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; Ver. 1. _Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst,_] _scil., _ Of the land of Chaldea, in the royal sea... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 2. _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 r... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 3. _Against him that bendeth._] _Periphrasis Babylonii, omnibus gentibus infesti._... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and [they that are] thrust through in her streets._ Ver. 4. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 5. _For Israel hath not been forsaken._] Heb., Widowed. _ Though their land was filled with sin._] Heb., Guilt, or delinquency, or devastati... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 6. _Flee out of the midst of Babylon._] See Jeremiah 18:1,23. So, in the Hew Testament, we are called upon to... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 7. _Babylon hath been a golden cup._] See Jeremiah 25:15 Revelation 17:4 . In the Lord's hand,] _i.e., _ _Oeconomia et dispensatione eius:... [ Continue Reading ]
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. Ver. 8. _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_ _; _ Rev 18:10 _ I... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 9. _We would have healed Babylon._] Say the foreign nations that came to help her, or the people of God,... [ Continue Reading ]
_The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God._ Ver. 10. _The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness,_] _i.e., _ Our just cause, and the righteousness of our religion, derided by the Babylonians.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 11. _Make bright the arrows,_] _q.d., _ Do so, O Chaldeans, if y... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 12. _Set up the standard._] An irony all along, _a_ as Jeremiah 51:11 . _ a_ _Hortat... [ Continue Reading ]
_O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, [and] the measure of thy covetousness._ Ver. 13. _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 n... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 14. _Surely I will fill thee with men as with caterpillers._] So they shall seem both for multitude and humming noise, _barritu militari._ Th... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 15. _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 "_ Jer 10:12... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 16. _When he uttereth his voice, &c._] See Jeremiah 10:13 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 17. _Every man is brutish._] See Jeremiah 10:14 .... [ Continue Reading ]
They [are] vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. Ver. 18. _They are vanity._] See Jeremiah 10:15 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 19. _The portion of Jacob, &c._] See Jeremiah 10:16 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Ver. 20. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Ver. 21. _And with thee._] O Babylonian king. _ Will I break in pieces._] Or rather, Have I broken in pieces. And hence thy perdition.... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Ver. 22. With thee also will I break (or, By thee have I broken) in pieces man and woman.] But especially my people of the Jews,... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 23. _The shepherd and his flock, the husbandman and his yoke, &c._] This particular enumeration... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 24. _And I will render unto Babylon._] See Jeremiah 50:15; Jer 50:29 Isaiah 47:6; Isaiah 47:8; Isaiah 10:5,6; Isaiah 10:12 . _ In your sight._] You, m... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 25. _O destroying mountain._] O Babylon, thou that art _amplitudine et altitud... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 26. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 27. _Set up a standard._] Thus Go... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 28. _Prepare against her._] Heb., Sanctify. _as _ Jer 51:27 _ With the kings of the Medes._] Darius and Cyrus.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 29. _And the land shall tremble and sorrow._] As a travailing woman, so shall it be pained.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 30. _The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight._] At Cyrus's first coming they gave him battle;... [ Continue Reading ]
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, Ver. 31. _One post shall run to meet another._] Observe how punctually all things were foretold in the several circumstances more than fifty years before. _ At on... [ Continue Reading ]
And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. Ver. 32. _And that the passages are stopped._] Or, Taken, seized, surprised. _as _ Jer 48:41 _ And the reeds._] Or, Marshes, made by Euphrates overflowing. It is well observed that the B... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 33. _The daughter of Babylon._] Proud of her wealth and strength, as young maids many are of their be... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 34. Nebuchadnezzar … hath devoured me, he hath crushed me.] A graphical description... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 35. _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 i... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 36. _Behold, I will plead thy cause._] Not so much verbally as really. Here is a present answer to Israel's cry.... [ Continue Reading ]
And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. Ver. 37. _And Babylon shall become heaps._] See Jeremiah 50:39 .... [ Continue Reading ]
They shall roar together like lions: they shall yell as lions' whelps. Ver. 38. _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.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 39. _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.... [ Continue Reading ]
I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats. Ver. 40. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! Ver. 41. _How is Sheshach taken?_] _i.e., _ How is Babylon destroyed beyond all expectation? See Jeremiah 25:26 .... [ Continue Reading ]
The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. Ver. 42. _The sea is come up upon Babylon._] A sea of hostile forces; what wonder, therefore, though she be taken?... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 43. _Her cities are a desolation._] See Jeremiah 2:6; Jeremiah 9:12 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 44. _And I will punish Bel in Babylon._] Nimrod was after his death called the Babylonian S... [ Continue Reading ]
My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD. Ver. 45. _My people, go ye out of the midst of her._] This is much pressed, Jer 48:6 and it was but need; for many of the Jews were as hardly drawn to depart thence as a dog, _ab uncto cor... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 46. _And lest your heart faint._] Or, And let not your hearts faint... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 47. _I will do judgment, &c._] See Jeremiah 43:12,13 Exodus 12:12 . _ And all her slain shall fall._] Her danc... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 48. _Then the heaven and the earth, &c., shall sing._] _Est hyperbolica prosopopoeia._ This is an exagerated personification. There shall be, a... [ Continue Reading ]
As Babylon [hath caused] the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. Ver. 49. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. Ver. 50. _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 ho... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 51. _We are confounded, because we have heard reproach._] This is the Jews' lamentation, as in the next verse we have the answer to it.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 52. _Wherefore, behold, the days come._] So soon is God up at the cry of his poor people. Psa 12:5 _ I will do judgment._] See Jeremiah 51:37; Je... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 53. _Though Babylon should mount up to heaven._] As her walls are said to have been of an incredible height (see on Jer 51:44), and he... [ Continue Reading ]
A sound of a cry [cometh] from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans: Ver. 54. _A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon._] See Jeremiah 48:3 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 55. _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.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 56. _For the Lord God of recompenses._] _Princeps ille et arbiter iustae talionis._ God, who loveth to retaliate.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 57. _And I will make drunk._] See Jeremiah 51:39 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 58. _The broad walls of Babylon._] See on Jeremiah 51:44. Or, The walls of bro... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 59. _The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah._] This i... [ Continue Reading ]
So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, [even] all these words that are written against Babylon. Ver. 60. _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' co... [ Continue Reading ]
And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; Ver. 61. _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 w... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 62. _Then shalt thou say, O Lord, &c._] The promises are to be prayed over, and then we may expect their accomplishment.... [ Continue Reading ]
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: Ver. 63. _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... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 64. _Thus shall Babylon sink._] Ceremonies are to little purpose unless they have divine expositions annexed unto them. _ An... [ Continue Reading ]