Or, Summon the archers to Babylon, even all who bend the bow: encamp against her etc. In this portion of the prophecy the capture of Babylon is regarded as the punishment due to her for burning the temple Jer 50:28.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 29. Call together the archers] The preceding verses are the prediction: here, God calls the Medes and Persians to fulfil it.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The word translated archers signifieth also many, and is by divers so translated, but the following words more justify our translation. The cause of Gods calling for Babylons enemies against her is assigned to be her

pride against the Lord.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

29. archersliterally, “verymany and powerful”; hence the Hebrew word is used ofarchers (Job 16:13)from the multitude and force of their arrows.

according to all that shehath done(See on Jer 50:15).

proud against the Lordnotmerely cruel towards men (Isa47:10).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Call together the archers against Babylon,…. The Medes and Persians, who were well skilled in archery, especially the Elamites; see Isa 22:6; hence Horace d makes mention of “Medi pharetra”; and Cyrus in Xenophon e says, that he had under his command sixty thousand men that wore targets and were archers;

[See comments on Jer 50:9]. Some render it “many”, as the Targum; and the sense is, either gather many together against Babylon, a large army; or cause many to hear the vengeance against Babylon; publish this good news; so the word used by the Targum signifies; and this will be done by Gospel preachers, with respect to mystical Babylon, Re 14:6;

all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape; surround it on every side; besiege it so closely that none may be able to escape:

recompence her according to her work: according to all that she hath done, do unto her; which is the law of retaliation;

[See comments on Jer 50:15]; and with it compare

Re 18:6;

for she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel; behaved haughtily and contemptuously towards the Lord and his people; burning the city and temple of Jerusalem; profaning the vessels of it, and ill treating the captive Jews; so the Targum,

“because she hath spoken ill against the people of the Lord, saying words which were not right before the Holy One of Israel;”

which may fitly be applied to antichrist the man of sin, sitting in the temple of God, showing himself as God; opening his mouth in blasphemy against him and his saints, 2Th 2:4.

d Carmin. l. 2. Ode 16. e Cyropaedia, l. 2. c. 1.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The pride of Babylon is humbled through the utter destruction of the people and the land. – Jer 50:29. “Summon archers against Jerusalem, all those who bend the bow; encamp against her round about. Let there be no escape for her; recompense to her according to her work; according to that which she hath done, do ye to her: for she hath presumed against Jahveh, against the Holy One of Israel. Jer 50:30. Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall fail in that day, saith Jahveh. Jer 50:31. Behold, I am against thee, O Pride! said the Lord, Jahveh of hosts; for thy day hath come, the time [when] I visit thee. Jer 50:32. And Pride shall stumble and fall, and he shall have none to lift him up; and I will kindle fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that is round about him. Jer 50:33. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the Children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together, and all who led them captive kept hold of them; they refused to let them go. Jer 50:34. Their Redeemer is strong; Jahveh of hosts is His name: He shall surely plead their cause, that He may give rest to the earth, and make the inhabitants of Babylon tremble. Jer 50:35. A sword [is] against the Chaldeans, saith Jahveh, and against the inhabitants of Babylon, and against her princes, and against her wise men. Jer 50:36. A sword [is] against the liars, and they shall become fools; a sword is against her heroes, and they shall be confounded. Jer 50:37. A sword [is] against his horses, and against his chariots, and against all the auxiliaries which [are] in the midst of her, and they shall become women; a sword is against her treasures, and they shall be plundered. Jer 50:38. A drought is against her waters, and they shall become dry; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad upon idols. Jer 50:39. Therefore shall wild beasts dwell [there] with jackals, and ostriches shall dwell in it; and it shall no more be inhabited for ever, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. Jer 50:40. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their inhabitants, saith Jahveh, no man shall dwell there, nor shall a son of man sojourn in it.”

