Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 49:39
But it shall come to pass in the latter days, [that] I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.
Elam – Elam was subject to Babylon Dan 8:2, and its capital Shushan a favorite residence of the Persian kings Est 1:2. Of its subsequent fate we know little; the Elamites continued to exist, and members of their nation were present at Pentecost among those chosen to represent the Gentile world at the first preaching of the Gospel Act 2:9.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 39. I will bring again the captivity of Elam] As this is to be in the latter days, probably it may mean the spiritual freedom which these people would receive under the Gospel dispensation. Under Cyrus, the Elamites, collected out of all quarters, were united with the Persians, their neighbours, and became, with them, masters of the east. See Calmet and Dahler. There are still, however, difficulties on this subject. Who the Elamites were is still a question. That which appears to be nearest the truth is, that the Elamites and Persians were two distinct people, and continued so till blended together under Cyrus. It is in this light that I have considered the subject in the preceding notes. Neighbouring people are frequently confounded in history, and sometimes the name of a people is given to those who have the same character.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We had the like promise as to Moab, Jer 48:47, and as to Ammon, Jer 49:6; the same
latter days either signify after many days, or in the time of the Messias. In the former sense it may refer to Cyrus, who conquered Persia. In the latter sense it is referred to the spiritual liberty which some of these poor heathens were brought into by the gospel. We read, Act 2:9, that some of these Elamites were at Jerusalem at Pentecost, and were some of those converted to Christ.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
39. latter daysThe fullrestoration belongs to gospel times. Elamites were among the firstwho heard and accepted it (Ac 2:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But it shall come to pass in the latter days,…. Not in the times of Cyrus, when these people enjoyed their liberty, as the Jews and other nations did, freed by him from the Babylonian yoke; which cannot with propriety be called the latter days, being but seventy or eighty years at most after this prophecy; but in the times of the Messiah, often in prophecy called the latter days:
[that] I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the Lord: which was accomplished in a spiritual sense, when some of these people, the Elamites, were converted to Christ, and delivered by him from the captivity of sin and Satan, and were brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God; see Ac 2:9.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Here God mitigates the severity of the prediction, because he would at length gather some of the Elamites and restore them, so that they might again obtain some place or honor. He says not in the end of days, but after many days, It shall be in course of time that I will restore the captivity of Elam If it be asked when this was fulfilled, doubtless there has not been a restoration of that nation recorded in history. But the Prophet no doubt gives here a hope to the Elamites, which he gave before to other nations, even that they should be united again under Christ as their head. Though then the Elamites were not afterwards known, yet they have found out that this was not said in vain; nor does the Holy Spirit without reason mention them by the mouth of Luke among others who were converted to Christ. (Act 2:9.) For though the Elamites were almost unknown, yet he connects them with the Medes and Parthians, “Parthians and Medes and Elamites.” This then was the time of which Jeremiah had prophesied, when he said that the Elamites would again be gathered together, that they might not be perpetually captives. And though they might not have then returned into their own country, yet it was a condition far better and more desirable when they obtained a name and a place in the Church than if they had enjoyed every other blessing in the world. And we know that it is said of Christ, that God would gather under his hand all things scattered both in heaven and earth. (Col 1:20.) A part of this scattering was God’s vengeance on the Elamites. Gathered then have been Elamites with others; and thus God at that time stretched forth in a manner his hand to them through Christ the Mediator, and opened to them the door of hope as to eternal life.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(39) I will bring again the captivity of Elam.Of the special history of Elam, as distinct from the other provinces of the Persian Empire, history records but little. The mention of Elamites among those who were present at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (Act. 2:9) shows that they were a recognised province under the Parthian monarchy, and that Jews had settled among them in large numbers, and so supplies a partial fulfilment of their return from their captivity.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
39. In the latter days The end of days; the Messianic reign. The beginning of this promise was seen at Pentecost.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 49:39. I will bring again, &c. When the Lord had resolved to destroy the monarchy of the Chaldeans, he inspired Cyrus with those great designs which he afterwards so successfully executed: who began with setting free his own country; then the Persians and Elamites; subdued all the people who inhabited the countries round, and founded the monarchy of the Persians. Then the Persians and Elamites were re-united under Cyrus, and became the masters of the east. See Calmet and Blayney.
