Jeremiah 51:44

51:44 I will punish the god Bel in Babylon.

I will make him spit out what he has swallowed.

The nations will not come streaming to him any longer.

Indeed, the walls of Babylon will fall.” ¹ 

Jeremiah 51:58

51:58 This is what the Lord who rules over all ²  says,

“Babylon’s thick wall ³  will be completely demolished. ⁴ 

Her high gates will be set on fire.

The peoples strive for what does not satisfy. ⁵ 

The nations grow weary trying to get what will be destroyed.” ⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “And I will punish Bel in Babylon…And the nations will not come streaming to him anymore. Yea, the walls of Babylon have fallen.” The verbs in the first two lines are vav consecutive perfects and the verb in the third line is an imperfect all looking at the future. That indicates that the perfect that follows and the perfects that precede are all prophetic perfects. The translation adopted seemed to be the best way to make the transition from the pasts which were adopted in conjunction with the taunting use of אֵיךְ (’ekh) in v. 41 to the futures in v. 44. For the usage of גַּם (gam) to indicate a climax, “yea” or “indeed” see BDB 169 s.v. גַּם 3. It seemed to be impossible to render the meaning of v. 44 in any comprehensible way, even in a paraphrase.

² sn See the note at Jer 2:19.

³ tn The text has the plural “walls,” but many Hebrew mss read the singular “wall,” which is also supported by the ancient Greek version. The modifying adjective “thick” is singular as well.

⁴ tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “will certainly be demolished.”

⁵ tn Heb “for what is empty.”

⁶ tn Heb “and the nations for fire, and they grow weary.”