Further description of the execution of God’s wrath. Archers shall come and besiege Babylon round about, so that no one shall escape. The summons, “Call archers hither,” is a dramatic turn in the thought that the siege is quickly to ensue. is used here as in Jer 51:27, to summon, call by making proclamation, as in 1Ki 15:22. does not signify “many,” as the ancient versions give it; this agrees neither with the apposition which follows, “all that bend the bow,” nor with Jer 50:26, where all, to the last, are summoned against Babylon. Raschi, followed by all the moderns, more correctly renders it “archers,” and derives it from = , Gen 49:23, cf. with Jer 21:10, like , Job 16:13. The apposition, “all those who bend the bow,” gives additional force. with accus. means to besiege; cf. Psa 53:6. “Let there be no escape” is equivalent to saying, “that none may escape from Babylon.” The Qeri after is unnecessary, and merely taken from Jer 50:26. On the expression “render to her,” etc., cf. Jer 25:14; and on “according to all,” etc., f. Jer 50:15. “For she hath acted presumptuously against Jahveh,” by burning His temple, and keeping His people captive: in this way has Babylon offended “against the Holy One of Israel.” This epithet of God is taken from Isaiah, cf. Isa 51:5. This presumption must be punished.

Jer 50:30-32

Jer 50:30 is a repetition of Jer 49:26. – Jer 50:31. The Lord will now visit the presumption of Babylon. The day of punishment has arrived. On “behold, I am against thee,” cf. Jer 21:13. “O arrogance, pride!” is directly addressed to Babylon: in Jer 50:32 also there is a like designation of Babylon as the personification of pride. On the words “for thy day is come,” cf. Jer 50:27. “And I will kindle a fire,” etc., stands as in Jer 21:14, where, however, “in its forest” is found instead of “in his cities.” The former, indeed, is the reading rendered by the lxx in this passage; but they have acted quite arbitrarily in this, since Jeremiah, for the most part, varies individual words when he repeats a thought. “In his cities” does not suit very well, inasmuch as the other cities of the country belonged to Babylon, the as hers, and in Jer 51:43 they are spoken of as hers; cf. Jer 19:15; Jer 34:1; Jer 49:13, etc.

