Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 50:21
Go up against the land of Merathaim, [even] against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
21. Merathaim is probably the Babylonian Marrtim, the land by the nar Marrtu (meaning bitter river) in S. Babylonia. To the Hebrew ear, however, the word suggests either Double (i.e. intensified) rebellion (so mg.) or Double bitterness (the sense which the LXX saw in the word).
even against it ] awkward. Gi. suggests (by the substitution of one letter in MT.) to read, Go up to Elam, comparing Isa 21:2.
Pekod ] Cp. Eze 23:23. The Pukdu were a people lying E. of the Tigris on the borders of Persia. But the sound would suggest to the Hebrew ear Visitation (so mg.) or Punishment.
utterly destroy ] For mg. devote See on Jer 25:9 and cp. Jer 51:3.
after them ] omit with LXX and Syr. It is a repetition of the consonants (almost identical in Heb.) of “utterly destroy.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The land of Merathaim – of double rebellion. Like Mitsraim, i. e., the two Egypts, Aram-Naharaim, i. e., Syria of the two rivers, or Mesopotamia, it is a dual. It may have been a real name; or – the dual ending being intensive – it may mean the land of very great rebelliousness.
Pekod – Possibly a Babylonian town.
Waste – Rather, slay, Jer 50:27.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. Go up against the land of Merathaim – and against the inhabitants of Pekod] No such places as these are to be found any where else; and it is not likely that places are at all meant. The ancient Versions agree in rendering the first as an appellative, and the last as a verb, except the Chaldee, which has Pekod as a proper name. Dr. Blayney translates: –
“Against the land of bitternesses, go up:
Upon it, and upon its inhabitants, visit, O sword!”
Dr. Dahler renders thus: –
“March against the country doubly rebellious,
And against its inhabitants worthy of punishment.”
The latter of these two versions I take to be the most literal. The words are addressed to the Medes and Persians; and the country is Chaldea, doubly rebellious by its idolatry and its insufferable pride. In these two, it was exceeded by no other land.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
There is some disputes amongst interpreters, whether the words here,
Merathaim and
Pekod, be to be taken as common nouns, the one signifying rebels or rulers, the other visitation, because the Chaldeans were rebels against the Lord, and were great rulers over all the contiguous nations; or whether they be proper names of some places which Cyrus passed by, or, it may be, took in, and conquered in his way to Babylon. The latter are Gods words by his prophet, like the former, commanding him with his armies to go up and destroy them fleeing away, or them that should succeed after them, their whole posterity; intimating Gods design utterly to destroy them, which destruction was gently begun by Cyrus, and perfected by Darius.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21. Merathaima symbolicalname for Babylon, the doubly rebellious, namely, against God. CompareJer 50:24, “thou haststriven against the Lord”; and Jer50:29, “proud against the Lord.” The “doubly”refers to: first, the Assyrian’s oppression of Israel; next,the kindred Chaldean’s oppression of Judah (compare Jer 50:17-20;Jer 50:33; especially Jer50:18).
Pekod (Eze23:23); a chief province of Assyria, in which Nineveh, nowoverthrown, once lay. But, as in Merathaim, the allusion is to themeaning of Pekod, namely, “visitation”; theinhabitants whose time of deserved visitation in punishment is come;not, however, without reference to the now Babylonian province,Pekod. The visitation on Babylon was a following up of that onAssyria.
after themeven theirposterity, and all that is still left of Babylon, until the veryname is extinct [GROTIUS].Devastate the city, after its inhabitants have deserted it.
all . . . I . . .commandedby Isaiah (Isa13:1, &c.).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Go up against the land of Merathaim,…. Thought to be the country of the Mardi, which lay part of it in Assyria, and part of it in Armenia; expressed in the dual number, because one part of it lay on one side the Tigris, and the other on the other side. Cyrus, with his army of Medes and Persians, is here called upon; who, according to Herodotus, passed through Assyria to Babylon: and so it may be agreeably rendered, “go by the land of Merathaim”; or the country of the Mardi. Many interpreters take it for an appellative, and not the proper name of a country. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, “the land of rulers”; and the Targum,
“the land of the rebellious people;”
and so Kimchi w: and to the same sense Jarchi, the land
“that hath exasperated me, and provoked me to anger;”
meaning the land of the Chaldeans, which had ruled over others, rebelled against the Lord, and provoked him to wrath against it. The word, being in the dual number, may, in the mystical sense, respect the two antichrists, the eastern and western, that have ruled over the nations, and rebelled against God, and provoked him; the Turks and Papists, those two rebels, the beast and false prophet, Re 19:20; against whom the Christian princes will be bid to go up;
[even] against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod; the name of a place in Assyria; see Eze 23:23; by which also Cyrus might go up to Babylon, so Jarchi; and the Targum takes it to be the name of a place: but Kimchi and others take it to be an appellative; and so it may be rendered, “the inhabitants of visitation” x; because the time was come to visit and punish them for their sins; and may particularly design the inhabitants of Babylon, the city to be visited for its iniquities; and especially mystical Babylon, which shall come up in remembrance before God, Re 16:19;
waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the Lord; either after the destruction of the places before mentioned; or pursue after those that flee and make their escape from thence, and destroy them; or rather their posterity, the remnant of them, as the Targum:
and do according to all that I have commanded thee; either Cyrus, according to all the Lord commanded him by the Prophet Isaiah, as Jarchi; or the seven angels, that are to pour out the vials of wrath on antichrist; the kings of the earth, who are to fulfil the will of God upon the man of sin, Re 16:1.
w “contra terram rebellantium”, Pagninus; “super”, Montanus; “contra terram rebellionum”, Schmidt. x “habitatores visitationis”, Vatablus, Calvin, De Dieu.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The pride and power of Babylon are broken, as a punishment for the sacrilege he committed at the temple of the Lord. Jer 50:21. “Against the land, – Double-rebellion, – go up against it, and against the inhabitants of visitation; lay waste and devote to destruction after them, saith Jahveh, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. Jer 50:22. A sound of war [is] in the land, and great destruction. Jer 50:23. How the hammer of the whole earth is cut and broken! how Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! Jer 50:24. I laid snares for thee, yea, and thou hast been taken, O Babylon; but thou didst not know: thou wast found, and also seized, because thou didst strive against Jahveh. Jer 50:25. Jahveh hath opened His treasure-house, and brought out the instruments of His wrath; for the Lord, Jahveh of hosts, hath a work in the land of the Chaldeans. Jer 50:26. Come against her, [all of you], from the last to the first; open her storehouses: case her up in heaps, like ruins, and devote her to destruction; let there be no remnant left to her. Jer 50:27. Destroy all her oxen; let them go down to the slaughter: woe to them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation. Jer 50:28. [There is] a sound of those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jahveh our God, the vengeance of His temple.” The punishment of Babylon will be fearful, corresponding to its crimes. The crimes of Babylon and its punishment Jeremiah has comprised, in Jer 50:21, in two names specially formed for the occasion. The enemy to whom God has entrusted the execution of the punishment is to march against the land . This word, which is formed by the prophet in a manner analogous to Mizraim, and perhaps also Aram Naharaim, means “double rebellion,” or “double obstinacy.” It comes from the root , “to be rebellious” against Jahveh and His commandments, whence also , “rebellion;” Num 17:1-13:25, Eze 2:5, Eze 2:7, etc. Other interpretations of the word are untenable: such is that of Frst, who follows the Vulgate “ terram dominantium ,” and, comparing the Aramaic , “Lord,” renders it by “dominion” ( Herschaft). Utterly indefensible, too, is the translation of Hitzig, “the world of men” ( Menschenwelt), which he derives from the Sanskrit martjam, “world,” on the basis of the false assumption that the language of the Chaldeans was Indo-Germanic. The only doubtful points are in what respect Babylon showed double obstinacy, and what Jeremiah had in his mind at the time. The view of Hitzig, Maurer, Graf, etc., is certainly incorrect, – that the prophet was thinking of the double punishment of Israel by the Assyrians and by the Babylonians (Jer 50:17 and Jer 50:33); for the name is evidently given to the country which is now about to be punished, and hence to the power of Babylon. Ngelsbach takes a twofold view: (1) he thinks of the defiance shown by Babylon towards both man and God; (2) he thinks of the double obstinacy it exhibited in early times by building the tower, and founding the first worldly kingdom (Gen 10:8.), and in later times by its conduct towards the theocracy: and he is inclined rather to the latter than to the former view, because the offences committed by Babylon in early and in later times were, in their points of origin and aim, too much one and the same for any one to be able to represent them as falling under two divisions. This is certainly correct; but against the first view there is also the important consideration that is pretty constantly used only of opposition to God and the word of God. If any one, notwithstanding this, is inclined to refer the name also to offences against men, he could yet hardly agree with Ngelsbach in thinking of the insurrections of Babylon against the kings of Assyria, their masters; for these revolts had no meaning in reference to the position of Babylon towards God, but rather showed the haughty spirit in which Babylon trod on all the nations.
The opinion of Dahler has most in its favour: “Doubly rebellious, i.e., more rebellious than others, through its idolatry ad its pride, which was exalted it against God, Jer 50:24, Jer 50:29.” Rosenmller, De Wette, etc., have decided in favour of this view. Although the dual originally expresses the idea of pairing, yet the Hebrew associates with double, twofold, the idea of increase, gradation; cf. Isa 40:2; Isa 66:7. The object is prefixed for the sake of emphasis; and in order to render it still more prominent, it is resumed after the verb in the expression “against it.” , an infinitive in form, “to visit with punishment, avenge, punish,” is also used as a significant name of Babylon: the land that visits with punishment is to be punished. Many expositors take as a denominative from , “sword,” in the sense of strangling, murdering; so also in Jer 50:27. But this assumption is far from correct; nor is there any need for making it, because the meaning of destroying is easily obtained from that of being laid waste, or destroying oneself by transferring the word from things to men. , “to proscribe, put under the ban,” and in effect “to exterminate;” see on Jer 25:9. On “after them,” cf. Jer 49:37; Jer 48:2, Jer 48:9, Jer 48:15, etc.
