Jeremiahchapter 51
64 verses · Jeremiah, written by Baruch · 7th to 6th century BC · The Prophets
This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will stir up against Babylon and against the people of Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer.
Introduction
Jeremiah, written by Baruch, The Prophets, Jeremiah Overview.
This chapter completes the oracle against Babylon and ends the words of Jeremiah himself. It was written while Babylon was at the height of its power and Judah's king was its vassal. The poem is long and returns again and again to a few calls, to flee, to see, to remember. At its close the book tells how the whole oracle was written out and carried to Babylon by a royal officer, with instructions for what to do with it there. Listen for the praise of the Creator set in the middle of the judgment, and for the line that marks the end of the prophet's words.
Context
- Who
- Exiles being handed a document to read aloud in the enemy's capital
- What
- The second half of the poem against Babylon, followed by the account of Seraiah carrying the written oracle to Babylon and sinking it in the Euphrates.
- Where
- Babylon on the Euphrates, where Seraiah read the scroll and cast it into the river.
- When
- The fourth year of Zedekiah, about 594 BC, when Seraiah went to Babylon with the king, as verse 59 states.
- Why
- To complete the announcement of Babylon's fall, call the exiles to leave it when the time came, and seal the message with a sign acted out in Babylon itself.
Historical context
The peoples called up against Babylon are real and identifiable: the kings of the Medes, and the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz, that is Urartu around Lake Van, the Mannaeans of north-western Iran, and the Scythian horsemen, all of them named in Assyrian records of the same centuries. A marshal is appointed and horses are brought up like bristling locusts.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Several lines describe a fall by water and drink. Her broad walls will be levelled and her high gates burned; a drought is called on her waters; the warriors are drunk and sleeping a perpetual sleep; the passages are seized, the marshes burned, and the runners meet each other to tell the king his city is taken from end to end. Herodotus reports that Cyrus took Babylon in 539 BC by diverting the Euphrates and marching troops up the drained riverbed while the city was at a festival, a version some historians question, since a Babylonian account has the city surrendering with little fighting, but the drying of the river and a night of drinking are both in this chapter first.
The same idol-workshop argument from chapter 10 is repeated here nearly word for word: images are false and have no breath, while the God who made the earth by his power and stretched out the heavens by his understanding is the portion of Jacob.
The chapter ends with an act. Jeremiah writes all these words in a single scroll and gives it to Seraiah son of Neriah, Baruch's brother, a staff officer travelling to Babylon with King Zedekiah. He is to read it aloud there, tie a stone to it, throw it into the Euphrates, and say: thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more.
Significance
For exiles who had to walk past those blue-glazed walls every day, this was a countermeasure. The scroll went into the river at the empire's own capital, so the verdict was already filed there before anything happened.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
The instruction to God's people inside the city is a warning against panic: do not let your heart faint when rumour follows rumour and violence fills the land, one ruler against another. Rumour was the medium of that world, and they were told in advance not to be governed by it.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this lane, printed no weekly portion and no Haftarah from this chapter, and no festival reading for the book. That table carries the Haftarah of each of the fifty-four weekly portions and the books read whole at the feasts, and it carries nothing for the special Sabbaths or the fast days. This card therefore names no public reading of the chapter and leaves that question to a source that holds those readings.
The corpus joins the chapter to the weeks of the Torah portions through the works arranged by portion. Under the fifty-sixth verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Nasso 34:1.
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries, quoted here from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Every quotation of it is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern, and his headwords, which carry the verse in that translation's wording, are never quoted.
Rashi reads the name Leb-kamai in the first verse as a cipher. By the letter exchange called At-bash it spells Casdim, the Chaldeans (Rashi on Jeremiah 51:1:1). The widowhood denied in the fifth verse means "He has not forgotten him to avenge him" (Rashi on Jeremiah 51:5:1).
The golden cup of the seventh verse is Babylon's office until now (Rashi on Jeremiah 51:7:1). It was a cup "in the Lord’s hand with which to intoxicate the whole earth with the wine of wrath" (Rashi on Jeremiah 51:7:1). The vindication in the tenth verse he glosses in Israel's voice: "We have been remembered by Him favorably, and the merits of our forefathers have come before Him" (Rashi on Jeremiah 51:10:1).