Jer 50:33-38

Further description of the guilt and punishment of Babylon. The presumptuous pride manifests itself in the fact that Israel and Judah still languish in exile. All those who have been seized and carried away they have kept hold of. is used as in Isa 14:2. They refuse to let them go, as Pharaoh once did, Exo 7:14, 27; Exo 9:2; cf. Isa 14:17. Jahveh, the deliverer of Israel, cannot endure this. As the strong One, the God of hosts, He will lead them in the fight; as their advocate, He will obtain their dues for them; cf. Jer 25:31; Isa 49:25. Dahler, Ewald, and Umbreit follow the Vulgate and the Chaldee in taking ‘ as synonymous with , in the sense of shaking, rousing, a meaning which has in the Kal, but which cannot be made out for the Hiphil. In the Hiphil it means to give rest, to come to rest, Deu 28:65; Isa 34:14; Isa 61:4; Jer 31:2; and in the Niphal, to rest, keep quiet, Jer 47:6. This is the meaning given by the Syriac, Raschi, Kimchi, Rosenmller, Maurer, Hitzig, etc., and supported by a comparison with Isa 14:7, Isa 14:3, Isa 14:16. Babylon has hitherto kept the earth in unrest and anxiety (Isa 14:16); now it is to get rest (Isa 14:3, Isa 14:7), and trembling or quaking for fear is to come on Babylon. The two verbs, which have similar sounds, express a contrast. On the form of the infinitive , cf. Ewald, 238, d. In order to conduct the case of Israel as against Babylon, the Lord (Jer 50:35-38) calls for the sword against the Chaldeans, the inhabitants of Babylon, on their princes, wise men, heroes, and the whole army, the treasures and the waters. There is no verb following , but only the object with , the words being put in the form of an exclamation, on account of the passion pervading them. The sword is to come and show its power on the Chaldeans, i.e., the population of the rural districts, on the inhabitants of the capital, and further, on the princes and wise men (magicians). A special class of the last named are the , properly “babblers,” those who talk at random, here “soothsayers” and lying prophets, the astrologers of Babylon; see Delitzsch on Isa 44:25 [Clark’s translation, For. Theol. Lib.]. , “And they shall be as fools;” see on Jer 5:4. Further, on the warriors, the horses, and war-chariots, the main strength of the Asiatic conquerors, cf. Jer 46:9, Isa 43:17; Psa 20:8. , “all the mixed multitude” in the midst of Babylon: these are here the mercenaries ad allies (as to this word, see on Jer 25:20). These shall become women, i.e., weak and incapable of resistance; see Nah 3:13. The last objects of vengeance are the treasures and the waters of Babylon. In Jer 50:38 the Masoretes have pointed , because , “sword,” seemed to be inapplicable to the waters. But indeed neither does the sword, in the proper sense of the word, well apply to treasures; it rather stands, by synecdoche, for war. In this improper meaning it might also be used with reference to the waters, in so far as the canals and watercourses, on which the fertility of Babylonia depended, were destroyed by war. Hence many expositors would read here also, and attribute the employment of this word to the rhetorical power connected with enumeration. Others are of opinion that may also mean aridity, drought, in Deu 28:22; but the assumption is erroneous, and cannot be confirmed by that passage. Neither can it be denied, that to confine the reference of the expression “her waters” to the canals and artificial watercourses of Babylonia seems unnatural. All these received their water from the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, the volume of water in which remained uninfluenced by war. We therefore follow Hitzig in holding that is the correct punctuation; in the transition from into , with its similar sound, we neither perceive any injury done to rhetorical force, derived from an enumeration of objects, nor any need for referring the following clause, which assigns the reason merely to such rhetorical considerations as Graf does. In the drying up of the water there is no allusion to the diversion of the Euphrates, by which Cyrus opened up for himself an entrance into the city (Herodotus, i. 190); the drying up is merely appointed by God, as a consequence of continued drought, for the purpose of destroying the land. Hitzig’s opinion neither suits the context, nor can be justified otherwise; he holds that water is the emblem of the sea on nations, the surging multitude of people in the streets of the city, and he refers for proof to Jer 51:36 and Isa 21:1 (!). The clauses in Jer 50:38, which assign the reason, refer to the whole threatening, Jer 50:35-38. Babylon is to be destroyed, with its inhabitants and all its means of help, because it is a land of idols (cf. Jer 51:52 and Isa 21:9), and its inhabitants suffer themselves to be befooled by false gods. means to act or behave like a madman, rave, Jer 25:16; here, to let oneself be deprived of reason, not (as Graf thinks) to fall into a sacred frenzy. , terrors, Psa 88:16; here, objects of fear and horror, i.e., idols.

Jer 50:39

Therefore shall Babylon become an eternal waste, where none but beasts of the desert find shelter, where no human being dwells. This threat is formed out of reminiscences from Isa 13:20-22 and Isa 34:14. For and , see on Isa 34:14; for , see on Isa 13:21. The second half of the verse agrees word for word with Isa 13:20.

Jer 50:40

Jer 50:40 is a repetition of Jer 49:18, and in its first half is founded on Isa 13:19.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

The Prophet adopts various modes of speaking, and not without reason, because he had to thunder rather than to speak; and then as he spoke of a thing incredible, there was need of no common confirmation; the faithful also, almost pining away in their miseries, could hardly entertain any hope. This is the reason why the Prophet dwells so long and so diffusely on a subject in itself not obscure, for there was not only need of amplifying, but also of great vehemence.

Then, as though he had many heralds ready to obey, he says, Call together the mighty against Babylon Some read “many,” but the word רבים , rebim, means both; and I think that “the mighty” or strong are meant here. Why some render it “arrows” I know not. It is, indeed, immediately added, all who bend the bow, כל-דרכי קשת , caldereki koshet. But the word, without anything added to it, never means an arrow. They refer to a place in Gen 21:20, where Ishmael is said to be “an archer,” רבה, rebe; but the word “bow” follows it. We cannot then take רבים, rebim here but as signifying many or the mighty; and the latter is the most suitable word. Then the Prophet bids the strong and the warlike to come together, and then he mentions them specifically, — all who bend the bow, even all skillful archers. For the Persians excelled in this art, they were archers of the first order. It was indeed a practice common among eastern nations, but the Persians surpassed all others. The Prophet then points them out when he bids archers to assemble. (70)