Jer 50:22 After the command there immediately follows its execution. A sound of war is heard in the land. The words are given as an exclamation, without a verb. As to , which is an expression much used by Jeremiah, see on Jer 4:6.
Jer 50:23 Babylon, “the hammer of the whole earth,” i.e., with which Jahveh has beaten to pieces the nations and kingdoms of the earth (Jer 51:20), is itself now being beaten to pieces and destroyed. On the subject, cf. Isa 14:5-6. Babylon will become the astonishment of the nations, Jer 51:41. “How!” is an exclamation of surprise, as in Zep 2:15 -a passage which probably hovered before the mind of the prophet.
Jer 50:24-28 This annihilation will come unexpectedly. As the bird by the snare of the fowler, so shall Babylon be laid hold of by Jahveh, because it has striven against Him. The Lord lays the snare for it, that it may be caught. , “to lay snares;” cf. Psa 141:9, where is also found. , “and thou didst not perceive,” i.e., didst not mark it: this is a paraphrase of the idea “unexpectedly,” suddenly; cf. Jer 51:8; Isa 47:11. This has been literally fulfilled on Babylon. According to Herodotus (i. 191), Cyrus took Babylon by diverting the Euphrates into a trench he had dug. By this stratagem the Persians threw themselves so unexpectedly on the Babylonians ( ), that when the outmost portions of the city had been already seized, those who lived in the middle had not observed at all that they were captured ( ). Similarly, when the city was taken under Darius Hystaspes, they were surprised that Zopyrus traitorously opened the gates to the besiegers (Herodotus, iii. 158). Babylon has contended against Jahveh, because, in its pride, it refused to let the people of God depart; cf. Jer 50:29 and Jer 50:33. In Jer 50:25 the sudden devastation of Babylon is accounted for. Jahveh opens His armoury, and brings out the instruments of His wrath, in order to execute His work on the land of the Chaldeans. , “magazine, treasure-chamber,” is here applied to an armoury. The “instruments of His wrath” are, in Isa 13:5, the nations which execute the judgment of god-here, the instruments of war and weapons with which Jahveh Himself marches into battle against Babylon. On ‘ , cf. Jer 48:10. The business which the Lord has there regards the chastisement of Babylon for its insolence. For the transaction of this business He summons His servants, Jer 50:26. , as in Jer 46:22; Jer 49:9, is substantially the same as , Jer 49:14; Jer 48:8. , “from the end,” or from the last hitherwards, the same as , Jer 51:31, i.e., all together on to the last; cf. Gen 19:4; Gen 47:2, etc. “Open her (Babylon’s) barns” or granaries; “heap it up (viz., what was in the granaries) like heaps” of grain or sheaves, “and devote it to destruction,” i.e., consume it with fire, because things on which the curse was imposed must be burnt; cf. Jos 11:12 and Jos 11:13. All the property found in Babylon is to be collected in heaps, and then burnt with the city. The use of the image is occasioned by the granaries. is . . , from , to give fodder to cattle, – properly a stall for fodder, then a barn, granary. is a heap of grain (Son 7:3), sheaves (Rth 3:7), also of rubbish (Neh. 3:34). As Jer 50:26 declares what is to be done with goods and chattels, so does Jer 50:27 state what is to be done with the population. The figure employed in Jer 50:26 is followed by the representation of the people as oxen destined for slaughter; in this Jeremiah had in his mind the prophecy found in Isa 34, in which the judgment to come on Edom is depicted as a slaughter of lambs, rams, and he-goats: the people of Edom are thus compared to cattle that may be offered in sacrifice. This figure also forms the basis of the expression in Jer 48:15, where this style of speaking is used with regard to the youths or the young troops; cf. also Jer 51:40. The , accordingly, designate not merely the chief among the people, or the men of rank, but represent the whole human population. In the last clause (“for their day is come,” etc.), there is a transition in the discourse from the figure to the real subject itself. The suffix in does not refer to the oxen, but to the men over whose murder there is an exclamation of woe. In like manner, “their day” means the day of judgment for men, viz., the time of their visitation with punishment; see on Jer 46:21. Fugitives and escaped ones will bring to Zion, and proclaim the news of the execution of this fearful judgment, that the Lord has fulfilled the vengeance of His temple, i.e., avenged on Babylon the burning of His temple by the Chaldeans. The fugitives and escaped ones are the Israelites, who were summoned to flee from Babylon, Jer 50:3. On “the vengeance of Jahveh,” cf. Jer 50:15 and Jer 51:11.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Judgment of Babylon. | B. C. 595. |
21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. 22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. 23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! 24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. 25 The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. 26 Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. 27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation. 28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of his temple. 29 Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the LORD, against the Holy One of Israel. 30 Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD. 31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. 32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
Here, 1. The forces are mustered and commissioned to destroy Babylon, and every thing is got ready for a descent upon that potent kingdom: Go up against that land by Merathaim, the country of the Mardi, that lay part in Assyria and part in Armenia; and go among the inhabitants of Pekod, another country (mentioned Ezek. xxiii. 23) which Cyrus took in his way to Babylon. The forces of Cyrus are called to go up against Babylon (v. 21), to come against her from the utmost border. Let all come together, for there will be both work and pay enough for them all, v. 26. Distance of place must not be their hindrance from engaging in this work. The archers particularly must be called together against Babylon, v. 29. Thus the Lord hath opened his armoury (v. 25), his treasury (so the word is), and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation, as great princes fetch out of their magazines and stores all necessary provisions for their armies when they undertake any great expedition. Media and Persia are now God’s armoury; thence he fetches the weapons of his wrath, Cyrus and his great officers and armies, whom he will make use of for the destruction of Babylon. Note, Great men are but instruments which the great God makes use of to serve his own purposes. He has variety of instruments, has them at command, has armouries ready to be opened according as the occasion is. This is the work of the Lord God of hosts. Note, When God has work to do he will make it appear that he is God of hosts, and will not want instruments to do it with. 2. Instructions are given them what to do. In general, Do according to all that I have commanded thee, v. 21. It was said of Cyrus (Isa. xliv. 28), He shall perform all my pleasure, in his expedition against Babylon. They must waste and utterly destroy after them; when they have destroyed once they must go over them again, or destroy their posterity that should come after them. They must open her store-houses (v. 26), rifle her treasures, and turn her artillery against herself. They must cast her up as heaps; let all the wealth and pomp of Babylon be shovelled up in a heap of ruins and rubbish. Tread her down as heaps (so the margin reads it) and destroy her utterly. See how little account the great God makes of those things which men so much value and value themselves so much upon. Their princes and great men, who are fat and bulky, shall fall by the sword, not as men of war in the field of battle, which we call a bed of honour, but as beasts by the butcher’s hand (v. 27): Slay all her bullocks, all her mighty men; let them go down sottishly and insensibly, as an ox to the slaughter. Woe unto them! their case is the more sad for the little sense they have of it. Their day has come to fall, the time when they must be reckoned with, and they are not aware of it. 3. Assurances are given them of success. Let them do what God commands, and they shall accomplish what he threatens. A great destruction shall be made, v. 21. Babylon shall become a desolation (v. 23); her young men and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day which should have been her defence, v. 30. God is against her (v. 31); he has laid a snare for her (v. 24); he has formed this enterprise against her, that she should be surprised as a bird taken in a snare. Cyrus shall no doubt prevail, for he fights under God. God will kindle a fire in the cities of Babylon (v. 32); and who can stand before him when he is angry, or quench the fire that he has kindled? 4. Reasons are given for these severe dealings with Babylon. Those that are employed in this war may, if they please, know the grounds of it, and be satisfied in the justice of it, which it is fit all should be that are called to such work. (1.) Babylon has been very troublesome, vexatious, and injurious, to all its neighbours; it has been the hammer of the whole earth (v. 23), beating, beating down, and beating to pieces, all the nations far and near. It has done so long enough; it is time now that it be cut asunder and broken. Note, He that is the god of nations will sooner or later assert the injured rights of nations against those that unjustly and violently invade them. The God of the whole earth will break the hammer of the whole earth. (2.) Babylon has bidden defiance to God himself: Thou has striven against the Lord (v. 24), hast joined issue with him (so the word signifies) as in law or battle, hast openly opposed him, set up rivals with him, raised rebellion against him; therefore thou art now found, and caught, as in a snare. Note, Those that strive against the Lord will soon find themselves over-matched. (3.) Babylon ruined Jerusalem, the holy city, and the holy house there, and must now be called to an account for that. This is the manifesto published in Zion, in the day of Babylon’s visitation; it is the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple, v. 28. The burning of the temple, and the carrying away of its vessels, were articles in the charge against Babylon on which greater stress was laid than upon its being the hammer of the whole earth; for Zion was the joy and glory of the whole earth. Note, Whatever wrong is done to God’s church (his temple in the world) it will certainly be reckoned for; and no vengeance will be sorer nor heavier than the vengeance of the temple. (4.) Babylon has been very haughty and insolent, and therefore must have a fall; for it is the glory of God to look upon those that are proud and to abase them, Job xl. 11. I am against thee, O thou most proud! v. 31 and again v. 31. Thou pride (so the word is), as proud as pride itself. Note, the pride of men’s hearts sets God against them and ripens them apace for ruin; for God resists the proud and will bring them down. The most proud shall stumble and fall; they shall fall not so much by others’ thrusting them down as by their own stumbling; for they hold their heads so high that they never look under their feet, to choose their way and avoid stumbling-blocks, but walk at all adventures. Babylon’s pride must unavoidably be her ruin; for she has been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel (v. 29), has insulted him in insulting over his people; she has made him her enemy, and therefore, when she has fallen, none shall raise her up, v. 31. Who can help those up whom God will throw down?
