Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 51:20
Thou [art] my battle axe [and] weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
20. battle axe ] mg. maul, a war-club, mace. “The Assyrian mace was a short thin weapon, and must either have been made of a very tough wood, or and this is more probable of metal. It had an ornamented head, which was sometimes very beautifully modelled, and generally a strap or string at the lower end, by which it could be grasped with greater firmness.” (Rawlinson’s Anc. Mon. I. p. 458.) For this figure, as applied to Babylon, cp. Jer 50:23.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
20 24. Is it ( a) Cyrus, as conqueror of Babylon, or ( b) Babylon herself, that is addressed? Jer 51:24 seems to support ( a), but on the whole ( b) is perhaps preferable. The future tenses can as well be rendered as presents, denoting what Babylon has hitherto been accustomed to do as the instrument of Jehovah. This view also harmonizes with Jer 51:14 (while we omit 15 19; see note there), as well as with Jer 51:25 ff., where Babylon is certainly the subject.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Or, Thou art my maul, weapons of war etc. The maul or mace Pro 25:18 only differs from the hammer Jer 50:23 in being used for warlike purposes.
Omit the will in will I break. The crushing of the nations was going on at the time when the prophet wrote. Most commentators consider that Babylon was the mace of God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. Thou art my battle axe] I believe Nebuchadnezzar is meant, who is called, Jer 50:23, the hammer of the whole earth. Others think the words are spoken of Cyrus. All the verbs are in the past tense: “With thee have I broken in pieces,” &c., &c.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Interpreters are here divided, whether by
thou or
thee in this and the following verses to understand Cyrus, whom God made use of to destroy Babylon and many other places, or Babylon. Our translators understand it of Cyrus, and therefore speak of the future tense,
will I. The Hebrew text will not resolve us; I rather incline to interpret it of Babylon, as indeed the most do, and so it should be, Thou hast been, and art, for that is the sense; Cyrus and Darius were not yet in being. God had made use of Babylon like a hammer or battle-axe to break many nations in pieces.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. (See on Jer50:23). “Break in pieces” refers to the “hammer”there (compare Na 2:1, Margin).The club also was often used by ancient warriors.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thou [art] my battle axe [and] weapons of war,…. This is said by the Lord, either to Cyrus, as some, to which our version inclines, whom God made use of as an instrument to subdue nations and kingdoms, and destroy them; see Isa 45:1; or rather Babylon, and the king of it, who had been the hammer of the earth, Jer 50:23; as it may be rendered here, “thou [art] my hammer” s; or, “hast been”; an instrument in his hands, of beating the nations to pieces, as stones by a hammer, and of destroying them, as by weapons of war: this, and what follows, are observed to show, that though Babylon had been used by the Lord for the destruction of others, it should not be secure from it itself, but should share the same fate; unless this is to be understood of the church of God, and kingdom of Christ, which in the latter day will break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth, Da 2:44; which sense seems to have some countenance and confirmation from Jer 51:24 “in your sight”. The Targum is,
“thou art a scatterer before me, a city in which are warlike arms;”
which seems to refer to Babylon:
for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; or, “with thee I have broke in pieces, [and] have destroyed”; the future instead of the past t; as the nations and kingdoms of Judea, Egypt, Edom, Moab, Ammon, and others: or, “that I may break in pieces” u, c. and so it expresses the end for which he was a hammer, as well as the use he had been or would be of.
s “malleus es, [vel] fuisti mihi”, Pagninus, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt. t “Dispersi, perdidi”, Lutherus “conquassavi”, Munster; “dissipavi”, Piscator. u “ut dissiparem”, Junius Tremellius “ut dispergam”, Schmidt.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Vs. 20-26: GOD’S BATTLE AXE IS EFFECTIVE
1. Scholars disagree concerning who is addressed as God’s “battle-axe” – with whom He breaks nations in pieces and destroys kingdom, (vs. 20; comp. Jer 50:23; Mic 4:12-13).
a. No one can doubt that Babylon HAS BEEN that instrument.
b. Nor should there be any doubt that the Medes are about to supplant her in that role.
2. No element of society escaped the crushing power of Babylon, (vs. 21-23: Isa 43:17; Isa 13:15-18).
3. Now, God will recompense upon Babylon, and all the inhabitants of Chaldea, the same havoc that they have wrought upon Zion, (vs. 24, 6, 35, 56; Jer 50:10; Jer 50:15; Jer 50:29).
