Sharpen the arrows! and Take up the shields! are best understood as the commands of the military officers who together with their men are attacking Babylonia, as is expressly stated both by Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch. Since Sharpen the arrows! is a command from the army officers to their men, it can be expressed as “Sharpen your arrows!” There is some question regarding the interpretation of Take up the shields! The verb translated Take up by Revised Standard Version is literally “fill up,” while the noun used as its object is defined in the standard lexicons as “a [small round] shield.” The noun also appears in 2Sam 8.7 and 2Kgs 11.10, and some scholars argue on the basis of the Dead Sea Scrolls that this is a kind of dart. The Septuagint has “fill up the quivers,” an interpretation followed by New American Bible, Revised English Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible. If the word does mean “filled,” as the standard Hebrew dictionary suggests, then it is quite possible that the verb “fill” is here used in the technical sense of “to arm yourself with, take up,” as certain scholars have proposed. In addition to the possible interpretation of New American Bible, Revised English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible listed above, the most common way to render this is “Get your shields ready for battle” or “Get your shields, be ready.”
In addition to the above, Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, and Bible en français courant make a change in the order of information supplied in the verse by placing first the paragraph beginning The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes …. This makes an easier transition for readers and helps them to grasp, even when it is not stated, that the commands must be those of the Median military officials.
The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: See verse 1. In many languages the spirit of the kings of the Medes is more naturally rendered simply as “the kings of the Medes” (Good News Translation). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has “The Lord has placed it in the minds of the kings of the Medes to make war against Babylonia.” In Bible en français courant this part of the verse is rendered “The Lord has a project: to destroy Babylonia. He encourages the kings of Media to accomplish this.” The kings of the Medes may be a reference to Cyrus, who became king of Persia, but who was from Media (see 50.3). Of course, most translators do not add the name here, except possibly in a footnote.
For that is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance for his temple: Compare 50.28. The best way to translate this is something similar to Good News Translation with “That is how he will take revenge for the destruction of his Temple.” If an agent is required for the destruction, the translation can be “That is how he will take revenge on those people who destroyed his temple.”
Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .