References (16)
The children of Shem were:
Elam [the Elamites; east of the Tigris] and
Ashor [the Assyrians] and
Arppacheshad [the Babylonians?] and
Lod and
Aram [the Arameans; Syria].
It happened in the days when
Amrafel was king of Shinar [Babylon],
Arjoch was king of Ellasar [probably in Mesopotamia],
Kedarlaomer was king of Elam [present-day Iran]
and Tidal was king of Gojim [the plural form of gojim is generally used for pagan nations].
against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five.
The sons of Shem were Elam, Ashor [the Assyrians], Arpakshad, Lud, and Aram, as well as Uz (Hebr. Ots), Hul, Geter, and Meshech.
On that day (at that time), the Lord will stretch out his hand a second time to reclaim (restore) the remnant of his people, those who have been saved from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros [southern Egypt], Cush [present-day Ethiopia/Sudan], Elam, Shinar [Babylon], Hamath, and the coastal lands [the countries around the Mediterranean].
A terrible vision is revealed to me:
"The treacherous merchant deals treacherously,
and the spoiler spoils.
Go up, Elam!
Besiege, you Media!
I have put an end to all its sighing (silenced it)."
And Elam carried the shield,
with an army of men, horsemen,
and Kir exposed the shield.
and all the kings of Zimri and all the kings of Elam and all the kings of Media,
The word of the Lord (Yahweh) that came to the prophet Jeremiah, to Elam [current soutwest Iran, the region where Susa was located, se ], at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah (Hebr. Tsidqijaho), king of Judah. He said:
Thus says the Lord of hosts (Yahweh Sebaot):
Behold, I will break the bow of Elam,
the leader of their strength.
And I will bring upon Elam the four winds
from the four corners of the heavens,
and will scatter them
to all these winds (cardinal points)
and there shall be no nation
where the scattered of Elam shall not come.
And I will make Elam terrified before their enemies
and before those who seek their souls (lives),
and I will bring evil upon them,
my fierce anger,
declares (says, proclaims) the Lord (Yahweh),
and I will send the sword after them
until I have devoured them.
And I will set my throne in Elam
and will cut off from it kings and princes,
declares (says, proclaims) the Lord (Yahweh).
But it shall come to pass in days to come,
that I will bring back the captives of Elam,
declares (says, proclaims) the Lord (Yahweh).
There is Elam and all her multitudes around her grave, all those slain, fallen by the sword, who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower part of the earth, who caused terror in the land of the living; they have carried their shame with them as they go down into the pit.
In this vision, I saw myself in the fortified city of Susa, in the province of Elam. I saw myself standing by the Ulai Canal.
[Susa is located 380 km east of Babylon and 200 km north of the Persian Gulf. In Daniel's time, it was a relatively insignificant small town, but it would become the capital of Persia. The location of the vision also reinforces the prophetic accuracy of the message. It is here that the Persian king Xerxes I, who reigned from 486 to 465 BC, would build a large palace a century later. It is in this royal palace that the events in the Book of Esther would eventually take place, see . Here Nehemiah was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes in 446 BC, see , .
In his service in Babylon, Daniel had certainly visited Susa a few times. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Daniel was physically present in Susa when he saw this vision, but the fact that he was in the king's service only a few days later suggests that he was not far from Babylon, see . Ulai was a 250-meter-wide dug canal northeast of the city.]
