Jeremiah · Chapter 51

Verse 1. Thus saith the Lord] This chapter is a continuation of the preceding prophecy.

A destroying wind.] Such as the pestilential winds in the east; and here the emblem of a destroying army, carrying all before them, and wasting with fire and sword.

Verses 1, 2. Behold, I will raise up against Babylon — Darius and Cyrus, who came against Babylon, came by a divine instinct. God excited their spirits to accomplish his purpose against that idolatrous city, and the oppressive government which had its seat there. Against them that dwell in the midst — Hebrew, in the heart; of them that rise up against me — That is, in the centre of the country of mine adversaries, which by a circumlocution means the same as Babylon itself. A destroying wind — See note on Jeremiah 4:11, where the prophet describes the Chaldean army coming up for the destruction of Judea under the same metaphor. The Chaldeans had been like a destroying, blasting wind to the Jews, and now the Medes and Persians are to be like one to them. And will send unto Babylon fanners — Enemies who shall drive them away as chaff is driven away by the fan; or those who shall disperse her forces, and empty or spoil her land of all its riches, &c. This image is frequently made use of by the Hebrew prophets, to represent the ease with which the Almighty disperses and destroys his enemies: see notes on Jeremiah 15:7; Isaiah 21:10; 41:16. For in the day of trouble they shall be against her, &c. — Or, as the words may be rendered, When they shall come round her on every side in the evil (or adverse) day.

THE HOSTILE NATION, 1-4.

1. Against them that dwell in the midst, etc. — Literally, the inhabitants of the heart of my risers up. The original for heart of risers up is the word Chasdim, (Chaldeans,) written according to the canon Atbash, “for the purpose of obtaining the more important meaning that Chaldea is the centre of God’s enemies.” It is probable that some words in common use, written according to this cipher Atbash, were generally familiar. Destroying wind — Keil translates, spirit of a destroyer; but the leading Versions agree with the common English Version. The sense is a good one, and in harmony with the following verse.

Verse 2. And will send—fanners] When the corn is trodden out with the feet of cattle, or crushed out with a heavy wheel armed with iron, with a shovel they throw it up against the wind, that the chaff and broken straw may be separated from it. This is the image used by the prophet; these people shall be trodden, crushed, and fanned by their enemies.

Verses 1, 2. Behold, I will raise up against Babylon — Darius and Cyrus, who came against Babylon, came by a divine instinct. God excited their spirits to accomplish his purpose against that idolatrous city, and the oppressive government which had its seat there. Against them that dwell in the midst — Hebrew, in the heart; of them that rise up against me — That is, in the centre of the country of mine adversaries, which by a circumlocution means the same as Babylon itself. A destroying wind — See note on Jeremiah 4:11, where the prophet describes the Chaldean army coming up for the destruction of Judea under the same metaphor. The Chaldeans had been like a destroying, blasting wind to the Jews, and now the Medes and Persians are to be like one to them. And will send unto Babylon fanners — Enemies who shall drive them away as chaff is driven away by the fan; or those who shall disperse her forces, and empty or spoil her land of all its riches, &c. This image is frequently made use of by the Hebrew prophets, to represent the ease with which the Almighty disperses and destroys his enemies: see notes on Jeremiah 15:7; Isaiah 21:10; 41:16. For in the day of trouble they shall be against her, &c. — Or, as the words may be rendered, When they shall come round her on every side in the evil (or adverse) day.

2. Fan her — Rather, winnow her.

Verses 3-5. Against him that bendeth let the archer bend — See Jeremiah 50:14; and against him, that lifteth up himself in his brigandine — Or, coat of mail: suffer not them who are skilful in using the bow, or armed in coats of mail, to avail themselves any thing of their skill or their armour, but oppose them with superior skill and force. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans — There seems to be a transposition of words in this sentence, the sense certainly being, Thus the Chaldeans shall fall down slain to the earth. For Israel hath not been (or rather, shall not be) forsaken, nor Judah of his God — “Though God was justly displeased with his people, yet he would not cast them off utterly, or deprive them of his protection, though he would do so to those that were the rod in his hand, to chastise and scourge his people.”

3. Archer — Literally, bender. The Masoretes have stumbled over the text of this verse, and there has been some variety of opinion among the critical expositors of recent times. But there is no serious difficulty in the text as it now stands, and it is by all means to be accepted.

BABYLON DESTROYED FOR ISRAEL, 5-14.

Verses 3-5. Against him that bendeth let the archer bend — See Jeremiah 50:14; and against him, that lifteth up himself in his brigandine — Or, coat of mail: suffer not them who are skilful in using the bow, or armed in coats of mail, to avail themselves any thing of their skill or their armour, but oppose them with superior skill and force. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans — There seems to be a transposition of words in this sentence, the sense certainly being, Thus the Chaldeans shall fall down slain to the earth. For Israel hath not been (or rather, shall not be) forsaken, nor Judah of his God — “Though God was justly displeased with his people, yet he would not cast them off utterly, or deprive them of his protection, though he would do so to those that were the rod in his hand, to chastise and scourge his people.”

THE HOSTILE NATION, 1-4.

1. Against them that dwell in the midst, etc. — Literally, the inhabitants of the heart of my risers up. The original for heart of risers up is the word Chasdim, (Chaldeans,) written according to the canon Atbash, “for the purpose of obtaining the more important meaning that Chaldea is the centre of God’s enemies.” It is probable that some words in common use, written according to this cipher Atbash, were generally familiar. Destroying wind — Keil translates, spirit of a destroyer; but the leading Versions agree with the common English Version. The sense is a good one, and in harmony with the following verse.

V. 5. Forsaken-Not utterly forsaken.

Verse 5. For Israel hath not been forsaken] God still continued his prophets among them; he had never cast them wholly off. Even in the midst of wrath—highly deserved and inflicted punishment, he has remembered mercy; and is now about to crown what he has done by restoring them to their own land. I conceive אשם asham, which we translate sin, as rather signifying punishment, which meaning it often has.

Verses 3-5. Against him that bendeth let the archer bend — See Jeremiah 50:14; and against him, that lifteth up himself in his brigandine — Or, coat of mail: suffer not them who are skilful in using the bow, or armed in coats of mail, to avail themselves any thing of their skill or their armour, but oppose them with superior skill and force. Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans — There seems to be a transposition of words in this sentence, the sense certainly being, Thus the Chaldeans shall fall down slain to the earth. For Israel hath not been (or rather, shall not be) forsaken, nor Judah of his God — “Though God was justly displeased with his people, yet he would not cast them off utterly, or deprive them of his protection, though he would do so to those that were the rod in his hand, to chastise and scourge his people.”

V. 6. Soul-By soul is meant life, and by iniquity the punishment of the Babylonian’s iniquity.

Verses 6, 7. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, &c. — God’s people are here exhorted to flee out of Babylon with all haste, as Lot did out of Sodom, lest they should be consumed in the iniquity of that place: see Jeremiah 50:8. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand — In what sense Babylon is called a cup may be seen by comparing Jeremiah 25:15. Her greatness and glory enticed and drew in many nations to be confederate with her, in hopes of enriching or aggrandizing themselves; but thereby they drew down destruction upon themselves. They thought to drink, or be in alliance with the Babylonians, was drinking out of a golden cup, but it proved to them a deadly draught. For she was a splendid instrument of vengeance, ordained by God against them; and as they all had suffered by her, so they are all here represented as glorying over her, and rejoicing when her turn of suffering came. By making all the earth drunken, is meant either making all the neighbouring nations act foolishly, and contrary to true wisdom and prudence, or the causing them, as it were, to stagger and fall through the terror and astonishment, the confusion and dismay, which God’s judgments should produce among them: see note on Jeremiah 25:15. We may observe further here, that this golden cup is said to be in the Lord’s hand, to signify that these things had been brought about by the divine providence, and that God had used Babylon as an instrument to bring the nations to that condign punishment which they had deserved.

V. 7. Drunken-She had made all the nations about her drunken with the Lord’s fury. Mad-Through the misery they felt from her.

Verse 7. Made all the earth drunken] The cup of God’s wrath is the plenitude of punishment, that he inflicts on transgressors. It is represented as intoxicating and making them mad.

Verses 6, 7. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, &c. — God’s people are here exhorted to flee out of Babylon with all haste, as Lot did out of Sodom, lest they should be consumed in the iniquity of that place: see Jeremiah 50:8. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand — In what sense Babylon is called a cup may be seen by comparing Jeremiah 25:15. Her greatness and glory enticed and drew in many nations to be confederate with her, in hopes of enriching or aggrandizing themselves; but thereby they drew down destruction upon themselves. They thought to drink, or be in alliance with the Babylonians, was drinking out of a golden cup, but it proved to them a deadly draught. For she was a splendid instrument of vengeance, ordained by God against them; and as they all had suffered by her, so they are all here represented as glorying over her, and rejoicing when her turn of suffering came. By making all the earth drunken, is meant either making all the neighbouring nations act foolishly, and contrary to true wisdom and prudence, or the causing them, as it were, to stagger and fall through the terror and astonishment, the confusion and dismay, which God’s judgments should produce among them: see note on Jeremiah 25:15. We may observe further here, that this golden cup is said to be in the Lord’s hand, to signify that these things had been brought about by the divine providence, and that God had used Babylon as an instrument to bring the nations to that condign punishment which they had deserved.

Verse 7. Babylon is a golden cup in the hands of Jehovah. All the captives and allies are intoxicated with it. All nations bow to her idols, submit to her power, wonder at her riches, applaud her victories, and adore her splendour. Little indeed suspecting that her power should fall headlong from the highest pinnacle of elevation, and all her allies be instantaneously converted into foes.

7. Babylon… a golden cup — This figure is used in Psalm 60:3, and in Jeremiah 25:15, 16. The prominence given to it in Revelation 17:4, lends additional interest to the figure. “Golden,” to suggest the glory of the Babylonian kingdom.

Verse 8. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed] These appear to be the words of some of the spectators of Babylon’s misery.

Verses 8, 9. Babylon is suddenly fallen — It was one of the aggravations of the punishment of Babylon, that her destruction came upon her suddenly and unexpectedly. Howl for her, &c. — So the kings, the merchants, and other factors, are described as lamenting the destruction of mystical Babylon, Revelation 18:9, 11, 17-19. Take balm for her pain — Use your utmost endeavours, and try every thing you can to save her from destruction. This is spoken ironically, implying her ruin to be irrecoverable. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed — Some think “this is spoken in the name of God’s prophets, and the other witnesses of his truth, importing that they had sufficiently testified against her errors and idolatries, but that she was irreclaimable; and therefore that it was time for all the lovers of truth to depart out of her, lest they should be involved in her punishments.” But it is more probable that the nations which had been subject to Babylon, and were her allies, are the speakers here, declaring that they had assisted her to the utmost of their power, and had endeavoured to support her sinking cause, but all in vain, nothing which they had done or could do availing to save her from destruction. And therefore, as her case was desperate, it was time for them to shift for themselves, and to leave Babylon to its fate, since it seemed to be the decree of Heaven that it should fall. Those who have written of the downfall of Babylon relate, that when its affairs seemed to grow desperate, it was deserted by most of its allies, few or none of them persevering to lend it any assistance. Her judgment reacheth unto heaven — That is, her sin, bringing down God’s judgments; and is lifted up even to the skies — It comes to the ears of even God himself, and engages him to take account of it and punish her.

8. Destroyed — Literally, broken. This suggests a change in the figure, or that golden means ornamented with gold, or that this golden cup, though metal, is dashed so violently as to be shattered.

V. 9. We-The prophet seems to personate the mercenary soldiers, saying, they would have helped Babylon, but there was no healing for her.

Verse 9. We would have healed Babylon] Had it been in our power, we would have saved her; but we could not turn away the judgment of God.

Verses 8, 9. Babylon is suddenly fallen — It was one of the aggravations of the punishment of Babylon, that her destruction came upon her suddenly and unexpectedly. Howl for her, &c. — So the kings, the merchants, and other factors, are described as lamenting the destruction of mystical Babylon, Revelation 18:9, 11, 17-19. Take balm for her pain — Use your utmost endeavours, and try every thing you can to save her from destruction. This is spoken ironically, implying her ruin to be irrecoverable. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed — Some think “this is spoken in the name of God’s prophets, and the other witnesses of his truth, importing that they had sufficiently testified against her errors and idolatries, but that she was irreclaimable; and therefore that it was time for all the lovers of truth to depart out of her, lest they should be involved in her punishments.” But it is more probable that the nations which had been subject to Babylon, and were her allies, are the speakers here, declaring that they had assisted her to the utmost of their power, and had endeavoured to support her sinking cause, but all in vain, nothing which they had done or could do availing to save her from destruction. And therefore, as her case was desperate, it was time for them to shift for themselves, and to leave Babylon to its fate, since it seemed to be the decree of Heaven that it should fall. Those who have written of the downfall of Babylon relate, that when its affairs seemed to grow desperate, it was deserted by most of its allies, few or none of them persevering to lend it any assistance. Her judgment reacheth unto heaven — That is, her sin, bringing down God’s judgments; and is lifted up even to the skies — It comes to the ears of even God himself, and engages him to take account of it and punish her.

9. Let us go every one into his own country — This is the language of mercenaries from different lands. Hence they say, We would have healed, etc. Judgment — Really the sin by which the “judgment” is measured.

V. 10. Some-These words are spoken in the person of the Jews, owning the destruction of Babylon to be the mighty work of God, and an act of justice, revenging the wrongs of his people.

Verse 10. The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness.] This is the answer of the Jews. God has vindicated our cause.

Verse 10. The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness — Hath made manifest the equity of our cause, revenged the wrongs we have suffered, and shown ours to be the true religion, by bringing such remarkable judgments upon our enemies. Come, and let us declare in Zion, &c. — Therefore let us give glory to him in the assemblies of his church, and in the most public manner imaginable. This is spoken in the persons of the captive Jews.

10. Righteousness — Literally, righteousnesses; the things which show us to be righteous.

Verse 11. Make bright the arrows] This is the prophet’s address to Babylon.

The Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes] Of Cyaxares king of Media, called Darius the Mede in Scripture; and of Cyrus king of Persia, presumptive heir of the throne of Cyaxares, his uncle. Cambyses, his father, sent him, Cyrus, with 30,000 men to assist his uncle Cyaxares, against Neriglissar king of Babylon, and by these was Babylon overthrown.