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 21-27: THE HAMMER OF THE WHOLE EARTH IS BROKEN
1. Jeremiah uses the names of two Babylonian settlements, “Merathaim” (“double rebellion) and “Pekod” (“visitation’s, in a sarcastic word-play; because of her rebellion against Jehovah, Babylon will be visited with divine judgment! (vs. 21).
2. With the sound of battle comes great destruction, (vs. 22; comp. Jer 48:3; Jer 51:54); the “hammer of the whole earth” (Babylon) is so broken as to be an astonishment to all nations, (vs. 23).
3. Since she had provoked the Holy One of Israel, he laid a snare for Babylon, and took her unawares, (vs. 24).
4. Pictured as opening His armory, He unleashes the weapons of His indignation (the nations who, unconsciously, perform His word) against her, (vs. 25-27)
a. They are commanded to. come against her from every quarter, (vs. 26a; Isa 13:5).
b. She is to be utterly destroyed, (vs. 26b; Isa 14:23). c. Her young princes and warriors (bullocks) will be slaughtered in the woeful day of the Lord’s vengeance upon Babylon, (vs. 27; Isa 34:7; Jer 48:15)
5. Then there is a call to attention: “LISTEN!” and the voice of escaped Jews are heard declaring in Zion how the Lord has brought retribution upon Babylon for what she did to His temple, (vs. 28; Isa 48:20-21; Jer 52:13; Dan 1:1-2; Dan 5:1-2).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The Prophet here undertakes the office of a herald, and animates the Persians and the Medes to make war with Babylon. This prophecy indeed never came to these nations, but we have stated why the Prophets proclaimed war and addressed at one time heathen nations, at another time the Jews — now one people, then another; for they wished to bring the faithful to the very scene of action, and connected the accomplishment with their predictions. By this mode of speaking, the Prophet then teaches us, that he did not scatter words into the air, but that the power of God was connected with the word which he spoke, as though God had expressly commanded the Medes and the Persians to execute his vengeance on Babylon. And doubtless Jeremiah did not thus speak; according to his own thoughts, nor did he thus speak in the person of man; but on the contrary, he introduced God as the speaker, as it appears front the end of the verse.
He then says, Ascend on the land of the exasperating; others read, “of bitterness,” but improperly. God indeed calls the Chaldeans rebellious, for though they were for a time the scourges of his wrath, they yet had cruelly treated many nations, being impelled only by their own pride and avarice; he justly calls them “the exasperating,” and then adds, Slay the inhabitants of visitation Some regard פקוד, pekud, as a proper name; and they first imagine that it was a town of some note in Chaldea, which is groundless; and then they give a frigid explanation by saying that it was some mean and obscure place. There is then no doubt but that the Prophet calls the Chaldeans the inhabitants of visitation, because God’s vengeance awaited them, nay, it was even suspended over their heads, as he afterwards declares. But this way of speaking frequently occurs in the Prophets. (63)
He afterwards adds, and destroy after or behind them There is an alliteration in the words החרם אתריהם, etherem acheriem; and he means that the slaughter would be extreme, so that the Medes and Persians would not cease to destroy until they had extinguished the name of Babylon. Yet we know that this was not done by Cyrus and Darius; for as we have already stated several times, the city was taken by fraud and treachery in the night, and the king and the princes were slain, for Darius, or rather Cyrus, spared the rest of the people; for though Darius had the name of being king, yet Cyrus was by far the most renowned, as he was a valiant soldier, and only on account of his fame accompanied his father-in-law and uncle. As then the sword did not destroy all the Chaldeans when Babylon was taken, we conclude that the Prophets, when they denounced slaughter and destruction on Babylon, did not confine what they said to that time, but included also other slaughters; for Babylon was often taken. It revolted from the Persians; and when it was recovered, it suffered very severe punishment; for, by way of reproach, those who were first in power and authority were hung, and there was also great cruelty exercised towards men and women. There is no doubt then but that the Prophets, in speaking of the destruction of Babylon, referred to God’s judgments inflicted at various times. However this may have been, we learn that though God may long connive, or suspend extreme judgments, yet the ungodly cannot possibly escape his hand, though they may long be spared.
He then adds, Do to them as I have commanded thee This prophetic mode of speaking ought also to be noticed; for the Medes and the Persians never thought that they fought under the authority of God; why then is the word “commanded” used? even because God rules by his secret power ungodly men, and leads them wheresoever he pleases, though nothing of the kind is ever thought of by them. To explain the matter more fully, we must observe flint God commands in two ways; for he commands the faithful when he shows to them what is right and what they ought to follow. Thus daily God may be said to exercise his authority or right of ruling, when he exhorts us to do our duty, when he sets his law before us. And it is the proper way of commanding, or of exercising authority, when God expresses what he would have us to do, or what he requires from us. But God commands the unbelieving in another way; for though he does not declare to them what he would have them to do, he yet draws them, willing or unwilling, where-ever he pleases. Thus, by his secret operation, he induced Cyrus and Darius to take up arms against Babylon.
We now then understand what the Prophet meant by this expression; for he did not mean that Darius and Cyrus obeyed God from the heart, because they knew not that he was the leader and author of that war; no such thing ever entered into their minds. The former mode of commanding, as I have said, is peculiar to the Church; for God is pleased to bestow on us a peculiar privilege and favor, when he shows to us what is right, and prescribes the rule of life. But yet his hidden providence, by which he influences the ungodly, takes the place of a command, as it is said,
“
The king’s heart is in the hand of God.” (Pro 21:1)
But Solomon speaks of a king rather than of common men, because, if there be any liberty among mankind, it belongs to kings, for they seem exempt from every yoke; and Solomon declares that the hearts of kings are ruled by God. Though then Darius and Cyrus were carried away by their own cupidity when they made war, yet God, as we shall hereafter see more clearly, guided their hearts. So also he is said to command the heavens and the earth-not that the heavens, being without ears and reason, hear his voice, but because God powerfully moves and influences the heavens; for when he intends to punish us, he commands the heaven not to rain. This command of God the heaven executes, and the earth also obeys God; but there is no word of command given to them, — what then? it is God’s providence which is hid from us. It follows, —
(63) Merathaim and Pekod are appellatives, and not proper names, in the early versions, and the first is so in the Targ. and rendered “rebellious;” but by the Sept. “bitterly;” by the Vulg. “rulers;” and by the Syr. “exasperating.” The most probable derivation of the word is from מרה, to rebel, with a dual termination, doubly rebellious, i.e., very rebellious. As to “Pekod,” the versions give it the idea of visiting by way of punishment: “Avenge thou with the sword,” is the Sept.; “Visit her inhabitants,” the Vulg.; “Assail ye her and her inhabitants,” the Syr.; the Targ. has “the inhabitants of Pekod.” It is better to take both words as appellatives: —
21. Against the land of the most rebellious, against her ascend, And to the inhabitants of visitation; Slay and utterly destroy their posterity, saith Jehovah, And do according to all that I have commanded thee.
As to Babylon being “rebellious,” see Jer 50:24. “Inhabitants of visitation” were such as were to be visited, i.e., with judgment; see Jer 50:31. The repetition, “against her,” is emphatical. “posterity,” i.e., children, or young men, as in Jer 50:30. See 1Kg 16:3. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
C. Babylons Visitation and Israels Vindication Jer. 50:21-28
TRANSLATION
(21) Against the land of Merathaim go up, against the inhabitants of Pekod! Slay and devote her to death (oracle of the LORD). Do according to all which I have commanded you. (22) The sound of battle is in the land and great destruction. (23) How sad that the hammer of all the earth is cut off and shattered! How sad that Babylon has become a desolation among the nations. (24) I laid snares for you, and you have been captured, O Babylon, and are not aware of it. you have been found and you have been caught; for against the LORD you have striven. (25) The LORD shall open His armory and bring out the weapons of His wrath; for it is a work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans. (26) Go up to her from every side! Open her granaries! Pile her up as heaps of grain, utterly destroy her! Leave her no remnant! (27) Slay all her bullocks! Let them go down to the slaughter! Woe unto them; for their day has come, the time of their punishment. (28) Hark! Those who flee and escape from the land of Babylon come to Zion to declare the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance of His Temple.
COMMENTS
Again the adversaries of Babylon are addressed. They are called upon to go up against the land of Merathaim (i.e., double rebellion) and the inhabitants of Pekod (i.e., punishment) and utterly destroy (Jer. 50:21).[410] The idea in these two enigmatic designations for Babylon is that God will punish that land because of her excessive rebellion. Following this summons the prophet describes the execution of the commission. He hears the terrible noise of war and destruction in the land (Jer. 50:22). How sad it is, he says sarcastically, that the hammer of the whole earth is broken and smashed. Babylon, the instrument which has smashed the whole world into submission, has served its purpose and is now broken. The once proud land has become a desolation among the nations (Jer. 50:23).
[410] Some think that Merathaim and Pekod refer to actual districts of Babylonia but the geographical reference seems rather doubtful.