He adds, encompass or besiege her around, that there may be no escape This also was a thing difficult to be believed, for Babylon was more like a country than a city. Then one could have hardly thought that it could have been besieged around and at length taken, as it happened. Therefore the Prophet here testifies that what exceeded the opinion of all would take place. But he had said before that this would be the work of God, that the faithful might not form a judgment according to their own measure, for nothing is more absurd, as it has been said, than to measure the power of God by our own understanding. As then the Prophet had before declared that the siege of Babylon would be the work of God, he bids them now, with more confidence, to besiege it around, that there might not be an escape

It is then added, Render to her according to her work; according to what she has done, do to her By these words the Prophet shows that the vengeance which God would execute on the Chaldeans would be just, for nothing is more equitable than to render to one what he had done to others.

“

With what measure ye mete to others,” says Christ, “it shall be rendered to you.” (Luk 6:38)

As, then, nature itself teaches us that the punishment is most just which is inflicted on the cruel themselves, hence the Prophet reminds us here that God would be a just avenger in his extreme violence against the Babylonians. But he looks farther, for he assumes this principle, that God is the judge of the world. Since he is so, it follows that they who unjustly oppress others must at length receive their own reward; as also Paul says, that the judgment of God, otherwise obscure, will be made evident, when he shall give relief and rest to the miserable who are now unjustly afflicted, and when he shall render their reward to oppressors. (2Th 1:6.) The Prophet then takes occasion of confidence from this truth to animate the faithful and to encourage them to entertain hope. How so? Since God is the judge of the world, the Jews ought to have considered what sort of people the Babylonians had been; nay, they had already sufficiently experienced how cruel and barbarous they were. As, then, the avarice and cruelly of the Chaldeans were sufficiently apparent, the Prophet here reminds them, that as God is in heaven, it could not be otherwise but that he would shortly call them to judgment, for otherwise he would not be God. Surely he would not be the judge of the world, were he not to regard the miserable unjustly oppressed, and bring them help, and stretch forth his hand to relieve them; and were he not also, on the other hand, to punish the avaricious and the proud and the cruel. We now understand the meaning of the Prophet.

He adds, in the last place, because she has acted proudly against Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel By saying that the Babylonians had acted proudly, he means that they had not only been injurious to men, but had been also insolent towards God himself; for the verb here used denotes a sin different from that which happens through levity or want of thought. When any one sins inconsiderately, he is said to have erred; but when one sins knowingly, it is a deliberate wickedness, and he is said to be proud; and this we learn from Psa 19:12; for David there sets pride in opposition to errors:

“

errors,” he says, “who can understand?”

and then he asks God to cleanse him from all pride. David indeed had not designedly raised his horns against God, but he yet feared lest the wantonness of the flesh should lead him to pride. When, therefore, the Prophet now says that the Chaldeans had acted proudly towards God, it is the same as though he accused them of sacrilegious pride, even that they designed to be insolent towards God himself, and not only cruel to his people.

But an explanation follows, against the Holy One of Israel The Babylonians might have raised an objection, and said, that it was not their purpose to act proudly towards God. But the Prophet here brings forward the word Israel, as though he had said, “If there be a God in heaven, our religion is true; then God’s name dwells with us. Since, then, the Babylonians have basely oppressed the people whom God has chosen, it follows that they have been sacrilegious towards him.” And he meant the same thing when he said before, the vengeance of Jehovah our God Why did he add, our God? that the Jews might know that whatever wrongs they had suffered, they reached God himself, as though he were hurt in his own person. So also in this place the Prophet takes away from the Babylonians all means of evasion when he says, that they had acted proudly towards the Holy One of Israel When, therefore, the ungodly seek evasions and say that they do not contend with God, their pretenses are disproved, when they carry on war with his Church, and fight, against his faithful people, whose safety he has undertaken to defend. For God cannot be otherwise the protector of his Church than by setting himself up as a shield in its defense whenever he sees his people unjustly attacked by the reprobate. It follows, —

(70) The early versions and the Targ. render רבים, “ many; ” and the rendering of the Sept. and Vulg. is to this effect, —

Proclaim ye to the many at Babylon, To all who bend the bow, — “Encompass her around, Let there be no escape,” etc.