Verses 11, 12. Make bright the arrows, gather the shields — Hebrew, µyclvh walm, the quivers. Thus the LXX., plhroute tav faretrav, with whom agree the Vulgate, Castalio, and others. The meaning is, Prepare all the instruments of war to defend yourselves, ye Babylonians, for you will have need of them all. The Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes — Neriglissar, king of Babylon, having formed an alliance against the Medes, Cambyses sent his son Cyrus with an army of thirty thousand Persians to join the Medes, commanded by Cyaxares, king of Media, Cyrus’s uncle; called in Scripture, Darius the Mede. It was properly his army that made the expedition against the Babylonians, Cyrus being employed as his general. Persia was then a small part of the empire of Media, and of little account till Cyrus advanced its reputation; and even then it was called the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, the Medes having still the preference: see Xenophon’s Cyropæd., lib. 1. and Lowth. Set up the standard upon, or rather, before the walls of Babylon; and proceed to take all the necessary steps to distress her, and make yourselves masters of her: for the Lord hath both devised, &c. — For God will both favour your undertaking, and will enable you to accomplish it.

Ver. 11. Make bright the arrows. Sharpen their points, rouse the spirit of the Median kings to war, and plant the standards of Elam upon her highest towers.

11. Make bright — Rather, sharpen. Gather — Better, fill; that is, put them on in their places. Kings of the Medes — Suggesting the various clans, or kingships, into which they were divided.

V. 12. Set up-These seem to be the prophet’s words to the Babylonians, rousing them out of their security. Historians tell us that the city was fortified by walls of fifty cubits high, and two hundred cubits broad, and by a very deep and large ditch.

Verse 12. Set up the standard] A call to the enemies of Babylon to invest the city and press the siege.

Verses 11, 12. Make bright the arrows, gather the shields — Hebrew, µyclvh walm, the quivers. Thus the LXX., plhroute tav faretrav, with whom agree the Vulgate, Castalio, and others. The meaning is, Prepare all the instruments of war to defend yourselves, ye Babylonians, for you will have need of them all. The Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes — Neriglissar, king of Babylon, having formed an alliance against the Medes, Cambyses sent his son Cyrus with an army of thirty thousand Persians to join the Medes, commanded by Cyaxares, king of Media, Cyrus’s uncle; called in Scripture, Darius the Mede. It was properly his army that made the expedition against the Babylonians, Cyrus being employed as his general. Persia was then a small part of the empire of Media, and of little account till Cyrus advanced its reputation; and even then it was called the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, the Medes having still the preference: see Xenophon’s Cyropæd., lib. 1. and Lowth. Set up the standard upon, or rather, before the walls of Babylon; and proceed to take all the necessary steps to distress her, and make yourselves masters of her: for the Lord hath both devised, &c. — For God will both favour your undertaking, and will enable you to accomplish it.

12. Upon the walls — Rather, against “the walls of Babylon.” The language is not, as some have understood, ironical, but a summons to the enemy to make the attack. Make the watch strong, etc. — This language has reference to the details of attack, rather than modes of defence.

V. 13. Waters-Babylon is said to dwell upon many waters, because the great river Euphrates, did not only run by it, but almost encompass it branching itself into many smaller rivers, which made several parts of the city, islands.

Verse 13. O thou that dwellest upon many waters] Thou who hast an abundant supply of waters. It was built on the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates; the latter running through the city. But the many waters may mean the many nations which belonged to the Babylonish empire; nations and people are frequently so called in Scripture.

Verses 13-19. O thou that dwellest upon many waters — The river Euphrates ran through the midst of Babylon, and there was a prodigious lake of water on one side of the city, besides other lesser waters near it, so that it was in a manner encompassed with waters. Many waters do likewise signify mystically the many people over which this was the reigning city: see Revelation 17:15. Abundant in treasures — Not only enriched by traffic, but by the conquest and spoil of many nations. Thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness — God has set bounds to thy covetousness, which it shall not pass over: thou shalt no more increase in wealth, but an end shall be put to all thy designs of this sort. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself — The Lord, who is well able to make his words good, hath sworn by himself, for he could swear by no greater, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men as with caterpillars — Or, locusts, as, according to Bochart, the word qly properly signifies. Armies are often compared to caterpillars, locusts, and such like devouring insects. He hath made the earth by his power, &c. — It is he who, by his immense power, has made all these wonderful things which we see about us, and adorned and settled them by his wisdom, that has pronounced this concerning Babylon: and therefore you need not be doubtful respecting its accomplishment, since he who could create these mighty works, can certainly, whenever he pleases, effect what is infinitely more easy, the ruin of Babylon. But for an elucidation of this, and the four following verses, see notes on Jeremiah 10:12-16.

Ver. 13. Oh thou that dwellest upon many waters. All resources of wealth are at thy command, yet thy waters shall be drained. The Euphrates, which ran through the city, was two hundred and fifty paces broad; and a communication was opened with the Tigris by a canal. These waters supplied her with merchandise; but the river once opened by Cyrus into the lower channel, almost forsook the city, and diminished the navigation.

13. Dwellest upon many waters — An allusion to the elaborate system of irrigation in the Babylonian plain, to which was due its extraordinary fruitfulness, and in some degree the eminence of Babylon herself. Measure of thy covetousness — The limit of thine unjust gain.

Verse 14. I will fill thee with men] By means of these very waters through the channel of thy boasted river, thou shalt be filled with men, suddenly appearing as an army of locusts; and, without being expected, shall lift up a terrific cry, as soon as they have risen from the channel of the river.

Verses 13-19. O thou that dwellest upon many waters — The river Euphrates ran through the midst of Babylon, and there was a prodigious lake of water on one side of the city, besides other lesser waters near it, so that it was in a manner encompassed with waters. Many waters do likewise signify mystically the many people over which this was the reigning city: see Revelation 17:15. Abundant in treasures — Not only enriched by traffic, but by the conquest and spoil of many nations. Thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness — God has set bounds to thy covetousness, which it shall not pass over: thou shalt no more increase in wealth, but an end shall be put to all thy designs of this sort. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself — The Lord, who is well able to make his words good, hath sworn by himself, for he could swear by no greater, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men as with caterpillars — Or, locusts, as, according to Bochart, the word qly properly signifies. Armies are often compared to caterpillars, locusts, and such like devouring insects. He hath made the earth by his power, &c. — It is he who, by his immense power, has made all these wonderful things which we see about us, and adorned and settled them by his wisdom, that has pronounced this concerning Babylon: and therefore you need not be doubtful respecting its accomplishment, since he who could create these mighty works, can certainly, whenever he pleases, effect what is infinitely more easy, the ruin of Babylon. But for an elucidation of this, and the four following verses, see notes on Jeremiah 10:12-16.

Ver. 14. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself—I will fill thee with men. As when a cloud of locusts descends on the fields and vineyards, and cease not their depradations till the verdure is all consumed, so shall the allied armies enter Babylon. And who can say what their licentiousness would be. They were all learned in the crimes of the Babylonian armies. True is the proverb, the laws are silent in war.

14. The Lord of hosts hath sworn — The solemnity of oathtaking is employed in announcing this destruction. By himself — The margin is more exactly literal and more expressive, by his soul. Caterpillars — Rather, locusts. Shall lift up a shout — Literally, the vintage song. The “vintage song” is, in the nature of the case, a battle song, and suggests that the men with which Babylon is filled, trample her under foot, thus executing the wrath of God upon her.

Verse 15. He hath made the earth by his power] The omnipotence of God is particularly manifested in the works of creation. He hath established the world by his wisdom] The omniscience of God is particularly seen in the government of lbt tebel, the inhabited surface of the globe. What a profusion of wisdom and skill is apparent in that wondrous system of providence by which he governs and provides for every living thing.

And hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.] Deep thought, comprehensive design, and consummate skill are especially seen in the formation, magnitudes, distances, revolutions, and various affections of the heavenly bodies.

Verses 13-19. O thou that dwellest upon many waters — The river Euphrates ran through the midst of Babylon, and there was a prodigious lake of water on one side of the city, besides other lesser waters near it, so that it was in a manner encompassed with waters. Many waters do likewise signify mystically the many people over which this was the reigning city: see Revelation 17:15. Abundant in treasures — Not only enriched by traffic, but by the conquest and spoil of many nations. Thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness — God has set bounds to thy covetousness, which it shall not pass over: thou shalt no more increase in wealth, but an end shall be put to all thy designs of this sort. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself — The Lord, who is well able to make his words good, hath sworn by himself, for he could swear by no greater, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men as with caterpillars — Or, locusts, as, according to Bochart, the word qly properly signifies. Armies are often compared to caterpillars, locusts, and such like devouring insects. He hath made the earth by his power, &c. — It is he who, by his immense power, has made all these wonderful things which we see about us, and adorned and settled them by his wisdom, that has pronounced this concerning Babylon: and therefore you need not be doubtful respecting its accomplishment, since he who could create these mighty works, can certainly, whenever he pleases, effect what is infinitely more easy, the ruin of Babylon. But for an elucidation of this, and the four following verses, see notes on Jeremiah 10:12-16.

Ver. 15. He hath made the earth by his power. These words are of the same import as in Jeremiah 10:13.

GOD AGAINST THE IDOLS OF BABYLON, 15-26.

15-19. He hath made the earth by his power — These verses are almost an exact transcript of Jeremiah 10:12-16, and hold up before the people the almightiness of Jehovah, the nothingness of idols, and the foolishness of those who put their trust in them. In one particular only is there a difference between the passage as given here and as found in the tenth chapter. In verse 19 the word Israel has been omitted, and the predicate is connected with the general subject, God. This is not an error of the text, as some have concluded, and the introduction of the word in several of the Versions is to be condemned.

Verse 16. When he uttereth his voice] Sends thunder.

There is a multitude of waters] For the electric spark, by decomposing atmospheric air, converts the hydrogen and oxygen gases, of which it is composed, into water; which falls down in the form of rain. Causeth the vapours to ascend] He is the Author of that power of evaporation by which the water is rarified, and, being lighter than the air, ascends in form of vapour, forms clouds, and is ready to be sent down again to water the earth by the action of his lightnings, as before. And by those same lightnings, and the agency of heat in general, currents of air are formed, moving in various directions, which we call winds.

Verses 13-19. O thou that dwellest upon many waters — The river Euphrates ran through the midst of Babylon, and there was a prodigious lake of water on one side of the city, besides other lesser waters near it, so that it was in a manner encompassed with waters. Many waters do likewise signify mystically the many people over which this was the reigning city: see Revelation 17:15. Abundant in treasures — Not only enriched by traffic, but by the conquest and spoil of many nations. Thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness — God has set bounds to thy covetousness, which it shall not pass over: thou shalt no more increase in wealth, but an end shall be put to all thy designs of this sort. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself — The Lord, who is well able to make his words good, hath sworn by himself, for he could swear by no greater, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men as with caterpillars — Or, locusts, as, according to Bochart, the word qly properly signifies. Armies are often compared to caterpillars, locusts, and such like devouring insects. He hath made the earth by his power, &c. — It is he who, by his immense power, has made all these wonderful things which we see about us, and adorned and settled them by his wisdom, that has pronounced this concerning Babylon: and therefore you need not be doubtful respecting its accomplishment, since he who could create these mighty works, can certainly, whenever he pleases, effect what is infinitely more easy, the ruin of Babylon. But for an elucidation of this, and the four following verses, see notes on Jeremiah 10:12-16.

GOD AGAINST THE IDOLS OF BABYLON, 15-26.

15-19. He hath made the earth by his power — These verses are almost an exact transcript of Jeremiah 10:12-16, and hold up before the people the almightiness of Jehovah, the nothingness of idols, and the foolishness of those who put their trust in them. In one particular only is there a difference between the passage as given here and as found in the tenth chapter. In verse 19 the word Israel has been omitted, and the predicate is connected with the general subject, God. This is not an error of the text, as some have concluded, and the introduction of the word in several of the Versions is to be condemned.

Verse 17. Every man is brutish by his knowledge] He is brutish for want of real knowledge; and he is brutish when he acknowledges that an idol is any thing in the world. These verses, from fifteen to nineteen, are transcribed from Jeremiah 10:12-16.

Verses 13-19. O thou that dwellest upon many waters — The river Euphrates ran through the midst of Babylon, and there was a prodigious lake of water on one side of the city, besides other lesser waters near it, so that it was in a manner encompassed with waters. Many waters do likewise signify mystically the many people over which this was the reigning city: see Revelation 17:15. Abundant in treasures — Not only enriched by traffic, but by the conquest and spoil of many nations. Thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness — God has set bounds to thy covetousness, which it shall not pass over: thou shalt no more increase in wealth, but an end shall be put to all thy designs of this sort. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself — The Lord, who is well able to make his words good, hath sworn by himself, for he could swear by no greater, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men as with caterpillars — Or, locusts, as, according to Bochart, the word qly properly signifies. Armies are often compared to caterpillars, locusts, and such like devouring insects. He hath made the earth by his power, &c. — It is he who, by his immense power, has made all these wonderful things which we see about us, and adorned and settled them by his wisdom, that has pronounced this concerning Babylon: and therefore you need not be doubtful respecting its accomplishment, since he who could create these mighty works, can certainly, whenever he pleases, effect what is infinitely more easy, the ruin of Babylon. But for an elucidation of this, and the four following verses, see notes on Jeremiah 10:12-16.

GOD AGAINST THE IDOLS OF BABYLON, 15-26.

15-19. He hath made the earth by his power — These verses are almost an exact transcript of Jeremiah 10:12-16, and hold up before the people the almightiness of Jehovah, the nothingness of idols, and the foolishness of those who put their trust in them. In one particular only is there a difference between the passage as given here and as found in the tenth chapter. In verse 19 the word Israel has been omitted, and the predicate is connected with the general subject, God. This is not an error of the text, as some have concluded, and the introduction of the word in several of the Versions is to be condemned.