The war club of the twentieth verse is Babylon's appointed work: "I have appointed you as a destroyer and a shatterer of the nations upon whom I decreed exile" (Rashi on Jeremiah 51:20:1). The repayment of Babylon comes after, "when I complete My vengeance upon the nations through him" (Rashi on Jeremiah 51:24:1). The man made brutish in the seventeenth verse is "whoever makes a graven image for a god" (Rashi on Jeremiah 51:17:1). The corpus's notes on this chapter run to the twenty-fifth verse.
The corpus carries seven further notes on this chapter without an English text. Each is marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref, so each is cited here and none is quoted. The notes of Radak are cited at Radak on Jeremiah 51:4:1, 51:8:1, 51:15:1, 51:21:1 and 51:25:1. The notes of Metzudat David are cited at Metzudat David on Jeremiah 51:16:1 and 51:23:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the first verse it holds Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 3:10:4 and Otzar Midrashim, Baraita of The 32 Midot of Aggadah 1:34. On the third verse it holds Ein Yaakov, Nedarim 4:4 and Nedarim 38a:1. On the fifth verse it holds Eikhah Rabbah 1:3 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Lamentations 1:1:4. On the seventh verse it holds Bereshit Rabbah 88:5 and Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 10:1:7. On the ninth verse it holds Bereshit Rabbah 38:5 and Bereshit Rabbah 39:5.
On the tenth verse it holds Pesikta Rabbati 30:1 and Shemot Rabbah 25:6. On the eleventh verse it holds Midrash Tehillim 93:1. On the thirteenth verse it holds Ein Yaakov, Taanit 1:46 and Taanit 10a:10. On the fifteenth verse it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan, Recension B 43:13. On the eighteenth verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sanhedrin 11:71.
On the twentieth verse it holds Eikhah Rabbah 2:3. On the twenty-fourth verse it holds Midrash Tehillim 119:24. On the twenty-seventh verse it holds Bereshit Rabbah 90:3. On the twenty-ninth verse it holds Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 9:2:4. On the thirtieth verse it holds Chullin 91a:19.
On the thirty-third verse it holds Midrash Tehillim 8:1. On the thirty-fourth verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov on Esther 4:1:1. On the thirty-fifth verse it holds Bereshit Rabbah 31:6. On the thirty-sixth verse it holds Aggadat Bereshit 6:1. On the thirty-ninth verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Megillah 1:35.
On the forty-first verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 18:21. On the forty-fourth verse it holds Bereshit Rabbah 68:13. On the forty-sixth verse it holds Seder Olam Rabbah 28:1. On the forty-ninth verse it holds Eikhah Rabbah, Petichta 23. On the fiftieth verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov, Numbers 15:40:1.
On the fifty-first verse it holds Eikhah Rabbah, Petichta 9. On the fifty-second verse it holds Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 6:5:1. On the fifty-sixth verse it holds Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Nasso 34:1. On the fifty-seventh verse it holds Midrash Tannaim on Deuteronomy 22:19:6. On the fifty-eighth verse it holds Eikhah Rabbah 5:1.
On the fifty-ninth verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 10:5. On the sixty-third verse it holds Midrash Tannaim on Deuteronomy 33:1:7. On the sixty-fourth verse it holds Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 5:1:3. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Jeremiah 51:1:1 to 51:24:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Radak, Radak on Jeremiah 51:4:1, 51:8:1, 51:15:1, 51:21:1 and 51:25:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on Jeremiah 51:16:1 and 51:23:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/jeremiah/51.json, the 40 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, printing no portion and no Haftarah for this chapter and no festival reading for this book.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
A Golden Cup in the LORD's Hand, Suddenly Fallen
the spirit of a destroyer: The LORD will stir up “the spirit of a destroyer” and send strangers “to winnow her and empty her land.” Verse 5 sets assurance inside the judgment: “Israel and Judah have not been abandoned by their God.” The exiles are told to flee and escape with their lives.
Jeremiah 51:1
“In the midst of them that rise up against me - Or, in Leb-kamai, the cipher for Kasdim, i. e., Chaldaea. This cipher was not necessarily invented by Jeremiah, or used for concealment. It was probaby first devised either for political purposes or for trade, and was in time largely employed in the correspondence between the exiles at Babylon and their friends at home. Thus, words in common use like Sheshach Jer 25:26 and Leb-kamai, would be known to everybody.”
