² tn Or “Babylon.”

¹ tn Heb “O devastated daughter of Babylon.” The psalmist dramatically anticipates Babylon’s demise.

¹ tn Heb “against them”; NLT “against Babylon.”

¹ tn Heb “for a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon.”

¹ tn Heb “Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon.”

⁴ sn This verse probably refers to the Assyrian destruction of Babylon.

¹ tn Heb “daughter Babylon.” The word “daughter” is a personification of the city of Babylon and its inhabitants.

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Babylon’s misdeeds (see Rev 14:8).

¹ tn Heb “live in [or “with” (cf. NASB), i.e., “among”] the daughter of Babylon” (so NIV; NAB “dwell in daughter Babylon”).

² tn Heb “in Babylon.” Repeating the proper name “Babylon” here would be redundant in contemporary English, so “there” has been used in the translation.

² sn King Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon from ca. 605-562 b.c.

¹ sn The king of Babylon referred to here was Nebuchadnezzar (Ezek 21:19).

³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹ sn God’s exiled people are told to leave doomed Babylon (see v. 45).

¹ sn Heb “Daughter Babylon.” See the study note at 50:42 for explanation.

¹ sn Babylon was situated on the Euphrates River and surrounded by canals (also called “rivers”).

³ sn Bel was originally the name or title applied to the Sumerian storm god. During the height of Babylon’s power it became a title that was applied to Marduk, who was Babylon’s chief deity. As a title it means “Lord.” Here it is a poetical parallel reference to Marduk mentioned in the next line.

² sn This is often interpreted to mean “all the groaning” that Babylon has caused others.

¹ tn Heb “I will cut off from Babylon name and remnant” (ASV, NAB, and NRSV all similar).