The first part is a charge like what we find in the second verse; and the second states what they were to do. “Proclaim ye to,” is literally, “‘Make ye to hear,” — “Make ye the many at Babylon to hear,” etc. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

D. Babylons Recompense and Israels Redemption Jer. 50:29-34

TRANSLATION

(29) Summon against Babylon archers, all who handle the bow! Encamp against her round about! Let no one escape! Repay her according to her work, do to her as she has done; for she has been arrogant toward the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. (30) Therefore, her young men shall fall in her streets and all her men of battle shall be silenced in that day (oracle of the LORD). (31) Behold, I am against you, O Pride (oracle of the Lord, GOD of hosts); for your day has come, the time of your punishment. (32) Pride shall stumble and fall, and no one shall raise her up. I will kindle a fire against his cities and it shall devour all round about him. (33) Thus says the LORD of hosts: Oppressed are the people of Israel and the people of Judah too; and all who have taken them captive hold them fast, they will not let them go free. (34) Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their cause in order to give rest to the land and to disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

COMMENTS

Again the prophet calls upon the archers to encamp round about Babylon and to thereby prevent the escape of any of the defenders of that doomed city. Again he calls upon the invaders to recompense Babylon, to do to her as she has done to others. The reason for the divine antagonism against Babylon is made perfectly clear: Babylon has been proud against the Lord (Jer. 50:29). Those who attempt to defend the doomed city will fall in the streets (Jer. 50:30). Behold I am against you O Pride, declares the Lord. The exact background of this formula[411] is unclear. The rather intriguing suggestion has been made that it originated in the formula of challenge with which a champion summoned his rival to combat.[412] Babylon is Pride personified and the Lord of hosts has appointed the day of her punishment (Jer. 50:31). The Lord will bring that proud one to totter and fall and no one will be able to lift her up again. Gods judgment, like a fire, shall consume the cities of Babylonia (Jer. 50:32). Thus will the pride of Babylon be humbled.

[411] The formula behold I am against you also occurs in Eze. 26:3; Eze. 28:22; Eze. 29:10 and with slight variation in Zep. 2:5.

[412] J. Eaton, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, 2:5. Introduction and Commentary (Torch Bible Commentaries) (1961), p. 71.

In contrast to the recompense of Babylon is the redemption of Israel. As in the days of the Egyptian bondage the children of Israel and Judah are held fast in the iron grip of an oppressor (Jer. 50:33). Yet to those disheartened and discouraged captives Jeremiah strikes a note of hope. Their Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, is strong! He will take up the cause of His helpless people. The word translated here Redeemer is the Hebrew goel, the title of the near kinsman, to whom belonged, according to ancient law, the duty of revenging a murder, as well as that of advocate and general protector. So now the Lord is about to rescue His people and take vengeance upon their foe. Actually all the nations had been troubled by the Babylonian oppressor. Therefore, when God acts on behalf of His people to disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon the world at large will reap the benefits of peace and tranquility (Jer. 50:34). It was the policy of Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon, to gain the good will of subject peoples by permitting all deported people to return to their native land. This was not the first nor will it be the last time that the world has enjoyed blessing because of some action which God has performed on behalf of His people.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(29) Recompense her according to her work . . .As before, in Jer. 50:15, the prophet sees in the fall of Babylon the working of the Divine law of retribution. In the Holy One of Israel we note the occurrence, for the first time in Jeremiah, of the characteristic name which is so prominent in Isaiah, and is seldom found elsewhere. It occurs again in Jer. 51:5.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

PRIDE AND HUMILIATION, Jer 50:29-40.

29. Call together the archers The meaning of this verse is slightly disguised by an inaccuracy in the translation. The reading should be, Summon the archers to Babylon, all those who bend the bow, etc.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

8. THE PUNISHMENT OF PRIDE

Jer 50:29-32

29Call against Babylon archers;27

All ye that bend the bow camp against it round about!28

No escape! Recompense her according to her work,
Just as she hath done, do ye also unto her,
For against Jehovah was she proud,
Against the Holy One of Israel.

30Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets,

And all her warriors shall be cut off in that day, saith Jehovah.

31Behold I come to thee, O Pride, saith the Lord, Jehovah Zebaoth.

For come is thy day, the time of thy visitation.

32Then Pride totters and falls,

And none helps him up;
And I kindle a fire in his cities,
Which shall devour all round about.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Warriors are summoned to recompense Babylon for the pride which it has manifested towards Jehovah (Jer 50:20). Its men shall perish (Jer 50:31). Thus will toe Lord on the day of recompense bring their pride to totter and fall; no one will raise it up, fire will consume all its power (Jer 50:31-32).

Jer 50:29. Call of Israel.Convocatio militum initium belli. Comp. Jer 50:14. is taken by most commentators and translators in the sense of vocare, convocare, as in Jer 51:27; 1Ki 15:22 coll. 1Sa 15:4.All ye, etc. Comp. Jer 50:14.Recompense, etc. Comp. Jer 50:15; Jer 25:14.Proud. Deserved humiliation of the pride of Babylon is predicted by earlier prophets: Isa 13:11; Isa 14:13 sqq.; Isa 47:7-8; Hab 2:5; Hab 2:8.Holy One of Israel. Comp. Jer 51:5. This expression is peculiar to Isaiah. All Isaiahs prophecies bear this name of God as their peculiar stamp. It occurs twelve times in chh. Jer 50:39., seventeen times in chh. 4066. Delitzsch on Isa 6:3.

Jer 50:30-32. Therefore round about. Jer 50:30 is repeated almost verbatim from Jer 49:26. The only difference is that here we have herwarriors for the warriors. The verse is not necessary, but rather disturbing, for Jer 50:31, is closely connected by Pride with Jer 50:29 (proud). It may have been a gloss.Behold I come,etc. Comp. Jer 21:13; Jer 23:30 sqq.; Jer 51:25.Pride. In nominis proprii formam transiit. J. D. Michaelis.Thy day. Comp. Jer 50:27; Jer 49:8.Totters, etc. Comp. Isa 31:3; Jer 46:6.I kindle, etc. Comp. Jer 21:14; Jer 17:27; Jer 49:27.Him in Jer 50:32 refers to Pride.Babylon is regarded as the metropolis. Comp. Jer 50:12; Jer 51:43; Jer 9:10, etc.

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:

[27]Jer 50:29.. As there is no substantive here as in Jer 50:41; Jer 16:16, the meaning appears to be different. Derived from (Gen 49:23; Psa 18:15 coll. Gen 21:20) is found with the meaning of archer, also in Job 16:13; Pro 26:10.

[28]Jer 50:29. .The Keri unnecessarily adds from Jer 50:26.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

Jer 50:29 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.

Ver. 29. According to all that she hath done. ] See Jer 50:15 .

For she hath been proud against the Lord. ] Who setteth himself in battle array against the proud. 1Pe 5:5

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 50:29-32

29Summon many against Babylon,

All those who bend the bow:

Encamp against her on every side,

Let there be no escape.

Repay her according to her work;

According to all that she has done, so do to her;

For she has become arrogant against the Lord,

Against the Holy One of Israel.

30Therefore her young men will fall in her streets,

And all her men of war will be silenced in that day, declares the Lord.

31Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,

Declares the Lord God of hosts,

For your day has come,

The time when I will punish you.

32The arrogant one will stumble and fall

With no one to raise him up;

And I will set fire to his cities

And it will devour all his environs.

Jer 50:29 she has become arrogant against the Lord Jer 50:29-32 is a poem about Babylon’s arrogance (BDB 267, KB 268). Daniel 4 is addressed to Nebuchadnezzar on this same issue.

the Holy One of Israel Notice that this phrase and the Lord God of hosts, both covenant titles for Israel’s Deity (see Special Topic: The Holy One ), are named in this condemnation of Babylon’s arrogance.