Jeremiah 51:2
“And I will send unto Babylon farmers, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land,.... Or, "strangers that shall fan her" (c); meaning the Medes and Persians, who should be like a strong wind upon the mountains, where corn, having been threshed, was fanned, and the chaff carried away by the wind; and such would the Chaldeans be in the hand of the Persians, scattered and dispersed among the nations as chaff with the wind, and their cities be emptied of inhabitants, and of their wealth and riches.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:2
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:3
“The man who bends the bow, and the heavy-armed soldier who vaunts himself in his coat of mail (Jer 46:4 note), represent the Babylonians who defend the city.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:3
“The Chaldean version and JEROME, by changing the vowel points, read, "Let not him (the Babylonian) who bendeth his bow bend it." But the close of the verse is addressed to the Median invaders; therefore it is more likely that the first part of the verse is addressed to them, as in English Version, not to the Babylonians, to warn them against resistance as vain, as in the Chaldean version.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:4
“Translate it: “And they,” i. e., the young men who form her host Jer 51:3, “shall fall slain in the land of the Chaldaeans, and pierced through in her streets,” i. e., the streets of Babylon.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:4
“Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans,.... By the sword, or by the arrows and darts of the Medes and Persians: and they that are thrust through in her streets; either by the one or by the other, especially the latter, since they only are mentioned; See Gill on Jer 50:30.”
Jeremiah 51:5
“God is his God still, and will act for him as the Lord of hosts, a God of power. Note, Though God's people may have broken his laws and fallen under his rebukes, yet it does not therefore follow that they are thrown out of covenant; but God's care of them and love to them will flourish again, Ps. lxxxix.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:5
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:6
“Turn back also to Jeremiah and pay heed to what he has written of like import: "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver everyone his soul." For "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit." It is true that Rome has a holy church, trophies of apostles and martyrs, a true confession of Christ. The faith has been preached there by an apostle, heathenism has been trodden down, the name of Christ is daily exalted higher and higher.”
Jerome · written before 420 · LETTER 46.12patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:6
“Flee out of the midst of Babylon,.... This is said either to such as were there of other nations upon trade and business, as Kimchi, to get out of it as fast as they could, that they might not be consumed; or to the Israelites, as Jarchi, the Jews that were captives there.”
Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD: “Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk,” the instrument of judgment now judged. The nations say, “We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed.” Verse 10 turns to Zion: “The LORD has brought forth our vindication.”
Jeremiah 51:7
“Literally, “A golden cup is Babel in the hand of Yahweh, intoxicating the whole earth.” Jeremiah beholds her in her splendor, but the wine whereof she makes the nations drink is the wrath of God. As God’s hammer Jer 50:23, Babylon was strong: as His cup of gold, she was rich and beautiful, but neither saves her from ruin.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:7
“The cup is termed "golden," to express the splendor and opulence of Babylon; whence also in the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar (Da 2:38) the head representing Babylon is of gold (compare Isa 14:4). Her friends and confederates, who behold her fall, are invited to her aid.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:8
“Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed,.... Or "broken" (g); even into shivers, as a cup is; for when it had been used to answer the purposes designed by the Lord, he let it fall cut of his hands at once, and it was broken; or rather he dashed it in pieces, as a potter's vessel.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:8
“Destroyed - literally, broken, as was the hammer Jer 50:23. The cup, though of metal, is thrown down so violently as to be shattered by the fall. Howl for her - The persons addressed are the many inhabitants of Babylon who were dragged from their homes to people its void places, and especially the Israelites. They have dwelt there long enough to feel pity for her, when they contrast her past magnificence with her terrible fall. Compare Jer 29:7.”
Jeremiah 51:9
“Yet some understand this as spoken by the forces they had hired for their assistance, declaring that they had done their best to save her from ruin, but that it was all to no purpose, and therefore they might as well go home to their respective countries; "for her judgment reaches unto heaven, and it is in vain to withstand it or think to avert it." 2.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 51:10
“Compare Jer 23:6, "The Lord our righteousness"; Their righteousness is His righteousness. declare in Zion-- (Ps 102:13-21).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:10
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
the spirit of the kings of the Medes: The attacker is now named: “The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes,” the power allied with Cyrus when Babylon fell. Babylon may “post the guard”, for the LORD “has both devised and accomplished what He spoke.” Babylon dwells “by many waters, rich in treasures.”
