Chapter Five Literary Commentary on 51

Verse by verse commentary

Formally, there appears to be no good reason to begin a new chapter. If the rela• tively long corpus of 104 verses were to be divided into two parts, the blank space, which printed editions filled with 0 would be as good a place as any to have a new chapter, so that two divisions of roughly equallength might result. This section shows remarkable coherence, moving as it does from YHWH stir• ring up the warriors, recruiting them, encouraging them to do their job, to a description of countless casualties, but then quickly making an exception for , who is urged to flee for . The land will be laid waste by winnowing which is a metaphor of destruction. Military activity receives ample encouragement, resulting in many casualties. A division is described between Israel who is "not widowed" and the guilt-laden land of , which Israelites are urged to flee.

9. 51:1-6 Baby/on Indicted

Translation 51: 1 Thus says YHWH: i11iT' 1~tI; iT:l Look, I am arousing against Babylon, '?JY'?II l'll~ 'lliT against the inhabitants of Lev Qamay, '~P :1" ':1C!i'-"~1 [Heart of those rising up against me1 - a destructive wind, 51:2 and I will send to Babylon [manyl winnowers, CI'1! '?JJ'? 'nn'?ibl that they may winnow her, iTnn and lay waste her land iT:'1t1;-ntl; lppJ'l when they come against her from all around J'JO~ iT''?ll i'iT-':l on the day of evil. iTll1 I:l1'J 51:3 Let not the archer slacken his bow, lnibp 11'iT 1 1 " 11,'-'?tI; and let hirn not unbuckle his armor. il'10J '?lln'-'?tI;i 00 not spare her young men, iT'1nJ '?tI; i'?~nn-,?tI;i put her whole army to the ban. iTtI;J:'-'?:l i~'1niT

103 51:4 There shall fall the wounded in the land of the Chaldeans, C1'1tD:1 ri~J C1''?'?n 1'?Ell1 pierced in their streets. ii'rW~mJ C1'iP1rJ1 51:5 But not widowed are Israel and , ii11ii'1 '?~itD' lrJ'?~-~'? ':1 from their God, from YHWH of hosts. m~J~ ii1ii'rJ 1'ii'?~rJ But that land is full of guilt C1tzi~ ii~'?rJ C1~i~ ':1 against the Holy One of Israel. '?~itD' tzi11PrJ 51:6 Flee from the midst of Babyion! '?JJ l1i1rJ 10l escape, everyone with his life! 1tziEll tzi'~ 1~'?rJ1 00 not perish for her guilt! iil1l'J 1rJ1i1-'?~ For this is a time of vengeance for YHWH ii1ii''? ~'ii iirJPl i1l' ':1 a requital he pays to her! ii'? C1'?tzirJ ~1ii '?1m

Commentary 51:1. The judgment oracle which the messenger formula introduces casts YHWH in the role of an instigator of war, arousing (i1l' ["stir up"]) a i1'ntzirJ mi ["destruc• tive wind"] against Babyion. i1l' ["stir up"] occurs also in 50:9 where YHWH was said to be about to arouse a company of nations against Babyion; cf. also Isa 13: 17, Jer 6:22; 25:32. The i1'ntzirJ mi, here indefinite, is identified in 51: 11 as the Median king. In that verse, the phrase i1'ntzirJ mi ["destructive wind"] is "broken up" into two parallel clauses to indicate the purpose and ultimate object of the action: iii1'ntziii'? [ ... ] '1rJ ':1'?rJ mi [the spirit of the kings of the [... ] to destroy itj.1 'rJP J'? ["heart of those rising up against me"], a clever for Babyion (cf. ltzitzi, "Sheshak," 25:26), expresses fierce enmity toward Babyion. The development in chap. 50 by which YHWH becomes ever more active in opposing Babyion, con• tinues unabated. Cf. Revelation 17:5. 51 :2. 'i1n'?tzi1 is piel; it probably should be understood as pluralizing (involving mul• tiple objects; Joüon § 52d). For MT C1'i] [strangers: Rashi, Kimchi, BartheJemy] some read C1'ii [winnowers] with Aq, Sym and V, and many commentators and also in view of the Jeremian preference for the ptc. + pf. sequence of the same root. ppJ, is often rendered "to empty" [NRSV] but the meaning "to lay waste, destroy" appears weil established (HAL). ppJ is rendered "to empty" by NRSV in connec• tion with the use ofiiil ["scatter," "winnow"j,2 though the meaning ppJ = "to lay waste, destroy," is attested [HAL]; in Nah 2:3 as weil as here it occurs as roughly

I CE Melamed, "Break-up of Stereotype Phrases;" S. Talmon, "Synonymous Readings;" Braulik, ''Aufbrechen von geprägten Wortverbindungen. "

2 Van Selms suggests that "winnowing" really refers to plundering.

104