Indictment ofludah and the Nations (25:1-38) 261
That Egypt should drink first among other nations comes as no surprise in light
of its defeat that very year at Carchemish. In the MT's Foreign Nation Collec-
tion, Egypt is first (46:1-26). Jeremiah also spoke against Egypt in 9:25[Eng
9:26]; 43:10-13; and 44:30.
his servants. Hebrew 'abadayw. These are important officials in the service
of the king; see Gen 41:37-38, 46, and Note for 21:7.
- all the mixed races. Hebrew kol-ha'ereb. The LXX: pantas taus summik-
tous, "all the mingled (peoples)." These are people of foreign origin or
mixed race who reside in Egypt-mainly, colonists, mercenaries, and traders
(Weiser). Jerome says they are cunctusque qui non quidem est Aegyptius, sed
in ejus regionibus commoratur ("a body of people that is not Egyptian, but so-
journs within that country"). We know Greek expatriates were living in Egypt
at this time (46:9, 16, 21), and probably not a few Judahites were also settled
there (cf. 44:1). At the time of the Exodus, people of mixed race joined the
Israelites fleeing Egypt (Exod 12:38), and the same resided temporarily or per-
manently in Israel and Judah during all periods (Ruth 1:22; 2 Samuel 11;
15:18-22; 1 Kgs 10:15; Jer 38:7; Neh 13:3). A mixed and foreign population
resided in Babylon (50:37), just as we find today in London, Stockholm,
Nairobi, Chicago, Berlin, and other cities of the modern world.
and all the kings of the land of Uz. The LXX omits, and some commentators,
following Graf and Kuenen, delete (so Giesebrecht; Duhm; Cornill; Rudolph;
Holladay; Mc Kane), but the omission, as Janzen (1973: 117) notes, is probably
due to haplography (four-word: w>t kl-mlky >r$ ... w>t kl-mlky >r$ ). Aquila,
Theod, T, and Vg all have the phrase. Uz, the home of Job ( 1: 1), is in northwest
Arabia, where also Terna and Dedan are located (Ephcal 1982: 88; ABD 6: 770-
71 ). In the OT, Uz is associated geographically with Aram (= Syria) in Gen
10:23; 22:21; and 1Chr1:17; and with Edom or Seir (=Edom) in Gen 36:28;
1Chr1:42; and Lam 4:21. There is no oracle against Uz in the Foreign Nation
Collection.
and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, that is, Ashkelon, and Gaza,
and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod. Listed here are only four cities of the
Philistine Pentapolis; missing is Gath, which was destroyed by Sargon II of As-
syria in 711 B.C. (see Note for 47:5). Ashkelon and Ekron were both com-
pletely destroyed by Nebuchadrezzar in 604 B.c., at which time Gaza may
have been attacked but not destroyed, since it was retaken by the Egyptians
ca. 601-600 B.C. (see Notes for 47:1 and 47:5). Ashdod is said to be no more
than a remnant, which could reflect its destruction at the hands of Psammeti-
chus I (664-610 B.c.). According to Herodotus (ii 157), Psammetichus be-
sieged Azotus ( = Ashdod) for 29 years before taking it. Excavations at Tell
Ashdod, carried out in the 1960s by Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the
Israel Department of Antiquities (D. N. Freedman l 963c; NEAEHL 1: 100), re-
vealed Iron II destruction that may also have resulted from Nebuchadnezzar's
campaign through Philistia in 604-601 B.C. (see Note for 47:5). Babylonian
texts list Ashdod's king as receiving rations along with other Philistine prisoners
(Weidner 1939: 928; ANET^3 308). Ashdod was rebuilt in the postexilic period