Jeremiah 51:11
“GESENIUS, not so well, translates, "Fill with your bodies the shields" (compare So 4:4). He means to tell the Babylonians, Make what preparations you will, all will be in vain (compare Jer 46:3-6). kings of . . . Medes--He names the Medes rather than the Persians, because Darius, or Cyaxares, was above Cyrus in power and the greatness of his kingdom. temple-- (Jer 50:28).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Jeremiah 51:11
“Make bright the arrows,.... Which were covered with rust; scour them of it; anoint them with oil, as armour were wont to be; make them neat, clean, and bright, that they may pierce the deeper; hence we read of a "polished shaft", or arrow, one made bright and pure, Isa 49:2; agreeably to this some render the word "sharpen the arrows" (k); so the Targum.”
Jeremiah 51:11
“Make bright - Rather, Sharpen. The Medes Gen 10:2 were a branch of the great Aryan family, who as conquerors had seized upon the vast regions extending from the Caspian Sea to the eastern borders of Mesopotamia, but without being able to dispossess the Turanian tribes who had previously dwelt there. They were divided into numerous clans, each with its own local chief, the leaders of the larger sections being those who are here called kings.”
Jeremiah 51:12
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:12
“This intimates that they would be found very secure and remiss, and would need to be thus quickened (and they were so to such a degree that they were in the midst of their revels when the city was taken), but that all their preparations should come to no purpose.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 51:13
“Upon many waters - The great wealth of Babylonia was caused not merely by the Euphrates, but by a vast system of canals, which served for defense as well as for irrigation. The measure of thy covetousness - i. e., the appointed end of thy gain. Some render it: the ell of thy cutting off, i. e., the appointed measure at which thou art to be cut off, at which thy web of existence is to be severed from the loom.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:13
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:14
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
He Made the Earth by His Power; Babylon a Destroying Mountain
The LORD made the earth by His power: This hymn repeats 10:12-16 almost word for word. It sets the Maker against idols: “his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.” Verse 19 closes, “The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things.”
Jeremiah 51:15
“Repeated from Jer 10:12-16; except that "Israel" is not in the Hebrew of Jer 51:19, which ought, therefore, to be translated, "He is the Former of all things, and (therefore) of the rod of His inheritance" (that is, of the nation peculiarly His own).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:17
“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 Jer 10:12-16.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:17
“The idols are falsehood, they are vanity, they are the work of errors; when they come to be visited (to be examined and enquired into) they perish, that is, their reputation sinks and they appear to be nothing; and those that make them are like unto them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 51:18
“They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. See Gill on Jer 10:15.”
Jeremiah 51:19
“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. See Gill on Jer 10:16.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:19
“God hath spoken once; yea, twice have we heard this, that power belongs to God, power to destroy the most formidable enemies of his church; and if God thus speak once, yea, twice, we are inexcusable if we do not perceive it and attend to it. A description of the instruments that are to be employed in this service.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
“You are My war club, My weapon for battle,” and Barnes and Keil give two readings: Babylon or the Medes named in verse 11. “With you I shatter” comes nine times, through nations, kingdoms, horse and rider, and governors. Whoever the club is, the LORD is the one who shatters.
Jeremiah 51:20
“Thou art my battle axe - I believe Nebuchadnezzar is meant, who is called, Jer 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,” etc., etc.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:21
“And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider,.... Or, "have broken": meaning the cavalry of an army, wherein lies its chief strength: and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his rider; which were also used in war.”
Jeremiah 51:22
“And with thee also will I break in pieces man and woman,.... Or, "have broken"; having no respect to any sex, and to the propagation of posterity: and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; not sparing men of any age, however useful they might be, the one for their wisdom, the other for their strength: and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid; who by procreation of children might fill and strengthen commonwealths.”
Jeremiah 51:23
“And I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock,.... Or, have broken; which Abarbinel thinks respects the Arabians particularly, who were shepherds, and dwelt in tents; but it rather signifies shepherds and their flocks in general; who were killed or scattered wherever his armies came, which spared none, even the most innocent and useful, and though unarmed: and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; with which he ploughed his ground: signifying by this, as well as the former, that those were not spared, by which kingdoms were…”
Jeremiah 51:24-29
“Before your very eyes I will repay Babylon.” Babylon, the “destroying mountain,” will become “a charred mountain,” and “No one shall retrieve from you a cornerstone or a foundation stone.” The nations summoned, “Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz,” are Armenia, the Manneans, and the Scythians, with “the kings of the Medes.”