REFLECTIONS.1st, The doom of the Ammonites is now read,
1. The charges against them are, [1.] Illegal seizure of God’s heritage. When the king of Assyria subdued and led captive the Gileadites, they immediately took possession of their territories as their own, as if there were no Israelites remaining to inherit the possessions of their brethren. Note; They who are weak will often be oppressed; but there is a day coming when judgment shall sit, and justice be impartially administered. [2.] Apostacy of God. Lot, their father, had transmitted to them the worship of the true God, but they had quickly revolted to idols. [3.] Their vain confidence; they gloried in their vallies flowing with plenty, and in their treasures; as if, by these secured, they could defy their enemies. But they who depart from God have little reason to promise themselves security and ease in their sins.
2. Their judgment is pronounced. The alarm of war is sounded; their invaders are sent from God to spoil and destroy; their cities are burnt with fire; their cries go up; in vain they fly for shelter to the hedges; their kings, priests, and princes together are seized and led into captivity, and the remnant dispersed, and find no favour among the nations whither they wander. Then shall Israel obtain reprisals, seize their country, and be heir unto them that were his heirs, which was fulfilled, 1Ma 5:6 and may perhaps have some respect to the days of the Messiah, Isa 11:14.
3. A promise of restoration is added. Afterward I will bring again the captivity of the children of Ammon; temporally, restoring them again to their own land; or spiritually, at the coming of Christ, converting them, and bringing them into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
2nd, Edom, in the day of Israel’s calamity, cried, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. Psa 137:7 the cup therefore is next put into her hand. We have,
1. The terrible destruction of the Edomites. The calamity of Esau approaches, the day of their visitation; the inhabitants of Dedan are called upon to flee, and dwell in the depths of the wilderness, to save their lives from the destroyers. The most careful grape-gatherers leave some berries; and the thieves, who break in at night, know when they have enough, and make off; but Edom is stripped bare; nor can all his care to conceal his wealth, keep it from the spoiler, or the secret lurking-places hide the fugitives: his children are destroyed, and his neighbours, so far from helping, share his fate; so that, in the day of his affliction, none of them are left to say, Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive, and let thy widows trust in me; though others consider these words in a contrary sense; and some as a gracious promise to a remnant of Edom who should be turned unto God; and his people, in every time of distress, may with comfort apply them to themselves. Less guilty nations than Edom have drank of the cup, therefore he may not expect to escape unpunished. By an oath, to confirm the immutability of his counsel concerning them, God hath sworn that Bozrah, the capital, and all the other cities, shall become a curse, a reproach, and perpetual desolation, lying in ruinous heaps, without inhabitant, as the cities of Sodom. At God’s secret instigation, the Chaldeans, as if invited by an ambassador, come up as to a certain victory; and, depopulated and impoverished, the Edomites shall become a vile and despicable people. For, though dwelling in fortresses which appear impregnable as the craggy rock, God’s almighty arm is able and determined to bring them to the dust. With astonishment passengers behold, and hiss, insulting their fearful fall. As a lion, driven from his covert on the banks of Jordan by the rising flood, tears and devours the defenceless sheep, so shall the king of Babylon go up against the habitation of the strong, and Edom shall suddenly flee: or rather it should be rendered, I will cause him (Nebuchadnezzar) to run upon it suddenly, and subdue the country, appointing a deputy over it from among his captains; for who is like me? saith the Lord, able to execute all my purposes, and who will appoint me the time to dispute the battle, or retard the fulfilment of my counsels, and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? what king can defend his subjects against the power of the Almighty Jehovah? Therefore, since such is his decree to destroy Edom, the meanest soldier of the Chaldean army shall be sufficient to conquer the mightiest Edomite, and drag them from their lurking-holes. Amazed at their fall, the earth trembles, or echoes, with the shout of the conquerors, and the cries of the vanquished; the sound of which reaches the distant shores.
2. All their efforts to help themselves will be vain. Their boasted wisdom now shall fail them, and all their schemes prove abortive. And their terribleness, their mighty armies, and strong fortresses, which in the pride of their hearts they thought invincible, shall deceive them; when, swift as an eagle, the destroyer shall come up against them, and invest their capital. These terrible warriors, frighted, as a woman in the pangs of travail, should abandon themselves to despair, and fall an easy prey; or thy terribleness, which some render thine idol, be a vain protection in the day of their calamity. Note; When God strikes, the strong men must bow themselves; for there is neither counsel nor might against the Lord.
