LI. (1) I WILL RAISE UP... A DESTROYING WIND. — Literally, _the wind of a destroyer._ In Haggai 1:14; Ezra 1:1; Ezra 1:5; 1 Chronicles 5:26 the phrase is used for “stirring up the spirit” of a man, and that may be its meaning here. The context, however, suggests, in the “fanners” of the next verse,... [ Continue Reading ]
FANNERS, THAT SHALL FAN HER. — The Hebrew word as it stands means “strangers,” but a change of the vowel-points would give etymologically “winnowers” or “fanners,” though the word is not found elsewhere. On the whole it would seem best to accept the meaning of “strangers,” the prophet connecting it... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE ARCHER BEND HIS BOW. — The words represent the sense of the original, but the Hebrew word for “archer” is literally _bender,_ and so the iteration of the verb gains its full rhetorical force. On “brigandine,” as meaning the “coat of mail” of heavy-armed troops, see Note on Jeremiah 46:4. The... [ Continue Reading ]
ISRAEL HATH NOT BEEN FORSAKEN. — Better, _widowed._ The participle is from the word that commonly represents the idea of widowhood. Judah and Israel, the prophet declares, were not, as men thought, abandoned by their husband Jehovah. He was still their protector. The prophet has in his thoughts at o... [ Continue Reading ]
FLEE OUT OF THE MIDST OF BABYLON. — The words reproduce the call of Jeremiah 50:8 with a fresh motive. The city was doomed. It was ill done for those who had not been guilty of her sins to involve themselves in her destruction. The call is reproduced, as referring to the mystical Babylon, in Revelat... [ Continue Reading ]
BABYLON HATH BEEN A GOLDEN CUP... — The “golden cup” points to the splendour of Babylon, outwardly, as a vessel made to honour (see Notes on Jer. 1.37). But the “wine” in that cup was poisoned, intoxicating men with wild ambitions and dark idolatries. The same image re-appears in Revelation 14:8; Re... [ Continue Reading ]
BABYLON IS SUDDENLY FALLEN... — The form of announcement seems taken in part from Isaiah 21:9. TAKE BALM FOR HER PAIN... — The words are significant. The captive people are not invited simply to raise a shout of triumph at the fall of their oppressor: they are to “take balm” (comp. the use of the s... [ Continue Reading ]
WE WOULD HAVE HEALED BABYLON... — This is the dramatic answer of the Israelite exiles to the prophet’s appeal. They have done what they could, but all was in vain. The guilt could not be washed away, the punishment could not be averted. The “judgment” is measureless as is the distance from heaven to... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD HATH BROUGHT FORTH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS... — The Hebrew noun is plural — the many _righteous acts_ or forms of righteousness. The thought is parallel to that of Isaiah 62:1. The exile in Babylon had been a time of reformation and growth in righteousness. The day of vengeance on the oppressing... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKE BRIGHT THE ARROWS. — Better, _Sharpen,_ the “polishing” or “making bright” being as the means to that end. GATHER THE SHIELDS. — Literally, _fill the shields, i.e.,_ arm yourselves with them, The large shields of the Persian soldiers covered the whole body, and the man literally filled them. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
SET UP THE STANDARD UPON THE WALLS OF BABYLON. — The Authorised version, following the LXX. and the Vulgate, takes the words as an ironical summons to a defence which will prove fruitless. The preposition for “upon” may, however, mean _against_, and this agrees better with the context. The “standard... [ Continue Reading ]
O THOU THAT DWELLEST UPON MANY WATERS. — The words find an illustration of singular interest in an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar’s given by Oppert (_Expéd. en Mésop._ i. p. 231): “I made water to flow all around in this immense dyke of earth. I carried an aqueduct across these great waters that are... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD OF HOSTS HATH SWORN BY HIMSELF. — This is, as in Jeremiah 49:13; Amos 6:8, the most solemn form of affirmation. Compare Hebrews 6:13, and Note on Jeremiah 49:13. SURELY I WILL FILL THEE WITH MEN, AS WITH CATERPILLERS. — Better, _with grasshoppers_ or _locusts,_ the fullest type of the swar... [ Continue Reading ]