Jeremiah 51:24
“The detail of particulars (Jer 51:20-23) is in order to express the indiscriminate slaughters perpetrated by Babylon on Zion, which, in just retribution, are all to befall her in turn (Jer 50:15, 29). in your sight--addressed to the Jews.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:24
And I will render - The ו vau should be translated but, of which it has here the full power: “But I will render unto Babylon.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
A Burnt Mountain, a Threshingfloor at Harvest Time
Jeremiah 51:25
“O destroying mountain - A volcano which by its flames and hot lava-streams “destroys the whole land.” A burnt mountain - A burned-out mountain, of which the crater alone remains. Such was Babylon. Its destructive energy under Nebuchadnezzar was like the first outbreak of volcanic fires; its rapid collapse under his successors was as the same volcano when its flames have burned out, and its crater is falling in upon itself.”
2 more voices on this verse
Jeremiah 51:25
“He calls Babylon a mountain because of the preeminence of its power. He calls it corrupt because of its ungodliness and wickedness.”
Theodoret of Cyrus · written before 458 · On Jeremiah 10:51patristic
Jeremiah 51:25
“Such was the appearance of Babylon after its destruction, and as the pumice stones of the volcano are left in their place, being unfit for building, so Babylon should never rise from its ruins.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:26
“And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations,.... Signifying that it should be so utterly consumed by fire, that there should not be a stone left fit to be put into any new building, especially to be a corner or a foundation stone. The Targum understands it figuratively, "and they shall not take of thee a king for a kingdom, and a ruler for government:'' but thou shall be desolate for ever, saith the Lord; see Jer 50:39.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:26
“Or it denotes that there shall be nothing left in Babylon on which to ground any hopes or attempts of raising it into a kingdom again; for, as it follows here, it shall be desolate for ever. St. Jerome says that in his time, though the ruins of Babylon's walls were to be seen, yet the ground enclosed by them was a forest of wild beasts.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 51:27
“Ararat, see the Gen 8:4 note. Minni, probably the western portion of Armenia, as Ararat was that in the center and to the east. Armenia was at this time subject to Media. Ashchenaz was between the Euxine and the Caspian Seas. A captain - Some prefer the Septuagint rendering in Nah 3:17: “a mingled mass of people.” (Others, a “scribe,” an Assyrian term.) The rough caterpillers - i. e., locusts in their third stage, when their wings are still enveloped in rough horny cases, which stick up upon their backs. It is in this stage that they are so destructive.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:27
“Minni--Lower or Lesser Armenia. RAWLINSON says that Van was the capital of Minni. It was conquered by Tettarrassa, the general of Tetembar II, the Assyrian king whose wars are recorded on the black obelisk now in the British Museum.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:28
“Prepare against her the nations, with the kings of the Medes,.... At the head of them, Darius and Cyrus. The Syriac version has it in the singular number, the king of the Modes: the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominions; that is, the inhabitants of it, the common people, with their princes, nobles, governors, as captains of them, under Cyrus, their generalissimo.”
Jeremiah 51:29
“The literal translation is: Then the earth quaked and writhed; For the thoughts of Yahweh against Babel have stood fast; To make Babel a waste without inhabitant.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:29
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting: Couriers run to tell the king “that his city has been captured from end to end.” Herodotus reports that the city was so large its center did not know its outskirts had fallen. Verse 33 closes with the threshing floor: “In just a little while her harvest time will come.”
Jeremiah 51:30
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:31
“The royal palace was a strong fortification in the heart of the city. The messengers thus met one another. At one end - Rather, from all sides, entirely, completely.”
Jeremiah 51:32
“And that the passages are stopped,.... Or "taken", or "seized" (o); where Cyrus placed soldiers to keep them; these were the passages leading from the river Euphrates to the city, the keys of it; the little gates, that Herodotus (p) speaks of, leading to the river, which were left open that night.”
