Jeremiah51chapter 51

Jeremiah 51:15-19

“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).”

Jeremiah 51:16

“Lightnings and rain seem contraries, as fire and water, and yet they are produced together; and the wind, which seems arbitrary in its motions, and we know not whence it comes, is yet, we are sure, brought out of his treasuries. The idols that oppose the accomplishment of his word are a mere sham and their worshippers brutish people,”

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.”

Jeremiah 51:17-18

“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.”

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.”

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 supported and maintained, as shepherds and husbandmen: and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers; by whom kingdoms and states are governed and protected.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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 51:30

“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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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].”

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.”

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.”

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).”

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 51:39

“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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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).”

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].”

Jeremiah 51:43

It is a destruction that shall reach the gods of Babylon, the idols and images, and fall with a particular weight upon them. "In token that the whole land shall be confounded and all her slain shall fall and that throughout all the country the wounded shall groan, I will do judgment upon her graven images, "

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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 51:49

“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.”

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.”

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).”

Jeremiah 51:51

“I know you will say in despair, "We are confounded," &c. "Wherefore (God saith to you) behold, I will," &c. I prefer taking Jer 51:51 as the prayer which the Jews are directed to offer in exile (Jer 51:50), "let Jerusalem come into your mind" (and say in prayer to God), "We are confounded." This view is confirmed by Ps 44:15, 16;”

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.”

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 51:52

“I . . . judgment upon . . . images--in opposition to the Babylonian taunt that Jehovah's religion was a thing of naught, since they had burned His temple (Jer 51:51): I will show that, though I have thus visited the Jews neglect of Me, yet those gods of Babylon cannot save themselves, much less their votaries, who shall "through all her land" lie and "groan" with wounds.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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).”

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.”

Jeremiah 51:59

“Historical appendix. In his fourth year Zedekiah journeyed to Babylon either to obtain some favor from Nebuchadnezzar, or because he was summoned to be present on some state occasion. Jeremiah took the opportunity of sending to the exiles at Babylon this prophecy. Jer 51:59 Seraiah - Brother to Baruch. A quiet prince - literally, “prince of the resting place, i. e., quartermaster.” It was his business to ride forward each day, and select the place where the king would halt and pass the night. Jer 51:60 In a book - literally, in one book, on one scroll of parchment.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

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.”