In Jer. 50:24 the prophet indicates that the element of secrecy and surprise which excludes all resistance will prevail at the capture of Babylon. Like an unsuspecting beast caught in the snare of the trapper, so has Babylon been captured. The reason for the calamitous fall of the city is that Babylon had striven against the Lord. Babylon had exceeded the bounds of the divine commission to punish the nations and had thus in effect pitted herself against the Lord. The quick and surprising capture of the city will be possible because the Lord of Hosts has opened his armory and brought into use all the means of attack which it affords. Though God uses secondary agents to accomplish his purposes against Babylon that which they do there is the work of God (Jer. 50:25).
As the Lord has emptied His arsenal against Babylon so also shall all the storehouses in Babylon be emptied and the contents destroyed. The phrase cast her up as heaps refers to the huge piles of rubble which were left after a city had been totally demolished (Jer. 50:26). The doomed warriors of Babylon are compared to sacrificial animals (bullocks) to be slaughtered. Woe unto those armies! The time of their punishment has come, the day of national accountability (Jer. 50:27). Meanwhile the Jewish captives shall hasten to Zion to proclaim the good news that the Lord has executed vengeance upon the enemies of His people. The destruction of Gods Temple has been avenged! (Jer. 50:28). Israel has been vindicated by the divine visitation upon Babylon.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(21) Go up against the land of Merathaim.No such name is found in Babylonian inscriptions or is mentioned by historians. The most probable explanation of its use is that the prophet coined it as a descriptive word (= land of two rebellions), and then substituted it, after his manner (as with Sheshach, Jer. 25:6; Magor-missabib, Jer. 20:3), for the name Aram-Naharaim (= land of the two rivers = Mesopotamia), which was, as in Gen. 24:10; Deu. 23:4; Jdg. 3:8; Jdg. 3:10, the recognised name of the country between the Tigris and Euphrates. It was, he seems to say, the country, not of rivers, but of rebellions, choosing the dual form, partly for the sake of assonance, partly to express the fact that Babylon having rebelled against Assyria, as, e.g., Merodach-baladan (Isa. 39:1) and Nabopolassar had done, had also rebelled against Jehovah. Possibly, however, the dual may simply express intensity. Such changes of names were quite after the manner of Old Testament usage. So Beth-aven was substituted for Bethel (Hos. 10:5), Mephibosheth for Meribbaal (2Sa. 4:4; 1Ch. 8:34). Micah 1 is full of such paronomasiae.
Against the inhabitants of Pekod.Here we have a name which is found in Eze. 23:23 and in inscriptions as that of a Babylonian town, as in a list of rebels, and in the form Bukudu, as in the Cylinder of Sennacherib (Records of the Past, i. 26), and is the name of a city, Nahar-Pekod, mentioned in the Talmud (Frst, Lex. s.v., and Neubauer, Gog. du Talm., p. 363). We can scarcely doubt, however, that the prophet chose this name for the sake of its meaning, visitation. It was necessary to find a word to be at once nomen et omen for the guilt of Babylon. There was one ready at hand applicable to its punishment.
Waste and utterly destroy.Better, slay and devote to destruction. The latter verb is connected with the Hebrew Cherem, which expressed, as in Deu. 7:26; Jos. 7:13, the idea of a solemn anathema.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
PUNISHMENT FOR SIN, Jer 50:21-28.
21. Land of Merathaim Not rebels, as in the margin, but double rebellion, a dual word. But why is Babylon called so? Various answers have been given. 1) Double, as against both God and man. But this has nothing in favour of it, and is opposed to Old Testament usage. 2) Double, first, in the tower of Babel experience, and now in this last assault upon the theocracy. This is less unsatisfactory, and yet seems too artificial to comport with the general usage of the Old Testament. 3) Double, in the sense of beyond ordinary bounds, an intensive form. This is the view to be preferred.
Pekod Literally, to visit with punishment; here used as a name of Babylon and suggestive of its immediate future.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
YHWH Calls On The Nations To Fulfil His Will As Regards Babylon ( Jer 50:21-32 ).
We should note here how personal God’s involvement is seen to be in the judgment coming on Babylon. It is in accordance with His commands (Jer 50:22). It is He Who has laid a snare for, and has ensnared Babylon (Jer 50:24). It is He Who has opened His armoury and brought forth His weapons (Jer 50:25). It is He Who is against them and it is the time of His visitation (Jer 50:31). It is He Who kindles a fire in their cities (Jer 50:32). It is He Who gives rest to the earth and disquiet to the inhabitants of Babylon (Jer 50:34). This is a reminder of the fact that while it might sometimes not outwardly appear so, God is in control of history. Nothing happens outside His cognisance, and all will eventually work out in accordance with His will.
Jer 50:21-22
“Go up against the land of Merathaim,
Even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod,
Slay and utterly destroy after them,
The word of YHWH,
And do according to all that I have commanded you.
A sound of battle is in the land,
And of great destruction.”
YHWH’s command to the nations is that they ‘go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it and the inhabitants of Pekod’. The two together are probably intended to indicate the whole of Babylonia. There was a region in southern Babylonia near the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates called ‘Nar Marratu’, a name which means ‘bitter river’. It may be that Merathaim, which means ‘twofold rebellion’ or ‘two rebellions’ is a deliberate word play on the name Marratu indicating a land that was in total rebellion against YHWH. Alternatively the writer may simply be indicating by the name that Babylonia was a ‘land of double rebellion’ against YHWH. Instead of being ‘the land of two rivers’, as it was popularly known, it had become ‘the land of two rebellions’. Pekod, which means ‘punishment’ or ‘visitation’, was the name of a small Aramean tribe east of the lower Tigris (see Eze 23:23), mentioned in Assyrian records as Puqudu. It thus indicated that YHWH Himself was ‘visiting’ Babylonia to carry out His will against it. So the two name are probably intended to indicate the whole of Babylonia, being chosen because of the significance of the names, indicating a land in total rebellion against YHWH which was being visited by Him.
It is made clear that the armies of the nations who come against Babylonia are under YHWH’s command. They are to slay and utterly destroy (cherem – ‘devote to destruction, devote to YHWH’) in the way that YHWH has commanded them. And this will result in the sound of battle in the land and great destruction. The fact that Babylon itself was spared destruction due to the clever strategy of Cyrus’ general does not alter the fact of how much Babylonia as a whole suffered. The land was filled with the sound of battle. Violence was everywhere. Babylon itself would experience its total destruction under a later Persian king, Xerxes.
Jer 50:23-24
“How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken!
How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, O Babylon,
And you were not aware,
You are found, and also caught,
Because you have striven against YHWH.”
YHWH here, as it were, exults over the fact that He has caught Babylonia in a cleverly laid snare, one of which they had not been aware. In spite of their pride in themselves as ‘the hammer of the whole earth’ they have been taken by surprise. He has proved to be cleverer than they. In consequence, even though they were ‘the hammer of the whole earth’, they have been cut asunder and broken. How the mighty have fallen. The nation of Babylon has become a desolation among the nations. And this because they had striven against YHWH. ‘The hammer of the whole earth’ had come up against YHWH’s word, which was itself the ‘hammer which breaks the rock in pieces’ (Jer 23:29). And YHWH’s word would prevail.
Babylon is paralleled by the growing secularism of our day. That too sees itself as conquering the whole world with its ideas. But it too will come under the hammer of God.
Jer 50:25
“YHWH has opened his armoury,
And he has brought forth the weapons of his indignation,
For the Lord, YHWH of hosts, has a work,
In the land of the Chaldeans.”
We are left in no doubt that this was to be seen directly as YHWH’s doing. He Himself had opened His armoury and brought forth therefrom the weapons of His anger, which were to be found in the armouries of many nations. And this was because as the Sovereign Lord, YHWH of the hosts of heaven and earth, He had a work to accomplish in the land of the Chaldeans. He wanted it left in no doubt as to Who was responsible for the destruction of this evil empire in accordance with its deserts.
Jer 50:26-27
“Come against her from the furthest border,
Open her store-houses,
Cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly,
Let nothing of her be left (literally ‘let there be no remnant’).
Slay all her bullocks,
Let them go down to the slaughter,
Woe to them! for their day is come,
The time of their visitation.”
The fate of Babylonia was to be total and complete. The enemy would come from her furthest borders, they would open up her granaries and empty them, they would ravage the country leaving no remnant. This last in direct contrast with the remnant of Israel who would be left who would be pardoned by YHWH (Jer 50:20). Here there would be none who would seek pardon. All would come under judgment.
All her livestock would be slain, or alternatively all her choicest sons, portrayed as bullocks (compare Jer 50:8; Jer 51:40; Psa 22:12; Isa 34:7; Eze 39:18). Her people would go down to the slaughter (compare Jer 48:15). It was the day that was coming on them, the day of woe. It was the time when their sins would be visited on them in the day of God’s visitation. The whole passage is a constant reminder that in the end God calls sin into account.
Jer 50:28
“The voice of those who flee,
And escape out of the land of Babylon,
To declare in Zion the vengeance of YHWH our God,
The vengeance of his temple.”
Escaping refugees would arrive in Palestine from Babylonia acting as heralds, declaring that YHWH had at last exacted His vengeance on Babylonia (compare Eze 33:21). The destruction of YHWH’s Temple, which to an Israelite would have been seen as one of the most devastating moments in Israel’s history, and one which had seemed inexplicable, had been avenged.
So those of His people who had heeded YHWH’s warning and had taken the opportunity to flee from Babylon (Jer 50:8) would arrive in Palestine and declare in Zion that YHWH their God had indeed taken His vengeance. He had avenged the destruction of His Temple. To a people to whom the Temple had meant everything, and who had been unable to comprehend how YHWH could allow His Temple to be destroyed, this would mean so much. It would be clear that YHWH was triumphant after all.
