1 Samuel 14:15

14:15 Then fear overwhelmed ¹  those who were in the camp, those who were in the field, all the army in the garrison, and the raiding bands. They trembled and the ground shook. This fear was caused by God. ² 

Yesaya 21:6-9

21:6 For this is what the sovereign master ³  has told me:

“Go, post a guard!

He must report what he sees.

21:7 When he sees chariots,

teams of horses, ⁴ 

riders on donkeys,

riders on camels,

he must be alert,

very alert.”

21:8 Then the guard ⁵  cries out:

“On the watchtower, O sovereign master, ⁶ 

I stand all day long;

at my post

I am stationed every night.

21:9 Look what’s coming!

A charioteer,

a team of horses.” ⁷ 

When questioned, he replies, ⁸ 

“Babylon has fallen, fallen!

All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”

Yeremia 51:12

51:12 Give the signal to attack Babylon’s wall! ⁹ 

Bring more guards! ¹⁰ 

Post them all around the city! ¹¹ 

Put men in ambush! ¹² 

For the Lord will do what he has planned.

He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon. ¹³ 

[14:15]  ¹ tn Heb “fell upon.”

[14:15]  ² tn Heb “and it was by the fear of God.” The translation understands this to mean that God was the source or cause of the fear experienced by the Philistines. This seems to be the most straightforward reading of the sentence. It is possible, however, that the word “God” functions here simply to intensify the accompanying word “fear,” in which one might translate “a very great fear” (cf. NAB, NRSV). It is clear that on some occasions that the divine name carries such a superlative nuance. For examples see Joüon 2:525 §141.n.

[21:6]  ³ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 8, 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[21:7]  ⁴ tn Or “a pair of horsemen.”

[21:8]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text has, “the lion,” but this makes little sense here. אַרְיֵה (’aryeh, “lion”) is probably a corruption of an original הָרֹאֶה (haro’eh, “the one who sees”), i.e., the guard mentioned previously in v. 6.

[21:8]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay). Some translations take this to refer to the Lord (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV), while others take it to refer to the guard’s human master (“my lord”; cf. NIV, NLT).

[21:9]  ⁷ tn Or “[with] teams of horses,” or perhaps, “with a pair of horsemen.”

[21:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he answered and said” (so KJV, ASV).

[51:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon.”

[51:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Strengthen the watch.”

[51:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Station the guards.”

[51:12]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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.