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Jeremiah 51:32
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:33
“Translate, “The daughter of Babylon is as a threshing-floor at the time when it is trampled,” i. e., trodden hard in readiness for the threshing: “yet a little while and the harvest-time” shall come to her, i. e., overtake her. In the East, the grain when reaped is carried at once to the threshing-floor, a level spot carefully prepared beforehand, usually about 50 feet in diameter, and trampled hard. The grain after it has been beaten out by a sledge drawn over it by oxen is separated from the chaff and stored up in granaries.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:33
“For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,.... "The Lord of hosts", the Lord God omnipotent, and can do all things; "the God of Israel", and therefore will plead their cause, and take vengeance on Babylon: the daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor; on which the nations of the earth had been threshed, or punished and destroyed; and now she was like a threshing floor, unto which should be gathered, and on which should be laid, her king, princes, and the people of the land, and be there beat and crushed to pieces.”
Nebuchadnezzar Devoured Me; Bel Made to Give Up What He Swallowed
Zion speaks, “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me.” The LORD answers as the Redeemer of 50:34, “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf.” Babylon’s feast ends in a sleep from which they “never wake up,” and they go down “like lambs to the slaughter.”
Jeremiah 51:34
“Her groans are what bring down retribution in kind on Babylon (Jer 50:17; Ps 102:13, 17, 20). empty vessel--He has drained me out. dragon--The serpent often "swallows" its prey whole; or a sea monster [GROTIUS]. filled his belly . . . cast me out--like a beast, which, having "filled" himself to satiety, "casts out" the rest [CALVIN].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
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Jeremiah 51:34
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:35
“The violence done to me - be upon Babylon, - and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea - Zion begins to speak, Jer 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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:36
“Her sea - Probably the great lake dug by Nitocris to receive the waters of the Euphrates. Her springs - Her reservoir; the whole system of canals dug Jer 51:13. The wealth of Babylonia depended upon irrigation.”
Jeremiah 51:37
“Heaps - Of rubbish, formed in this case by the decay of the unburned bricks of which Babylon was built. It is these heaps which have yielded such a large wealth of historical documents in our own days. Dragons - Jackals Jer 10:22.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:37
“The capture of Babylon was effected on the night of a festival in honor of its idols. roar . . . yell--The Babylonians were shouting in drunken revelry (compare Da 5:4).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:39
“Heat - When they shall grow hot with wine, I will make them a feast of another nature. Interpreters judge that Belshazzar, Dan. v, 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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
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Jeremiah 51:39
“In their heat ... - While, like so many young lions, they are in the full glow of excitement over their prey, God prepares for them a drinking-bout to end in the sleep of death. Compare Dan 5:1.”
Jeremiah 51:40
“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,.... To the place of slaughter; who shall be able to make no more resistance than lambs. This explains what is meant by being made drunk, and sleeping a perpetual sleep, even destruction and death: like rams with he goats; denoting the promiscuous destruction of the prince and common people together.”
How Sheshach has been captured!: Sheshach is Babel written in the Atbash cipher, the alphabet reversed, as in 25:26. “The sea has come up over Babylon,” and her cities become “a land where no one lives.” The LORD will make Bel “spew out what he swallowed,” and “even the wall of Babylon will fall.”
Jeremiah 51:41
“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, etc., etc.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:41
“Sheshach--Babylon (compare Note, see Jer 25:26); called so from the goddess Shach, to whom a five days' festival was kept, during which, as in the Roman Saturnalia, the most unbridled licentiousness was permitted; slaves ruled their masters, and in every house one called Zogan, arrayed in a royal garment, was chosen to rule all the rest.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:42
“The sea is come up upon Babylon,.... A vast army, comparable to the great sea for the multitude thereof, even the army of the Medes and Persians under Cyrus; so the Targum, "a king with his armies, which are numerous like the waters of the sea, is come up against Babylon:'' she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof; being surrounded, besieged, surprised, and seized upon by the multitude of soldiers in that army, which poured in upon it unawares.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:42
“The sea--the host of Median invaders. The image (compare Jer 47:2; Isa 8:7, 8) is appropriately taken from the Euphrates, which, overflowing in spring, is like a "sea" near Babylon (Jer 51:13, 32, 36).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:43
“Her cities--the cities, her dependencies. So, "Jerusalem and the cities thereof" (Jer 34:1). Or, the "cities" are the inner and outer cities, the two parts into which Babylon was divided by the Euphrates [GROTIUS].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:44
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:44
“And I will punish Bel in Babylon,.... The idol of the Babylonians, who had a temple in Babylon, where he was worshipped: the same is called Belus by Aelianus (g), Curtius (h), and Pausanias (i); perhaps the same Herodian (k) calls Belis, and says some take him to be Apollo; for more of him; see Gill on Isa 46:1; and See Gill on Jer 50:2; who was punished when his temple was demolished, and plundered of its wealth; this golden image of Belus was broke to pieces, and the gold of it carried away.”