We must recognise that the invasion of Babylon would, for the first time, have enabled those who would to flee from it. The restrictions which had previously been placed on them would no longer have been binding. So this may well have been the initial returning of refugees, prior to the more official one which would follow (Ezr 1:1). They were the firstfruits. But the emphasis here is not so much on the returning of the refugees, but on the exacting by YHWH of His vengeance on those who had sinned against Him. It had taken 48 years (587 BC to 539 BC), but it had come at last.
Jer 50:29-30
“Call together the archers against Babylon,
All those who bend the bow,
Encamp against her round about,
Let none from her escape,
Recompense her according to her work,
According to all that she has done, do to her,
For she has been proud against YHWH,
Against the Holy One of Israel,
Therefore will her young men fall in her streets,
And all her men of war will be brought to silence in that day,
The word of YHWH.”
Once again we are given a vivid picture of the final investment. The archers are brought together to rain death on Babylon (see Jer 50:9; Jer 50:14). The armies encamp round about her. She is to receive full recompense for what she has done. As she has done, so will be done to her (compare Jer 50:15). And this is because she has exalted herself against YHWH, against the very ‘Holy One of Israel’. This use of a title common in Isaiah but rare elsewhere (only twice in Jeremiah) emphasises what is at stake. The uniqueness of YHWH in His holiness and righteousness is being set against the background of the debased attitudes and behaviour of His enemies, and especially against the background of her ‘pride’ as she exalts herself against God, a pride revealed by her promulgation of idolatry and all its evil accompaniments such as sorcery, enchantments, witchcraft, astrology, penetration of the unseen world, etc. (see Isa 47:9; Isa 47:12-13). They have opposed His holiness and His righteousness. Now they will receive what is their due. That is why her young men will fall in the streets, and all her men of war will be silenced. And this is the word of YHWH.
In the event the initial taking of Babylon was far milder than this. Of course there was inevitably death and destruction, and many would die as the city was initially invested before it was taken, but by diverting the Euphrates Cyrus’ general was able to enter the city along the river bed almost unopposed. The need for water always made cities vulnerable (compare 2Sa 5:8). And thus the city was taken by surprise, and mercy shown to its inhabitants, many of whom actually welcomed the invaders as preferable to Nabonidus and Belshazzar, who were seen as blasphemers because of their attitude towards Babylon’s chief god, Marduk. We have an interesting cameo of the last night of the siege in Daniel 5. But the relief was only temporary. In the days of Xerxes the final destruction would take place. God does not always exact all His judgments at once. He gives men time to think over their position and repent.
We must not stop short at just thinking of ancient Babylon. The message is relevant to all ages. It is the case of the world in its pride in opposition to God, and is a reminder that in the end God will prevail with His remnant. To the prophets Babylon represented man’s pride, man’s greed and man’s false ideas. Its destruction was therefore necessary. Note especially the emphasis on Babylon’s pride in the following verses. Indeed she is ‘the Proud one’.
Jer 50:31-32
“Behold, I am against you, O you proud one,
The word of the Lord, YHWH of hosts,
For your day is come,
The time that I will visit you.
And the proud one will stumble and fall,
And none will raise him up,
And I will kindle a fire in his cities,
And it will devour all who are round about him.”
Babylon is not only proud in the general sense but is also ‘proud against YHWH’ (Jer 50:30). It is thus here given the name of PROUD (translated above as ‘you proud one’). Note how it is contrasted with ‘sovereign Lord’ in an expansion of the usual phrase ‘word of YHWH’, and contrasts with the previous reference to ‘the Holy One of Israel’. Babylon is a religious usurper. But now its day has come and it is to be ‘visited’ in judgment (see also Jer 50:27). Then he who is so proud will stumble and fall (see Pro 16:18), and ‘none will raise him up’. He will be left to himself with no one willing to come to his aid. Furthermore all his daughter cities will be put to the torch, so that all who are round about him will be devoured. Putting their trust in Babylon would prove their downfall.
Compare here Jer 21:13-14 where similar things were threatened against Judah. All come under similar judgment in the end, whether rampant secularism, or perverted religion. Babylon will receive what she had brought upon others.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Enemies of Babylon Summoned to the Attack
v. 21. Go up against the land of Merathaim, v. 22. A sound of battle is in the land, v. 23. How is the hammer of the whole earth, v. 24. I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware, v. 25. The Lord hath opened His armory and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation, v. 20. Come against her from the utmost border, v. 27. Slay all her bullocks, v. 28. The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, v. 29. Call together the archers against Babylon, v. 30. Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord. v. 31. Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts, v. 32. And the most proud shall stumble and fall, v. 33. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together, v. 34. Their Redeemer is strong, the Lord of hosts is His name, v. 35. A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon and upon her princes and upon her wise men, v. 36. A sword is upon the liars, v. 37. A sword is upon their horses and upon their chariots, v. 38. A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up, v. 39. Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands, v. 40. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, v. 41. Behold, a people shall come from the North, v. 42. They shall hold the bow and the lance, v. 43. The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, v. 44. Behold, he, v. 45. Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord that He hath taken against Babylon, and His purposes that He hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans, Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out, v. 46. At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Jer 50:21. Go up, &c. The two places here mentioned, though unknown, are supposed to have been situate in the Babylonish dominions. The meaning of the words is, the land of the rebelsand the inhabitants of visitation: and some understand them of the Babylonians in the sense here given. These are the commands of God to Cyrus, though then unborn. Instead of after them, the Hebrew might be rendered their posterity; “Cut off from Babylon the name and remnant,” as God threatens, Isa 14:22.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
6. ONE HAMMER CRUSHED BY THE OTHER
Jer 50:21-23
21Against the land of Double-defiance;21
Go up against it and against the inhabitants of Visitation!
Slay22 and burn after them, saith Jehovah,
And do according to all that I commanded thee!
22Cry of war in the land and great ruin!
23How is the hammer of the whole earth crushed and broken!
How is Babylon become a horror of desolation among the nations!
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
A complete picture, the specific element of which is the prophets showing how the Lord sends a chosen instrument to crush Babylon, which has hitherto served Him as such in the chastisement of mankind. In brief but powerful lines is described the summons to the instrument (Jer 50:21), the execution of the commission (Jer 50:22), the result (Jer 50:23).
Jer 50:21-23. Against the land among the nations. What is meant by the double defiance it is difficult to say. We may regard it not inappropriately as the double visitation of the theocratic nation by Assyria and Babylon (Jer 50:17-18). The name, however, is given only to Babylon, which according to this view represents only half the defiance. The connection seems to require an interpretation according to which Babylon itself receives the whole reproach, and here, as it seems to me, two points may be observed: 1. The defiance which Babylon manifested both towards man and God, in revolting against the king of Assyria its master, and in sinning against Jehovah by its arrogant demeanor towards Israel. 2. The double defiance, which Babylon manifested in the earliest period in the erection of the tower of Babel and the founding of the first worldly kingdom (Gen 10:8 sqq.), and in later times by its behaviour towards the theocracy. I formerly inclined to the latter view, but now give the former the preference, because it is more natural and presents more clearly the element of doubleness. For the sin of Babylon against the Lord in earlier and more recent times is too entirely one and the same for it to be represented as a double one.Against it. Comp. Jer 50:3. The singular appears to me to be due to a different reason from that in Jer 50:3, for there we find , nation, which according to what follows is to be taken as collective. Here, however, the subject is left indefinite. This is the more surprising, as previously the enemies of Babylon are always called upon in the plural (Jer 50:14-16). When then in the following Jer 50:23 Babylon is designated as the crushed hammer, i.e. as the instrument of Jehovah, which He Himself has destroyed, is it not most natural to regard as the subject of the imperative in Jer 50:21 the instrument of which the Lord will make use in the destruction of His former instrument? Then, however, it is natural to place over against the Babylonian hammer (, comp. Grotiusad loc.), viz., Nebuchadnezzar, another hammer, i.e. over against the already known and mentioned (Jer 50:17) representative of the first empire, the representative (certainly only sometimes present in idea) of the other empire called to its destruction. Comp. Jer 51:20.Visitation is also a name formed ad hoc, and given to Babylon in antithesis to its double-defiance, which deserves visitation. Thus the former name designates Babylons guilt, the latter its punishment. Comp. Jer 50:18; Jer 50:31 and Eze 23:23, which passage is based on this. Comp. Haevernick on the passage.Burn. Comp. Jer 25:9.Cry of war, etc. Comp. Jer 4:6; Jer 6:1; Jer 14:17; Jer 48:3; Jer 51:54.How, etc. Comp. Isa 14:12; Jer 51:20; Jer 51:41.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Daniels Babylonian empire resumes, as it were, the thread which was broken off with the tower-erection and kingdom of Nimrod. In the Babylonian tower-building the whole of the then existing humanity was united against God; with the Babylonian kingdom began the period of the universal monarchies, which again aspired after an atheistical union of entire humanity. Babylon has since and even to the Revelation (Jeremiah 18) remained the standing type of this world. Auberlen, Der proph. Daniel, S. 230.
2. For what reason does Babylon appear as a type of the world? Why not Nineveh, or Persepolis, or Tyre, or Memphis, or Rome? Certainly not because Babylon was greater, more glorious, more powerful or prouder and more ungodly than those cities and kingdoms. Nineveh especially was still greater than Babylon (comp. Duncker, Gesch. d. Alterth. I. S. 474, 5), and Assyria was not less hostile to the theocracy, having carried away into captivity the northern and larger half of the people of Israel. Babylon is qualified for this representation in two ways: 1. because it is the home of worldly princedom and titanic arrogance (Gen 10:8; Gen 11:1-4); 2. because Babylon destroyed the centre of the theocracy, Jerusalem, the temple and the theocratic kingdom, and first assumed to be the single supreme power of the globe.
