Isa 14:31 | NET2full | STEP | Wail , O city gate ! Cry out , O city ! Melt with fear , all you Philistines ! For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke , and there are no stragglers in its ranks .

Isaiah 14:31

31 Wail, O city gate!
Cry out, O city!
Melt with fear, ^{▼▼tn Or “despair” (see HALOT 555 s.v. מוג). The form נָמוֹג (namog) should be taken here as an infinitive absolute functioning as an imperative. See GKC 199-200 §72.v.} all you Philistines!
For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke,
and there are no stragglers in its ranks. ^{▼▼tn Heb “and there is no one going alone in his appointed places.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. בּוֹדֵד (boded) appears to be a participle from בָּדַד (badad, “be separate”; see BDB 94 s.v. בָּדַד). מוֹעָד (moʿad) may mean “assembly” or, by extension, “multitude” (see HALOT 558 s.v. *מוֹעָד), but the referent of the third masculine pronominal suffix attached to the noun is unclear. It probably refers to the “nation” mentioned in the next line.}