Jeremiah 50:9
New International Version
For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.

New Living Translation
For I am raising up an army of great nations from the north. They will join forces to attack Babylon, and she will be captured. The enemies’ arrows will go straight to the mark; they will not miss!

English Standard Version
For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.

Berean Standard Bible
For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.

King James Bible
For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.

New King James Version
For behold, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon An assembly of great nations from the north country, And they shall array themselves against her; From there she shall be captured. Their arrows shall be like those of an expert warrior; None shall return in vain.

New American Standard Bible
“For behold, I am going to rouse and bring up against Babylon A contingent of great nations from the land of the north, And they will draw up their battle lines against her; From there she will be taken captive. Their arrows will be like an expert warrior Who does not return empty-handed.

NASB 1995
“For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon A horde of great nations from the land of the north, And they will draw up their battle lines against her; From there she will be taken captive. Their arrows will be like an expert warrior Who does not return empty-handed.

NASB 1977
“For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon A horde of great nations from the land of the north, And they will draw up their battle lines against her; From there she will be taken captive. Their arrows will be like an expert warrior Who does not return empty-handed.

Legacy Standard Bible
For behold, I am going to arouse and bring up against Babylon An assembly of great nations from the land of the north, And they will arrange their battle lines against her; From there she will be taken captive. Their arrows will be like a warrior who makes one childless Who does not return empty-handed.

Amplified Bible
“For behold, I will stir up and bring up against Babylon An assembly of great nations from the north country. They will equip themselves and set up the battle lines against her; From there she will be taken captive. Their arrows will be like an expert warrior Who will not return empty-handed.

Christian Standard Bible
For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country. They will line up in battle formation against her; from there she will be captured. Their arrows will be like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
For I will soon stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country. They will line up in battle formation against her; from there she will be captured. Their arrows will be like those of a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.

American Standard Version
For, lo, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because, behold, I stir up and I bring up against Babel a multitude of many Gentiles from the land of the North, and they shall be set in array against her, and from there she shall be seized; their arrows shall be as a man who shoots and returns not empty

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For, behold, I stir up against Babylon the gatherings of nations out of the land of the north; and they shall set themselves in array against her: thence shall she be taken, as the dart of an expert warrior shall not return empty.

Contemporary English Version
In the north I am bringing great nations together. They will attack Babylon and capture it. The arrows they shoot are like the best soldiers, always finding their target.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For behold I raise up, and will bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north: and they shall be prepared against her, and from thence she shall be taken: their arrows, like those of a mighty man, a destroyer, shall not return in vain.

English Revised Version
For, lo, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of an expert mighty man; none shall return in vain.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I am going to stir up an alliance of strong nations from the north and bring it against Babylon. Those nations will take up positions against Babylon. Babylon will be captured from the north. Its enemy's arrows will be like skilled soldiers who don't come back empty-handed.

Good News Translation
I am going to stir up a group of strong nations in the north and make them attack Babylonia. They will line up in battle against the country and conquer it. They are skillful hunters, shooting arrows that never miss the mark.

International Standard Version
Indeed, I'm going to stir up and bring against Babylon a great company of nations from the land of the north. They'll deploy for battle against her, and from there she will be captured. Their arrows will be like a skilled warrior; they won't miss their targets.

JPS Tanakh 1917
For, lo, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon An assembly of great nations from the north country; And they shall set themselves in array against her, From thence she shall be taken; Their arrows shall be as of a mighty man that maketh childless; None shall return in vain.

Literal Standard Version
For behold, I am stirring up, | And am causing to come up against Babylon, | An assembly of great nations from [the] land of the north, | And they have set in array against her, | From there she is captured, | Its arrow—as a skillful hero—does not return empty,

Majority Standard Bible
For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.

New American Bible
See, I am stirring up against Babylon a band of great nations from the land of the north; They are arrayed against her, from there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like the arrows of a skilled warrior who never returns empty-handed.

NET Bible
For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon a host of mighty nations from the land of the north. They will set up their battle lines against her. They will come from the north and capture her. Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier who does not return from the battle empty-handed.

New Revised Standard Version
For I am going to stir up and bring against Babylon a company of great nations from the land of the north; and they shall array themselves against her; from there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like the arrows of a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.

New Heart English Bible
For, look, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken. Their arrows shall be like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.

Webster's Bible Translation
For lo, I will raise and cause to come against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.

World English Bible
For, behold, I will stir up and cause to come up against Babylon a company of great nations from the north country; and they will set themselves in array against her. She will be taken from there. Their arrows will be as of an expert mighty man. None of them will return in vain.

Young's Literal Translation
For, lo, I am stirring up, And am causing to come up against Babylon, An assembly of great nations from a land of the north, And they have set in array against her, From thence she is captured, Its arrow -- as a skilful hero -- returneth not empty,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Hope for Israel and Judah
8Flee from the midst of Babylon; depart from the land of the Chaldeans; be like the he-goats that lead the flock. 9For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed. 10Chaldea will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill,” declares the LORD.…

Cross References
Song of Solomon 3:8
All are skilled with the sword, experienced in warfare. Each has his sword at his side prepared for the terror of the night.

Jeremiah 25:14
For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.'"