(15-19) HE HATH MADE THE EARTH BY HIS POWER... — The five verses are a reproduction of Jeremiah 10:12, fitted in here to enhance the majesty of Him Who decrees the destruction of Babylon, and appoints Israel to be the instrument of that destruction. The word “Israel,” as the italics show, is wanting... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU ART MY BATTLE AX... — Better, _my mace._ The axe is not found on Assyrian monuments as a weapon of war till a comparatively late period. It is a question who is thus addressed — Babylon, or Cyrus as the destroyer of Babylon, or Israel. On the whole, the second seems the more probable answer. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH THEE WILL I BREAK IN PIECES CAPTAINS AND RULERS. — The exhausting of all sorts and conditions of men culminates in the ruling caste. The Hebrew word for “captain” (_Pekha_) is interesting as connected with the Arabic, with which we are now familiar in the form _Pacha_ (Fürst, _Lex._)_. _... [ Continue Reading ]
O DESTROYING MOUNTAIN. — Singularly enough the phrase is the same as that which is applied in 2 Kings 23:13 to the Mount of Olives, and is there rendered by the Authorised version as “the Mount of Corruption.” It adds to the interest that this name so given appears in the reign of Josiah, and must t... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL NOT TAKE OF THEE A STONE FOR A CORNER. — The prophet uses general language applicable to any city destroyed by fire, without noting the special fact that Babylon was built of bricks.... [ Continue Reading ]
PREPARE THE NATIONS. — The word here and in Jeremiah 51:29 conveys, as in Jeremiah 22:7, the idea of consecration. CALL TOGETHER AGAINST HER THE KINGDOMS OF ARARAT, MINNI, AND ASHCHENAZ. — The first of these names was unknown to Greek and Roman geographers, and though here rendered _Arareth_ by the... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL THE LAND OF HIS DOMINION. — The use of the singular pronoun indicates that the prophet recognises the fact that the kings, captains, and rulers (see Note on Jeremiah 51:23) are all under one sovereign leader — _i.e.,_ under the king of the Medes and Persians.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LAND SHALL TREMBLE AND SORROW. — The verbs in the Hebrew are in the past tense, the prophet seeing, as it were, the very event which he portrays passing before him in his vision.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE MIGHTY MEN OF BABYLON HAVE FOR BORN TO FIGHT. — The verses that follow paint the capture of the city by the stratagem related in the Note on Jeremiah 50:24. Those who “have burned” are, of course, the invaders. They here begin by setting the houses of the city on fire and breaking open the gates... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE POST SHALL RUN TO MEET ANOTHER. — The words exactly answer to the account of the capture of Babylon given in Herod. i. (see Note on Jeremiah 51:24). The history of Belshazzar’s feast (Daniel 5:1) must obviously have ended in a like result. No words could paint more vividly the panic of the surpr... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT THE PASSAGES ARE STOPPED. — These were probably the ferries across the Euphrates, by which one part of the city was in communication with the other. These were at the ends of the streets that ran at right angles to the river, and gates — left open in the panic of surprise — led down to them. Be... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DAUGHTER OF BABYLON... — More literally, _The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, in the time when it is trodden_ (_i.e.,_ when it is being prepared for the actual process), _yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come to her._ The imagery is so familiar that it hardly need... [ Continue Reading ]
HE HATH MADE ME AN EMPTY VESSEL. — The pronouns in one form of the Hebrew text are most of them in the plural, “devoured _us,_ crushed _us,_ made _us._” The prophet speaks of himself and Israel as having suffered wrong and outrage at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. The land had been spoiled till it was... [ Continue Reading ]
THE VIOLENCE DONE TO ME AND TO MY FLESH... — The imagery of the “dragon” or “crocodile” is continued. The “_inhabitress of Zion_” pleads that her “flesh” and “blood” have been devoured by the Babylonian conqueror, and asks for the application of the law of retribution.... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL DRY UP HER SEA... — The nouns have been variously interpreted, some commentators referring it to the “sea” of confluent nations, and finding the wealth of Babylon in the “springs” that fed its greatness; others to the Euphrates, or to the sea-like alluvial plain, intersected by canals and str... [ Continue Reading ]
