Jeremiah 51:14

The Lord who rules over all ¹  has solemnly sworn, ²  ‘I will fill your land with enemy soldiers. They will swarm over it like locusts. ³  They will raise up shouts of victory over it.’

Jud 6:5; Jer 46:23; Jer 49:13; Jer 50:15; Joe 1:4-7; Joe 2:3,4,25; Am 6:8; Na 3:15-17; Heb 6:13

¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of this rendering see the study note on 2:19.

² tn Heb “has sworn by himself.” See the study note on 22:5 for background.

³ tn Heb “I will fill you with men like locusts.” The “you” refers to Babylon (Babylon is both the city and the land it ruled, Babylonia) which has been alluded to in the preceding verses under descriptive titles. The words “your land” have been used because of the way the preceding verse has been rendered, alluding to people rather than to the land or city. The allusion of “men” is, of course, to enemy soldiers and they are here compared to locusts both for their quantity and their destructiveness (see Joel 1:4). For the use of the particles כִּי אִם (ki ’im) to introduce an oath see BDB 475 s.v. כִּי אִם 2.c and compare usage in 2 Kgs 5:20; one would normally expect אִם לֹא (cf. BDB 50 s.v. אִם 1.b[2]).