Go Ye Out of the Midst of Her, My People
Come out of her, My people!: The call to come out of Babylon repeats 50:8 and 51:6. The exiles are told not to lose heart at rumor, “of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler.” When the LORD punishes Babylon’s idols, “heaven and earth and all that is in them will shout for joy.”
Jeremiah 51:45
“The fierce anger of the Lord - i. e., against Babylon. The people of God are to flee away that they may not be involved in the miseries of Babylon. See the Jer 50:8 note.”
Jeremiah 51:46
“A rumor shall - come one year - A year before the capture of the city there shall be a rumor of war, - and in that year Belshazzar was defeated by Cyrus. In the following year the city was taken.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:47
“GROTIUS translates, "her dancers," as in Jud 21:21, 23; 1Sa 18:6, the same Hebrew word is translated, alluding to the dancing revelry of the festival during which Cyrus took Babylon.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:48
“Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon,.... At the destruction of her, rejoicing at it; not at the ruin of fellow creatures, simply considered; but relatively, at the righteousness of God in it, and the glory of his justice, and the deliverance of many by it from tyranny and bondage. This seems to be a figurative expression often used, in which the heavens and the earth are brought in as witnesses, approvers, and applauders, of what is done by the Lord.”
“Babylon must fall on account of the slain of Israel, just as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.” “Remember the LORD from far away, and let Jerusalem come to mind.” Even if Babylon “ascends to the heavens,” the destroyers will come against her.
Jeremiah 51:49
“Render, “As Babylon caused the slain of Israel to fall, so because of Babylon, hare fallen the slain of (or, in) the whole earth.” Babylon has to answer for the general carnage caused by its wars.”
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Jeremiah 51:49
“As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel,.... In Jerusalem, when that city was taken the Chaldeans, and destroyed: so at Babylon shall all the slain of all the earth; or "land"; that is, the land of Chaldea; the inhabitants of which fled to Babylon upon the invasion of the Medes and Persians, both for their own safety, and the defence of that city; and where, being slain, they fell; and this was a just retaliation of them for what they had done to Israel.”
Jeremiah 51:50
“This message from the Lord was written by the Prophet Jeremiah to the Jews who were carried away to Babylon or even to more distant places. They were entreated not to forget the holy city where they had worshipped Jehovah in His Temple. Among all their thoughts, they were bidden to take care that the thought of Jerusalem should often come into their minds. This would keep them from settling down in the places to which they had been carried as captives.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2648: “Sacred Memories” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 51:50
“So great will be the slaughter that even some of God's people shall be involved in it, as they had deserved. afar off--though ye are banished far off from where ye used formerly to worship God. let Jerusalem come into your mind--While in exile remember your temple and city, so as to prefer them to all the rest of the world wherever ye may be (Isa 62:6).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:51
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:52
“Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will do judgment upon her graven images,.... Destroy their gods, who have reproached the God of Israel, and profaned his sanctuaries; and for that reason; See Gill on Jer 51:47; it is an answer to the objection and complaint of the Jews, and is designed for their comfort and encouragement: and through all her land the wounded shall groan; because of their wounds and pain; and which their idols could not cure, ease, or prevent.”
Jeremiah 51:53
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, the sound of great destruction.” The two defenses fall together: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire.” “So the labor of the people will be for nothing,” words Habakkuk 2:13 repeats almost exactly.
Jeremiah 51:54
“A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon,.... Of the inhabitants of it upon its being taken; which is said to denote the certainty of it, which was as sure as if the cry of the distressed was then heard: and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans; that is, the report of a great destruction there, was, or would be, carried from thence, and spread all over the world.”
