The word that the LORD spake against Babylon [and] against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. Ver. 1. _The word that the Lord spake against Babylon._] Which was built by Nimrod, as Nineveh was afterwards by his nephew Ninus. Gen 10:11 Of the greatness of this city, besides what we r... [ Continue Reading ]
Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, [and] conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. Ver. 2. _Declare ye among the nations._] Let all take notice of the good n... [ Continue Reading ]
For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast. Ver. 3. _For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her,_] _i.e., _ Out of Media and Persia, which lay no... [ Continue Reading ]
In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the LORD their God. Ver. 4. _In those days, and at that time._] _Destructio Babel salus est populo Dei; _ so shall it be at the rui... [ Continue Reading ]
They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, [saying], Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant [that] shall not be forgotten. Ver. 5. _They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward,_] _a_ As intent upon it, and minding nothing else in compar... [ Continue Reading ]
My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away [on] the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. Ver. 6. _My people have been lost sheep._] _Per avis peccatorum aberrantes; _ lost in the maze... [ Continue Reading ]
All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers. Ver. 7. _All that found them have devoured them._] As ravenous creatures do wandering sheep. Stragglers... [ Continue Reading ]
Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks. Ver. 8. _Remove out of the midst of Babylon._] "Ho, ho, come forth." _as _ Zec 2:6 "Away, this is not your rest, for it is polluted." Mic 2:10 See Isa 48:20 Revelation 18:4 .... [ Continue Reading ]
For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows [shall be] as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. Ver. 9. _From the north c... [ Continue Reading ]
And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD. Ver. 10. _And Chaldea shall be a spoil._] See on Jeremiah 50:9 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls; Ver. 11. _Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced,_] _a_ _scil., _ In a thing of naught, _as _ Amo 6:13 and in the miseries of my people ye were madly... [ Continue Reading ]
_Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations [shall be] a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert._ Ver. 12. _Your mother shall be sore confounded,_] _i.e., _ Babylon, your mother city, or Babylonia, your country; or your monarchical... [ Continue Reading ]
Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. Ver. 13. _It shall not be inhabited, but be wholly desolate._] Babylon standeth not now in the same place as of old, nor is... [ Continue Reading ]
Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD. Ver. 14. _For she hath sinned against the Lord._] Yea, she is a sink of sins, the contagion of the world, the shop of Satan, the adversary of the saint... [ Continue Reading ]
Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it [is] the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her. Ver. 15. _Shout against her round about._] As they did once at Jericho; she shall come down a... [ Continue Reading ]
_Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land._ Ver. 16. _Cut off the sower._] Leave not so much as a husbandman alive, who yet are gen... [ Continue Reading ]
Israel [is] a scattered sheep; the lions have driven [him] away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Ver. 17. _First the king of Assyria hath devoured him._] Many Assyrian kings successively, but especially Sennacherib. _... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria. Ver. 18. _As I have punished the king of Assyria._] And accordingly so he did; for as Sennacherib first lost his army, and then his life, and th... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead. Ver. 19. _And I will bring Israel again to his habitation._] Or, To his fold, or his pastures. See Jeremiah 50:6; Jeremiah 50:17 .... [ Continue Reading ]
In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and [there shall be] none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve. Ver. 20. _The iniquity of Jacob shall be sought for, and there shall be none._] Because... [ Continue Reading ]
Go up against the land of Merathaim, [even] against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. Ver. 21. _Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the inhabitants of Pekod._] Two Babyloni... [ Continue Reading ]
A sound of battle [is] in the land, and of great destruction. Ver. 22. _A sound of battle is in the land._] _Barrites militaris; _ this is, not the joyful, but the woeful sound; for war is a woe which no words, however wide, can sufficiently set forth. _a_ a _Sequitur executio._ - _Oecol._... [ Continue Reading ]
_How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!_ Ver. 23. _How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder!_] Babylon was the maul or hammer of many nations, Nimrod began it, and his successors took after him. Charles Martel, King... [ Continue Reading ]
I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. Ver. 24. _I have laid a snare for thee._] Thou wild bull. Jer 50:27 Babylon was unexpectedly taken by a stratagem, while they were... [ Continue Reading ]
The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this [is] the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. Ver. 25. _The Lord hath opened his armoury._] Heb., Treasury. Now God's armoury is _omne id sub coelo, usque ad diabolos; _ all thin... [ Continue Reading ]
Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. Ver. 26. _Come against her._] This he speaketh to the Medes and Persians, who, though they were farther remote than they that could hear the prophet, yet God, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation. Ver. 27. _Slay all her bullocks._] Heb., Sword them, sheath your swords in their sides. See Jeremiah 50:24 .... [ Continue Reading ]
The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. Ver. 28. _The vengeance of his temple._] Spoiled and burnt by the Chaldeans, those wasters, as their name also signifieth. Woe, then, to such as dest... [ Continue Reading ]
Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. Ver. 29. _Acco... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD. Ver. 30. _Therefore shall her young men._] See on Jeremiah 49:26 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, I [am] against thee, [O thou] most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time [that] I will visit thee. Ver. 31. _Behold, I am against thee, O most proud._] Heb., O pride, in the abstract - _i.e., _ O Belshazzar; as of a certain Pope was said, “ _Conditur hoc tumulo... [ Continue Reading ]
And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. Ver. 32. _And the most proud shall stumble._] Heb., Pride, or that man of pride. _Praefractarius ille,_ so Oecolampadius rendereth it, that stubbo... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah [were] oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. Ver. 33. _The children of Judah and the children of Israel were oppressed together._] Or, Were oppressed alike - _sc... [ Continue Reading ]
Their Redeemer [is] strong; the LORD of hosts [is] his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. Ver. 34. _Their Redeemer is strong._] Or, But their strong avenger, whose name is the Lord of hosts; he shall thoroughly ple... [ Continue Reading ]
A sword [is] upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise [men]. Ver. 35. _A sword is upon the Chaldeans._] Those sworn swordsmen of the devil.... [ Continue Reading ]
A sword [is] upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword [is] upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. Ver. 36. _A sword is upon the liars,_] _i.e., _ The prognosticators and wizards. _Mendaces nominat divines,_ as it was wont here to be said - a friar, a liar.... [ Continue Reading ]
A sword [is] upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that [are] in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword [is] upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed. Ver. 37. _A sword is upon their horses._] Upon all their military preparations; whereof... [ Continue Reading ]
A drought [is] upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it [is] the land of graven images, and they are mad upon [their] idols. Ver. 38. _A drought is upon her waters._] Which Cyrus did so drain by many outlets, that without any great difficulty he took the city, assaulting it on two sides.... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell [there], and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. Ver. 39. _Therefore the wild beasts of the desert._] See Isaiah... [ Continue Reading ]
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour [cities] thereof, saith the LORD; [so] shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein. Ver. 40. _As God overthrew Sodom._] See Isa 13:19 Jeremiah 49:18 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. Ver. 41. _Behold, a people shall come from the north._] As Jeremiah 50:3; Jeremiah 50:9; Jeremiah 6:22 .... [ Continue Reading ]
They shall hold the bow and the lance: they [are] cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, [every one] put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon. Ver. 42. _Against thee, O daughter of Babylon._] In like s... [ Continue Reading ]
The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail. Ver. 43. _The king of Babylon, &c._] See Jer 6:24 Daniel 5:6 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who [is] a chosen [man, that] I may appoint over her? for who [is] like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who [is] that shepherd that will... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make [their] habitation desolate with them. Ver. 45. See on Jeremiah 49:20 .... [ Continue Reading ]
At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations. Ver. 46. See on Jeremiah 49:21 .... [ Continue Reading ]