Jeremiah 46:3

“Fall into ranks with your shields ready! ¹  Prepare to march into battle!

"Prepare your shields, both large and small, and march out for battle!

"Line up the shield and buckler, And draw near for the battle!

"Buckle on your armor and advance into battle!

"'Present arms! March to the front!

Get out the breastplate and body-cover, and come together to the fight.

Prepare buckler and shield, and advance for battle!

"Order the buckler and shield, And draw near to battle!

“Fall into ranks with your shields ready! ¹  Prepare to march into battle!

¹ tn This is often translated “prepare your shields, both small and large.” However, the idea of “prepare” is misleading because the Hebrew word here (עָרַךְ, ’arakh) refers in various senses to arranging or setting things in order, such as altars in a row, dishes on a table, soldiers in ranks. Here it refers to the soldiers lining up in rank with ranks of soldiers holding at the ready the long oval or rectangular “shield” (צִנָּה [tsinnah]; cf. BDB 857 s.v. III צִנָּה) which protected the whole body and the smaller round “buckler” (מָגֵן, magen) which only protected the torso (the relative size of these two kinds of shields can be seen from the weight of each in 1 Kgs 10:16-17). These were to be arranged in solid ranks to advance into battle. It would be pedantic and misleading to translate here “Fall into ranks with your large and small shields at the ready” because that might suggest that soldiers had more than one kind. It is uncertain who is issuing the commands here. TEV adds “The Egyptian officers shout,” which is the interpretation of J. A. Thompson (Jeremiah [NICOT], 688).