3rdly, Syria, with Damascus the capital, and the other chief cities, are next brought to the bar, and doomed to a terrible overthrow. No sooner are the tidings heard of the victorious armies of Babylon approaching, than instant confusion and terrors seize the inhabitants of the land. The anguish spreads to the most distant border of the sea; or, like its troubled waves, so restless are the inhabitants, and uneasy. Instead of resistance, the citizens of Damascus, affrighted as a woman in the pangs of travail, place all their hopes in flight. How is the city of praise, so famous once, not left or spared, but ruined by the Chaldean enemy; the city of my joy? Either the prophet admired its beauty, or her king lamented her ruins, her young men fallen, her warriors slain, her walls razed, her palaces burnt to the ground. God’s wrath hath kindled the flames, and none can quench them. Note; (1.) They who place their joy in earthly comforts will be punished with greater bitterness in the loss of them. (2.) When God has a controversy with a nation, he can easily dispirit the bravest, and make the strong men feeble.
4thly, Kedar was a son of Ishmael; his descendant settled in Arabia; Hazor or Petra was the capital, and had other tributary kingdoms under it; though others suppose that some of the Hazorites, who escaped in the days of Joshua fled hither, and built a city of the same name with that which they had deserted.
Nebuchadnezzar is invited to come and spoil this wealthy nation, or rather this nation living at ease, and dwelling without care, in peace and security, unprepared to repel an invader; which have neither gates nor bars, nor dwelling in cities, but alone, separate from other nations, and in tents roving from place to place. Their curtains, vessels, camels, and flocks, wherein their riches chiefly consisted, are given for a prey. Unable to resist the arms of the conqueror, or countermine his purposes, they are called upon to flee; and, scattered on every side, their deserted country is ravaged; and their capital, in ruins, becomes no longer the abode of men, but of wild beasts for ever. Note; (1.) They who are most secure, are not therefore most safe. (2.) The most inoffensive have no guard against the ravages of ambition and covetousness.
5thly, Elam, which is also concerned in this prophesy, which is dated in the beginning of Zedekiah’s reign, is supposed not to be Persia at large, but a country nearer Judaea, called Elymais, some of whose inhabitants served under Sennacherib, king of Assyria, at the siege of Jerusalem, Isa 22:6. It was afterwards subdued by Nebuchadnezzar, and the kings of Babylon sometimes made it the seat of their residence, Dan 8:2.
1. Universal destruction is threatened. God undertakes to break their bow, and to disable the chief of their might, and then they must fall an easy prey. By the Chaldean army they shall be dispersed into the four corners of the earth, as fugitives or captives. Terrors shall seize them, the sword devour them, the wrath of God pursue them, and therein all evil is comprehended; nor shall the king and princes thereof escape, but fall in the promiscuous ruin; and the conqueror shall erect his throne in Elam, which may well be called the throne of God, by whose power and gift he obtained the dominion.
2. A gracious promise is given them of restoration, which under Cyrus was accomplished in a measure; but was more eminently fulfilled when by the preaching of the Gospel, the Elamites, among other nations, were called into the church, and into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, Act 2:9.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
IN reading this Chapter, and beholding the gracious Covenant promises of God in Christ, thus held forth to the full assurance of faith for the final destruction of all the Church’s adversaries every child of God by promise, as Isaac was, may well join that hymn of old, and say; so let all thine enemies perish, O Lord, but let them that love thee be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might! It is blessed, it is precious to see, that the issue of the holy war is not doubtful. Jesus hath conquered in our name and nature; and He will subdue for us and in us, all that oppose.
Reader! we find cause however, in the midst of triumph to be humbled, in the recollection, how often through sin and unbelief, those Ammonites and Edomites vex our souls with their wiles: and act as scourges to chasten the Lord’s people, when by sin we transgress. When we provoke the Lord to jealousy with our rebellion, and cause him to hide his face from us, then those enemies gain their advantage over us. But oh! how blessed still to recollect, that He that is for us is more than all that is against us; and he will, as in this Chapter is promised, account with, and rebuke all nations for his people’s sake. He will subdue the enemy, and bring all their power low, for his own righteousness’ sake, and for his Covenant promise in Christ Jesus!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 49:39 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, [that] I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD.