BABYLON SHALL BECOME HEAPS... — It is significant, as emphasising the law of retribution, that the terms are the same as those used of Jerusalem in Jeremiah 9:11; Jeremiah 19:8; Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 25:18. Nothing is more characteristic of the present aspect of Babylon than the “heaps” or mounds... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL ROAR TOGETHER LIKE LIONS... — The words are not a continuation of the picture of the preceding verse, but carry us to the scene of revelry that preceded the capture of the city. The princes of Babylon were as “young lions” (Amos 3:4) roaring over their prey. The first clause as well as th... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THEIR HEAT I WILL MAKE THEIR FEASTS... — The words are stern and bitter in their irony. When the revellers are hot with wine and lust (comp. Hosea 7:4) Jehovah would call them to a banquet of another kind. The wine cup which He would give them would be that of His wrath (Jeremiah 25:16), and thei... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL BRING THEM DOWN LIKE LAMBS TO THE SLAUGHTER... — The figure is changed, and the revellers appear as themselves destined to be the victims of the slaughter-house (Jeremiah 48:15; Jeremiah 50:27). As the “bullocks” of Jeremiah 50:27 are the chosen warriors, so the lambs, sheep, he-goats represe... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW IS SHESHACH TAKEN! — “Sheshach,” it will be remembered, is the cypher which, as explained in the Note on Jeremiah 25:26, stands for Babylon. Here, in the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, it balances the actual name of the city in the second clause of the verse. The word “surprised” is the same as t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SEA IS COME UP UPON BABYLON... — The literal explanation of the words as referring to the foundation of the Euphrates adopted by some commentators is clearly inadmissible, and is at variance with the next verse. The prophet falls back on an image which he had used before (Jeremiah 46:7), and whi... [ Continue Reading ]
HER CITIES ARE A DESOLATION... — The word for “wilderness” is _Arabah,_ commonly used of the sandy desert south of the Dead Sea. The prophet seems to dwell with a stern delight on the seeming paradox that the sea with which Babylon is to be oversowed, the floods of invaders and destroyers, shall lea... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL PUNISH BEL IN BABYLON. — See Note on Jeremiah 50:2. The god whom Babylon worshipped is, as before, thought of as sharing her downfall. He is made to disgorge his spoil, the vessels of the Temple of Jehovah that had been placed in his temple (Daniel 5:2; Ezra 1:7). THE WALL OF BABYLON SHAL... [ Continue Reading ]
GO YE OUT OF THE MIDST OF HER... — The prophet repeats, with all the emphasis of iteration, the summons of Jeremiah 50:8; Jeremiah 51:6. The “fierce anger of the Lord” is that which was directed primarily against Babylon, but which would also fall on those who chose to remain and become “partakers i... [ Continue Reading ]
AND LEST YOUR HEART FAINT... — Better, _Let not your heart faint; fear ye not..._ FOR THE RUMOUR THAT SHALL BE HEARD IN THE LAND. — It lies in the nature of the case that the final catastrophe of the city would be preceded by a period of uncertainty and suspense. Men would hear of the union of the M... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE, BEHOLD, THE DAYS COME... — The first word has its full force. The Israelite exiles were to infer from the rumours and disorders of the preceding verse, that the day of vengeance was at hand. The formula, “behold, the days come,” was Jeremiah’s customary manner of announcing a prediction ... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH... — The prophet, following in the track of Isaiah (Isaiah 44:23), thinks of the whole creation as rejoicing in the righteous judgment of Jehovah on the guilty city, and in the liberation of His people. They sing, as it were, their _Te Deum_ over the fall of Babylon und... [ Continue Reading ]
