the signal to attack Babylon’s wall! ⁵ 

Bring more guards! ⁶ 

Post them all around the city! ⁷ 

Put men in ambush! ⁸ 

For the Lord will do what he has planned.

He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon. ⁹ 

[43:14]  ¹ tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[43:14]  ² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:14]  ³ tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”

[43:14]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “as for the Babylonians, in ships their joyful shout.” This might be paraphrased, “even the Babylonians in the ships [over which] they joyfully shouted.” The point would be that the Lord caused the Babylonians to flee for safety in the ships in which they took such great pride. A slight change in vocalization yields the reading “into mourning songs,” which provides a good contrast with “joyful shout.” The prefixed bet (בְּ) would indicate identity.

[51:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon.”

[51:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Strengthen the watch.”

[51:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “Station the guards.”

[51:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “Prepare ambushes.”

[51:12]  sn The commands are here addressed to the kings of the Medes to fully blockade the city by posting watchmen and setting men in ambush to prevent people from escaping from the city (cf. 2 Kgs 25:4).

[51:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “For the Lord has both planned and done what he said concerning the people living in Babylon,” i.e., “he has carried out what he planned.” Here is an obvious case where the perfects are to be interpreted as prophetic; the commands imply that the attack is still future.