Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his coat of mail: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

Let not him that bendeth, bend his bow, and let not, him go up that is armed with a coat of mail: spare not her young men, destroy all her army.

Let not the archer bend his bow, and let him not lift himself up in his coat of mail: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

Let not the treader tread his bow, Nor lift himself up in his coat of mail, Nor have ye pity on her young men, Devote ye to destruction all her host.

Against him that bends let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifts himself up in his brigandine: and spare you not her young men; destroy you utterly all her host.

Against her the bow of the archer is bent, and he puts on his coat of metal: have no mercy on her young men, give all her army up to the curse.

Let the archer bend his bow against her, And let him lift himself up against her in his coat of mail; And spare ye not her young men, Destroy ye utterly all her host.

Do not let him who bends the bow bend it; nor not let him rise up in his armor. And do not spare her young men; utterly destroy all her army.

Let him who draws the bow, not draw his bow. And let him who wears armor, not rise up. Do not spare her young men. Destroy her entire military.

Ad tendentem qui tendit arcum suum ydrk est hic vox supervacua, qui tendit igitur arcum suum,) et (copula hic abundat;) ne parcatis electis ejus, interficite omnem exercitum ejus.

Interpreters give various expositions of this verse. Some understand a soldier of light armor by him who bends the bow; and by him who elevates himself in his coat of mail, they understand a heavy-armed, soldier, There is also another difference; some take 'l, al, for l', la, when it is said v'l ytl, veal itol, because a copulative follows; and the words seem not to be well connected, if we read thus, "As to him who raises himself up in his coat of mail, and spare ye not," etc.; and hence they take negatively the particle 'l, al, instead of l' la, "and he may not raise up himself in his coat of mail." But it is probable that the copulative in the second place is redundant The simple meaning would therefore be, As to him who bends the bow, and who raises himself up in his coat of mall [1] I do not, indeed, give such a refined interpretation as some do, respecting the light and heavy armed soldiers. I doubt not, then, but that he points out the archers, and those clad in mail. If, however, any one prefers the other explanation, let him enjoy his own opinion. As to the main point, it is evident that the Prophet exhorts the Persians and the Medes not to spare the young men among the Chaldeans, but to destroy their whole army, so that no part of it should be left remaining.

Footnotes

1 - It is singular that 'l is omitted in the Sept. and the Syr., and retained in its negative sense in the Vulg. and the Targ., which makes no sense consistently with the context. There is evidently 'sr understood before the first verb, as is often the case when the verb is in the future tense. Then the literal rendering would be this, -- At him who bends let the bender bend his bow, And at him who glories in his coat of mail; And spare ye not her chosen men, Utterly destroy all her host. There is here perfect consistency. They who take 'l as a negative say, that the first part is addressed to the Chaldeans, and the second to their enemies; but this would be strangely abrupt. -- Ed.

The man who bends the bow, and the heavy-armed soldier who vaunts himself in his coat of mail (Jeremiah 46:4 note), represent the Babylonians who defend the city.

Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow,.... These are either the words of the Lord to the Medes and Persians, to the archers among them, to bend their bows and level their arrows against the Chaldeans, who had bent their bows and shot their arrows against others; or of the Medes and Persians stirring up one another to draw their bows, and fight manfully against the enemy:
and against him that lifteth up himself in his brigandine; or coat of mail; that swaggers about in it, proud of it, and putting his confidence in it, as if out of all danger. The sense is, that they should direct their arrows both against those that were more lightly or more heavily armed; since by them they might do execution among the one and the other:
and spare ye not her young men; because of their youth, beauty, and strength:
destroy ye utterly all her host; her whole army, whether officers or common soldiers; or let them be accoutred in what manner they will. The Targum is,
"consume all her substance.''

Against him that bendeth--namely, the bow; that is, the Babylonian archer.
let the archer bend--that is, the Persian archer (Jeremiah 50:4). The Chaldean version and JEROME, by changing the vowel points, read, "Let not him (the Babylonian) who bendeth his bow bend it." But the close of the verse is addressed to the Median invaders; therefore it is more likely that the first part of the verse is addressed to them, as in English Version, not to the Babylonians, to warn them against resistance as vain, as in the Chaldean version. The word "bend" is thrice repeated: "Against him that bendeth let him that bendeth bend," to imply the utmost straining of the bow.