Jeremiah 51:55
“Because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon,.... By means of the Merits and Persians; these were his instruments he made use of; to these he gave commission, power, and strength to spoil Babylon; and therefore it is ascribed to him: and destroyed out of her the great voice; the noise of people, which is very great in populous cities, where people are passing to and fro in great numbers upon business; which ceases when any calamity comes, as pestilence, famine, or sword, which sweep away the inhabitants; this last was the case of Babylon.”
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Jeremiah 51:55
“Or, "when" is connected thus: "the great voice" in her, when her "waves," &c. (compare Jer 51:13). CALVIN translates, "their waves," that is, the Medes bursting on her as impetuous waves; so Jer 51:42.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 51:56
“When the spoiler comes upon Babylon her mighty men, who should make head against him, are immediately taken, their weapons of war fail them, every one of their bows is broken and stands them in no stead.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
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Jeremiah 51:56
“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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:56
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:57
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:58
“The broad walls of Babylon - Herodotus, who saw these walls, says, “The city was a regular square, each side of which was one hand red 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. 1 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 on Isa 13:19 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
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Jeremiah 51:58
“Thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... Because what follows might seem incredible ever to be effected; it is introduced with this preface, expressed by him who is the God of truth, and the Lord God omnipotent: the broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken; or rased up; the foundations of them, and the ground on which they stood made naked and bare, and open to public view; everyone of the walls, the inward and the outward, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it.”
Seraiah Binds a Stone to the Book and Sinks It in the River
the quartermaster Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah: The last sign-act is carried by Seraiah, brother of Baruch (32:12), who went to Babylon with Zedekiah. Jeremiah writes the disaster “on a single scroll,” and it is carried into the city it condemns. Seraiah is told, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud.”
Jeremiah 51:59
“The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah,.... This word is no other than the above prophecy concerning the destruction of Babylon, contained in this and the preceding chapter; or rather the order the prophet gave this prince to take a copy of it with him to Babylon, and there read it, and their cast it into the river Euphrates, with a stone bound it.”
2 more voices on this verse
Jeremiah 51:59
“He went with Zedekiah, or (as the margin reads it) on the behalf of Zedekiah, into Babylon. The character given of him is observable, that this Seraiah was a quiet prince, a prince of rest. He was in honour and power, but not, as most f the princes then were, hot and heady, making parties, and heading factions, and driving things furiously.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 51:59
“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.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:60
“So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon,.... The evil of punishment predicted and threatened: this he delivered, not by word of mouth to Seraiah to relate when he came to Babylon; but he wrote it in a book for him reread; and he wrote it himself; Baruch, his amanuensis, not being now with him: even all these words that are written against Babylon; in this and the preceding chapter: this book written by Jeremiah was a copy of them.”
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Jeremiah 51:60
“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 Jer 51:62-64. A book, ספר sepher, signifies, in Hebrew, any writing, great or small.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:61
“And Jeremiah said to Seraiah,.... At the time he delivered the copy to him: when thou comest to Babylon; or art come to Babylon, to the city of Babylon, and to the captive Jews there: and shalt see them; the captives; or rather the great and populous city of Babylon, its high walls, gates, and towers, whose destruction is foretold in this book, and which might seem incredible.”
Seraiah is to pray, “O LORD, You have promised to cut off this place.” He casts the scroll into the Euphrates with a stone: “In the same way Babylon will sink.” “Here end the words of Jeremiah” closes the prophet’s words before the history of chapter 52.
Jeremiah 51:63
“And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book,.... To the captive Jews; and having also said the above words by way of prayer and approbation: that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates; a river by which Babylon was situated.”
Jeremiah 51:64
“And with regard to Babylon Jeremiah said, Babylon shall fall and shall not rise. And behold! To this day it continues in desolation and will do so forever.”
Aphrahat the Persian Sage · written before 345 · DEMONSTRATIONS 21:6patristic
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Jeremiah 51:64
“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 Lam. is not prophetical.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Jeremiah 51:64
“Thus shall Babylon sink, etc. - This is the emblem of its overthrow and irretrievable ruin. See Rev 18:21, where we find that this is an emblem of the total ruin of mystical Babylon.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Carl Friedrich Keil, with Matthew Henry, The Prophecies of Jeremiah and Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710, cited together by the site's exposition note on Jeremiah 51:62 to 64.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.