Verses 13-19. O thou that dwellest upon many waters — The river Euphrates ran through the midst of Babylon, and there was a prodigious lake of water on one side of the city, besides other lesser waters near it, so that it was in a manner encompassed with waters. Many waters do likewise signify mystically the many people over which this was the reigning city: see Revelation 17:15. Abundant in treasures — Not only enriched by traffic, but by the conquest and spoil of many nations. Thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness — God has set bounds to thy covetousness, which it shall not pass over: thou shalt no more increase in wealth, but an end shall be put to all thy designs of this sort. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself — The Lord, who is well able to make his words good, hath sworn by himself, for he could swear by no greater, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men as with caterpillars — Or, locusts, as, according to Bochart, the word qly properly signifies. Armies are often compared to caterpillars, locusts, and such like devouring insects. He hath made the earth by his power, &c. — It is he who, by his immense power, has made all these wonderful things which we see about us, and adorned and settled them by his wisdom, that has pronounced this concerning Babylon: and therefore you need not be doubtful respecting its accomplishment, since he who could create these mighty works, can certainly, whenever he pleases, effect what is infinitely more easy, the ruin of Babylon. But for an elucidation of this, and the four following verses, see notes on Jeremiah 10:12-16.

GOD AGAINST THE IDOLS OF BABYLON, 15-26.

15-19. He hath made the earth by his power — These verses are almost an exact transcript of Jeremiah 10:12-16, and hold up before the people the almightiness of Jehovah, the nothingness of idols, and the foolishness of those who put their trust in them. In one particular only is there a difference between the passage as given here and as found in the tenth chapter. In verse 19 the word Israel has been omitted, and the predicate is connected with the general subject, God. This is not an error of the text, as some have concluded, and the introduction of the word in several of the Versions is to be condemned.

Verses 13-19. O thou that dwellest upon many waters — The river Euphrates ran through the midst of Babylon, and there was a prodigious lake of water on one side of the city, besides other lesser waters near it, so that it was in a manner encompassed with waters. Many waters do likewise signify mystically the many people over which this was the reigning city: see Revelation 17:15. Abundant in treasures — Not only enriched by traffic, but by the conquest and spoil of many nations. Thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness — God has set bounds to thy covetousness, which it shall not pass over: thou shalt no more increase in wealth, but an end shall be put to all thy designs of this sort. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself — The Lord, who is well able to make his words good, hath sworn by himself, for he could swear by no greater, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men as with caterpillars — Or, locusts, as, according to Bochart, the word qly properly signifies. Armies are often compared to caterpillars, locusts, and such like devouring insects. He hath made the earth by his power, &c. — It is he who, by his immense power, has made all these wonderful things which we see about us, and adorned and settled them by his wisdom, that has pronounced this concerning Babylon: and therefore you need not be doubtful respecting its accomplishment, since he who could create these mighty works, can certainly, whenever he pleases, effect what is infinitely more easy, the ruin of Babylon. But for an elucidation of this, and the four following verses, see notes on Jeremiah 10:12-16.

GOD AGAINST THE IDOLS OF BABYLON, 15-26.

15-19. He hath made the earth by his power — These verses are almost an exact transcript of Jeremiah 10:12-16, and hold up before the people the almightiness of Jehovah, the nothingness of idols, and the foolishness of those who put their trust in them. In one particular only is there a difference between the passage as given here and as found in the tenth chapter. In verse 19 the word Israel has been omitted, and the predicate is connected with the general subject, God. This is not an error of the text, as some have concluded, and the introduction of the word in several of the Versions is to be condemned.

Verse 20. Thou art my battle axe] I believe Nebuchadnezzar is meant, who is called, Jeremiah 50:23, the hammer of the whole earth. Others think the words are spoken of Cyrus. All the verbs are in the past tense: “With thee have I broken in pieces,” &c., &c.

Verses 20-24. Thou art my battle-axe, &c. — Cyrus, or rather the army of the Medes and Persians, seems to be intended here; compare verses 11, 12; as elsewhere the instrument of God’s vengeance is called a sword, a rod, a scourge. This army, with Cyrus, their general, God here says he will make use of for destroying the whole power of the Babylonish empire, and all orders and degrees of men in it, as he had formerly made that empire the executioner of his judgments upon other countries, Jeremiah 50:23. “Or else,” says Lowth, “the words may be understood of the church, and imply, that God will destroy all those earthly powers and kingdoms which are adversaries to his truth and people, in order to establish and advance his church. This will be fulfilled at the fall of mystical Babylon, when God’s kingdom shall break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth, in the destruction of that remnant of the fourth monarchy, according to Daniel’s prophecy, Daniel 2:44.” And I will render unto Babylon all their evil (see verse 11, and Jeremiah 50:28) that they have done in Zion, in your sight — This may either refer to the evil done at Jerusalem and in Judea, by the Chaldeans, in the sight of God’s people, or to the open and public manner in which judgment would be executed on Babylon.

Ver. 20. Thou art my battle-axe. This is an apostrophe to Nebuchadnezzar, who is called the hammer of the whole earth, Jeremiah 50:23; the hammer that dashed Nineveh to pieces. Nahum 2:1. Now the axe should be turned against Babylon, to which city the apostrophe is continued, as in the following words.

20-24. Thou art — By “thou,” Ewald understands the king of Israel; Grotius, Cyrus and the Medes; Nagelsbach, an ideal person; Calmet and most expositors, Babylon. The last is to be preferred, and is supported by Jeremiah 50:23. The enumeration of the things which this battle-hammer should break in pieces is an orderly one. 1) The nations and kingdoms. 2) The military forces — the horse and his rider, the chariot and his rider. 3) The people — man and woman… old and young… young man and… maid. 4) Occupations — shepherd… husbandman… captains and rulers.

Verses 20-24. Thou art my battle-axe, &c. — Cyrus, or rather the army of the Medes and Persians, seems to be intended here; compare verses 11, 12; as elsewhere the instrument of God’s vengeance is called a sword, a rod, a scourge. This army, with Cyrus, their general, God here says he will make use of for destroying the whole power of the Babylonish empire, and all orders and degrees of men in it, as he had formerly made that empire the executioner of his judgments upon other countries, Jeremiah 50:23. “Or else,” says Lowth, “the words may be understood of the church, and imply, that God will destroy all those earthly powers and kingdoms which are adversaries to his truth and people, in order to establish and advance his church. This will be fulfilled at the fall of mystical Babylon, when God’s kingdom shall break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth, in the destruction of that remnant of the fourth monarchy, according to Daniel’s prophecy, Daniel 2:44.” And I will render unto Babylon all their evil (see verse 11, and Jeremiah 50:28) that they have done in Zion, in your sight — This may either refer to the evil done at Jerusalem and in Judea, by the Chaldeans, in the sight of God’s people, or to the open and public manner in which judgment would be executed on Babylon.

20-24. Thou art — By “thou,” Ewald understands the king of Israel; Grotius, Cyrus and the Medes; Nagelsbach, an ideal person; Calmet and most expositors, Babylon. The last is to be preferred, and is supported by Jeremiah 50:23. The enumeration of the things which this battle-hammer should break in pieces is an orderly one. 1) The nations and kingdoms. 2) The military forces — the horse and his rider, the chariot and his rider. 3) The people — man and woman… old and young… young man and… maid. 4) Occupations — shepherd… husbandman… captains and rulers.

Verses 20-24. Thou art my battle-axe, &c. — Cyrus, or rather the army of the Medes and Persians, seems to be intended here; compare verses 11, 12; as elsewhere the instrument of God’s vengeance is called a sword, a rod, a scourge. This army, with Cyrus, their general, God here says he will make use of for destroying the whole power of the Babylonish empire, and all orders and degrees of men in it, as he had formerly made that empire the executioner of his judgments upon other countries, Jeremiah 50:23. “Or else,” says Lowth, “the words may be understood of the church, and imply, that God will destroy all those earthly powers and kingdoms which are adversaries to his truth and people, in order to establish and advance his church. This will be fulfilled at the fall of mystical Babylon, when God’s kingdom shall break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth, in the destruction of that remnant of the fourth monarchy, according to Daniel’s prophecy, Daniel 2:44.” And I will render unto Babylon all their evil (see verse 11, and Jeremiah 50:28) that they have done in Zion, in your sight — This may either refer to the evil done at Jerusalem and in Judea, by the Chaldeans, in the sight of God’s people, or to the open and public manner in which judgment would be executed on Babylon.

20-24. Thou art — By “thou,” Ewald understands the king of Israel; Grotius, Cyrus and the Medes; Nagelsbach, an ideal person; Calmet and most expositors, Babylon. The last is to be preferred, and is supported by Jeremiah 50:23. The enumeration of the things which this battle-hammer should break in pieces is an orderly one. 1) The nations and kingdoms. 2) The military forces — the horse and his rider, the chariot and his rider. 3) The people — man and woman… old and young… young man and… maid. 4) Occupations — shepherd… husbandman… captains and rulers.

V. 23. Break in pieces-The sense of all these three verses is the same; that God had made use, and was still making use of the Babylonians to destroy many nations, to spoil much people, wasting their goods, routing their armies, killing all sorts of their inhabitants.

Verses 20-24. Thou art my battle-axe, &c. — Cyrus, or rather the army of the Medes and Persians, seems to be intended here; compare verses 11, 12; as elsewhere the instrument of God’s vengeance is called a sword, a rod, a scourge. This army, with Cyrus, their general, God here says he will make use of for destroying the whole power of the Babylonish empire, and all orders and degrees of men in it, as he had formerly made that empire the executioner of his judgments upon other countries, Jeremiah 50:23. “Or else,” says Lowth, “the words may be understood of the church, and imply, that God will destroy all those earthly powers and kingdoms which are adversaries to his truth and people, in order to establish and advance his church. This will be fulfilled at the fall of mystical Babylon, when God’s kingdom shall break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth, in the destruction of that remnant of the fourth monarchy, according to Daniel’s prophecy, Daniel 2:44.” And I will render unto Babylon all their evil (see verse 11, and Jeremiah 50:28) that they have done in Zion, in your sight — This may either refer to the evil done at Jerusalem and in Judea, by the Chaldeans, in the sight of God’s people, or to the open and public manner in which judgment would be executed on Babylon.

20-24. Thou art — By “thou,” Ewald understands the king of Israel; Grotius, Cyrus and the Medes; Nagelsbach, an ideal person; Calmet and most expositors, Babylon. The last is to be preferred, and is supported by Jeremiah 50:23. The enumeration of the things which this battle-hammer should break in pieces is an orderly one. 1) The nations and kingdoms. 2) The military forces — the horse and his rider, the chariot and his rider. 3) The people — man and woman… old and young… young man and… maid. 4) Occupations — shepherd… husbandman… captains and rulers.

Verse 24. And I will render] The w vau should be translated but, of which it has here the full power: “But I will render unto Babylon.”

Verses 20-24. Thou art my battle-axe, &c. — Cyrus, or rather the army of the Medes and Persians, seems to be intended here; compare verses 11, 12; as elsewhere the instrument of God’s vengeance is called a sword, a rod, a scourge. This army, with Cyrus, their general, God here says he will make use of for destroying the whole power of the Babylonish empire, and all orders and degrees of men in it, as he had formerly made that empire the executioner of his judgments upon other countries, Jeremiah 50:23. “Or else,” says Lowth, “the words may be understood of the church, and imply, that God will destroy all those earthly powers and kingdoms which are adversaries to his truth and people, in order to establish and advance his church. This will be fulfilled at the fall of mystical Babylon, when God’s kingdom shall break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth, in the destruction of that remnant of the fourth monarchy, according to Daniel’s prophecy, Daniel 2:44.” And I will render unto Babylon all their evil (see verse 11, and Jeremiah 50:28) that they have done in Zion, in your sight — This may either refer to the evil done at Jerusalem and in Judea, by the Chaldeans, in the sight of God’s people, or to the open and public manner in which judgment would be executed on Babylon.

20-24. Thou art — By “thou,” Ewald understands the king of Israel; Grotius, Cyrus and the Medes; Nagelsbach, an ideal person; Calmet and most expositors, Babylon. The last is to be preferred, and is supported by Jeremiah 50:23. The enumeration of the things which this battle-hammer should break in pieces is an orderly one. 1) The nations and kingdoms. 2) The military forces — the horse and his rider, the chariot and his rider. 3) The people — man and woman… old and young… young man and… maid. 4) Occupations — shepherd… husbandman… captains and rulers.

V. 25. Mountain-Babylon was very high for its power, and greatness, and had very high walls and towers, that it looked at a distance like an high rocky mountain. They had destroyed many people. Burnt-Thy cities and towers which appear like a mountain shall be burnt.

Verse 25. O destroying mountain] An epithet which he applies to the Babylonish government; it is like a burning mountain, which, by vomiting continual streams of burning lava, inundates and destroys all towns, villages fields, &c., in its vicinity.

And roll thee down from the rocks] I will tumble thee from the rocky base on which thou restest. The combustible matter in thy bowels being exhausted, thou shalt appear as an extinguished crater; and the stony matter which thou castest out shall not be of sufficient substance to make a foundation stone for solidity, or a corner stone for beauty, Jeremiah 51:26. Under this beautiful and most expressive metaphor, the prophet shows the nature of the Babylonish government; setting the nations on fire, deluging and destroying them by its troops, till at last, exhausted, it tumbles down, is extinguished, and leaves nothing as a basis to erect a new form of government on; but is altogether useless, like the cooled lava, which is, properly speaking, fit for no human purpose.

Verses 25, 26. Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain — Babylon was situate in a plain, but is called a mountain here, by reason of its superiority and eminence above all other places; and perhaps also on account of its lofty walls, palaces, and other edifices; and it has the epithet of destroying, on account of its being the cause of the destruction of many nations. Or, the words tyjvmh rh may properly be rendered, mountain of corruption, a name given by way of reproach to the mount of Olives, after it was defiled by idolatry, 2 Kings 23:13, where see the note. The same appellation is here given to Babylon, because it was the seat of idolatry; which was derived from thence into other countries under its government and jurisdiction. This is remarkably true of mystical Babylon. I will roll thee down from the rocks — That is, from thy strong holds. I will dismantle all thy walls and forts, and then set thee on fire, (see verses 58, 59,) so that thou shalt appear like a great mountain burning. “Earthquakes were frequent in Palestine, and the sacred writers have embellished their writings with repeated allusions to this terrible phenomenon. The prophet here compares a powerful nation, doomed to destruction, to a ruinous mountain, or rather a volcano, which would soon be consumed, and involve other mountains in its ruins.” And they shall not take of thee a stone — There shall not be left, in thee a stone fit to be used in any principal part of a building, either for a foundation or for a corner-stone. This seems to be spoken figuratively, and to signify that they should no longer have kings and governors taken from among themselves, but should be under the dominion of foreigners.