Jeremiah 25:26
all the kings of the north, both near and far, one after another--all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. And after all of them, the king of Sheshach will drink it too.

Jeremiah 50:3
For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee."

Jeremiah 50:41
Behold, an army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are stirred up from the ends of the earth.

Jeremiah 50:42
They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:1
This is what the LORD says: "Behold, I will stir up against Babylon and against the people of Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer.


Treasury of Scripture

For, see, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from there she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.

I will raise

Jeremiah 50:3,21,26,41,42
For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast…

Jeremiah 15:14
And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.

Jeremiah 51:1-4,11,27,28
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; …

they shall

Jeremiah 50:14,29
Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD…

expert man.

2 Samuel 1:22
From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.

Isaiah 13:18
Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children.

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Jeremiah 50
1. The judgment of Babylon and the redemption of Israel














(9) An assembly of great nations from the north country.--Like all the great monarchies of the East, the Medo-Persian kingdom, which was to be the destroyer of Babylon, was made up of a congeries of many different races. Herodotus (vii. 61-69), in his account of the army of Xerxes, names twenty-two, from the Medes and Persians at the head of the list to the Arabians and Ethiopians at its close.

From thence she shall be taken.--The Hebrew adverb may be taken either of time or place. The latter, as referring to the region from which the assailants come, gives the better sense.

As of a mighty expert man.--The marginal rendering, "destroyer," follows the Vulgate and the Targum, and represents a various reading. There is no sufficient reason for rejecting the Authorised Version, which has the support of the LXX. and the Syriac versions.

None shall return in vain.--Grammatically the words may refer either to the warrior or the arrow. The use of the same phrase in 2Samuel 1:22; Isaiah 55:11 is perhaps in favour of the latter.

Verse 9. - I will raise; literally, I will stir up (or, awaken); comp. Jeremiah 6:22; Isaiah 13:17. An assembly of great nations. So in a parallel prophecy, "the kingdoms of nations gathered together" (Isaiah 13:4). Callias in Ebers' learned story, 'The Egyptian Princess,' speaks of "an empire so casually heaped together, and consisting of seventy populations of different tongues and customs, as that of Persia." From thence; i.e. from the headquarters of the array of nations. As of a mighty expert man; rather, as of an expert warrior (or, mighty man). The marginal rendering of the Authorized Version represents a various reading of the Hebrew found in three old editions, and presupposed in the Targum and Vulgate, "one making childless," i.e. "a destroyer." The received reading, however, is self-evidently right. None shall return in vain. It seems doubtful whether this refers to the arrow or to the mighty man. The arrow may be said to "return [or, 'turn'] in vain" when it misses its aim or strikes the mark without piercing it (comp. 2 Samuel 1:22, where, however, it is the sword which is thus spoken of); the mighty man when he retires from the field defeated. This wider use of the phrase is sanctioned by Isaiah 55:11.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
For
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

behold,
הִנֵּ֣ה (hin·nêh)
Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

I
אָנֹכִ֡י (’ā·nō·ḵî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 595: I

stir up
מֵעִיר֩ (mê·‘îr)
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5782: To rouse oneself, awake

and bring
וּמַעֲלֶ֨ה (ū·ma·‘ă·leh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

against
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

Babylon
בָּבֶ֜ל (bā·ḇel)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 894: Babylon -- an eastern Mediterranean empire and its capital city

an assembly
קְהַל־ (qə·hal-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6951: Assembly, convocation, congregation

of great
גְּדֹלִים֙ (gə·ḏō·lîm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

nations
גּוֹיִ֤ם (gō·w·yim)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 1471: A foreign nation, a Gentile, a troop of animals, a flight of locusts

from the land
מֵאֶ֣רֶץ (mê·’e·reṣ)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 776: Earth, land

of the north.
צָפ֔וֹן (ṣā·p̄ō·wn)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6828: Hidden, dark, the north as a, quarter

They will line up
וְעָ֣רְכוּ (wə·‘ā·rə·ḵū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 6186: To set in a, row, arrange, put in order

against her;
לָ֔הּ (lāh)
Preposition | third person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew

from [the north]
מִשָּׁ֖ם (miš·šām)
Preposition-m | Adverb
Strong's 8033: There, then, thither

she will be captured.
תִּלָּכֵ֑ד (til·lā·ḵêḏ)
Verb - Nifal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 3920: To catch, to capture, occupy, to choose, to cohere

Their arrows
חִצָּיו֙ (ḥiṣ·ṣāw)
Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 2671: A piercer, an arrow, a wound, thunderbolt, the shaft of a, spear

will be like skilled
מַשְׁכִּ֔יל (maš·kîl)
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 7919: To be, circumspect, intelligent

warriors
כְּגִבּ֣וֹר (kə·ḡib·bō·wr)
Preposition-k | Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 1368: Powerful, warrior, tyrant

who do not
לֹ֥א (lō)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

return
יָשׁ֖וּב (yā·šūḇ)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

empty-handed.
רֵיקָֽם׃ (rê·qām)
Adverb
Strong's 7387: Emptily, ineffectually, undeservedly


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 50:9 For behold I will stir up (Jer.)
Jeremiah 50:8
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