Jeremiah 49:35-37

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Jeremiah 49:35 tn Heb “I will break the bow of Elam, the chief source of their might.” The phrase does not mean that God will break literal bows or that he will destroy their weapons (synecdoche of species for genus) or their military power (so Hos 1:5). Because of the parallelism, the “bow” here stands for the archers who wielded the bow and were the strongest force (or chief contingent) in their military.
2. Jeremiah 49:36 tn Or more simply, “I will bring enemies against Elam from every direction. / And I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds. // There won’t be any nation / where the refugees of Elam will not go.” Or more literally, “I will bring the four winds against Elam / from the four quarters of heaven. / I will scatter….” However, the winds are not to be understood literally here. God isn’t going to “blow the Elamites” out of Elam with natural forces. The winds must figuratively represent enemy forces that God will use to drive them out. Translating literally would be misleading at this point.
3. Jeremiah 49:37 tn Heb “I will bring disaster upon them, even my fierce anger.”
4. Jeremiah 49:37 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
5. Jeremiah 49:37 tn Heb “I will send the sword after them.”