Jeremiah 50:1-46

The Fall of Babylon and the Restoration of Israel

The prophecy concerning Babylon is ascribed to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 51:59. This, however, need not mean more than that it represents the tone of Jeremiah's utterances as expanded by a follower, e.g. Baruch, at a later date. The reasons for doubting Jeremiah's authorship aro: (a) he elsewhere speaks in friendly terms of the Chaldeans; here their overthrow is predicted; (b) the style and words betray another writer; (c) the knowledge displayed of Babylonian matters is greater than could be expected of the prophet; (d) the Jews are in exile far away from Jerusalem (Jeremiah 50:4; Jeremiah 50:6; Jeremiah 50:17; Jeremiah 50:33) The prophecy was fulfilled when Babylon was taken by Cyrus or his general Gobryas (perhaps the Darius of Daniel) in 539 b.c., nearly 50 years after the fall of Jerusalem.