The title is used often in Isaiah, but rarely in Jeremiah (cf. Jer 51:5).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

recompense her. See Rev 18:6.

according to. See note on “as”, Jer 50:15. Compare Rev 18:6.

the Holy One of Israel. See note on Psa 71:22.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Jer 50:29-40

Jer 50:29-32

Call together the archers against Babylon, all them that bend the bow; encamp against her 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 Jehovah, against the Holy One of Israel. Therefore shall her young men fall in her streets, and all her men of war shall be brought to silence in that day, saith Jehovah. Behold, I am against thee, O thou proud one, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts; for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And the proud one shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up; and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all that are round about him.

Barnes, stressing Jer 50:28, believed that the capture of Babylon, “was regarded as the vengeance of God upon them for burning the temple”; but “in the fourth year of Zedekiah’ (the date of this prophecy), the temple had not yet been burned. The holy vessels had been carried away to Babylon, but the burning of the temple occurred a few years later when Jerusalem again fell and Zedekiah was captured.

Jer 50:30 here is the same as Jer 49:26. Jeremiah often repeated his own words.

Jer 50:33-40

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together; and all that took them captive hold them fast; they refuse to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; Jehovah of hosts is his name: he will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith Jehovah, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men. A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed. A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures, and they shall be robbed. A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over idols. Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wolves shall dwell there, and the ostriches shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith Jehovah, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall any son of man sojourn therein.

They refuse to let them go…

(Jer 50:33). Although Babylon will not let God’s people go, God Himself will deliver them. He is here called Their Redeemer. The reference is to the concept of the [~go’el] (Lev 25:25 and Num 35:21), or the near kinsman who was pledged to serve as the protector or avenger of one enslaved, or murdered. Only here, God Himself will be the [~go’el] (the Redeemer) to rescue Israel. Much of this paragraph is found elsewhere in Jeremiah and Isaiah. On Jer 50:34, cf. Isa 43:14; Isa 44:6. On Jer 50:39-40, see Isa 13:19-22. Jer 50:40 also corresponds with Jer 49:18. It should be noted here that Jeremiah quoted from Isaiah, from both the First Isaiah and the alleged Deutero-Isaiah, a strong evidence of the unity of Isaiah.

A sword upon thy waters, and they shall be dried up…

(Jer 50:38). This, of course, is another reference to the method of Cyrus’ capture of Babylon by diverting the Euphrates out of its channel. Both Babylon and Nineveh were on mighty rivers, Nineveh upon the Tigris, and Babylon upon the Euphrates. Yet the prophets of God made this distinction in their prophecies against the two cities. Nahum declared of Nineveh that God prophesied, With an overrunning flood will I make a full end of thee (Nah 1:8), whereas Jeremiah here declares that The waters of Babylon shall be dried up! What a remarkable proof that what we have here is the Word of God, not the word of men.

Babylons Recompense and Israels Redemption Jer 50:29-34

Again the prophet calls upon the archers to encamp round about Babylon and to thereby prevent the escape of any of the defenders of that doomed city. Again he calls upon the invaders to recompense Babylon, to do to her as she has done to others. The reason for the divine antagonism against Babylon is made perfectly clear: Babylon has been proud against the Lord (Jer 50:29). Those who attempt to defend the doomed city will fall in the streets (Jer 50:30). Behold I am against you O Pride, declares the Lord. The exact background of this formula is unclear. The formula behold I am against you also occurs in Eze 26:3; Eze 28:22; Eze 29:10 and with slight variation in Zep 2:5. The rather intriguing suggestion has been made that it originated in the formula of challenge with which a champion summoned his rival to combat. Babylon is Pride personified and the Lord of hosts has appointed the day of her punishment (Jer 50:31). The Lord will bring that proud one to totter and fall and no one will be able to lift her up again. Gods judgment, like a fire, shall consume the cities of Babylonia (Jer 50:32). Thus will the pride of Babylon be humbled.

