Jeremiah 9:8
Context9:8 Their tongues are like deadly arrows. 1
They are always telling lies. 2
Friendly words for their neighbors come from their mouths.
But their minds are thinking up ways to trap them. 3
Jeremiah 50:14
Context50:14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon,
all you soldiers who are armed with bows. 4
Shoot 5 all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! 6
For she has sinned against the Lord.
1 tc This reading follows the Masoretic consonants (the Kethib, a Qal active participle from שָׁחַט, shakhat). The Masoretes preferred to read “a sharpened arrow” (the Qere, a Qal passive participle from the same root or a homonym, meaning “hammered, beaten”). See HALOT 1354 s.v. II שָׁחַט for discussion. The exact meaning of the word makes little difference to the meaning of the metaphor itself.
2 tn Heb “They speak deceit.”
3 tn Heb “With his mouth a person speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets an ambush for him.”
4 tn Heb “all you who draw the bow.”
5 tc The verb here should probably be read as a Qal imperative יְרוּ (yÿru) from יָרָה (yarah) with a few Hebrew
6 tn Heb “Shoot at her! Don’t save any arrows!”