3. When God has used a superstitious, wicked and tyrannical nation long enough as His rod, He breaks it in pieces and finally throws it into the fire. For even those whom He formerly used as His chosen anointed instruments He then regards as but the dust in the streets or as chaff before the wind. Cramer.
4. No monarch is too rich, too wicked, too strong for God the Lord. And He can soon enlist and engage soldiers whom He can use against His declared enemies. Cramer.
5. Israel was founded on everlasting foundations, even Gods word and promise. The sins of the people brought about that it was laid low in the dust, but not without hope of a better resurrection. Babylon, on the other hand, must perish forever, for in it is the empire of evil come to its highest bloom. Jeremiah owns the nothingness of all worldly kingdoms, since they are all under this national order to serve only for a time. We are to be subject to them and seek their welfare for the sake of the souls of men, whom God is educating therein; a Christian however cannot be enthusiastic for them after the manner of the ancient heathen nor of ancient Israel, for here we have no abiding city, our citizenship is in heaven. The kingdoms of this world are no sanctuaries for us and we supplicate their continuance only with the daily bread of the fourth petition. Jeremiah applies many words and figures to Babylon which he has already used in the judgments on other nations, thus to intimate that in Babylon all the heathenism of the world culminates, and that here also must be the greatest anguish. What, however, is here declared of Babylon must be fulfilled again on all earthly powers in so far as, treading in its footprints, they take flesh for their arm and regard the material of this world as power, whether they be called states or churches. Diedrich.
6. On Jer 50:2. In putting into the mouth of Israel, returning from Babylon, the call to an everlasting covenant with Jehovah, the prophet causes them 1. to confess that they have forgotten the first covenant; 2. he shows us that the time of the new covenant begins with the redemption from the Babylonish captivity. He was far, however, from supposing that this redemption would be only a weak beginning, that the appearance of the Saviour would be deferred for centuries, that Israel would sink still deeper as an external , and that finally the Israel of the new covenant would itself appear as a , (1Pe 1:9-12).
7. From what Jeremiah has already said in Jer 31:31-34 of the new covenant we see that its nature and its difference from the old is not unknown to him. Yet he knows the new covenant only in general. He knows that it will be deeply spiritual and eternal, but how and why it will be so is still to him part of the .
8. On Jer 50:6. Jeremiah here points back to Jeremiah 23. Priests, kings and prophets, who should discharge the office of shepherds, prove to be wolves. Yea, they are the worst of wolves, who go about in official clothing. There is therefore no more dangerous doctrine than that of an infallible office. Jer 14:14; Mat 7:15; Mat 23:2-12.
9. On Jer 50:7. It is the worst condition into which a church of God can come, when the enemies who desolate it can maintain that they are in the right in doing so. It is, however, a just nemesis when those who will not hear the regular messengers of God must be told by the extraordinary messengers of God what they should have done. Comp. Jer 40:2-3.
10. On Jer 50:8. Babylon is opened, and it must be abandoned not clung to, for the captivity is a temporary chastisement, not the divine arrangement for the children of God. Gods people must in the general redemption go like rams before the herd of the nations, that these may also attach themselves to Israel, as this was fulfilled at the time of Christ in the first churches and the apostles, who now draw the whole heathen world after them to eternal life. Here the prophet recognizes the new humanity, which proceeds from the ruins of the old, in which also ancient Israel leads the way; thus all, who follow it, become Israel. Diedrich.The heathen felt somewhat of the divine punishment when they overcame so easily the usually so strongly protected nation. But Jeremiah shows them still how they deceived themselves in thinking that God had wholly rejected His people, for of the eternal covenant of grace they certainly understood nothing. Heim and Hoffmann on the Major Prophets.
11. On Jer 50:18. The great powers of the world form indeed the history of the world, but they have no future. Israel, however, always returns home to the dear and glorious land. The Jews might as a token of this return under Cyrus; the case is however this, that the true Holy One in Israel, Christ, guides us back to Paradise, when we flee to His hand from the Babylon of this world and let it be crucified for us. Diedrich.
12. On Jer 50:23. Although the Chaldeans were called of God for the purpose of making war on the Jewish nation on account of their multitudinous sins, yet they are punished because they did it not as God with a pure intention, namely, to punish the wrong in them and keep them for reformation; for they were themselves greater sinners than the Jews and continued with impenitence in their sins. Therefore they could not go scot-free and remain unpunished. Moreover, they acted too roughly and dealt with the Jews more harshly than God had commanded, for which He therefore fairly punished them. As God the Lord Himself says (Isa 47:6): When I was angry with My people I gave them into thine hands; but thou shewedst them no mercy. Therefore it is not enough that Gods will be accomplished, but there must be the good intention in it, which God had, otherwise such a work may be a sin and call down the divine punishment upon it. Wrtemb. Summ.
13. On Jer 50:31-34. God calls Babylon Thou Pride, for pride was their inward force and impulse in all their actions. But worldly pride makes a Babylon and brings on a Babylons fate . Pride must fall, for it is in itself a lie against God, and all its might must perish in the fire; thus will the humble and meek remain in possession of the earth: this has a wide application through all times, even to eternity. Diedrich.
14. On Jer 51:33. Israel is indeed weak and must suffer in a time of tyranny; it cannot help itself, nor needs it to do so, for its Redeemer is strong, His name The Lord Zebaothand He is, now, having assumed our flesh, among us and conducts our cause so that the world trembles. Diedrich.
15. On Jer 50:45. An emblem of the destruction of anti-christian Babylon, which was also the true hammer of the whole world. This has God also broken and must and will do it still more. And this will the shepherd-boys do, as is said here in Jer 51:45 (according to Luthers translation), that is, all true teachers and preachers. Cramer.
16. On Jeremiah 51. The doctrines accord in all points with the previous chapter. And the prophet Jeremiah both in this and the previous chapter does nothing else but make out for the Babylonians their final discharge and passport, because they behaved so valiantly and well against the people of Judah, that they might know they would not go unrecompensed. For payment is according to service. And had they done better it would have gone better with them. It is well that when tyrants succeed in their evil undertakings they should not suppose they are Gods dearest children and lean on His bosom, since they will yet receive the recompense on their crown, whatever they have earned. Cramer.
17. [Though in the hand of Babylon is a golden cup; she chooses such a cup, in order that mens eyes may be dazzled with the glitter of the gold, and may not inquire what it contains. But mark well, in the golden cup of Babylon is the poison of idolatry, the poison of false doctrines, which destroy the souls of men. I have often seen such a golden cup, in fair speeches of seductive eloquence: and when I have examined the venomous ingredients of the golden chalice, I have recognized the cup of Babylon. Origen in Wordsworth.S. R. A.]
The seat and throne of Anti-christ is expressly named Babylon, namely, the city of Rome, built on the seven hills (Rev 17:9). Just as Babylon brought so many lands and kingdoms under its sway and ruled them with great pomp and pride (the golden cup, which made all the world drunk, was Babylon in the hand of the Lord (Jer 51:7), and all the heathen drank of the wine and became mad)so has the spiritual Babylon a cup in its hand, full of the abomination and uncleanness of its whoredom, of which the kings of the earth and all who dwell on the earth have been made drunk. As it is said of Babylon that she dwells by great waters and has great treasures, so writes John of the Romish Babylon, that it is clothed in silk and purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls (Rev 18:12). Of Babylon it is said that the slain in Israel were smitten by her; so also the spiritual Babylon is become drunk with the blood of the saints (Rev 17:6). Just, however, as the Chaldean Babylon is a type of the spiritual in its pride and despotism, so also is it a type of the destruction which will come upon it. Many wished to heal Babylon but she would not be healed; so many endeavor to support the ruinous anti-christian Babylon, but all in vain. For as Babylon was at last so destroyed as to be a heap of stones and abode of dragons, so will it be with anti-christian Babylon. Of this it is written in Rev 14:8 : She is fallen, fallen, that great city, for she has made all nations drink of the wine of her fornication. And again, Babylon the great is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils and a hold of all foul and hateful birds (Rev 18:2). As the inhabitants of Babylon were admonished to flee from her, that every man might deliver his soul (Jer 51:6)and again, My people, go ye out from the midst of her and deliver every man his soul, etc. (Jer 51:45)so the Holy Spirit admonishes Christians almost in the same words to go out from the spiritual Babylon, that they be not polluted by her sins and at the same time share in her punishment. For thus it is written in Rev 18:4, I heard, says John, a voice from heaven saying, Go ye out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins reach unto heaven and God remembers her iniquities. Wurtemb. Summarien.
18. On Jer 51:5. A monarch can sooner make an end of half a continent than draw a nail from a hut which the Lord protects.And if it is true that Kaiser Rudolph, when he revoked the toleration of the Picards and the same day lost one of his principal forts, said, I thought it would be so, for I grasped at Gods sceptre (Weismanni, Hist. Eccl. Tom. II. p. 320)this was a sage remark, a supplement to the words of the wise. Zinzendorf.
19. On Jer 51:9. We heal Babylon, but she will not be healed. Babylon is an outwardly beautiful but inwardly worm-eaten apple. Hence sooner or later the foulness must become noticeable. So is it with all whose heart and centre is not God. All is inwardly hollow and vain. When this internal vacuity begins to render itself externally palpable, when here and there a rent or foul spot becomes visible, then certainly come the friends and admirers of the unholy form and would improve, cover up, sew up, heal. But it does not avail. When once there is death in the body no physician can effect a cure.