Ver. 39. I will bring again the captivity of Elam. ] Principally by bringing them to Jesus Christ. And so we read Act 2:9 of Parthians, Medes, and Elamites among those first and best believers. Eusebius a also telleth us that in the Council of Nice there was a bishop from Persia; and Theodoret, a very good man, in addition a great writer, served the churches of the Elamites. b
a In Vit. Constant.
b Claruit Theod., A.D. 390.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the latter days. The end or after part of the days.
bring again, &c. See note on Jer 48:47. Compare Deu 30:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
in the: Jer 48:47, Isa 2:2, Eze 38:16, Dan 2:28, Dan 10:14, Hos 3:5, Mic 4:1
I will: Jer 49:6, Job 42:10, Eze 16:53-55, Eze 29:14, Eze 39:25, Amo 9:14
Reciprocal: Num 24:14 – the latter Jer 12:15 – after Jer 27:3 – Edom Jer 30:18 – Behold Jer 30:24 – in Jer 46:26 – and afterward Eze 38:8 – many days Hab 1:17 – and Zec 9:7 – he that 1Ti 4:1 – the latter 2Ti 3:1 – in
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 49:39. For the meaning of bring again the captivity see the comments at chapter 48: 47. This indicates the threatened punishment was to be temporary on Elam.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 49:39. In the latter days, I will bring again the captivity of Elam This is supposed to relate to the times of the Lagi and Seleucid, when the Elamites recovered their liberty. Or, if we consider what is said in the foregoing verse to relate to Nebuchadnezzar, this may be understood of Cyruss setting them free from the Babylonish yoke; for we find from Isa 22:6, that the Elamites assisted Cyrus in the conquest of Babylon; and Shushan, the chief city of Elam, was made the metropolis of the Persian empire.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
49:39 But it shall come to pass {k} in the latter days, [that] I will bring again the captives of Elam, saith the LORD.
(k) This may be referred to the empire of the Persians and Medes after the Chaldeans or to the time of Christ, as in Jer 48:47 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
In the last days, however, the eschatological future, He would restore Elam’s fortunes (cf. Jer 49:6; Jer 48:47). People from this area will experience Yahweh’s blessing in the Millennium. Elam became a satrapy of the Persian Empire, and its capital, Susa, became the winter residence of the Persian kings after 539 B.C. [Note: Thompson, p. 729; Harrison, Jeremiah and . . ., p. 147..] But this promise projects beyond that time. [Note: Feinberg, "Jeremiah," p. 671.]
Why did God announce judgment on a people that were so geographically remote from Judah in this collection of oracles? There may have been more hostility in Elamite Israelite relations than history has revealed so far. However, the attack by one Elamite king on Abraham and his family (Genesis 14) may have been adequate reason for God’s punishment (Gen 12:3). Probably there was continuing hostility. Moreover, since the Elamites were ancient allies of the Babylonians, they had to share the guilt of Babylon’s sins against God’s people (cf. Gen 9:6).
A promise of restoration does not appear in every oracle. Nevertheless, we should probably understand that as God judged all these nations, so He will also bless the people who will be living in these territories when Christ returns to set up His kingdom on earth.
Another difference between the oracles is that some mention the reasons for judgment but others do not. Probably the reasons for God’s judgment of them all are the same, namely, failure to acknowledge His sovereignty and to live humbly by recognizing Him as the God of all the earth. He was their suzerain and they were His vassals. Other reasons were their antagonism toward His people and their brutality toward others.
"The oracles provide data that suggest that they were viewed in a treaty context. First, the oracles contain judgment statements that are similar to the curses characteristic of international treaties . . . Second, the cup-of-wrath concept may reflect the treaty and the manner in which it was imposed . . . Third, there are references to military aggression against fellow vassals that point to treaty violations (Jer 48:1-2; Jer 48:45; Jer 49:1-2).
"The conclusion reached is that the OAN [oracles against nations] in Jeremiah 47-49 reflect the context of the international treaty, providing the prophet a metaphor for expressing his understanding of the relationship of the LORD to the nations. The oracles, whether or not they were all intended to be heard by the nations, served first of all to affirm the sovereignty of the LORD over all the world, and second, they served as a warning to Judah, to refrain from trusting in alliances with, or in dependence upon, nations that stood under divine judgment." [Note: Smothers, p. 277.]
"In recent history, the nations haven’t acted any better than the ones recorded in Jeremiah 46-49. Innocent blood is shed legally as millions of babies are aborted in their mother’s wombs. International terrorism, genocide, exploitation of people and material resources, war, crime, the abuse of children, and a host of other sins have stained the hands of nations with blood. What will they do when the Judge becomes angry and starts to avenge the innocent?" [Note: Wiersbe, p. 139. Cf. Hebrews 10:31.]