The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans
Both the inhabitants of the city of Babylon, called in the Hebrew text the children of Babylon, and all the inhabitants of the several parts of the country of Chaldean, of which Babylon was the metropolis: Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa;
the Vulgate Latin version, and so Jerom, take these words to be appellatives, and render them noblemen, tyrants, and princes; as some mentioned by Jarchi do, governors, princes, and rulers; and Kimchi F2 thinks they are the titles of the Babylonian princes spoken of in Jeremiah, as Nebuzaradan. Nebushasban, Rabsaris, Rabmag ( Jeremiah 39:3 Jeremiah 39:13 ) , but with others they are the proper names of persons or places: and so the Targum calls them, Pekodaites, Shoaites, and Koaites; that is, the inhabitants of places so called; and certain it is that Pekod was a province of Babylon, ( Jeremiah 50:21 ) : which, according to Junius, lay between the two rivers Tigris and Lycus, and in which was the famous city of Nineveh; and, according to him, Shoa, or the Shoaites, lay between the rivers Lycus and Gorgus, among where were the Adiabeni, and the town called Siai by Ptolemy; and the Koaites were situated in the inward part of Assyria, by Arbelitis, where formerly was the fortified town of Koah, by historians called Gauga; and by Strabo Gaugamela. Grotius thinks that Pekod are the Bactriani; and that Shoa is Siai in Armenia with Ptolemy; and that Koa is Choana of Media, with the same Ptolemy; but, be they who they will, they were such people as were to come with the Chaldean army against the Jews: and all the Assyrians with them:
which were now one people with the Chaldeans and Babylonians, by whom formerly the ten tribes were carried captive: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and
renowned, all of them riding upon horses;
persons of high rank and dignity, in chief offices at court or in the camp, all in the bloom and strength of youth; men of name and renown for their honour and valour; and all well mounted, a famous cavalry of them; and who before were lovely on these accounts, when they were their gallants and lovers, their confederates and allies, but now formidable and terrible being their enemies; see ( Ezekiel 23:5 Ezekiel 23:6 Ezekiel 23:12 ) .