4. Jehovah declares Himself to be against this destroying mountain (kingdom); thus will He so humiliate her that she will be as a barren, burned-out volcano, (vs. 25, 53, 58, Jer 50:31; comp. Rev 8:8).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The Prophet here obviates the doubts of many; for as he had spoken of the destruction of Babylon, it might have been readily objected, that the monarchy which was fortified by so many defenses, and which had subjugated all the neighboring nations, was impregnable. Hence the Prophet here shows that the power and wealth of Babylon were no hindrances that God should not destroy it whenever he pleased; for it is an argument derived from what is contrary. We have before seen that God roots up what he has planted, (Jer 45:4😉 and then we have seen the metaphor of the potter and his vessels. When the Prophet went down to the potter, he saw a vessel formed and then broken at the will and pleasure of the potter (Jer 18:2.) So also now God shows that the destruction was as it were in his hand, because the Chaldeans had not raised themselves to eminence through their own power, but he had raised them, and employed them for his own purpose. In short, he compares the Babylonians in this passage to a formed vessel, and he makes himself the potter:
“
I am he who has raised Babylon to so great a height; it therefore belongs to me to pull it down whensoever it pleases me.”
We now understand the design of this passage, though the Prophet employs different words.
He says that Babylon was a hammer and weapons of war to break in pieces the nations. The verb נפף, nuphets, means to break in pieces, and carelessly to scatter here and there, and also violently to scatter. He says then, “I have by thee scattered the nations, and by thee have destroyed kingdoms.” But as the Chaldeans had enjoyed so many victories and had subjugated so many nations, he adds, I have by thee broken in pieces the horse and his ride,; the chariot and its rider; and then, I have broken in pieces men and women, old men and children, the young men and the maidens, the shepherds and also their flocks He enumerates here almost all kinds of men. He then mentions husbandmen and yokes of oxen, or of horses; and lastly, he mentions captains and rulers (87) All these things are said by way of concession; but yet the Prophet reminds us that no difficulty would prevent God to destroy Babylon, because Babylon in itself was nothing. According to this sense, then, it is called a hammer. In short, the Prophet takes away the false opinion which might have otherwise disturbed weak minds, as though Babylon was wholly invincible. He shows at the same time that God executed his judgments on all nations by means of Babylon. Thus the faithful might have been confirmed; for otherwise they must have necessarily been cast down when they regarded the formidable power of Babylon; but when they heard that it was only a hammer, and that they would not have been broken in pieces by the Babylonians had they not been armed from above, or rather had they not been driven on by a celestial power, it then appeared that the calamity which the Jews had suffered was nothing more than a punishment inflicted by God’s hand. When, therefore, they heard this, it was no small consolation; it kept them from succumbing under their miseries, and from being swallowed up with sorrow and despair. But it now follows, —
(87) Many render this passage in the future tense, according to all the Versions and the Targ. , and consider Cyrus to be intended by the “hammer;” but they render בך, by, or with thee, contrary to the Targ. and the Versions, which is rendered in thee, i.e. , Babylon; and for thee in the Syr. And this seems to be the view most consistent with the whole passage, especially Jer 51:24. Babylon was the “hammer” which God had employed, “Jer 50:23) but he would hereafter employ, as it were, a hammer, or a scatterer, in Babylon itself, —
20. A scatterer (or a hammer) art thou to me, A weapon of war; But I will scatter in thee nations, And destroy in thee kingdoms;
21. And I will scatter in thee the horse and its rider, And I will scatter in thee the chariot and its rider;
22. And I will scatter in thee the husband and the wife, And I will scatter in thee the old and the child, And I will scatter in thee the young man and the maid;
23. And I will scatter in thee the shepard and his flock, And I will scatter in thee the plougman and his team, And I will scatter in thee the governors and princes.
The comes, naturally, a summary of the whole, —
24. And I will render to Babylon And to all the inhabitants of Chaldea, All the evil which they have done in Sion, Before your eyes, saith Jehova.
The in the two following verse Babylon is still addressed.