AS BABYLON HATH CAUSED... — The interpolated words and the marginal reading indicate that the construction is obscure, but the Authorised version probably comes close to the meaning of the original. The punishment that falls on Babylon comes on account of her slaughter of the Israelites, but in that... [ Continue Reading ]
YE THAT HAVE ESCAPED THE SWORD... — The words call on the people to fulfil the prediction of Jeremiah 50:4. Even in that distant land, “afar off” from the Temple of Jehovah, they are to remember that they are Israelites, and to think of Jerusalem as their home. In Psalms 137:5 we have, as it were, b... [ Continue Reading ]
WE ARE CONFOUNDED, BECAUSE WE HAVE HEARD REPROACH... — The answer which the prophet seems to hear from the lips of the exiles, is, however, for the present, of a different character. They are cast down and oppressed by the disgrace that has fallen on them and on the Holy City. Aliens in blood and fa... [ Continue Reading ]
THOUGH BABYLON SHOULD MOUNT UP TO HEAVEN... — The special form of the phrase recalls the language of the builders of the Tower which made the name of Babylon conspicuous (Genesis 11:4). Even though that boastful attempt should be realised, Jeremiah says, it should prove a vain defence. As it was, th... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE THE LORD HATH SPOILED BABYLON... — In Jeremiah 51:54 the prophet hears the cry of the captured city. The “great voice” which Jehovah “destroys” or “makes to cease” is the stir and tumult of life that surged, as it were, through the city (Isa. 18:12, 13). The “waves” are those of the “sea” of... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD GOD OF RECOMPENCES... — The prophet clothes the law of retribution which he has been asserting throughout the chapter with a new majesty by connecting it with a new Divine Name (comp. Jeremiah 23:6). Jehovah delights, as it were, to manifest Himself in that aspect. He is _a God of retributi... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL MAKE DRUNK HER PRINCES. — The imagery is repeated from Jeremiah 51:39, and carries out the thought of Jeremiah 25:15; Jeremiah 25:27. On the list of officers see Note on Jeremiah 51:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
HER HIGH GATES SHALL BE BURNED WITH FIRE. — These were part of the works on which Nebuchadnezzar prided himself as the restorer of the city. The inscription already quoted refers to these as well as to the walls: _“_Babylon is the refuge of the god Merodach. I have finished _Imgur Bel,_ his great en... [ Continue Reading ]
SERAIAH THE SON OF NERIAH. — The great prophecy has reached its close, and the remainder of the chapter is of the nature of an historical appendix. The mention of both father and grandfather leaves no doubt that Seraiah was the brother of Jeremiah’s friend and secretary, Baruch (Jeremiah 32:13). It... [ Continue Reading ]
SO JEREMIAH WROTE IN A BOOK. — The “book” is, as elsewhere, a parchment roll. Stress is laid on the fact that the long prophecy was all written on one roll, so that it might be a fitter symbol of the city that was its subject.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THOU COMEST TO BABYLON, AND SHALT SEE, AND SHALT READ... — The meaning of the Hebrew would be better expressed by, _thou shalt see to it and read,_ or _see to it and read._ The English version, as it is, leaves it doubtful who or what is to be seen. The verb for “read” implies reading aloud. Sa... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SHALT THOU SAY, O LORD... — The words which recite the predictions of Jeremiah 50:3; Jeremiah 50:39 are of the nature of an implied prayer, reminding Jehovah of that which He had promised, and entreating him to fulfil it. “Thou hast said” was to be the ground of the suppliant’s prayer for the f... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT BIND A STONE TO IT. — The meaning of the symbolic act, which has its parallel in the girdle of Jeremiah 13:1, in the potter’s vessel of Jeremiah 19:10, and in the yokes of Jeremiah 27:2, is explained in the following verse. The parchment roll by itself might have floated, and been picked... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL BE WEARY. — The words are identical with those that had closed the great prophecy in Jeremiah 51:58. What was meant was probably that Seraiah was to repeat the last words of the prediction, and, as they passed his lips, was to fling the roll into the river. That submersion was typical of... [ Continue Reading ]