Ver. 25. Oh destroying mountain. Though situate on a plain, Babylon was a very high mountain in regard of power over all Asia. I will roll thee down from the rocks, and make thee a burnt mountain, or a mountain of combustion. Babylon was not burned by the Persians, the prophet might therefore have in view the sublime irruptions of volcanic mountains, which sometimes burst at once. Pliny names an earthquake which destroyed twelve cities of Asia; and Hecla, by one irruption, covered the sea for seventy miles with pumice. Babylon had so vomited fire and devastations on the nations, as to merit the appellation of a destroying mountain.

25, 26. Destroying mountain — The same phrase is used in 2 Kings xxiii, 13, and is translated “mount of corruption.” It is there applied to the southern portion of the mount of Olives, in view of the idolatrous shrines set up by Solomon. Here the phrase is applied to Babylon, and suggests its eminence among the nations, and its power for evil in working physical and moral ruin. Roll thee down — The explanation of this phrase is doubtful. I… will make thee a burnt mountain — Literally, a mountain of burning. Language founded on the conception of a volcano. The threat, Thou shalt be desolate forever, falls in well with the notion of a burnt-out mountain, though it means evidently more than that it should be a scene of ruin. It is never more to be used. They shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations — Its history is terminated. Never again are human hopes and interests to be founded on Babylon.

Verses 25, 26. Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain — Babylon was situate in a plain, but is called a mountain here, by reason of its superiority and eminence above all other places; and perhaps also on account of its lofty walls, palaces, and other edifices; and it has the epithet of destroying, on account of its being the cause of the destruction of many nations. Or, the words tyjvmh rh may properly be rendered, mountain of corruption, a name given by way of reproach to the mount of Olives, after it was defiled by idolatry, 2 Kings 23:13, where see the note. The same appellation is here given to Babylon, because it was the seat of idolatry; which was derived from thence into other countries under its government and jurisdiction. This is remarkably true of mystical Babylon. I will roll thee down from the rocks — That is, from thy strong holds. I will dismantle all thy walls and forts, and then set thee on fire, (see verses 58, 59,) so that thou shalt appear like a great mountain burning. “Earthquakes were frequent in Palestine, and the sacred writers have embellished their writings with repeated allusions to this terrible phenomenon. The prophet here compares a powerful nation, doomed to destruction, to a ruinous mountain, or rather a volcano, which would soon be consumed, and involve other mountains in its ruins.” And they shall not take of thee a stone — There shall not be left, in thee a stone fit to be used in any principal part of a building, either for a foundation or for a corner-stone. This seems to be spoken figuratively, and to signify that they should no longer have kings and governors taken from among themselves, but should be under the dominion of foreigners.

Ver. 26. They shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for a foundation, as from other ruins. See on Jeremiah 50:40.

25, 26. Destroying mountain — The same phrase is used in 2 Kings xxiii, 13, and is translated “mount of corruption.” It is there applied to the southern portion of the mount of Olives, in view of the idolatrous shrines set up by Solomon. Here the phrase is applied to Babylon, and suggests its eminence among the nations, and its power for evil in working physical and moral ruin. Roll thee down — The explanation of this phrase is doubtful. I… will make thee a burnt mountain — Literally, a mountain of burning. Language founded on the conception of a volcano. The threat, Thou shalt be desolate forever, falls in well with the notion of a burnt-out mountain, though it means evidently more than that it should be a scene of ruin. It is never more to be used. They shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations — Its history is terminated. Never again are human hopes and interests to be founded on Babylon.

V. 27. As caterpillars-The Median horses are compared to their insects, either with respect to their numbers, or in regard of the terror caused by them when they came, being a great plague to the places which they infected.

Verse 27. Set ye up a standard] Another summons to the Medes and Persians to attack Babylon.

Ararat, Minni] The Greater and Lesser Armenia. And Ashchenaz] A part of Phrygia, near the Hellespont. So Bochart, Phaleg, lib. i. c. 3, lib. iii. c. 9. Concerning Ashchenaz Homer seems to speak, Il. ii. 370, 371:—

Forkuv au Frugav hge, kai Askaniov qeoeidhv, Thl~ ex Askanihv.

“Ascanius, godlike youth, and Phorcys led

The Phrygians from Ascania’s distant land.” Calmet thinks that the Ascantes, who dwelt in the vicinity of the Tanais, are meant.

Verses 27-29. Set ye up a standard — blow the trumpet — These were common signals for assembling armies together. Call together the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashehenaz — These were countries under the dominion of the Medes. The two former probably the greater and lesser Armenia, and the latter a part of Phrygia, near the Hellespont: so Bochart thinks. And that both Armenians and Phrygians composed part of the army which Cyrus led against Babylon, may be seen in Xenophon. Cyropœd., lib.

3. and lib. 7. Appoint a captain against her — Appoint a proper person, who has skill, courage, and conduct, to command and direct all these nations. Such was Cyrus, who was accordingly appointed to this purpose. Cause her horses to come up as the rough caterpillars — Or, the rough locusts, as Bochart renders it, who observes, that there are some insects of that kind rough and hairy. Blaney reads, bristled locusts. Locusts represent horses, not only in their swiftness, but likewise in the shape of their heads, and Joel 2:4, Revelation 9:7, they are said to have the appearance of horses and horsemen. Prepare against her the kings of the Medes — The several princes or viceroys of the provinces belonging to the Median empire, with their people. All princes and governors are called kings in the Hebrew language. The land shall tremble and sorrow — An expression commonly used to express the confusion of the inhabitants under some great calamity. For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed, &c. — See notes on Jeremiah 50:16-40.

Ver. 27. Ararat is a mountain in Armenia, isolated, very high and pointed, with a double summit, inaccessible and covered with snow. The lower hills abound with ruins. Minni seems to be Armenia the less, as the Chaldaic reads. N. Damascenus, in Josephus, calls it Minias, a mountain. Strabo and Pliny call it Mylias. By Ashchenaz, some understand the country which reached to Scythia. Others, with more propriety, understand it of Phrygia and Mysia, as part of this country is called by Homer Ascaria. Poole has a long criticism on this verse.

THE NATIONS SUMMONED AGAINST BABYLON, 27-37.

27. Set ye up a standard — Another call to war. This whole passage is a parallelism of that which commences at verse 12, but descends more into particulars. In the land — Better, earth. Prepare — Literally, consecrate; alluding to the religions solemnities with which war is begun. The kingdoms here mentioned, Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz, were located in or near Armenia. Captain — This word occurs besides only in Nahum 3:17, and its precise import is doubtful. In both passages the habits of locusts are probably had in view. Rough caterpillars — Rather, as the bristly locust; spoken “of the locust after its third skin, when the wings are still covered with the rough, horny hide.” — Furst.

Verses 27-29. Set ye up a standard — blow the trumpet — These were common signals for assembling armies together. Call together the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashehenaz — These were countries under the dominion of the Medes. The two former probably the greater and lesser Armenia, and the latter a part of Phrygia, near the Hellespont: so Bochart thinks. And that both Armenians and Phrygians composed part of the army which Cyrus led against Babylon, may be seen in Xenophon. Cyropœd., lib.

3. and lib. 7. Appoint a captain against her — Appoint a proper person, who has skill, courage, and conduct, to command and direct all these nations. Such was Cyrus, who was accordingly appointed to this purpose. Cause her horses to come up as the rough caterpillars — Or, the rough locusts, as Bochart renders it, who observes, that there are some insects of that kind rough and hairy. Blaney reads, bristled locusts. Locusts represent horses, not only in their swiftness, but likewise in the shape of their heads, and Joel 2:4, Revelation 9:7, they are said to have the appearance of horses and horsemen. Prepare against her the kings of the Medes — The several princes or viceroys of the provinces belonging to the Median empire, with their people. All princes and governors are called kings in the Hebrew language. The land shall tremble and sorrow — An expression commonly used to express the confusion of the inhabitants under some great calamity. For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed, &c. — See notes on Jeremiah 50:16-40.

THE NATIONS SUMMONED AGAINST BABYLON, 27-37.

27. Set ye up a standard — Another call to war. This whole passage is a parallelism of that which commences at verse 12, but descends more into particulars. In the land — Better, earth. Prepare — Literally, consecrate; alluding to the religions solemnities with which war is begun. The kingdoms here mentioned, Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz, were located in or near Armenia. Captain — This word occurs besides only in Nahum 3:17, and its precise import is doubtful. In both passages the habits of locusts are probably had in view. Rough caterpillars — Rather, as the bristly locust; spoken “of the locust after its third skin, when the wings are still covered with the rough, horny hide.” — Furst.

V. 29. The land-Babylon, or the land of Chaldea.

Verse 29. And the land shall tremble] It is represented here as trembling under the numerous armies that are passing over it, and the prancing of their horses.

Verses 27-29. Set ye up a standard — blow the trumpet — These were common signals for assembling armies together. Call together the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashehenaz — These were countries under the dominion of the Medes. The two former probably the greater and lesser Armenia, and the latter a part of Phrygia, near the Hellespont: so Bochart thinks. And that both Armenians and Phrygians composed part of the army which Cyrus led against Babylon, may be seen in Xenophon. Cyropœd., lib.

3. and lib. 7. Appoint a captain against her — Appoint a proper person, who has skill, courage, and conduct, to command and direct all these nations. Such was Cyrus, who was accordingly appointed to this purpose. Cause her horses to come up as the rough caterpillars — Or, the rough locusts, as Bochart renders it, who observes, that there are some insects of that kind rough and hairy. Blaney reads, bristled locusts. Locusts represent horses, not only in their swiftness, but likewise in the shape of their heads, and Joel 2:4, Revelation 9:7, they are said to have the appearance of horses and horsemen. Prepare against her the kings of the Medes — The several princes or viceroys of the provinces belonging to the Median empire, with their people. All princes and governors are called kings in the Hebrew language. The land shall tremble and sorrow — An expression commonly used to express the confusion of the inhabitants under some great calamity. For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed, &c. — See notes on Jeremiah 50:16-40.

29. The land shall tremble — The Hebrew of this passage is more expressive than the common English Version: Then the earth quaked and trembled. For the purposes of Jehovah against Babylon have stood fast — To make Babylon a waste without inhabitant.

Verse 30. The mighty men—have forborne to fight] They were panic-struck when they found the Medes and Persians within their walls, and at once saw that resistance was useless.

Verses 30-32. The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight: they have remained, &c. — “The year before the siege of Babylon, Cyrus overthrew Belshazzar in battle, whereupon his army retreated within the walls, where they were shut up by him and besieged. Afterward, when Cyrus entered the city, he ordered public proclamation to be made, that all persons should keep within their houses, and whoever was found abroad should be put to death; and threatened to set their houses on fire, if any offered to hurt the soldiers from the tops of their houses.” They became as women — Timorous, and without courage. They have burned their dwelling-places — The enemy have burned their houses. Her bars are broken — All her fortresses, and what she confided in as her chief defence against the enemy. One post shall run to meet another — Messengers shall run from different parts, and so fall in with one another, all carrying the same intelligence to the same person, that the city was taken on the part every one came from. This is a very natural description of what may be supposed to happen on a city being taken by surprise in the middle of the night; for, as fast as the alarm spread, people would be posting away with the news from all parts to the head-quarters. The translation of the last clause, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, is not accurate: the word hxqm does not mean at one end, for one is not in the text, but at the extremity. It may not be improper to observe further here, that though it seems unusual to say that one messenger runs to meet another, to acquaint any one with the same news, the usual expression in such a case being, that one messenger follows upon the heels of another; yet, in this matter, this unusual way of speaking was exactly descriptive of the fact; for Babylon being taken by a party of soldiers entering by the channel of the Euphrates at each extremity of the city, the messengers who carried the news to the king at his palace would actually run toward and meet each other at or near the palace, as they came from opposite quarters, to acquaint him that his city was taken at the extremities; for we cannot but suppose that people would run from each end of the city to the palace as soon as Cyrus’s men entered. The passage in the original has great beauty and sublimity, which, however, is almost lost in our translation. Houbigant seems to give it its due force, rendering the verbs in the present tense, and omitting the connecting particles, which greatly augments its energy, thus: “Courier comes to meet courier — messenger meets messenger — to inform the king of Babylon that his city is taken at the extremity, that the passages are stopped, [or surprised, see verse 41,] that fires are burning among the reeds, that the men of war are terrified.” The passages here mentioned “were most probably the entrances into the city from the river side, which were secured by gates that ought, as Herodotus observes, to have been fast barred, which, if it had been done, would have effectually frustrated the attempt of the enemy; but being left open and unguarded, on account of the public festivity, the assailants were in possession of those entrances, and in the heart of the city, before the besieged were aware of it.” The word µymga, here rendered reeds, properly signifies marshes or lakes; and the phrase here seems to import, that the enemies had burned up all the outworks belonging to the marshy grounds about the river Euphrates. — Lowth.

30. Have forborne — Have ceased; not from cowardice, but from hopelessness. They become as women, and stay in the inaccessible places to await the end.

V. 31. At one end-Cyrus entered the city at one end, by the channel of the river, which he had drained, and surprized Belshazzar in the midst of his feast.

Verse 31. One post shall run to meet another] As the city was taken by surprise, in the manner already related, so now messengers, one after another, were despatched to give the king information of what was done; viz., that the city was taken at one end. Herodotus tells us that the extreme parts of the city were taken, before those of the centre knew any thing of the invasion. Herodot. lib. i. c. 191.

Verses 30-32. The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight: they have remained, &c. — “The year before the siege of Babylon, Cyrus overthrew Belshazzar in battle, whereupon his army retreated within the walls, where they were shut up by him and besieged. Afterward, when Cyrus entered the city, he ordered public proclamation to be made, that all persons should keep within their houses, and whoever was found abroad should be put to death; and threatened to set their houses on fire, if any offered to hurt the soldiers from the tops of their houses.” They became as women — Timorous, and without courage. They have burned their dwelling-places — The enemy have burned their houses. Her bars are broken — All her fortresses, and what she confided in as her chief defence against the enemy. One post shall run to meet another — Messengers shall run from different parts, and so fall in with one another, all carrying the same intelligence to the same person, that the city was taken on the part every one came from. This is a very natural description of what may be supposed to happen on a city being taken by surprise in the middle of the night; for, as fast as the alarm spread, people would be posting away with the news from all parts to the head-quarters. The translation of the last clause, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, is not accurate: the word hxqm does not mean at one end, for one is not in the text, but at the extremity. It may not be improper to observe further here, that though it seems unusual to say that one messenger runs to meet another, to acquaint any one with the same news, the usual expression in such a case being, that one messenger follows upon the heels of another; yet, in this matter, this unusual way of speaking was exactly descriptive of the fact; for Babylon being taken by a party of soldiers entering by the channel of the Euphrates at each extremity of the city, the messengers who carried the news to the king at his palace would actually run toward and meet each other at or near the palace, as they came from opposite quarters, to acquaint him that his city was taken at the extremities; for we cannot but suppose that people would run from each end of the city to the palace as soon as Cyrus’s men entered. The passage in the original has great beauty and sublimity, which, however, is almost lost in our translation. Houbigant seems to give it its due force, rendering the verbs in the present tense, and omitting the connecting particles, which greatly augments its energy, thus: “Courier comes to meet courier — messenger meets messenger — to inform the king of Babylon that his city is taken at the extremity, that the passages are stopped, [or surprised, see verse 41,] that fires are burning among the reeds, that the men of war are terrified.” The passages here mentioned “were most probably the entrances into the city from the river side, which were secured by gates that ought, as Herodotus observes, to have been fast barred, which, if it had been done, would have effectually frustrated the attempt of the enemy; but being left open and unguarded, on account of the public festivity, the assailants were in possession of those entrances, and in the heart of the city, before the besieged were aware of it.” The word µymga, here rendered reeds, properly signifies marshes or lakes; and the phrase here seems to import, that the enemies had burned up all the outworks belonging to the marshy grounds about the river Euphrates. — Lowth.

Ver. 31. One post shall run to meet another— to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end. Here the prediction and the events are so striking, that I would translate the words of Herodotus, a pure and unsuspected historian. After stating how the flood-banks of Semiramis had been cut, and the river made fordable; and how the troops had boldly entered the river, and thence ascended into the city; he adds, “If the Chaldeans had conceived the least idea of Cyrus’s design, they could without doubt have prevented the entrance of the Persians, and repulsed them. Had they closed the smaller ports which led to the river, and posted themselves on the quays, they would have fought their enemies from above, and defeated them with ease. But the Persians surprised them when they had not the least idea of their movements; and the city was so great, if one may believe the inhabitants, that those who lived in the end were already taken, before those who lived in the middle were apprised of the event. Add to this, that as the day (Xenophon says night) on which they were taken was a day of festivity, they were wholly occupied with games and rejoicings when apprised of their calamity.”— Clio, or book 1.

31. One post shall run… and one messenger — Indicative of haste and confusion. To show the king — Who is in his royal palace. These messengers come from all directions and meet one another in the palace with the same dreadful news.

V. 32. The passages-The passages over the river Euphrates, and all the other passages by which the Babylonians might make their escape, were guarded with soldiers. Reeds-On the border of the river Euphrates were vast quantities of great and tall reeds, which with the mud in which they stood, were as another wall to the city; but the Medes had burnt them so as the way was open.

Verse 32. That the passages are stopped] Either the bridges or slips for boats, by which the inhabitants passed from one side to the other, and may mean the principal gates or passes in the city, which the victorious army would immediately seize, that they might prevent all communication between the inhabitants.

The reeds they have burned with fire] What this means I cannot tell, unless it refer to something done after the taking of the city. Setting fire to the reeds in the marshy ground, in order the better to clear the places, and give a freer passage to the water, that it may neither stagnate nor turn the solid ground into a marsh. Dr. Blayney thinks it refers to the firing of the houses, in order to throw the inhabitants into the greater confusion; but no historian makes any mention of burning the city, except what is said Jeremiah 51:30, “They have burned her dwelling places;” and this may be a poetical expression. That they burnt nothing before they took the city must be evident from the circumstance of their taking the city by surprise, in the night time, with the greatest secrecy. Still there might have been some gates, barricadoes, or wooden works, serving for barracks or such like, which obstructed some of the great passages, which, when they had entered, they were obliged to burn, in order to get themselves a ready passage through the city. This is the more likely because this burning of reeds is connected with the stopping of the passages, burning the dwelling places, and breaking the bars.

Verses 30-32. The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight: they have remained, &c. — “The year before the siege of Babylon, Cyrus overthrew Belshazzar in battle, whereupon his army retreated within the walls, where they were shut up by him and besieged. Afterward, when Cyrus entered the city, he ordered public proclamation to be made, that all persons should keep within their houses, and whoever was found abroad should be put to death; and threatened to set their houses on fire, if any offered to hurt the soldiers from the tops of their houses.” They became as women — Timorous, and without courage. They have burned their dwelling-places — The enemy have burned their houses. Her bars are broken — All her fortresses, and what she confided in as her chief defence against the enemy. One post shall run to meet another — Messengers shall run from different parts, and so fall in with one another, all carrying the same intelligence to the same person, that the city was taken on the part every one came from. This is a very natural description of what may be supposed to happen on a city being taken by surprise in the middle of the night; for, as fast as the alarm spread, people would be posting away with the news from all parts to the head-quarters. The translation of the last clause, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, is not accurate: the word hxqm does not mean at one end, for one is not in the text, but at the extremity. It may not be improper to observe further here, that though it seems unusual to say that one messenger runs to meet another, to acquaint any one with the same news, the usual expression in such a case being, that one messenger follows upon the heels of another; yet, in this matter, this unusual way of speaking was exactly descriptive of the fact; for Babylon being taken by a party of soldiers entering by the channel of the Euphrates at each extremity of the city, the messengers who carried the news to the king at his palace would actually run toward and meet each other at or near the palace, as they came from opposite quarters, to acquaint him that his city was taken at the extremities; for we cannot but suppose that people would run from each end of the city to the palace as soon as Cyrus’s men entered. The passage in the original has great beauty and sublimity, which, however, is almost lost in our translation. Houbigant seems to give it its due force, rendering the verbs in the present tense, and omitting the connecting particles, which greatly augments its energy, thus: “Courier comes to meet courier — messenger meets messenger — to inform the king of Babylon that his city is taken at the extremity, that the passages are stopped, [or surprised, see verse 41,] that fires are burning among the reeds, that the men of war are terrified.” The passages here mentioned “were most probably the entrances into the city from the river side, which were secured by gates that ought, as Herodotus observes, to have been fast barred, which, if it had been done, would have effectually frustrated the attempt of the enemy; but being left open and unguarded, on account of the public festivity, the assailants were in possession of those entrances, and in the heart of the city, before the besieged were aware of it.” The word µymga, here rendered reeds, properly signifies marshes or lakes; and the phrase here seems to import, that the enemies had burned up all the outworks belonging to the marshy grounds about the river Euphrates. — Lowth.

32. Passages — Literally, crossing-places, either bridges or fords, or more probably both. Are stopped — Rather, seized, occupied. Reeds… burned — Better, marshes or ponds, alluding to the artificial lakes which, according to Herodotus, formed an important part of the defences of Babylon. As these could not be literally burned, the translation “reeds” has been adopted, but utterly without authority. The language is poetic and hyperbolic, and should not be forced.

V. 33. Threshing floor-Babylon had been a threshing instrument, by which, and a threshing-floor in which God had threshed many other nations; God now intended to make it as a threshing-floor wherein he would thresh the Chaldeans. Tread her-So they used to prepare their threshing-floors against the time of harvest. The time-The harvest which the justice of God would have from the ruin of the Chaldeans.

Verse 33. The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor] The threshing wheel is gone over her; she is trodden under foot.

Verse 33. The daughter of Babylon is like a thrashing-floor — God’s people have been sorely bruised and trodden under foot by the Babylonians, as corn in a thrashing-floor: see note on Isaiah 21:10. It is time to thrash her — It is time for her to feel the miseries she has made others suffer. The word thrash often signifies to subdue by force and power. Yet a little while and the time of her harvest shall come — There shall be a clear riddance made of her inhabitants and their treasures, as the harvest clears the fields, and leaves them empty and bare. By her harvest may be meant the slaughter and spoiling of her inhabitants; and by the thrashing, or treading, which follows the harvest, the destruction of the city itself.

33. A threshingfloor — Trodden hard and ready for the time of harvest, which is also the time of threshing.

V. 34. Me-The prophet speaks this in the name of the Jews. Cast me out-As beasts of prey eat what they please of other beasts they have preyed upon, and leave the rest in the field.

Verse 34. Nebuchadrezzar—hath devoured me] These are the words of Judea; he has taken away all my riches.

He hath cast me out.] He shall vomit all up; i.e., they shall be regained.

Verses 34, 35. Nebuchadrezzar hath devoured me — Zion and Jerusalem, which are both expressed in the next verse, are the speakers here, and the words contain a pathetical description of the calamities brought upon the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar and his forces, who, after they had devoured the wealth and laid waste the beauty of Judea, then turned the inhabitants out of it, and led them captives into a strange land. The violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon — Let God return upon her the violence she has done to me and to my children. Our nearest relations are called our flesh in Scripture. This imprecation is very similar to that in Psalm 137:8, where see the note.

34, 35. The pronouns are in the plural, but have been without warrant changed into the singular in the Keri, and so in the English Version. The literal reading is, hath devoured us, crushed us, etc., etc. The reference is to Israel, and the doctrine of the passage is, that these calamities have fallen on Babylon because of its offences against Israel. Dragon — Usually a sea monster; probably the crocodile.

Verse 35. The violence done to me—be upon Babylon,—and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea] Zion begins to speak, Jeremiah 51:34, and ends with this verse. The answer of Jehovah begins with the next verse. Though the Chaldeans have been the instrument of God to punish the Jews, yet in return they, being themselves exceedingly wicked, shall suffer for all the carnage they have made, and for all the blood they have shed.

Verses 34, 35. Nebuchadrezzar hath devoured me — Zion and Jerusalem, which are both expressed in the next verse, are the speakers here, and the words contain a pathetical description of the calamities brought upon the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar and his forces, who, after they had devoured the wealth and laid waste the beauty of Judea, then turned the inhabitants out of it, and led them captives into a strange land. The violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon — Let God return upon her the violence she has done to me and to my children. Our nearest relations are called our flesh in Scripture. This imprecation is very similar to that in Psalm 137:8, where see the note.

34, 35. The pronouns are in the plural, but have been without warrant changed into the singular in the Keri, and so in the English Version. The literal reading is, hath devoured us, crushed us, etc., etc. The reference is to Israel, and the doctrine of the passage is, that these calamities have fallen on Babylon because of its offences against Israel. Dragon — Usually a sea monster; probably the crocodile.

V. 36. Dry up-Alluding to what Cyrus did.

Verse 36. I will dry up her sea] Exhaust all her treasures.

Verses 36-39. Thus saith the Lord, I will plead thy cause — This is, as it were, God’s answer to the prayers and imprecations of the Jewish people, mentioned in the two foregoing verses. I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry — This some think is spoken figuratively, meaning, I will exhaust her multitudes of people, and dry up all those sources from whence she derived her immense wealth and power. But this was literally fulfilled in Cyrus’s draining the river, and thereby gaining an entrance into the city. All great waters are called seas in the Hebrew language. And Babylon shall become heaps — See note on Jeremiah 50:39, 40. They shall roar together like lions, &c. — This is either expressive of their grief and anguish of mind, or else the prophet describes the revels and riotous noise which they made upon the night of that public festival in which the city was taken: see below. In their heat I will make their feasts — Or, I will supply them with drink, as Blaney renders µhytvm, observing, that all the ancient versions give the word that sense, and that it agrees with the use of it, Daniel 1:8, 10, 16. And I will make them drunken — I will suffer them to give a loose to joy in their feasts, and to be intoxicated with wine: God is frequently said in Scripture to do those things which he permits to be done. Or the words may be taken figuratively, as signifying, While they are feasting I will prepare for them another cup to drink, namely, that of my fury and indignation. History informs us that Babylon was taken at a time when the Babylonians were so engaged in feasting and revelling, and so intoxicated with liquor, that the gates leading down to the river, which used to be shut every night, were left open, which gave a free passage to Cyrus and his army into the city. That they may rejoice and sleep a perpetual sleep — That, in the midst of their jollity and security, they may sleep the sleep of death.

36. Her sea — The Euphrates river. The distinction between seas and rivers was by no means so clearly drawn in ancient times as now. Hence Jonah speaks of a nahar (river) in the sea. Springs, in this passage, are the smaller streams which water and fertilize the country. Indeed, the literal import of the original is, her digging, and so it very exactly suits the artificial canals dug for this purpose.

Verse 37. Without an inhabitant.] See Jeremiah 50:39.

Verses 36-39. Thus saith the Lord, I will plead thy cause — This is, as it were, God’s answer to the prayers and imprecations of the Jewish people, mentioned in the two foregoing verses. I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry — This some think is spoken figuratively, meaning, I will exhaust her multitudes of people, and dry up all those sources from whence she derived her immense wealth and power. But this was literally fulfilled in Cyrus’s draining the river, and thereby gaining an entrance into the city. All great waters are called seas in the Hebrew language. And Babylon shall become heaps — See note on Jeremiah 50:39, 40. They shall roar together like lions, &c. — This is either expressive of their grief and anguish of mind, or else the prophet describes the revels and riotous noise which they made upon the night of that public festival in which the city was taken: see below. In their heat I will make their feasts — Or, I will supply them with drink, as Blaney renders µhytvm, observing, that all the ancient versions give the word that sense, and that it agrees with the use of it, Daniel 1:8, 10, 16. And I will make them drunken — I will suffer them to give a loose to joy in their feasts, and to be intoxicated with wine: God is frequently said in Scripture to do those things which he permits to be done. Or the words may be taken figuratively, as signifying, While they are feasting I will prepare for them another cup to drink, namely, that of my fury and indignation. History informs us that Babylon was taken at a time when the Babylonians were so engaged in feasting and revelling, and so intoxicated with liquor, that the gates leading down to the river, which used to be shut every night, were left open, which gave a free passage to Cyrus and his army into the city. That they may rejoice and sleep a perpetual sleep — That, in the midst of their jollity and security, they may sleep the sleep of death.

37. Heaps — Namely, of rubbish. How literally this has been fulfilled is shown by Rawlinson. (Ancient Monarchies, 2:521.) Dragons — Not the word used in verse 34, but one meaning jackals.

V. 38. They-The Babylonians, upon the taking of their city.

Verses 36-39. Thus saith the Lord, I will plead thy cause — This is, as it were, God’s answer to the prayers and imprecations of the Jewish people, mentioned in the two foregoing verses. I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry — This some think is spoken figuratively, meaning, I will exhaust her multitudes of people, and dry up all those sources from whence she derived her immense wealth and power. But this was literally fulfilled in Cyrus’s draining the river, and thereby gaining an entrance into the city. All great waters are called seas in the Hebrew language. And Babylon shall become heaps — See note on Jeremiah 50:39, 40. They shall roar together like lions, &c. — This is either expressive of their grief and anguish of mind, or else the prophet describes the revels and riotous noise which they made upon the night of that public festival in which the city was taken: see below. In their heat I will make their feasts — Or, I will supply them with drink, as Blaney renders µhytvm, observing, that all the ancient versions give the word that sense, and that it agrees with the use of it, Daniel 1:8, 10, 16. And I will make them drunken — I will suffer them to give a loose to joy in their feasts, and to be intoxicated with wine: God is frequently said in Scripture to do those things which he permits to be done. Or the words may be taken figuratively, as signifying, While they are feasting I will prepare for them another cup to drink, namely, that of my fury and indignation. History informs us that Babylon was taken at a time when the Babylonians were so engaged in feasting and revelling, and so intoxicated with liquor, that the gates leading down to the river, which used to be shut every night, were left open, which gave a free passage to Cyrus and his army into the city. That they may rejoice and sleep a perpetual sleep — That, in the midst of their jollity and security, they may sleep the sleep of death.

Ver. 38. They shall roar together like lions. Shut up in their dens, and unable to escape, their fury would be beyond description. Spirit in their soldiers existed no more. In one hour their wanton songs were changed to doleful cries. Oh what curses did they belch out against their rulers, and against their gods! Oh what echoes would conscience make of their former bloody deeds.—How different is the state of Zion in the day of visitation! He that believeth shall not make haste.

PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, 38-49.

38, 39. They… roar — Not shall roar. The scene is that of a carousal, in the midst of which the blow falls. Whether the language here is a prophecy of the way in which Babylon was taken by Cyrus or not, it is certainly evident that it is quite suitable to it.

V. 39. Heat-When they shall grow hot with wine, I will make them a feast of another nature. Interpreters judge that Belshazzar, Daniel 5:1, made a feast to a thousand of his Lords, when he and his wives, and concubines, drank wine in the vessels belonging to the temple, during which feast the city was taken. And not awake-While they were merry with their wine, they fell into a sleep which they never awoke out of.

Verse 39. In their heat I will make their feasts] It was on the night of a feast day, while their hearts were heated with wine and revelry, that Babylon was taken; see Daniel 5:1-3. This feast was held in honour of the goddess Sheshach, (or perhaps of Bel,) who is mentioned, Jeremiah 51:41, as being taken with her worshippers. As it was in the night the city was taken, many had retired to rest, and never awoke; slain in their beds, they slept a perpetual sleep.

Verses 36-39. Thus saith the Lord, I will plead thy cause — This is, as it were, God’s answer to the prayers and imprecations of the Jewish people, mentioned in the two foregoing verses. I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry — This some think is spoken figuratively, meaning, I will exhaust her multitudes of people, and dry up all those sources from whence she derived her immense wealth and power. But this was literally fulfilled in Cyrus’s draining the river, and thereby gaining an entrance into the city. All great waters are called seas in the Hebrew language. And Babylon shall become heaps — See note on Jeremiah 50:39, 40. They shall roar together like lions, &c. — This is either expressive of their grief and anguish of mind, or else the prophet describes the revels and riotous noise which they made upon the night of that public festival in which the city was taken: see below. In their heat I will make their feasts — Or, I will supply them with drink, as Blaney renders µhytvm, observing, that all the ancient versions give the word that sense, and that it agrees with the use of it, Daniel 1:8, 10, 16. And I will make them drunken — I will suffer them to give a loose to joy in their feasts, and to be intoxicated with wine: God is frequently said in Scripture to do those things which he permits to be done. Or the words may be taken figuratively, as signifying, While they are feasting I will prepare for them another cup to drink, namely, that of my fury and indignation. History informs us that Babylon was taken at a time when the Babylonians were so engaged in feasting and revelling, and so intoxicated with liquor, that the gates leading down to the river, which used to be shut every night, were left open, which gave a free passage to Cyrus and his army into the city. That they may rejoice and sleep a perpetual sleep — That, in the midst of their jollity and security, they may sleep the sleep of death.

PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, 38-49.

38, 39. They… roar — Not shall roar. The scene is that of a carousal, in the midst of which the blow falls. Whether the language here is a prophecy of the way in which Babylon was taken by Cyrus or not, it is certainly evident that it is quite suitable to it.

PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, 38-49.

38, 39. They… roar — Not shall roar. The scene is that of a carousal, in the midst of which the blow falls. Whether the language here is a prophecy of the way in which Babylon was taken by Cyrus or not, it is certainly evident that it is quite suitable to it.

V. 41. Sheshach-A name given to the city of Babylon.

Verse 41. How is Sheshach taken!] Perhaps the city is here called by the name of its idol.

The praise of the whole earth] One of the seven wonders of the world; superexcellent for the height, breadth, and compass of its walls, its hanging gardens, the temple of Belus, &c., &c.

Verses 41-43. How is Sheshach taken! — That Babylon is meant by Sheshach is certain; but why it is so called is yet matter of doubt: see note on Jeremiah 25:26. Some indeed have supposed that it is called so from a goddess of that name, which the Babylonians worshipped, and which is supposed by Calmet to have been the same with the moon; but of these things there does not appear to be satisfactory proof. How is the praise of the whole earth surprised — Babylon was esteemed the wonder of the world, for the height, breadth, and compass of its walls, the palaces and hanging gardens belonging to it, for the temple of Belus, for the banks and facing of the river, and the artificial lakes and canals made for the draining of it, and for its riches and greatness. The sea is come up upon Babylon, &c. — A numerous army, or a vast multitude of people, carrying all before them like an inundation. Her cities are a desolation — All the lesser cities, within the territories of Babylon, are become an uninhabited, uncultivated desert: see note on Isaiah 13:20.

Ver. 41. How is Sheshach taken. A name of some palace in Babylon, or some temple, as in Jeremiah 25:26. See the note on that verse.

PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, 38-49.

38, 39. They… roar — Not shall roar. The scene is that of a carousal, in the midst of which the blow falls. Whether the language here is a prophecy of the way in which Babylon was taken by Cyrus or not, it is certainly evident that it is quite suitable to it.

V. 42. The sea-A multitude of enemies.

Verse 42. The sea is come up] A multitude of foes have inundated the city.

Verses 41-43. How is Sheshach taken! — That Babylon is meant by Sheshach is certain; but why it is so called is yet matter of doubt: see note on Jeremiah 25:26. Some indeed have supposed that it is called so from a goddess of that name, which the Babylonians worshipped, and which is supposed by Calmet to have been the same with the moon; but of these things there does not appear to be satisfactory proof. How is the praise of the whole earth surprised — Babylon was esteemed the wonder of the world, for the height, breadth, and compass of its walls, the palaces and hanging gardens belonging to it, for the temple of Belus, for the banks and facing of the river, and the artificial lakes and canals made for the draining of it, and for its riches and greatness. The sea is come up upon Babylon, &c. — A numerous army, or a vast multitude of people, carrying all before them like an inundation. Her cities are a desolation — All the lesser cities, within the territories of Babylon, are become an uninhabited, uncultivated desert: see note on Isaiah 13:20.

PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, 38-49.

38, 39. They… roar — Not shall roar. The scene is that of a carousal, in the midst of which the blow falls. Whether the language here is a prophecy of the way in which Babylon was taken by Cyrus or not, it is certainly evident that it is quite suitable to it.

Verses 41-43. How is Sheshach taken! — That Babylon is meant by Sheshach is certain; but why it is so called is yet matter of doubt: see note on Jeremiah 25:26. Some indeed have supposed that it is called so from a goddess of that name, which the Babylonians worshipped, and which is supposed by Calmet to have been the same with the moon; but of these things there does not appear to be satisfactory proof. How is the praise of the whole earth surprised — Babylon was esteemed the wonder of the world, for the height, breadth, and compass of its walls, the palaces and hanging gardens belonging to it, for the temple of Belus, for the banks and facing of the river, and the artificial lakes and canals made for the draining of it, and for its riches and greatness. The sea is come up upon Babylon, &c. — A numerous army, or a vast multitude of people, carrying all before them like an inundation. Her cities are a desolation — All the lesser cities, within the territories of Babylon, are become an uninhabited, uncultivated desert: see note on Isaiah 13:20.

Ver. 43. Her cities are a desolation. This is strictly true; travellers describe Babylon as a mass overgrown and uncultivated.

PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, 38-49.

38, 39. They… roar — Not shall roar. The scene is that of a carousal, in the midst of which the blow falls. Whether the language here is a prophecy of the way in which Babylon was taken by Cyrus or not, it is certainly evident that it is quite suitable to it.

V. 44. Bel-Bel was the principal Babylonian idol. Bring forth-All the vessels of the temple, 2 Chronicles 36:7, and whatever gifts the Babylonians had presented to him. The wall-And the city of Babylon shall be also ruined.

Verse 44. I will punish Bel in Babylon] Bel or Belus was their supreme deity.

That which he hath swallowed up] The sacred vessels of the temple of Jerusalem, which were taken thence by Nebuchadnezzar, and dedicated to him in his temple at Babylon.

The wall of Babylon shall fall.] It shall cease to be a defense; and shall moulder away until, in process of time, it shall not be discernible.

Verse 44. And I will punish Bel in Babylon — The heathen ascribed the honour of all their successes to their idols; and, upon any great victory, offered the best part of the spoils to their gods, and deposited them in their temples, as a grateful acknowledgment that the success was owing to their assistance. So Nebuchadnezzar, upon every victory over the Jews, carried away part of the furniture of the sanctuary and put it in the temple of his idol: see 2 Chronicles 36:7; Daniel 1:2. The restoring of the holy vessels to their right owner, and to their former use, is what is here foretold by bringing forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed, which was done by Cyrus, upon his proclamation for rebuilding the temple, Ezra 1:7. But the full accomplishment of this prediction Dr. Prideaux places in Xerxes’ demolishing the temple of Belus, and plundering it of its vast wealth, which, from Diodorus Siculus’s account of it, he computes to amount to twenty-one millions of our money: see his Connect., pp. 100,

101. And the nations shall not flow together any more unto him — There shall be no more costly presents brought by foreign nations unto the temple of Bel, as a compliment to that monarchy; just as, under the Roman empire, people that were conquered by it, sent golden crowns to Jupiter Capitolinus: see Lowth.

Ver. 44. I will punish Bel—I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up. The treasures of the plundered and demolished temples of Asia were deposited in the temple of Belus; and it is supposed that they amounted to twenty one millions of our money. See Prideaux’s Connection.

44. Swallowed up — The sacred vessels, the spoil taken from other nations, and the voluntary offerings of the people.

V. 45. Go out of her-At all hazards escape for your lives.

Verse 45. My people, go ye out] A warning to all the Jews in Babylon to leave the city, and escape for their lives.

Verses 45, 46. My people, go ye out of the midst of her, &c. — See note on Jeremiah 50:8. And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour, &c. — “Lest the rumours of new forces, ready to join themselves to the Babylonians, dishearten you, and make you despair of seeing so great an empire subdued by any human power.” A rumour shall come one year, and after that in another year — This seems to be an idiomatic phrase, denoting that terrifying rumours should continue year after year. And in these words the prophet, by God’s direction, gives signs or tokens to the captive Jews, whereby they might know the exact time when Babylon should be taken, and, consequently, when they should remove from the city into some other place, that they might not be terrified, and induced to quit the city before there was any occasion for their doing so; and he acquaints them that there should come a rumour one year, namely, of Cyrus’s preparations against the Babylonians; and that the next year there should be another rumour, namely, as we may suppose, of Cyrus’s march into Asia, and his victories there, and of his drawing nearer and nearer to Babylon every day. And violence in the land, ruler against ruler — “It is possible,” says Blaney, “that the contests between the adverse powers of Babylon and Media, during which the dominions of the former were subjected to the miseries of foreign invasion, may alone be here intended. But Berosus, the Chaldean historian, as cited by Josephus, Contra Apion, lib. 1., gives an account of civil violences and disorders that were committed in the land after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, whose son, Evil-merodach, was, after a short reign, murdered, and his throne usurped by one of his subjects. The usurper’s son, who succeeded him, was also murdered in his turn, and the kingdom restored to the lawful heir; and all this happened in the course of a few years previous to the foreign invasion. These therefore, I think, are more likely to be the violence in this passage alluded to, and introduced as the forerunners of still greater devastations.”

Ver. 45. My people, go ye out of the midst of her. These words the prophet often repeated to the Jews, and the Spirit in the Revelation of John, repeats them to the church. Let christians avoid associations with the ungodly, and cherish the sweet communion of saints. God warned his people to leave Babylon in time, for a succession of calamities would yet come on those who, for the time, had escaped the visitations of justice.

PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, 38-49.

38, 39. They… roar — Not shall roar. The scene is that of a carousal, in the midst of which the blow falls. Whether the language here is a prophecy of the way in which Babylon was taken by Cyrus or not, it is certainly evident that it is quite suitable to it.

Verse 46. A rumour shall—come one year] A year before the capture of the city there shall be a rumour of war,—and in that year Belshazzar was defeated by Cyrus. In the following year the city was taken.

Verses 45, 46. My people, go ye out of the midst of her, &c. — See note on Jeremiah 50:8. And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour, &c. — “Lest the rumours of new forces, ready to join themselves to the Babylonians, dishearten you, and make you despair of seeing so great an empire subdued by any human power.” A rumour shall come one year, and after that in another year — This seems to be an idiomatic phrase, denoting that terrifying rumours should continue year after year. And in these words the prophet, by God’s direction, gives signs or tokens to the captive Jews, whereby they might know the exact time when Babylon should be taken, and, consequently, when they should remove from the city into some other place, that they might not be terrified, and induced to quit the city before there was any occasion for their doing so; and he acquaints them that there should come a rumour one year, namely, of Cyrus’s preparations against the Babylonians; and that the next year there should be another rumour, namely, as we may suppose, of Cyrus’s march into Asia, and his victories there, and of his drawing nearer and nearer to Babylon every day. And violence in the land, ruler against ruler — “It is possible,” says Blaney, “that the contests between the adverse powers of Babylon and Media, during which the dominions of the former were subjected to the miseries of foreign invasion, may alone be here intended. But Berosus, the Chaldean historian, as cited by Josephus, Contra Apion, lib. 1., gives an account of civil violences and disorders that were committed in the land after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, whose son, Evil-merodach, was, after a short reign, murdered, and his throne usurped by one of his subjects. The usurper’s son, who succeeded him, was also murdered in his turn, and the kingdom restored to the lawful heir; and all this happened in the course of a few years previous to the foreign invasion. These therefore, I think, are more likely to be the violence in this passage alluded to, and introduced as the forerunners of still greater devastations.”

46. And lest your heart faint — In order that the sense here may come out into expression, some such word as beware should be employed. Beware lest your heart faint.

Verses 47-49. Therefore behold, or rather, Then soon, the days come that I will do judgment upon the graven images, &c. — That is, cause the statues of the gods of Babylon to be broken to pieces, or carried away. Then the heaven and the earth, &c., shall sing for Babylon — The angels in heaven, and many nations of the earth, shall rejoice and praise God for the just punishment brought upon Babylon. So at Babylon shall fall, or rather, Through Babylon have fallen, as wlpn should be rendered, the slain of all the earth — The reason is here assigned why the heavens and the earth, and all that are therein, should rejoice at the fall of Babylon, because not only the people of Israel, but of the whole earth likewise had been greatly annoyed, oppressed, and diminished by the power of that ambitious nation.

PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, 38-49.

38, 39. They… roar — Not shall roar. The scene is that of a carousal, in the midst of which the blow falls. Whether the language here is a prophecy of the way in which Babylon was taken by Cyrus or not, it is certainly evident that it is quite suitable to it.

V. 48. Then-All the creatures in heaven and earth shall rejoice at the vengeance which God shall take upon Babylon.

Verse 48. The heaven and the earth—shall sing for Babylon] Its fall shall be a subject of universal rejoicing.

Verses 47-49. Therefore behold, or rather, Then soon, the days come that I will do judgment upon the graven images, &c. — That is, cause the statues of the gods of Babylon to be broken to pieces, or carried away. Then the heaven and the earth, &c., shall sing for Babylon — The angels in heaven, and many nations of the earth, shall rejoice and praise God for the just punishment brought upon Babylon. So at Babylon shall fall, or rather, Through Babylon have fallen, as wlpn should be rendered, the slain of all the earth — The reason is here assigned why the heavens and the earth, and all that are therein, should rejoice at the fall of Babylon, because not only the people of Israel, but of the whole earth likewise had been greatly annoyed, oppressed, and diminished by the power of that ambitious nation.

PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, 38-49.

38, 39. They… roar — Not shall roar. The scene is that of a carousal, in the midst of which the blow falls. Whether the language here is a prophecy of the way in which Babylon was taken by Cyrus or not, it is certainly evident that it is quite suitable to it.

V. 49. Of all the earth-This term must be understood in a restrained sense; the Chaldeans coming up from all parts of Chaldea to help Babylon, were slain there, as by the means of Babylon the Israelites were slain that came from all parts of Judea to help Jerusalem.

Verses 47-49. Therefore behold, or rather, Then soon, the days come that I will do judgment upon the graven images, &c. — That is, cause the statues of the gods of Babylon to be broken to pieces, or carried away. Then the heaven and the earth, &c., shall sing for Babylon — The angels in heaven, and many nations of the earth, shall rejoice and praise God for the just punishment brought upon Babylon. So at Babylon shall fall, or rather, Through Babylon have fallen, as wlpn should be rendered, the slain of all the earth — The reason is here assigned why the heavens and the earth, and all that are therein, should rejoice at the fall of Babylon, because not only the people of Israel, but of the whole earth likewise had been greatly annoyed, oppressed, and diminished by the power of that ambitious nation.

PICTURE OF BABYLON’S RUIN, 38-49.

38, 39. They… roar — Not shall roar. The scene is that of a carousal, in the midst of which the blow falls. Whether the language here is a prophecy of the way in which Babylon was taken by Cyrus or not, it is certainly evident that it is quite suitable to it.

V. 50. Ye-Ye Jews, leave Babylon as soon as liberty is proclaimed. Remember-And remember in Judea the great things both of justice and mercy which God hath done.

Verse 50. Ye that have escaped the sword] The Jews. Let Jerusalem come into your mind.] Pray for its restoration; and embrace the first opportunity offered of returning thither.

Verses 50, 51. Ye that have escaped the sword — Namely, the sword which wasted Babylon. Go away, stand not still — This is spoken to the Jews, who, attending to the advice given them, verse 45, withdrew from Babylon in time, and so escaped the sword by which they otherwise might have fallen. And here they are advised to flee still farther and farther off; but amidst all to remember their native country, and in particular Jerusalem, and the God they had worshipped there; and to pray for the restoration of the city and temple; and that he would avenge himself of the Babylonians for laying them in ruins. We are confounded, because we have heard reproach — The prophet here represents the words or thoughts of the pious exiles, when they heard the Babylonians speaking of Jehovah with contempt, and deriding them for worshipping him, who could not, they said, deliver his city and temple out of their hands, or preserve them from being destroyed. For strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord’s house — The word sanctuaries, in the plural, is likewise used Psalm 73:17, though our English reads there, sanctuary. Probably the several courts of the temple are meant by sanctuaries.

FINAL SUMMING UP, 50-58.

50. Remember the Lord afar off — Namely, in Babylon, the land of your captivity. Such language as this would be well suited to stir up the hopes and affections of the captive Israelites. and induce a longing to return to their own land.

V. 51. We-We Jews are ashamed to hear the enemies reproaching us, for our God, or for our religion. Strangers-Pagans that were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, are come, not to worship, but to plunder, the sanctuaries of the Lord; even into the courts of the priests and of the Israelites; yea, into the most holy place.

Verse 51. Strangers are come into the sanctuaries] The lamentation of the pious Jews for the profanation of the temple by the Chaldeans.

Verses 50, 51. Ye that have escaped the sword — Namely, the sword which wasted Babylon. Go away, stand not still — This is spoken to the Jews, who, attending to the advice given them, verse 45, withdrew from Babylon in time, and so escaped the sword by which they otherwise might have fallen. And here they are advised to flee still farther and farther off; but amidst all to remember their native country, and in particular Jerusalem, and the God they had worshipped there; and to pray for the restoration of the city and temple; and that he would avenge himself of the Babylonians for laying them in ruins. We are confounded, because we have heard reproach — The prophet here represents the words or thoughts of the pious exiles, when they heard the Babylonians speaking of Jehovah with contempt, and deriding them for worshipping him, who could not, they said, deliver his city and temple out of their hands, or preserve them from being destroyed. For strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord’s house — The word sanctuaries, in the plural, is likewise used Psalm 73:17, though our English reads there, sanctuary. Probably the several courts of the temple are meant by sanctuaries.

51. We are confounded — This verse only recites the wrongs done, and the abject condition into which the people had come.

V. 52. Wherefore-For this profanation of my holy place, I will be revenged not only upon their idols, but upon the worshippers of them, and cause a groaning of wounded men over all the country of the Chaldeans.

FINAL SUMMING UP, 50-58.

50. Remember the Lord afar off — Namely, in Babylon, the land of your captivity. Such language as this would be well suited to stir up the hopes and affections of the captive Israelites. and induce a longing to return to their own land.

Verse 53. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven] Though it were fortified even to the skies, it shall fall by the enemies that I will send against it.

Verse 53. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven — Though Babylon were built upon the most lofty and inaccessible mountain, and though it were made as strong as nature and art could make it, yet still I would cause it to be spoiled.

53. Height of her strength — Possibly an allusion to the height of her walls and towers.

FINAL SUMMING UP, 50-58.

50. Remember the Lord afar off — Namely, in Babylon, the land of your captivity. Such language as this would be well suited to stir up the hopes and affections of the captive Israelites. and induce a longing to return to their own land.

V. 55. The great voice-The noises caused from multitudes of people walking up and trafficking together. A noise-The noise of her enemies that shall break in upon her shall be like the roaring of the sea.

Verse 55. The great voice] Its pride and insufferable boasting.

Verses 55-57. Because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice — “When cities are populous, they are of course noisy: see Isaiah 22:2. Silence is therefore a mark of depopulation; and in this sense we are to understand God’s destroying, or taking away out of Babylon, the great noise, which, during the time of her prosperity, was constantly heard there, ‘the busy hum of men,’ as the poet very expressly calls it. In this manner the mystical Babylon is threatened, Revelation 18:22, 23. Compare Jeremiah 7:34; 16:9; 25:10.” — Blaney. Every one of their bows is broken — Their strength is quite broken, and they cannot defend themselves, or hurt their enemies. I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, &c. — I will permit her princes, her commanders, and directors to be intoxicated, so that they shall neglect what should be done for their defence, and thereby be slain.

FINAL SUMMING UP, 50-58.

50. Remember the Lord afar off — Namely, in Babylon, the land of your captivity. Such language as this would be well suited to stir up the hopes and affections of the captive Israelites. and induce a longing to return to their own land.

V. 56. Because-Little more is said here than was before, only the words hint the taking of Babylon by a surprize when the king, and the inhabitants were not aware of it, which we had before also told us, ver. 39,40. Requite-The wrongs done to his people.

Verse 56. The Lord God of recompenses] The fall of Babylon is an act of Divine justice; whatever it suffers, it is in consequence of its crimes.

Verses 55-57. Because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice — “When cities are populous, they are of course noisy: see Isaiah 22:2. Silence is therefore a mark of depopulation; and in this sense we are to understand God’s destroying, or taking away out of Babylon, the great noise, which, during the time of her prosperity, was constantly heard there, ‘the busy hum of men,’ as the poet very expressly calls it. In this manner the mystical Babylon is threatened, Revelation 18:22, 23. Compare Jeremiah 7:34; 16:9; 25:10.” — Blaney. Every one of their bows is broken — Their strength is quite broken, and they cannot defend themselves, or hurt their enemies. I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, &c. — I will permit her princes, her commanders, and directors to be intoxicated, so that they shall neglect what should be done for their defence, and thereby be slain.

FINAL SUMMING UP, 50-58.

50. Remember the Lord afar off — Namely, in Babylon, the land of your captivity. Such language as this would be well suited to stir up the hopes and affections of the captive Israelites. and induce a longing to return to their own land.

V. 57. Drunk-A plain allusion to the posture the king of Babylon, and the thousand of his lords were in, when their city was taken while they were drinking wine in the bowls that were brought from the temple at Jerusalem.

Verse 57. I will make drunk her princes] See Clarke on “Jeremiah 51:39”.

Verses 55-57. Because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice — “When cities are populous, they are of course noisy: see Isaiah 22:2. Silence is therefore a mark of depopulation; and in this sense we are to understand God’s destroying, or taking away out of Babylon, the great noise, which, during the time of her prosperity, was constantly heard there, ‘the busy hum of men,’ as the poet very expressly calls it. In this manner the mystical Babylon is threatened, Revelation 18:22, 23. Compare Jeremiah 7:34; 16:9; 25:10.” — Blaney. Every one of their bows is broken — Their strength is quite broken, and they cannot defend themselves, or hurt their enemies. I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, &c. — I will permit her princes, her commanders, and directors to be intoxicated, so that they shall neglect what should be done for their defence, and thereby be slain.

FINAL SUMMING UP, 50-58.

50. Remember the Lord afar off — Namely, in Babylon, the land of your captivity. Such language as this would be well suited to stir up the hopes and affections of the captive Israelites. and induce a longing to return to their own land.

V. 58. Weary-Though the people should labour to quench this fire, or to rebuild this city, yet it would be all lost labour.

Verse 58. The broad walls of Babylon] Herodotus, who saw these walls, says, “The city was a regular square, each side of which was one hundred and twenty stadia, the circumference four hundred and eighty stadia. It was surrounded by a wall fifty cubits broad, and two hundred cubits high; and each side had twenty-five brazen gates.”—Herod. lib. i. c. 178. Had not Cyrus resorted to stratagem, humanly speaking, he could not have taken this city. For the destruction of this wall and its very vestiges, see Clarke on “Isaiah 13:19”.

Verse 58. The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, &c. — That the walls of Babylon were of a prodigious height and thickness, Herodotus tells, who says, they were 200 cubits high, and 50 cubits in breadth, lib. 1. cap. 178. “We are astonished,” says Bishop Lowth, in his note on Isaiah 13:19, “at the accounts which ancient historians of the best credit give, of the immense extent, height, and thickness of the walls of Nineveh and Babylon; nor are we less astonished, when we are assured by the concurrent testimony of modern travellers, that no remains, not the least traces, of these prodigious works, are to be found. Our wonder will, I think, be moderated in both respects, if we consider the fabric of these celebrated walls, and the nature of the materials of which they consisted. Buildings in the East have always been, and are to this day, made of earth or clay mixed, or beat up with straw, to make the parts cohere, and dried only in the sun. This is their method of making bricks. The walls of the city were built of the earth, digged out of the spot, and dried upon the place; by which means both the ditch and the wall were at once formed; the former furnishing materials for the latter. That the walls of Babylon were of this kind is well known; and Berosus expressly says, (apud Joseph. Antiq. 10:11,) that Nebuchadnezzar added three new walls, both to the old and new city, partly of brick and bitumen, and partly of brick alone. A wall of this sort must have a great thickness in proportion to its height, otherwise it cannot stand. The thickness of the walls of Babylon is said to have been one-fourth of their height; which seems to have been no more than was absolutely necessary.” Her high gates shall be burned, and the people shall labour in vain, &c. — If the Chaldeans take never so much pains to quench the fire, it shall be to no purpose; and all their efforts to preserve their empire and city shall be as insignificant as if men wrought in the fire, which immediately destroys all the fruits of their labours. The words may be better translated, “And the people have laboured for a thing of naught, and the folks have wearied themselves for that which shall be fuel for the fire;” that is, the works which have been erected with such incredible labour and expense, shall be a prey to the flames.

58. Broad walls… high gates — See the descriptions of Babylon by Strabo and others. According to Herodotus the walls were eighty-five feet thick and three hundred and thirty-seven and a half feet high. Ctesias makes them three hundred feet high. Strabo, seventy-five feet high and thirty-two feet thick. Xenophon saw in Babylon walls a hundred and fifty feet in height. Duncker concludes that these walls must have had a height of two hundred feet above the ditch, and a proportionate breadth of from thirty to forty feet. This breadth would be sufficient to permit of teams being drawn along the rampart between the battlements, as Herodotus and Strabo inform us, without touching. The rampart on the walls of Nineveh is said to have afforded room for the driving abreast of three chariots. As to the “gates,” Herodotus represents them as most elaborately constructed and ornamented; the posts, the folding doors, and the thresholds being of bronze. Oppert quotes an inscription in which Nebuchadrezzar says, “In the thresholds of the great gates, I inserted folding doors of brass, with very strong palings and gratings.” There were one hundred of these gates, twenty-five in each of the four sides of the wall. (The remainder of the verse is quoted from Habakkuk.)

V. 59. In the fourth year-This circumstance lets us know that this prophecy was many years before Babylon was destroyed; for it was seven years before Jerusalem was taken; so as it must be above sixty years before it was fulfilled in the first degree.

Verse 59. The word which Jeremiah] On account of the message sent by Jeremiah to the Jewish captives in Babylon.

Verse 59. The word which Jeremiah commanded Seraiah. when he went with Zedekiah — The Hebrew whyqdx ta wtklb, is rendered by the LXX., ote eporeueto para Sedekiou, when he went from Zedekiah, on his behalf, or by virtue of his commission; which seems to be the meaning of the clause; for we have no reason to suppose that Zedekiah went in person to Babylon at that time. Instead of, This Seraiah was a quiet prince, as our translators render hjwnm rv, the LXX. read, arcwn dwrwn, a prince, or chief master of gifts, which Blaney interprets to mean, chief of the embassy, or who had the principal charge of the present sent from Zedekiah to the king of Babylon, judging, that in these words is specified the business on which Seraiah was sent. He was employed to carry the present, or customary tribute, which Zedekiah was obliged to pay to the king of Babylon, in acknowledgment of his subjection and vassalage.

Ver. 59. Seraiah was a quiet prince, of the legation which Zedekiah had sent to Babylon; but the Seraiah mentioned in Jeremiah 52:24 was a priest, and not the person to whom Jeremiah wrote.

59. The word, etc. — This is the caption of the brief historical appendage comprised in verses 59-64, which was sent to the captives at Babylon by Zedekiah. As to the reasons of Zedekiah’s visit to Babylon we have no intimation. In the Records of the Past, 3:107, 120, we have a copy of a document from which we learn that Esar-haddon assembled twenty-two kings of Syria at the commencement of his great palace in Nineveh, and this may suggest how, for some similar reason of pomp and state, Zedekiah may have been summoned to Babylon. Or it may be, that his fidelity was suspected, and so he had to go to Babylon to vindicate himself. A quiet prince — Literally, prince of the resting place. The plural of this word is rendered “resting places” in Isaiah 32:18. This officer answers to the modern quarter-master, his duty being to go forward and select the places where the king and his train would stop for refreshments, and also where they would pass the night.

Verse 60. Wrote in a book] Whether this book contained any more than is recorded in this place we do not know; probably it contained no more than what is found in Jeremiah 51:62-64. A book, rps sepher, signifies, in Hebrew, any writing, great or small.

Verses 60-62. So Jeremiah wrote in a book — Namely, in the two foregoing chapters; all the evil that should come upon Babylon — This was done that it might be known even in Babylon itself that Jeremiah had foretold the destruction of that city, six years before the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. And Jeremiah said, When thou shalt see and read all these words — This is probably to be understood, not of a mere private reading of them by himself, but of his reading them to the Jews in Babylon, (namely, those that had been carried thither in Jehoiakim’s captivity,) to comfort them under their exile, and, perhaps, in the hearing of some of the Babylonians themselves. Then shalt thou say — Looking up to God, and making a solemn protestation of the divine authority, and unquestionable certainty, of that which thou hast read; O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place — And I believe what thou hast spoken. Thou hast passed sentence upon Babylon, and it shall be executed. This is like the angel’s protestation, Revelation 19:9, concerning the destruction of the New Testament Babylon, These are the true sayings of God: and Revelation 21:6, These words are true and faithful. To cut it off, that none shall remain in it, &c. — Though Seraiah and the captive Jews see Babylon flourishing, yet, having read this prophecy, they must foresee Babylon falling, and by virtue of this foresight, must learn neither to envy its pomp nor fear its power. Thus, reader, when we observe what this world is, how glittering are its shows, and how flattering its proposals, let us read in the book of the Lord, that its fashion passeth away, and that it shall shortly be cut off, and made desolate for ever, and we shall learn to look upon it with a holy contempt, and to die to all its false glories and illusive joys.

60. In a book — Literally, in one book, a parenthetic remark which paves the way for the direction given in verse 63.

V. 61. Shalt read-Probably to the Jews, that were in Babylon.

Verses 60-62. So Jeremiah wrote in a book — Namely, in the two foregoing chapters; all the evil that should come upon Babylon — This was done that it might be known even in Babylon itself that Jeremiah had foretold the destruction of that city, six years before the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. And Jeremiah said, When thou shalt see and read all these words — This is probably to be understood, not of a mere private reading of them by himself, but of his reading them to the Jews in Babylon, (namely, those that had been carried thither in Jehoiakim’s captivity,) to comfort them under their exile, and, perhaps, in the hearing of some of the Babylonians themselves. Then shalt thou say — Looking up to God, and making a solemn protestation of the divine authority, and unquestionable certainty, of that which thou hast read; O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place — And I believe what thou hast spoken. Thou hast passed sentence upon Babylon, and it shall be executed. This is like the angel’s protestation, Revelation 19:9, concerning the destruction of the New Testament Babylon, These are the true sayings of God: and Revelation 21:6, These words are true and faithful. To cut it off, that none shall remain in it, &c. — Though Seraiah and the captive Jews see Babylon flourishing, yet, having read this prophecy, they must foresee Babylon falling, and by virtue of this foresight, must learn neither to envy its pomp nor fear its power. Thus, reader, when we observe what this world is, how glittering are its shows, and how flattering its proposals, let us read in the book of the Lord, that its fashion passeth away, and that it shall shortly be cut off, and made desolate for ever, and we shall learn to look upon it with a holy contempt, and to die to all its false glories and illusive joys.

61. And shalt see, and shalt read — Better, see that thou read. Not for the purpose of warning the Babylonians, but as part of a proclamation that the Jews might understand.

V. 62. Shalt say-Thou shalt testify that thou believest what thou hast read.

Verses 60-62. So Jeremiah wrote in a book — Namely, in the two foregoing chapters; all the evil that should come upon Babylon — This was done that it might be known even in Babylon itself that Jeremiah had foretold the destruction of that city, six years before the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem. And Jeremiah said, When thou shalt see and read all these words — This is probably to be understood, not of a mere private reading of them by himself, but of his reading them to the Jews in Babylon, (namely, those that had been carried thither in Jehoiakim’s captivity,) to comfort them under their exile, and, perhaps, in the hearing of some of the Babylonians themselves. Then shalt thou say — Looking up to God, and making a solemn protestation of the divine authority, and unquestionable certainty, of that which thou hast read; O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place — And I believe what thou hast spoken. Thou hast passed sentence upon Babylon, and it shall be executed. This is like the angel’s protestation, Revelation 19:9, concerning the destruction of the New Testament Babylon, These are the true sayings of God: and Revelation 21:6, These words are true and faithful. To cut it off, that none shall remain in it, &c. — Though Seraiah and the captive Jews see Babylon flourishing, yet, having read this prophecy, they must foresee Babylon falling, and by virtue of this foresight, must learn neither to envy its pomp nor fear its power. Thus, reader, when we observe what this world is, how glittering are its shows, and how flattering its proposals, let us read in the book of the Lord, that its fashion passeth away, and that it shall shortly be cut off, and made desolate for ever, and we shall learn to look upon it with a holy contempt, and to die to all its false glories and illusive joys.

Verses 63, 64. And thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates — The prophets, as we have seen, frequently gave sensible representations of the judgments they foretold: see Jeremiah 19:10. This now given was a significant emblem of Babylon’s sinking irrecoverably under the judgments here denounced against her: compare Revelation 18:21. This threatening was in a literal sense fulfilled by Cyrus’s breaking down the head or dam of the great lake, which was on the west side of the city, in order to turn the course of the river that way; for no care being afterward taken to repair the breach, the whole country round it was overflowed. And the prophecy of Isaiah 14:23, foretelling that the country of Babylon should become a possession for the bittern and pools of water, was literally fulfilled. — Prideaux and Lowth. And they shall be weary — This clause, expressed by one word in the Hebrew, namely, wp[yw, is not to be met with in the translation of the LXX., “nor does it appear to me,” says Blaney, “to be authentic, notwithstanding the concurrence of the later versions and MSS. The sense is entire and complete without it; and the addition serves only to cause perplexity and confusion. The word seems to have been added by some transcriber, whose eye was caught by it at the close of the preceding paragraph, verse 58,” where the same word occurs. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah — Here the prophecies of Jeremiah end: the following chapter being added by some other hand, either in the lifetime of Jeremiah, and by his consent, or after his death.

Ver. 63. Thou shalt bind a stone, and cast it into the Euphrates. The angel threw a millstone into the sea, with the like execration on mystical Babylon. Revelation 18:21. An instance of the like nature is recorded by Herodotus in Euterpe. “When the Phoceans, of Ionia in Asia, said to be the first who made long voyages, were driven from their country by the Persians, they resolved to go to Cyrnos, now Corsica; but on quitting Phocea, they sunk a mass of iron into the sea, and bound themselves with an oath never to return till that iron could swim on the water.” This was a curse on the Persians, as the sinking of the stone was an execration on Babylon.

63. Bind a stone… cast… into the… Euphrates — Not to destroy the book, but to perfect the symbolism. The stone is not only to make the book sink, but to keep it from rising again, thus betokening the permanent downfall and utter extinction of the greatest city then on the face of the earth.

V. 64. Weary-With that weight of judgment which shall be upon them. The words-The prophetical words of Jeremiah; for the matter of the next chapter is historical, and the book of Lamentations is not prophetical.

Verse 64. Thus shall Babylon sink, &c.] This is the emblem of its overthrow and irretrievable ruin. See Revelation 18:21, where we find that this is an emblem of the total ruin of mystical Babylon. Herodotus relates a similar action of the Phocœans, who, having resolved to leave their country, and never return to it again, mudron sidhreon kateponwsan, kai wmosan mh prin ev Fwkaihn hxein, prin h ton mudron touton anafhnai, “threw a mass of iron into the sea, and swore that they would never return to Phocæa till that iron mass should rise and swim on the top.” The story is this: The Phocæans, being besieged by Harpagus, general of the Persians, demanded one day’s truce to deliberate on the propositions he had made to them relative to their surrendering their city; and begged that in the mean while he would take off his army from the walls. Harpagus having consented, they carried their wives, children, and their most valuable effects, aboard their ships; then, throwing a mass of iron into the sea, bound themselves by an oath never to return till that iron should rise to the top and swim. See Herodotus, lib. i. c. 165. Horace refers to this in his epode Ad Populum Romanum, Epode xvi. ver. 25:—

Sed juremus in haec: simul imis saxa renarint

Vadis levata, ne redire sit nefas.

“As the Phocæans oft for freedom bled,

At length with imprecated curses fled.”

FRANCIS.

Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.] It appears that the following chapter is not the work of this prophet: it is not his style. The author of it writes Jehoiachin; Jeremiah writes him always Jeconiah, or Coniah. It is merely historical, and is very similar to 2 Kings 24:18-25:30. The author, whoever he was, relates the capture of Jerusalem, the fate of Zedekiah, the pillage and burning of the city and the temple. He mentions also certain persons of distinction who were slain by the Chaldeans. He mentions the number of the captives that were carried to Babylon at three different times; and concludes with the deliverance of King Jehoiachin from prison in Babylon, in which he had been for thirty-seven years. It is very likely that the whole chapter has been compiled from some chronicle of that time, or it was designed as a preface to the Book of the Lamentations; and would stand with great propriety before it, as it contains the facts on which that inimitable poem is built. Were it allowable, I would remove it to that place. JEREMIAH

Verses 63, 64. And thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates — The prophets, as we have seen, frequently gave sensible representations of the judgments they foretold: see Jeremiah 19:10. This now given was a significant emblem of Babylon’s sinking irrecoverably under the judgments here denounced against her: compare Revelation 18:21. This threatening was in a literal sense fulfilled by Cyrus’s breaking down the head or dam of the great lake, which was on the west side of the city, in order to turn the course of the river that way; for no care being afterward taken to repair the breach, the whole country round it was overflowed. And the prophecy of Isaiah 14:23, foretelling that the country of Babylon should become a possession for the bittern and pools of water, was literally fulfilled. — Prideaux and Lowth. And they shall be weary — This clause, expressed by one word in the Hebrew, namely, wp[yw, is not to be met with in the translation of the LXX., “nor does it appear to me,” says Blaney, “to be authentic, notwithstanding the concurrence of the later versions and MSS. The sense is entire and complete without it; and the addition serves only to cause perplexity and confusion. The word seems to have been added by some transcriber, whose eye was caught by it at the close of the preceding paragraph, verse 58,” where the same word occurs. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah — Here the prophecies of Jeremiah end: the following chapter being added by some other hand, either in the lifetime of Jeremiah, and by his consent, or after his death.

64. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah — This implies that the following chapter does not belong to this body of prophecy, but constitutes an historical appendix added by another hand. “It is an instance of the scrupulous care taken by the Jews of the sacred writings committed to their keeping.” — Speaker’s Commentary.