“
Scatter” is according to the Sept. , the Syr. , and the Targ. ; “dash against one another” is the Vulg. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) Thou art my battle ax . . .Better, my mace. The axe is not found on Assyrian monuments as a weapon of war till a comparatively late period. It is a question who is thus addressedBabylon, or Cyrus as the destroyer of Babylon, or Israel. On the whole, the second seems the more probable answer. The hammer of the whole earth is broken by a mightier weapon than itself. (See Note on Jer. 50:23.)
With thee will I break in pieces . . .The tense, in this and in the following, should be the present. The force of the verb is multiplied by the emphatic iteration. All obstacles are to be crushed in the victorious march of the conqueror.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20-24. Thou art By “thou,” Ewald understands the king of Israel; Grotius, Cyrus and the Medes; Nagelsbach, an ideal person; Calmet and most expositors, Babylon. The last is to be preferred, and is supported by Jer 50:23. The enumeration of the things which this battle-hammer should break in pieces is an orderly one. 1) The nations and kingdoms. 2) The military forces the horse and his rider, the chariot and his rider. 3) The people man and woman old and youngyoung man and maid. 4) Occupations shepherd husbandman captains and rulers.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
YHWH’s War-Club ( Jer 51:20-24 ).
The speaker here is clearly YHWH. What is more difficult to determine is the identity of God’s ‘war-club and weapons of war’. Note that the pronouns are singular. (‘Thou’ not ‘ye’). And if Jer 51:24 is part of the passage, which the grammar suggests that it must be, the one in mind is clearly to be seen as an eyewitness to what had happened to Jerusalem. There are a number of possible alternatives:
Some suggest Babylon itself. Babylon is called ‘the hammer of the whole earth’ in Jer 50:23, and this would fit in with the picture of Babylon as ‘the destroying mountain’ (Jer 51:25). But Babylon is not described as YHWH’s hammer, nor is a war-club a hammer. Furthermore if it is referring to Babylon the passage does not fit easily into the context, for the context is God’s judgment on Babylon, and it might therefore be thought to be abrupt to suddenly introduce Babylon as YHWH’s war-club. It would also be necessary on this interpretation to exclude Jer 51:24 as an essential part of the passage.
Others suggest that it refers to Cyrus the Persian who would smite all the nations, including Babylon. But that is to overlook the intimate reference to what had happened to Zion as being ‘in your sight’.
Another suggestion is Israel, but if so, many of the ideas are foreign to anything we find elsewhere about Israel. Nowhere else do we find Israel portrayed as the triumphant conqueror. Nor did Israel every do this to Babylon and the inhabitants of Babylonia.
Even others suggest Jeremiah himself. This is much more likely. He was the one who was appointed over nations and kingdoms in order to tear down such nations and kingdoms by his prophetic word (Jer 1:10), as through his prophecy he fulfilled YHWH’s work (Jer 18:7). It seems therefore reasonable to see what is then here described resulting from that same prophetic word as nations crumbled before the word of YHWH (as they have done in chapters 46-49), a confirmation of his calling. This is especially so if we see Cyrus the Persian as arising as a result of Jeremiah’s prophetic word. Seeing it like that what is described can be seen as including both the activity of Babylon and the activity of Cyrus, all in accordance with Jeremiah’s prophetic word. But its reference only to Cyrus founders on the fact that he was not an eyewitness of what had happened to Zion. Thus it would appear that the best solution is that Jeremiah and his prophetic word are in God’s mind, a prophetic word fulfilled, firstly through Babylon, and then through Cyrus and the kings of the Medes (Jer 51:11-12; Jer 51:27-28).
Jer 51:20-24
“You are my war club (or ‘mace’),
And weapons of war,
And with you will I break in pieces the nations,
And with you will I destroy kingdoms,
And with you will I break in pieces the horse and his rider,
And with you will I break in pieces the chariot and him who rides in it,
And with you will I break in pieces man and woman,
And with you will I break in pieces the old man and the youth,
And with you will I break in pieces the young man and the virgin,
And with you will I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock,
And with you will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke (of oxen),
And with you will I break in pieces governors and deputies,
And I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea,
All their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,
The word of YHWH.”