In contrast to the recompense of Babylon is the redemption of Israel. As in the days of the Egyptian bondage the children of Israel and Judah are held fast in the iron grip of an oppressor (Jer 50:33). Yet to those disheartened and discouraged captives Jeremiah strikes a note of hope. Their Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, is strong! He will take up the cause of His helpless people. The word translated here Redeemer is the Hebrew goel, the title of the near kinsman, to whom belonged, according to ancient law, the duty of revenging a murder, as well as that of advocate and general protector. So now the Lord is about to rescue His people and take vengeance upon their foe. Actually all the nations had been troubled by the Babylonian oppressor. Therefore, when God acts on behalf of His people to disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon the world at large will reap the benefits of peace and tranquility (Jer 50:34). It was the policy of Cyrus, the conqueror of Babylon, to gain the good will of subject peoples by permitting all deported people to return to their native land. This was not the first nor will it be the last time that the world has enjoyed blessing because of some action which God has performed on behalf of His people.

THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON

Jer 50:35 to Jer 51:26

In this section of the Babylon oracle the major theme of the fall of Babylon becomes more prominent. The minor theme of the deliverance of Israel occurs only in Jer 51:5-6; Jer 51:10.

A. Thorough Destruction Jer 50:35-40

The Lord will use the agents of sword and drought through the centuries to destroy all which supports Babylons power and glory: the inhabitants of the city as well as the civil and religious leaders (Jer 50:35), the liars, boasters or soothsayers, the strong armies and foreign mercenaries, the treasures of the city (Jer 50:37), and the ancient and elaborate irrigation system (Jer 50:38). One of the keys to the agricultural prosperity of Babylonia was the irrigation system which dates back to the time of Hammurapi in the eighteenth century before Christ. In fulfillment of the prophecy the famous canals of Babylon have silted up and all but disappeared. This tidal wave of destruction will sweep Babylonia because that land was a land of graven images and they are mad over idols (Jer 50:38). The Hebrew word translated idols literally means horrors or terrors. The cruel, bloodthirsty and immoral gods of Babylon were indeed horrible creations of the depraved mind of man. What a pity that the highly cultured Babylonians had not used their wisdom and knowledge to turn to the true and living God. Certainly through their contacts with the people of Israel they had numerous opportunities to come to know the Lord of glory. Surely it was of such people that the apostle Paul spoke when he wrote: Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things (Rom 1:22-23).

The sword and the drought will eventually make Babylon as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. The point of comparison here is not the manner of Sodoms destruction but the results of that overthrow. Following its destruction Babylon will never again be inhabited by human beings (Jer 50:40). The place will be fit only for desert creatures, the wolves or jackals (lit., howling creatures) and the owls or ostriches (Jer 50:39). In this description of the desolation of Babylon Jeremiah is echoing the prophecy of Isaiah where many of the same thoughts occur (cf. Isa 13:19-22).

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

the archers: Jer 50:9, Jer 50:14, Jer 50:26

recompense: Jer 50:15, Jer 51:56, Psa 137:8, Psa 137:9, Rev 16:6, Rev 18:6

for she hath: Jer 50:24, Jer 50:32, Exo 10:3, Isa 14:13, Isa 14:14, Isa 37:23, Isa 47:10, Dan 4:37, Dan 5:23, Dan 11:36, 2Th 2:4, Rev 13:5, Rev 13:6

Reciprocal: Isa 1:4 – the Holy Isa 13:11 – and I will cause Isa 14:22 – I will Isa 21:9 – behold Isa 46:11 – Calling Isa 59:18 – According Jer 25:14 – I Jer 49:35 – break Jer 50:31 – O thou Jer 51:1 – rise Jer 51:2 – in the day Jer 51:11 – Make Jer 51:24 – General Jer 51:35 – The violence Jer 51:49 – As Babylon Lam 1:9 – for Lam 1:21 – they shall Lam 3:64 – General Nah 2:5 – recount Hab 2:5 – a proud man

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 50:29. Archers were the men who used the bow and arrow, a prominent weapon of warfare in ancient times. This is a prediction that such forces would be called together against the wicked city of Babyton. God always hates pride, especially when it Is connected with cruelty, and the Babylonians were just such people in their doings.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

5. Human arrogance in Babylon 50:29-32

The prophet next stressed Babylon’s arrogance.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Attackers would assail Babylon with their arrows. They would surround her and allow no Chaldeans to escape. They would pay her back for all the blood she had shed, because she had lifted herself up in pride against the Holy One of Israel (cf. Gen 9:6).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)