20. On Jer 51:17; Jer 51:19-20. The children of God have three causes why they may venture on Him. 1. All men are fools, their treasure is it not; 2. The Lord is their hammer; He breaks through everything, and 3, they are an instrument in His hand, a heritage; in this there is happiness. Zinzendorf.
21. On Jer 51:41-44. How was Sheshach thus won, the city renowned in all the world thus taken? No one would have thought it possible, but God does it. He rules with wonders and with wonders He makes His church free. Babylon is a wonder no longer for its power, but for its weakness. We are to know the worlds weakness even where it still appears strong. A sea of hostile nations has covered Babylon. Her land is now a desolation. God takes Bel, the principal idol of Babylon, symbolizing its whole civil powers in hand, and snatches his prey from his teeth. Our God is stronger than all worldly forces, and never leaves us to them. Diedrich.
22. On Jer 51:58. Yea, so it is with all walls and towers, in which Gods word is not the vital force, even though they be entitled churches and cathedrals Gods church alone possesses permanence through His pure word. Diedrich.
23. On Jer 51:60-64. When we wish to preserve an archive safely, we deposit it in a record-office where it is kept in a dry place that no moisture may get to it. Seraiah throws his book-roll into the waters of the Euphrates, which must wash it away, dissolve and destroy it. But this was of no account. The main point was that he, Seraiah, as representative of the holy nation had taken solemn stock of the word of God against Babylon, and as it were taken God at His word, and reminded Him of it. In this manner the matter was laid up in the most enduring and safest archive that could be imagined; it was made a case of honor with the omniscient and omnipotent God. Such matters can, however, neither be forgotten, nor remain in dead silence, nor be neglected. They must be brought to such an end as the honor of God requires.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer 50:2. This text may be used on the feast of the Reformation, or any other occasion with reference to a rem bene gestam. The Triumph of the Good Cause, 1. over what enemies it is gained; 2. to what it should impel us; (a) to the avoidance of that over which we new triumph; (b) to the grateful proclamation of what the Lord has done for us, by word and by deed.
2. On Jer 50:4-8. The deliverance of Israel from the Babylonian captivity a type of the deliverance of the Church. 1. The Church must humbly acknowledge the captivity suffered as a judgment of God. 2. She must turn like Israel inwardly with an upright heart unto the Lord; 3. She must become like Israel to all men a pattern and leader to freedom.
3. On Jer 50:5. A confirmation sermon. What is the hour of confirmation? 1. An hour which calls to separation; 2. an hour which leads to new connections; 3. an hour which fixes forever the old covenant with the souls friend. Florey, 1853.
4. On Jer 50:18-20. Assyria and Babylon the types of all the spiritual enemies of the church as of individual Christians. Every one has his Assyria and his Babylon. Sin is the destruction of men. Forgiveness of sins is the condition of life, for only where forgiveness of sins is, is there life and blessedness. In Christ we find the forgiveness of sins. He destroys the handwriting. He washes us clean. He is also the good shepherd who leads our souls into green pastures, to the spiritual Carmel.
5. On Jer 50:31-32. Warning against pride. Babylon was very strong and powerful, rich and splendid. It seemed invincible by nature and by art. Had it not then a certain justification in being proud, at least towards men? No; for no one has to contend only with men. Every one who contends has the Lord either for his friend or his enemy. It is the Lord from whom cometh victory (Pro 21:31). He it is who teacheth our hands to fight (Psa 18:35; Psa 144:1). His strength is made perfect in weakness (2Co 12:9). He can make the lame (Isa 33:23; Mic 4:7) and mortally wounded (Jer 37:10) so strong that they overmaster the sound (comp. Jer 51:45). He can make one man put to flight a thousand (Deu 32:30; Isa 30:17). With him can one dash in pieces a troop and leap over a wall (Psa 18:29). No one accordingly should be proud. The word of the Lord, I am against thee, thou proud one! is a terrible word which no one should conjure up against himself.
6. On Jer 50:33-34. The consolation of the Church in persecution. 1. It suffers violence and injustice. 2. Its redeemer is strong.
7. On Jer 51:5. God the Lord manifests such favor to Israel as to declare Himself her husband (Jer 2:2; Jer 3:1). But now that Israel and Judah are in exile, it seems as if they were rejected or widowed women. This, however, is only appearance. Israels husband does not die. He may well bring a period of chastisement, of purification and trial on His people, but when this period is over, the Lord turns the handle, and smites those through whom He chastised Israel, when they had forgotten that they were not to satisfy their own desire, but only to accomplish the Lords will on Israel.
8. On Jer 51:6. A time may come when it is well to separate ones self. For although it is said in Pro 18:1; he who separateth himself, seeketh that which pleaseth him and opposeth all that is goodand therefore separation, as the antipodes of churchliness, i.e., of churchly communion and humble subjection to the law of the co-operation of members (1Co 12:25 sqq.) is to be repudiated, yet there may come moments in the life of the church, when it will be a duty to leave the community and separate ones self. Such a moment is come when the community has become a Babylon. It should, however, be noted that one should not be too ready with such a decision. For even the life of the church is subject to many vacillations. There are periods of decay, obscurations, as it were, comparable to eclipses of the stars, but to these, so long as the foundations only subsist, must always follow a restoration and return to the original brightness. No one is to consider the church a Babylon on account of such a passing state of disease. It is this only when it has withheld the objective divine foundations, the means of grace, the word and sacrament, altogether and permanently in their saving efficacy. Then, when the soul can no longer find in the church the pure and divine bread of life; it is well to deliver the soul that it perish not in the iniquity of the church. From this separation from the church is, however, to be carefully distinguished the separation within the church, from all that which is opposed to the healthy life of the church, and is therefore to be regarded as a diseased part of the ecclesiastical body. Such separation is the daily duty of the Christian. He has to perform it with respect to his private life in all the manifold relations, indicated to us in Mat 18:17; Rom 16:17; 1Co 5:9 sqq.; 2Th 3:6; Tit 3:10; 2Jn 1:10-11.Comp. the article on Sects, by Palmer in Herzog, R.-Enc., XXI., S. 21, 22.
9. On Jer 51:10. The righteousness which avails before God. 1. Its origin (not our work or merit, but Gods grace in Christ); 2. Its fruit, praise of that which the Lord has wrought in us (a) by words, (b) by works.
10. On Jer 51:50. This text may be used at the sending out of missionaries or the departure of emigrants. Occasion may be taken to speak 1, of the gracious help and deliverance, which the Lord has hitherto shown to the departing; 2, they may be admonished to remain united in their distant land with their brethren at home by (a) remembering the Lord, i.e., ever remaining sincerely devoted to the Lord as the common shield of salvation; (b) faithfuly serving Jerusalem, i.e., the common mother of us all (Gal 4:26), the church, with all our powers in the proper place and measure, and ever keeping her in our hearts.
Footnotes:
[21]Jer 50:21.Ewald has well remarked that the word is used in antithesis to , Mesopotamia. Not Double-river, but Double defiance (comp. Zweibrcken [Bipontes] in Germany) was to be Babylons title. For similar names comp. e.g., Mic 1:10. The word does not occur elsewhere. It may be derived from , although the mention of Israel by this name (Eze 2:7; Eze 44:6) may be regarded as analogous to, or an imitation of (comp. , ver.21,and Eze 23:23) this expression. A singular from , rebellis fuit, also does not occur. is new form made by the prophet. Fuerst would derive it from , to which he ascribes the meaning of lordship. But the analogies (Job 36:22; Aram. ,), , (Mic 1:12) are very uncertain, and admit of another explanation. The word , rebellis fuit, is always used elsewhere of Israel, hut this limitation of the use is not necessarily founded in the radical signification. There is no reason then why a word formed from the root, new and specially ad hoc., should not be applied in another case. In regard to the dual it is ungrammatical to attribute to it the significance of a climax, which it never has elsewhere.
[22]Jer 50:21. a denominative from . Comp. Jer 50:27; 2Ki 3:23.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
I only detain the Reader, to make one remark on this passage, though it furnisheth out many; and the one I beg the Reader particularly to observe is, in my view, a most important one; namely, that Babylon’s sin, in the cruelty manifested to Israel, was directed against the Lord. She hath been proud against the Lord. Yes! The hatred manifested against the Lord’s people, is on the Lord’s account. So saith Jesus, and blessed be his dear name, that it is so. Turn to that scripture, and you will find it. Joh 15:18-19 . I know not what the Reader’s feelings are at this discovery; but in mine it forms a sweet and precious consideration. I find a holy boldness sometimes to faith, in telling my Lord, that since he hath called me by his grace, and the enemy hates me but the more on his account, surely my Lord will feel constrained to keep me the nearer to himself for this reason, that the foe may not triumph.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 50:21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, [even] against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
Ver. 21. Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. ] Two Babylonian provinces. Eze 23:23 Calvin rendereth it, The land of exasperators, and the inhabitation of visitation, i.e., that deserve to be punished. This is God’s commission to Cyrus.
Utterly destroy after them,
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 50:21-27
21Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it,
And against the inhabitants of Pekod.
Slay and utterly destroy them, declares the Lord,
And do according to all that I have commanded you.
22The noise of battle is in the land,
And great destruction.
23How the hammer of the whole earth
Has been cut off and broken!
How Babylon has become
An object of horror among the nations!
24I set a snare for you and you were also caught, O Babylon,
While you yourself were not aware;
You have been found and also seized
Because you have engaged in conflict with the Lord.
25The Lord has opened His armory
And has brought forth the weapons of His indignation,
For it is a work of the Lord God of hosts
In the land of the Chaldeans.
26Come to her from the farthest border;
Open up her barns,
Pile her up like heaps
And utterly destroy her,
Let nothing be left to her.