Jeremiah is once more confirmed as God’s instrument in bringing judgment on the nations, as he was in Jer 1:10. Here he is portrayed not only as God’s war-club, but also as all His weapons of war, a mighty armoury in the hands of God. By his prophetic word he is to be YHWH’s means of bringing destruction on the nations, as he was appointed to be in Jer 1:10, and as indeed he has been revealed as doing from Jer 46:1 onwards. Now he is to accomplish the same against Babylon. Through Jeremiah’s prophetic word God will render on Babylon and Babylonia all the evil that they have performed against Zion before Jeremiah’s very eyes. And this is the prophetic word of YHWH.
Note the vivid description which brings out in detail precisely what is to result from the fulfilment of God’s purposes. It was not that God chose for it to happen in this way. That was the choice of men. But it was the consequence of His moving the spirit of men to act in history. It covers the destruction of the military, the destruction of defenceless civilians, young and old, the destruction of the essential providers of food and finally the destruction of those in overall authority. All would be involved in the consequences of Jeremiah’s prophecies. And now especially Babylon because of the evil that she had wrought against Israel/Judah, in Zion its very heart.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 51:20. Thou art my battle-axe Thou hast broken for me the weapons of war; I have broken by thee the nations, and destroyed kingdoms; Houbigant: who renders the following verses also to the 24th in the perfect tense; and he understands the whole as spoken of the dominion of the Babylonians, and not, as is commonly done, of Cyrus their conqueror.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
14. HOW THE LORD PUNISHES HIS OWN HAMMER
Jer 51:20-24
20A hammer13 art thou to me, weapons of war,
And with thee I break nations in pieces,
And with thee I overthrow kingdoms.
21And with thee I break in pieces the horse and his rider,
And with thee I break in pieces the chariot and its driver.
22And with thee I break in pieces man and woman,
And with thee I break in pieces old man and boy,
And with thee I break in pieces young man and maiden,
23And with thee I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock,
And with thee I break in pieces the husbandman and his team,
And with thee I break in pieces magistrates and rulers.14
24And I recompense to Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea all the evil,
Which they have done to Zion before your eyes, saith Jehovah.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
A picture very clearly complete in itself. The prophet sees in spirit a large number of persons before him who are to serve the Lord for a hammer, in order therewith to dash to pieces nations and kingdoms, especially, however. Babylon in all its parts, and thus to recompense to it what it has inflicted, on Zion.
Jer 51:20-24. A hammer saith Jehovah. In Jer 50:23 Babylon was called the hammer of the whole earth, and it might certainly be addressed again in the same way here. Many expositors, the LXX., Jerome, Theodoret at their head, are of opinion that it is so. But I, it should be observed that another word and, indeed, one formed ad hoc is chosen. Comp. Textual Note 1. May not the prophet have intended to indicate by using another word, specially formed for the occasion, that he meant another hammer than that spoken of before in Jer 50:23? 2. The perfects with the Vau consecutive may, indeed, be taken in a past sense (comp. Jer 18:4; Jer 19:4-5; Jer 37:11), but this construction is not normal. The imperfect would be more correct. 3. , Jer 51:24, must at any rate be taken in a future sense. Since, however, this word is a perfectly similar form to the previous perfects and similarly construed, there is a presumption that the perfects are also to be rendered as futures. 4. In Jer 50:21 we found an ideal person addressed, of which the Lord would make use as His instrument in the chastisement of Babylon. It is to the same that the prophet here tarns. That he referred in thought to 50.21, 22, is evident from , which he opposes to there used. He here, however, extends the task appointed to the hammer, for it is not to visit Babylon only, as in Jer 50:21, but many nations and kingdoms. Who this chosen instrument was to be the prophet was ignorant.To take weapon, as singular for , with Hitzig and Graf, appears to me unnecessary. The former is not a single weapon, but comprehends all weapons of war. The objects enumerated as to be broken form in a certain measure a circle, proceeding from the great and strong to the small and weak, and then rising from the young man and maiden again to the great and strong.Chaldea. Kasdim as the name of the country, as in Jer 50:10 coll. Jer 51:35.Before your eyes, is to be referred to I recompense, since it would be superfluous referred to have done, and expresses the thought that those who now hear of the destruction of Babylon will also see it, and thus be convinced by ocular demonstration of the truth of Jeremiahs prediction.
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:
[13]Jer 51:20. (a participial form derived from the Hiphil. Comp. e.g., , and as a related synonym , Pro 25:18) does not occur elsewhere.
[14]Jer 51:23.. Comp. Jer 51:28; Jer 51:57; Eze 23:6; Eze 23:23; 1Ki 10:15; Neh 2:7; Ezr 8:36 Est 8:9. According to Benfey (Monatsnamen, S. 195), the word comes from the Sanscrit (Pakscha, socius, amicus), and is certainly related to the Arabic Pascha. Comp. Gesen., Thes., pag. 1100., which occurs only in the plural (Isa 41:25; Ezr 9:2; Neh 2:16, etc.), are likewise prfecti provinciarum. On the different derivations comp. Gesen. Thes., pag. 937.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Is not this command to the people of God, to go out of Babylon, the same as gospel precepts, 2Co 6:17-18 ; Rev 18:4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 51:20 Thou [art] my battle axe [and] weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
Ver. 20. Thou art my battle axe, and weapon of war. ] Cestra fuisti mihi, Thou hast been my pole axe, such as horsemen use to batter their enemies’ helmets and other harness.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
My battle axe: or, My hammer, i.e. Cyrus. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia.
with thee will I break in pieces = with thee will I beat down. Note the Figure of speech Anaphora, by which ten successive sentences commence with these words, This is for special emphasis.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
art: Jer 50:23, Isa 10:5, Isa 10:15, Isa 13:5, Isa 14:5, Isa 14:6, Isa 37:26, Isa 41:15, Isa 41:16, Mic 4:13, Zec 9:13, Zec 9:14, Mat 22:7
with thee: or, in thee, or, by thee
break: Jer 25:9, Jer 25:11, Jer 27:5-7
Reciprocal: Job 34:24 – break Psa 72:4 – break Psa 94:5 – break Isa 13:3 – mighty ones Isa 14:4 – How Isa 14:12 – weaken Isa 14:16 – Is this Isa 45:1 – to subdue Isa 45:7 – I make Peace Isa 46:11 – Calling Isa 47:3 – I will take Isa 48:14 – he will do Jer 5:10 – ye up Jer 25:14 – I Jer 25:34 – the days of your Jer 27:6 – my Jer 46:22 – and come Jer 47:6 – thou sword Jer 50:25 – opened Jer 51:25 – which destroyest Lam 3:11 – pulled Eze 21:3 – will draw Eze 21:11 – to give Eze 21:31 – and skilful Eze 30:11 – the terrible Mic 2:13 – breaker Nah 2:1 – He that dasheth in pieces Zep 2:12 – my Rev 13:7 – and power
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 51:20. Battle axe is from MAPPISTS, which Strong defines. “A smiter, i. e., a war club. For the sake of Israel who came from Jacob, the Lord will use the Medes (and Persians) as a war club to hammer the nations that have mistreated His people.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 51:20-24. Thou art my battle-axe, &c. Cyrus, or rather the army of the Medes and Persians, seems to be intended here; compare Jer 51:11-12; as elsewhere the instrument of Gods vengeance is called a sword, a rod, a scourge. This army, with Cyrus, their general, God here says he will make use of for destroying the whole power of the Babylonish empire, and all orders and degrees of men in it, as he had formerly made that empire the executioner of his judgments upon other countries, Jer 50:23. Or else, says Lowth, the words may be understood of the church, and imply, that God will destroy all those earthly powers and kingdoms which are adversaries to his truth and people, in order to establish and advance his church. This will be fulfilled at the fall of mystical Babylon, when Gods kingdom shall break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth, in the destruction of that remnant of the fourth monarchy, according to Daniels prophecy, Dan 2:44. And I will render unto Babylon all their evil (see Jer 51:11, and Jer 50:28) that they have done in Zion, in your sight This may either refer to the evil done at Jerusalem and in Judea, by the Chaldeans, in the sight of Gods people, or to the open and public manner in which judgment would be executed on Babylon.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
51:20 Thou [art] my {n} battle axe [and] weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
(n) He means the Medes and Persians, as before he called the Babylonians his hammer, Jer 50:23 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
10. Babylon’s destroyer 51:20-26
The next two prophecies further describe Yahweh’s instrument for judging Babylon.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord addressed an entity, that He did not identify in these verses, as His "war-club" or "shatterer" (cf. Jer 50:23; Isa 10:5). He would use this entity to destroy nations, armies, and people of all ages and all types.