Ulangan 20:1

Laws Concerning War with Distant Enemies

20:1 When you go to war against your enemies and see chariotry ¹  and troops ²  who outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you.

Amsal 21:31

21:31 A horse is prepared for the day of battle,

but the victory is from the Lord. ³ 

Yesaya 9:12

9:12 Syria from the east,

and the Philistines from the west,

they gobbled up Israelite territory. ⁴ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁵ 

Yeremia 46:9

46:9 Go ahead and ⁶  charge into battle, you horsemen!

Drive furiously, you charioteers!

Let the soldiers march out into battle,

those from Ethiopia and Libya who carry shields,

and those from Lydia ⁷  who are armed with the bow. ⁸ 

Yehezkiel 29:16

29:16 It will never again be Israel’s source of confidence, but a reminder of how they sinned by turning to Egypt for help. ⁹  Then they will know that I am the sovereign Lord.’”

[20:1]  ¹ tn Heb “horse and chariot.”

[20:1]  ² tn Heb “people.”

[21:31]  ³ tn Heb “of the Lord.” The victory being “of the Lord” means that it is accomplished by him. Ultimate success comes from the Lord and not from human efforts. The faithful have acknowledged this down through the ages, even though they have been responsible and have prepared for the wars. Without this belief there would have been no prayer on the eve of battle (e.g., Ps 20:7 and 33:17).

[9:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “and they devoured Israel with all the mouth”; NIV “with open mouth”; NLT “With bared fangs.”

[9:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.” One could translate in the past tense here (and in 9:17b and 21b), but the appearance of the refrain in 10:4b, where it follows a woe oracle prophesying a future judgment, suggests it is a dramatic portrait of the judge which did not change throughout this period of past judgment and will remain unchanged in the future. The English present tense is chosen to best reflect this dramatic mood. (See also 5:25b, where the refrain appears following a dramatic description of coming judgment.)

[46:9]  ⁶ tn The words “Go ahead and” are not in the text but are intended to suggest the ironical nature of the commands here. The Lord is again setting them up for a fall (v. 10). See the translator’s note on v. 4.

[46:9]  ⁷ sn The peoples that are referred to here are all known to have been mercenaries in the army of Egypt (see Nah 3:9; Ezek 30:5). The place names in Hebrew are actually Cush, Put, and Lud. “Cush” has already been identified in Jer 13:23 as the region along the Nile south of Egypt most commonly referred to as Ethiopia. The identification of “Put” and “Lud” are both debated though it is generally felt that Put was a part of Libya and Lud is to be identified with Lydia in Asia Minor. For further discussion see M. J. Mellink, “Lud, Ludim” IDB 3:178, and T. O. Lambdin, “Put,” IDB 3:971.

[46:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “who grasp and bend the bow.”

[29:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “reminding of iniquity when they turned after them.”