Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 50:16
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
16. Cut off the sower from Babylon ] Agricultural labour ceases, and foreign residents flee to their homes. Cp. Jer 51:9; Isa 13:14. But it is perhaps better to make the reference to be to slaves or hired foreign labourers.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The population is to be destroyed so utterly that the rich fields of Babylonia are to remain untilled.
They shall turn – The full force of the words will be seen if it be remembered that it had been the policy of Nebuchadnezzar to compel citizens selected from the vanquished nations to settle in Babylonia.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 16. Cut off the sower] Destroy the gardens and the fields, that there may be neither fruits nor tillage.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We are told that Babylon was so large a city, that with the walls of it there was much ploughed ground: or else the threatening imports that God would deal more severely with Babylon, than conquerors use to do with places which they conquer, who use to spare and leave behind then ploughmen, and such as use to till the ground, but in the destruction of Babylon it should not be so.
They shall flee every one to his own land: he speaks either of such stranger as for commerce had their abodes in Babylon, or such assistants as the Babylonians had gotten against their ene rates, who upon the coming in of the enemies should make as much haste home as they could.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. Babylon had the extentrather of a nation than of a city. Therefore grain was grown withinthe city wall sufficient to last for a long siege [ARISTOTLE,Politics, 3.2; PLINY,18.17]. Conquerors usually spare agriculturists, but in this case allalike were to be “cut off.”
for fear of . . . oppressingswordbecause of the sword of the oppressor.
every one to his peoplefromwhich they had been removed to Babylon from all quarters by theChaldean conquerors (Jer 51:9;Isa 13:14).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Cut off the sower from in Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest,…. Both sower and reaper: the walls of Babylon took in a large compass of land, where there were corn fields; and which, as Curtius s observes, would yield a sufficiency to hold out a siege against an enemy; but being taken, the husbandman would not be spared, as used to be, but should be cut off, and so none to till the ground, or to reap what was upon it; and thus, in course, would be, desolate, as before threatened. The Targum understands this in a figurative sense,
“destroy the king out of Babylon, and take hold of the sword in the time of slaughter;”
and Cocceius interprets the sower of any doctor or bishop in mystical Babylon, and the reaper of such that gather the fruits, and exact obedience; see Re 18:14;
for fear of the oppressing sword; of the Medes and Persians:
they shall turn everyone to his people, and they shall flee everyone to his own land; not those of other nations, as the Jews, who were detained captives there, as Kimchi thinks; for these were not in such fear of the Persians, nor did they flee because of them; but were let go by them, and sent into their own land honourably: but either such who, of other nations, were come to traffic at Babylon; or rather the auxiliaries of other nations, who were either hired or forced into the service of Babylon; these, finding the city taken, would make the best of their way into their own country.
s Hist. l. 5. c. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He still addresses the Medes and the Persians, and bids them cut off from Babylon both the sowers and the reapers; but by stating a part for the whole he includes also all others. Husbandmen in a manner preserve the life of men, as other arts and occupations are not capable of doing so. Were there no sowing and reaping, all would of necessity perish. When, therefore, the Prophet bids them take away those who sowed and reaped, it was the same as though he had said, “ Strike with the sword and kill all the inhabitants, so that nothing may remain but the land reduced to solitude.” He then commands the Chaldeans to be slain, so that no husbandmen should remain to sow and reap.
This, indeed, was not fulfilled by Cyrus, as we have elsewhere seen. But what I then reminded you of ought to be borne in mind, that the Prophet extends his threatenings much further, for Babylon was often smitten by God’s hand, and at length wholly destroyed. The assault of Cyrus was a prelude, but other calamities followed, when it was more severely oppressed.
He adds, From the face of the oppressing or wasting sword every one shall flee to his people and to his own land As that country was wealthy, many strangers had come there, and they had also drawn together captives from all parts. Thus many foreigners no doubt dwelt in Chaldea when the empire flourished. There were there many husbandmen and many artificers. The Chaldeans ruled, and yet many were content with small means, and even paltry; or it may be that the Chaldeans compelled conquered nations to do servile work in agriculture and in works of art. The Prophet now says, that in the revolution which was to happen, each would look to his own land and flee there, as there could be no delight in a country deserted and desolate. Then from the face of the oppressing sword shall every one look to his own people and to his own land; and those who before pretended to be wholly devoted to the Chaldeans, would forsake them in their necessity, because nothing would be better for them than to consult their own safety. It follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(16) Cut off the sower . . .The rich alluvial plains of Babylon, so plentiful that they yielded an increase of two hundred-fold (Herod. iii. 8), were to be laid waste. There may, possibly, be a special reference to the fields within the walls of the city, upon which the population largely depended, and which were now to be devastated. (Diod. Sic. ii. 9; Pliny, Hist. Nat. xi. 111.)
For fear of the oppressing sword.The versions present the same noticeable variations, as in Jer. 46:16, the LXX. giving from the Greek sword, possibly with reference to the belief that Cyrus had subdued the olians and Ionians before the conquest of Babylon, and that they were fighting in his army, or to Alexanders capture of the city, and the Vulg. from the sword of the dove, the latter rendering being supposed to refer to the dove on the Babylonian standard, as the emblem of Semiramis. Here, however, as Babylon is the object of attack, the latter allusion is scarcely applicable, and there is no sufficient reason for altering the English version. (See Note on Jer. 25:38; Jer. 46:16.)
They shall flee every one to his own land.The words are significant as showing that the Jews were not the only people for whom the fall of Babylon was the signal of a return from exile. The policy of Nebuchadnezzar, like that of Assyria, had been to people his own territory with the captive populations of other countries, and Israel (as in Jer. 50:8) was to lead the way in the return.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 50:16. Cut off the sower from Babylon Babylon resembled a country walled in, rather than a city; the walls, according to Herodotus, being sixty miles in compass. Within this large circuit a great deal of ground was cultivated with corn; so that enough grew within the walls to support the inhabitants during a long siege. Others understand by Babylon here, not the city only, but the whole province: the latter part of the verse is spoken of the Babylonish allies. See Isa 13:14.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 50:16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
Ver. 16. Cut off the sower. ] Leave not so much as a husbandman alive, who yet are generally spared, as harmless and useful; they were left and let alone by the Chaldeans when they carried away the Jews. 2Ki 25:12 But here is enjoined a more severe execution.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
every one. Hebrew. ‘ish. App-14.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the sower: Jer 51:23, Joe 1:11, Amo 5:16
sickle: or, scythe
they shall turn every one: Jer 46:16, Jer 51:9, Isa 13:14
Reciprocal: Nah 2:8 – Stand
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 50:16. The Babylonian Empire (like all world-powers) was made up of various groups of people. In the time of her subjection she was to be rendered helpless as to occupations and other resources. The morale of the people was to be so lowered they would shrink into their individual refuges among their own lands.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
50:16 Cut off the {q} sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.
(q) Destroy her so that no one is left to work the ground or to take the fruit of it.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The agricultural cycle would end, from sowing to reaping, because of the fighting of Babylon’s enemy. The enemy soldiers would return to their own lands when they finished their job.
"Cyrus, who unified the Medo-Persian Empire and then overwhelmed Babylon (ZPEB, 1:1054-56), was careful to spare the country; so the reference (Jer 50:16) must be to a later attack." [Note: Feinberg, "Jeremiah," p. 674. ZPEB stands for the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible.]