27Put all her young bulls to the sword;
Let them go down to the slaughter!
Woe be upon them, for their day has come,
The time of their punishment.
Jer 50:21-28 YHWH calls on (i.e., commands) His instrument of judgment (i.e., Persia) to attack and conquer Babylon.
1. go up against it, Jer 50:21 – BDB 748, KB 828, Qal imperative
2. slay, Jer 50:21 – BDB 352, KB 349 (lit. attack), Qal imperative
3. utterly destroy, Jer 50:21 – BDB 355, KB 353, (lit. under the ban), Hiphil imperative
4. do according to all that I have commanded you, Jer 50:21 – BDB 793, KB 889, Qal imperative
5. come to her, Jer 50:26 – BDB 97, KB 112, Qal imperative
6. open up her barns, Jer 50:26 – BDB 834, KB 986, Qal imperative
7. pile her up, Jer 50:26 – BDB 699, KB 757, Qal imperative
8. utterly destroy, Jer 50:26 – same as #3
9. let nothing be left, Jer 50:26 – BDB 224, KB 243, Qal jussive
10. put. . .to the sword, Jer 50:27 – same as #2
11. let them go down to slaughter, Jer 50:27 – BDB 432, KB 434, Qal imperfect used in a jussive sense
Jer 50:21 Merathaim. . .Pekod There seems to be a word play between these terms and some people/areas of Babylon (i.e., south and east). The word play is difficult to bring into English in a meaningful way. Poetry often uses the sound association to make a point to its original hearers/readers.
Merathaim would mean double rebellion (BDB 601) and Pekod would mean punishment or visitation (BDB 824). YHWH will judge all of Babylon and its surrounding allies.
utterly destroy This is an important verb. Below is my note from Deu 3:6. It is available online free at www.freebiblecommentary.org in OT Studies section, under Written Commentaries.
Deu 3:6
NASB, NKJV,
NRSVutterly destroyed
TEVdestroyed
NJBthe curse of destruction
REBunder solemn ban
JPSOAdoomed
This verb (BDB 355, KB 353) is used twice in this verse (Hiphil imperative and Hiphil infinitive absolute). Its basic meaning is to devote something to God whereby it becomes too holy for human use and must be destroyed. It is regularly used in holy war contexts (cf. Jer 2:34; Jer 7:2; Exo 22:20; Jos 6:17; Jos 6:21) to assert that the victory and, thereby, the spoils belong to YHWH. In these conquest contexts the things devoted to God are Canaanites and their property. They are judged because of their abominable sins and unwillingness to repent (cf. Gen 15:16; Lev 18:24-26; Deu 9:5).
For a good discussion of holy war see Ancient Israel, by Roland deVaux, vol. 1, pp. 258-267.
Jer 50:23-24 There is a series of seven perfect tense verbs that describe Babylon’s fall and destruction as if it already happened (prophetic perfects).
Jer 50:24 One wonders if this verse, especially line 2, is a historical prediction about the unexpected fall of Babylon in 539 B.C. by Cyrus’ army. They took the city by surprise with almost no opposition (cf. Jer 51:8; Daniel 5).
Jer 50:25 This imagery describes YHWH as having an armory of stored weapons. This is referring to the weaponry of the Persian army acting as YHWH’s instrument of wrath.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Merathaim = double rebellion. So called, here, because the empire was founded in a double rebellion.
Pekod = Visitation: i.e. in judgment.
destroy = devote to extermination. Hebrew. karam. The same word as Jer 50:26; not the same as verses: Jer 50:11, Jer 50:22.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 50:21-28
Jer 50:21-28
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against Jehovah. Jehovah hath opened his armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a work [to do] in the land of the Chaldeans. Come against her from the utmost border; open her store-houses; cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be left. Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation. The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of Jehovah our God, the vengeance of his temple.
The land of Merathaim… land of Pekod…
(Jer 50:21). Some scholars try to locate these places as provinces of Babylonia, but Keil suggested that the words were invented by Jeremiah, and Graybill gave their meaning as double bitterness for Merathaim, and punishment for Pekod. The names therefore are symbols of the punishment coming upon them.
The hammer of the whole earth…
(Jer 50:23). Babylon is here called the hammer of the whole earth, and that is a name which historically has been used of (1) Judas Maccabaeus for his victory over Syria, (2) of Charles Martel, which means ‘Charles the Hammer,’ the victor in the Battle of Tours in 732 A.D., and (3) of Edward I of England, upon whose tomb in Westminster Abbey are the words (in Latin) ‘Hammer of the Scots.’
I have laid a snare for thee…
(Jer 50:24). Babylon imagined herself impregnable; but, according to Herodotus, Cyrus took the city by stratagem, diverting the Euphrates out of its channel, and entering the city beneath the gates over the river.
Bullocks…
(Jer 50:27). This word is used figuratively for warriors.
Babylons Visitation and Israels Vindication Jer 50:21-28
Again the adversaries of Babylon are addressed. They are called upon to go up against the land of Merathaim (i.e., double rebellion) and the inhabitants of Pekod (i.e., punishment) and utterly destroy (Jer 50:21). Some think that Merathaim and Pekod refer to actual districts of Babylonia but the geographical reference seems rather doubtful. The idea in these two enigmatic designations for Babylon is that God will punish that land because of her excessive rebellion. Following this summons the prophet describes the execution of the commission. He hears the terrible noise of war and destruction in the land (Jer 50:22). How sad it is, he says sarcastically, that the hammer of the whole earth is broken and smashed. Babylon, the instrument which has smashed the whole world into submission, has served its purpose and is now broken. The once proud land has become a desolation among the nations (Jer 50:23).
In Jer 50:24 the prophet indicates that the element of secrecy and surprise which excludes all resistance will prevail at the capture of Babylon. Like an unsuspecting beast caught in the snare of the trapper, so has Babylon been captured. The reason for the calamitous fall of the city is that Babylon had striven against the Lord. Babylon had exceeded the bounds of the divine commission to punish the nations and had thus in effect pitted herself against the Lord. The quick and surprising capture of the city will be possible because the Lord of Hosts has opened his armory and brought into use all the means of attack which it affords. Though God uses secondary agents to accomplish his purposes against Babylon that which they do there is the work of God (Jer 50:25).
As the Lord has emptied His arsenal against Babylon so also shall all the storehouses in Babylon be emptied and the contents destroyed. The phrase cast her up as heaps refers to the huge piles of rubble which were left after a city had been totally demolished (Jer 50:26). The doomed warriors of Babylon are compared to sacrificial animals (bullocks) to be slaughtered. Woe unto those armies! The time of their punishment has come, the day of national accountability (Jer 50:27). Meanwhile the Jewish captives shall hasten to Zion to proclaim the good news that the Lord has executed vengeance upon the enemies of His people. The destruction of Gods Temple has been avenged! (Jer 50:28). Israel has been vindicated by the divine visitation upon Babylon.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
up: Jer 50:3, Jer 50:9, Jer 50:15
Merathaim: or, the rebels
Pekod: or, visitation, Eze 23:23
and do: Jer 34:22, Jer 48:10, Num 31:14-18, 1Sa 15:3, 1Sa 15:11-24, 2Sa 16:11, 2Ki 18:25, 2Ch 36:23, Isa 10:6, Isa 44:28, Isa 48:14
Reciprocal: Gen 10:10 – And the Isa 13:3 – commanded Isa 13:4 – noise Isa 13:20 – General Jer 51:1 – I will Jer 51:3 – destroy Jer 51:53 – from Dan 7:5 – Arise Hab 2:7 – they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 50:21. From this verse through 32 (Jer 50:21-32) constitutes a bracket of predictions against Babylon or Chaldea, (See note at verse 3.) Merathaini and Pckod, were cities of that country and the Persians were called upon to go up against them. When this nation brings utter destruction upon the cities of Babylon it will be according to ail that I (tbe Lord) commanded thee.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 50:21. Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against Pekod Although these two words , Merathaim, and , Pekod, are considered by our translators as proper names; and the latter is so understood by the Chaldee paraphrast: yet all the other ancient versions agree in representing the former word as an appellative, and the latter as a verb. The former, which is the dual number of , marah, may signify either bitterness, or rebellion; and Blaney thinks that Babylon is called the land of bitterness, or of redoubled bitterness here, because it had proved such to the Jewish nation, whose country had been ruined, and the people held in slavery there. Accordingly he translates the verse as follows: Against the land of bitterness go up; upon it, and upon its inhabitants visit, O sword, and utterly destroy their posterity, saith Jehovah, and perform according to all that I have charged thee. The command seems to be directed to Cyrus and his confederates.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
50:21 Go up against the land of {t} Merathaim, [even] against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
(t) That is, Babylon: thus the Lord raised up Cyrus.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
4. Divine vengeance on Babylon 50:21-28
The following prophecies further describe the divine vengeance coming on Babylon.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord commanded Babylon’s destroyers to go up against the land of double rebellion, the meaning of "Merathaim." Babylon was doubly rebellious (i.e., more rebellious) than other cities and nations-through its idolatry and pride. Assyria and Babylon both came from the same general area, Mesopotamia, and both nations had rebelled against Him. He gave their land the name Pekod, meaning "punishment." Divine punishment would single out Mesopotamia. The destroyer should carry out the Lord’s directions exactly by slaying and completely destroying the Babylonians. The Persians did not do this.
Merathaim (Mat Marratim) was a region at the head of the Persian Gulf where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers met. Pekod was a region, named after a tribe, in southeastern Babylonia (cf. Eze 23:23). Jeremiah made a wordplay on these names to affirm the rebelliousness and certain judgment coming on Babylon.