Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 51

Verse 1

Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;

Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst, — scil., Of the land of Chaldea, in the royal seat and centre of that great monarchy.

A destroying wind. — Ventum pestilentem. - Vulg, υβριστας . - Septuag. Blasting and boisterous. See Jeremiah 4:11-12 .

Verse 2

And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about.

And I will send unto Babylon farmers. — Who shall make as clean work as they once did in Judea, disperse her inhabitants, and dissipate her riches.

Verse 3

Against [him that] bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against [him that] lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.

Against him that bendeth. — Periphrasis Babylonii, omnibus gentibus infesti.

Verse 4

Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and [they that are] thrust through in her streets.

Thus the slain shall fall. — Both within the walls and without, των φονων ουτ αριθμος ουθ ορος , there shall be neither measure nor end of manslaughter, as Plutarch saith of Rome in Sulla’s time.

Verse 5

For Israel [hath] not [been] forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.

For Israel hath not been forsaken. — Heb., Widowed.

Though their land was filled with sin. — Heb., Guilt, or delinquency, or devastation. The Scripture hath been fully made good to us of this nation, while the fulness of sin in us hath not yet abated the fulness of grace in God toward us. See those four gracious yets, Zechariah 1:17 . See Trapp on " Zechariah 1:17 "

Verse 6

Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this [is] the time of the LORD’S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence.

Flee out of the midst of Babylon. — See Jeremiah 18:1-23 . So, in the Hew Testament, we are called upon to flee and avoid the corruptions of the world and of Antichrist. 1 John 2:7-8 Ephesians 5:6 Revelation 14:3-5 ; Revelation 18:4

For this is a time, … — As Jeremiah 50:15 ; Jeremiah 50:25 ; Jeremiah 50:27-28 ; Jeremiah 46:10 .

Verse 7

Babylon [hath been] a golden cup in the LORD’S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.

Babylon hath been a golden cup. — See Jeremiah 25:15 Revelation 17:4 .

In the Lord’s hand, — i.e., Oeconomia et dispensatione eius: He had the mixing and distributing of it.

Verse 8

Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.

Babylon is suddenly fallen. — Jeremiah 50:2 . So ruet alto a culmine Roma So Rome will be destroyed from its highest heights. Revelation 14:8 ; Revelation 18:2 ; Revelation 18:10

If so be she may be healed, — q.d., Try you may, but it is to no purpose. See Jeremiah 46:11 .

Verse 9

We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up [even] to the skies.

We would have healed Babylon. — Say the foreign nations that came to help her, or the people of God, Vox electorum. - Oecolamp. say others, that were kept captive by her, as Daniel and the rest.

But she is not healed. — Or, She could not be healed. See Hosea 7:1 .

For her judgment reacheth unto heaven. — It coelo clamor, proportionable to her sin. Revelation 18:5

Verse 10

The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.

The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness, — i.e., Our just cause, and the righteousness of our religion, derided by the Babylonians.

Verse 11

Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device [is] against Babylon, to destroy it; because it [is] the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.

Make bright the arrows, — q.d., Do so, O Chaldeans, if ye think it will boot you anything at all for the shoring up of your tottering state, whereas the Lord is resolved to bring it down.

Verse 12

Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the LORD hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.

Set up the standard. — An irony all along, Hortatio ironica. - Piscator. as Jeremiah 51:11 .

Verse 13

O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, [and] the measure of thy covetousness.

O thou that dwellest upon many waters. — Euphrates and Tigris especially, famous rivers running from Babylonia into the Persian Sea. Hence most geographers hold, and not improbably, that that land was a part of the garden of Eden; fruitful it was beyond credulity.

Thine end is come, and the measure (Heb., the cubit) of thy covetousness. — Cuius avaritiae totus non sufficit orbis. The covetous cormorant’s mouth, with his Give, give, shall shortly be stopped with a spadeful of mould, and his "never enough" quit with fire enough in the bottom of hell.

Verse 14

The LORD of hosts hath sworn by himself, [saying], Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

Surely I will fill thee with men as with caterpillers. — So they shall seem both for multitude and humming noise, barritu militari.

They shall lift up a shout against thee. — As peasants did at their harvest home. See Jeremiah 48:33 .

Verse 15

He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding.

He hath made the earth by his power. — And can therefore easily and quickly unmake this great monarchy. See Jeremiah 10:12 . See Trapp on " Jeremiah 10:12 "

Verse 16

When he uttereth [his] voice, [there is] a multitude of waters in the heavens; and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures.

When he uttereth his voice, … — See Jeremiah 10:13 .

Verse 17

Every man is brutish by [his] knowledge; every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image [is] falsehood, and [there is] no breath in them.

Every man is brutish. — See Jeremiah 10:14 .

Verse 18

They [are] vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.

They are vanity. — See Jeremiah 10:15 .

Verse 19

The portion of Jacob [is] not like them; for he [is] the former of all things: and [Israel is] the rod of his inheritance: the LORD of hosts [is] his name.

The portion of Jacob, … — See Jeremiah 10:16 .

Verse 20

Thou [art] my battle axe [and] weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;

Thou art my battle axe, and weapon of war. — Cestra fuisti mihi, Thou hast been my pole axe, such as horsemen use to batter their enemies’ helmets and other harness.

Verse 21

And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider;

And with thee. — O Babylonian king.

Will I break in pieces. — Or rather, Have I broken in pieces. And hence thy perdition.

Verse 22

With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;

With thee also will I break (or, By thee have I broken) in pieces man and woman. — But especially my people of the Jews, whom I more valued than all the men and women in the world besides.

Verse 23

I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.

The shepherd and his flock, the husbandman and his yoke, … — This particular enumeration is very emphatic. so Jeremiah 50:35 ; Jeremiah 50:37-38

Verse 24

And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.

And I will render unto Babylon. — See Jeremiah 50:15 ; Jeremiah 50:29 Isaiah 47:6 ; Isaiah 47:8 ; Isaiah 10:5-6 ; Isaiah 10:12 .

In your sight. — You, my prisoners of hope, shall live to see it. Psalms 79:10

Verse 25

Behold, I [am] against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.

O destroying mountain. — O Babylon, thou that art amplitudine et altitudine instar montis; for thy large command and lofty buildings like a mountain, and that dost abuse thy power to other men’s destruction.

And will make thee a burnt mountain. — A great heap of ashes and rubbish, such as burned and ruined cities are.

Verse 26

And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.

And they shall not take of thee a stone. — Thou shalt never be re-edified. So it is foretold of Rome,

“ Tota eris in cineres quasi nunquam Roma fuisses. ”

Verse 27

Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.

Set up a standard. — Thus God the great Induperator bespeaketh the Medes and Persians as his field officers.

Prepare the nations against her. — Heb., Sanctify, call them together to wage this sacred war against Babylon.

Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz, — i.e., Of both the Armenias and of Aseania, subdued by Cyrus before he marched against Babylon. Xenoph., Cyrop., lib. vii. Vatablus will have Ashchenaz to be Gothland; the Jews, Germany; but these were too far remote.

Verse 28

Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.

Prepare against her. — Heb., Sanctify. as Jeremiah 51:27

With the kings of the Medes. — Darius and Cyrus.

Verse 29

And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.

And the land shall tremble and sorrow. — As a travailing woman, so shall it be pained.

Verse 30

The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in [their] holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.

The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight. — At Cyrus’s first coming they gave him battle; but being worsted, they from thenceforth remained in their holds till Babylon was taken.

Their might hath failed. — Or, Their courage is shrunk, as Jacob’s sinew did. Genesis 32:32

They became as women. — See Jeremiah 50:37 .

Verse 31

One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at [one] end,

One post shall run to meet another. — Observe how punctually all things were foretold in the several circumstances more than fifty years before.

At one end, — sc., Where Euphrates had run, till diverted and dried up by Cyrus. See on Jeremiah 50:38 .

Verse 32

And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.

And that the passages are stopped. — Or, Taken, seized, surprised. as Jeremiah 48:41

And the reeds. — Or, Marshes, made by Euphrates overflowing. It is well observed that the Babylonians might by this prophecy have been forewarned and forearmed against Cyrus’s stratagem; but they slighted it, and never inquired after it likely.

Verse 33

For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; The daughter of Babylon [is] like a threshingfloor, [it is] time to thresh her: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come.

The daughter of Babylon. — Proud of her wealth and strength, as young maids many are of their beauty.

And the time of her harvest shall come. — When God shall put in his sickle, and cut her down, being ripe and ready. See Revelation 14:16 Genesis 15:16 .

Verse 34

Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.

Nebuchadnezzar … hath devoured me, he hath crushed me. — A graphical description of the Babylonian cruelty.

He hath cast me out. — He hath gorged himself with me, and laid up his gorge.

Verse 35

The violence done to me and to my flesh [be] upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.

The violence done to me and to my flesh. — Torn and tossed as carrion by that ravenous beast; the Lord look upon it and requite it.

Verse 36

Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.

Behold, I will plead thy cause. — Not so much verbally as really. Here is a present answer to Israel’s cry.

Verse 37

And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.

And Babylon shall become heaps. — See Jeremiah 50:39 .

Verse 38

They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions’ whelps.

They shall roar together like lions. — When hunger bitten. The Babylonians terrified, and the Persians tumultuating together. The old Latin version hath it, They shake their shaggy hair.

Verse 39

In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.

In their heat I will make their feasts. — Or, I will dispose their drinkings - that is, I will pour into their cups the wine of my wrath. Now, poison mixed with wine worketh the more furiously. God can punish one kind of drunkenness with another worse.

That they may rejoice. — That they may revel it and sleep their last; and so they did, as being slain in a night of public solemn feasting and great dissoluteness, which was soon turned in moerorem et metum, into heaviness and horror. Ecce, hic compotationum est finis. Behold this is the end of the party.

And not wake. — Till awakened by the sound of the last trump. The Chaldee here hath it, They shall die the second death, and not be quickened in the world to come - sc., unto life everlasting.

Verse 40

I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.

I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter. — All that which followeth here to the end of this oration is no less easy than elegant in holding forth the power, justice, and truth of God in fulfilling this prophecy exactly, though serveral years after.

Verse 41

How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!

How is Sheshach taken? — i.e., How is Babylon destroyed beyond all expectation? See Jeremiah 25:26 .

Verse 42

The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

The sea is come up upon Babylon. — A sea of hostile forces; what wonder, therefore, though she be taken?

Verse 43

Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth [any] son of man pass thereby.

Her cities are a desolation. — See Jeremiah 2:6 ; Jeremiah 9:12 .

Verse 44

And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

And I will punish Bel in Babylon. — Nimrod was after his death called the Babylonian Saturn; Belus, who succeeded him, the Babylonian Jupiter, as Berosus testifieth. This idol of massy gold, and of a huge size, was carried away by Cyrus; thus Bel was punished.

And I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up. — Bolum ex ore Bell. Such an elegance there is also in the original. Plotinus ap August., De Civit. Dei, lib. ix. cap. 16. Of the rich presents, spoils, costly furniture found in Bel’s temple, see Diodore, lib. ii. Those taken from God’s temple at Jerusalem, and laid up in his, 2 Chronicles 36:7 he was forced to regurgitate. Ezra 1:7 ; Ezra 5:14 Job 20:12 ; Job 20:15

Yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. — Which yet was strong to a miracle, as being two hundred cubits high - of the king’s cubits, which were larger than ordinary - and fifty cubits thick, having a hundred brazen gates, and many stately towers, …; all shall down, saith the prophet.

Verse 45

My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.

My people, go ye out of the midst of her. — This is much pressed, Jeremiah 48:6 and it was but need; for many of the Jews were as hardly drawn to depart thence as a dog, ab uncto corio, from a fat morsel.

Verse 46

And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come [one] year, and after that in [another] year [shall come] a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

And lest your heart faint. — Or, And let not your hearts faint.

And ye fear for the rumour, — sc., Of Cyrus’s coming. Fear it not, all is for the best to you; your redemption draweth nigh.

A rumour shall both come one year, — sc., Of Cyrus’s preparation, and then another of his expedition toward Babylon.

Ruler against ruler, — i.e., Cyrus against Belshazzar; so Constantine against Maxentius, Maximinus, Lucinius, …; this was for the best to the poor Church of Christ.

Verse 47

Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

I will do judgment, … — See Jeremiah 43:12-13 Exodus 12:12 .

And all her slain shall fall. — Her dancers, one rendereth it; their merry dance shall end in a miserable downfall.

Verse 48

Then the heaven and the earth, and all that [is] therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.

Then the heaven and the earth, …, shall sing. — Est hyperbolica prosopopoeia. This is an exagerated personification. There shall be, as it were, a new face set upon the world, and all the creatures shall appear to be well paid at the downfall of Babylon, under the oppressions whereof they even groaned and laboured. See what a similar general joy there will be at the ruin of Rome! Revelation 18:20

Verse 49

As Babylon [hath caused] the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

So at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. — Or rather, Of all the land - i.e., of all Babylon, or Assyria. When God once cometh to make inquisition for the blood of his saints, woe to the wicked, …

Verse 50

Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

Ye that have escaped the sword, — sc., Of the Medes and Persians, who at the taking of the city killed all promiscuously.

Go away, stand not still. — Haste home to your own country, for therefore hath the Lord delivered you from so many deaths and dangers. See Jeremiah 51:25 .

Remember the Lord afar off. — Should not we mind heaven, and hasten thither? If a heathen could say, ought we not much more, Fugiendum est ad clarissimum patriam; ibi Pater, ibi omnia, Haste we home to heaven; there is our Father, there are all things.

Verse 51

We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’S house.

We are confounded, because we have heard reproach. — This is the Jews’ lamentation, as in the next verse we have the answer to it.

Verse 52

Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.

Wherefore, behold, the days come. — So soon is God up at the cry of his poor people. Psalms 12:5

I will do judgment. — See Jeremiah 51:37 ; Jeremiah 51:49 .

Verse 53

Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, [yet] from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

Though Babylon should mount up to heaven. — As her walls are said to have been of an incredible height (see on Jeremiah 51:44 ), and her tower to have been little less than four miles high, threatening heaven, as it were.

Verse 54

sound of a cry [cometh] from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:

A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon. — See Jeremiah 48:3 .

Verse 55

Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:

Because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon. — Heb., Is spoiling. For it was long in doing; but as sure as if done together, and at once. In like sort many of the promises are not to have their full accomplishment till the end of the world; as those about the full deliverance of the godly, the destruction of the wicked, the confusion of Antichrist, …

And destroyed out of her the great voice. — Of the revellers and roaring boys; or of their enemies, as some rather sense it, breaking in upon them.

Verse 56

Because the spoiler is come upon her, [even] upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.

For the Lord God of recompenses. — Princeps ille et arbiter iustae talionis. God, who loveth to retaliate.

Verse 57

And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise [men], her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name [is] the LORD of hosts.

And I will make drunk. — See Jeremiah 51:39 .

Verse 58

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.

The broad walls of Babylon. — See on Jeremiah 51:44 . Or, The walls of broad Babylon, that greatest of all cities, saith Strabo; Lib. xvi. the compass whereof within the walls was near upon seventy miles, saith Pliny. Lib. vi. cap. 26.

Verse 59

The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And [this] Seraiah [was] a quiet prince.

The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah. — This is now the last part, viz., a type used for confirmation of this long time preceding prophecy, uttered at Jerusalem haply in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, which was the first of Nebuchadnezzar, and now to be read at Babylon in the fourth year of Zedekiah, which was seven years before the destruction of Jerusalem, and above sixty years before the destruction of Babylon. God loveth to foresignify, but Babylon would not be warned, which was a just both desert and presage of her ruin.

When he went with Zedekiah. — In company with him, say some, out of the Jews’ chronicle. At which time Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him king, took an oath of him to be true to him, which he afterward brake, and was punished accordingly. 2 Chronicles 36:13 Others think that Seraiah went not with Zedekiah, but for him, and from him, with a present to Nebuchadnezzar, that he might keep his favour, or that he might he reconciled unto him after his revolt from him. 2 Kings 24:20

And this Seraiah was a great prince. — One that opposed the rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, or a peace maker at court, or the great chamberlain. Heb., A prince of rest; or, Prince of Menucha, a place so called, Judges 20:43 or a quiet, honest, and humble prince; otherwise he would not have been thus commanded by a poor prophet, especially in a matter of so great danger, as it might have proved if publicly noticed.

Verse 60

So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, [even] all these words that are written against Babylon.

So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil. — For Babylon’s commination, if at least the book were read publicly, as some hold it was, and the Jewish captives’ consolation.

Verse 61

And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;

When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, — sc., The sinfulness as well as the stateliness of that city.

And shalt read all these words. — Or, Then shalt thou read all these words. They who hold he did it publicly, extol the authority of the prophet, the boldness of Seraiah, and the mildness of the King of Babylon, somewhat like that of the King of Nineveh; Jonah 3:6-9 but the most think he read it privately, yet not in some closet apart by himself, but in some private house to his countrymen who came unto him.

Verse 62

Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

Then shalt thou say, O Lord, … — The promises are to be prayed over, and then we may expect their accomplishment. Prayer also added to the outward sign, according to God’s holy Word, maketh it a sacramental sign.

Verse 63

And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, [that] thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:

Thou shalt bind a stone to it. — See the like symbol or chria, Revelation 18:21 , where, by the mighty angel, Alcazar understandeth the prophet Jeremiah.

Verse 64

And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far [are] the words of Jeremiah.

Thus shall Babylon sink. — Ceremonies are to little purpose unless they have divine expositions annexed unto them.

And they shall be weary. — That seek either to save it or to restore it.

Thus far the words of Jeremiah, — sc., Concerning Babylon. See the like concerning Moab. Jeremiah 48:47