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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 51:27

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Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars.

27. Set ye up, etc.] Cp. Jer 51:12.

prepare ] For mg. sanctify (and so in Jer 51:28) see on Jer 6:4, Jer 22:7.

Ararat ] the Assyrian Urartu, N.W. of Lake Van, and corresponding pretty closely to the Armenia of the present day. Cp. Gen 8:4; 2Ki 19:37.

Minni ] the Mannai of the cuneiform inscriptions, not far from Lake Van.

Ashkenaz ] evidently near the two former, but not otherwise known; perhaps the Ashguza of inscriptions. Cp. Gen 10:3.

a marshal ] The Heb. word occurs elsewhere only in Nah 3:17. It is commonly connected with the frequent Assyrian noun dupsarru, tablet-writer, scribe. But both passages seem to suggest (cp. “horses” in the parallel clause here) that a body of troops is indicated rather than any individual.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Ararat, see the Gen 8:4 note. Minni, probably the western portion of Armenia, as Ararat was that in the center and to the east. Armenia was at this time subject to Media. Ashchenaz was between the Euxine and the Caspian Seas.

A captain – Some prefer the Septuagint rendering in Nah 3:17 : a mingled mass of people. (Others, a scribe, an Assyrian term.)

The rough caterpillers – i. e., locusts in their third stage, when their wings are still enveloped in rough horny cases, which stick up upon their backs. It is in this stage that they are so destructive.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Jer 51:27

Thus saith the Lord: Set ye up a standard in the land.

The standard of the Cross, a rallying-point for the people

Set ye up a standard, plain, obvious to be seen; a standard, high, on a mountain top, so as to be a rallying-point for the people in the battle of the Lord. A message, this, to fire the hearts of men, to steep them to the full in the sense of life s solemnity. The appeal of the prophet had reference, in the first instance, to the assault of the Persian armies upon the fortress city of Babylon. Cyrus was employed (to use the language of the prophet elsewhere) as the very battle-axe of God; who was to do Gods work in delivering the Jews from their captivity, and rebuilding for their use His Temple at Jerusalem. It is the commission of the Lord God to His Church in every age; to lift up the ensign of the Cross, the banner of Christian conflict, the talisman of victory, the rallying-point of all true hearts in the battle of the Lord, against the power of evil that is abroad in our midst. If there is one lesson more emphatically taught than any other by the facts of our present-day experience, it is the lesson that in Christianity alone lies, after all, the true and ultimate hope of the world; that the standard of the Gospel is the only true measure of our social reforms and of our personal or political ideals.

1. There is a power in our midst to-day–a power so imperious that a man may well be excused for holding it to be well-nigh irresistible–the power of public opinion. Are we not apt to forget that this potent engine of our modern life is one whose motive force may, and should be, in a Christian country, spent always in the cause of God, and of His Christ? It is an engine which, if it be informed by hearts aglow with the Spirit of Christ, and guided by hands that are exercised in deeds of truth and love, may well work miracles before our eyes. Then, may not our Church expect of all her sons that each one of them should realise his personal responsibility in this respect?

2. What a motto is this for our national and imperial politics! What a programme is here set forth for any Government, under whatever accidents of political party! Set ye up a standard in the land; a standard of righteousness and of good faith in matters of international law, or the observance of international treaties.

3. May not this be taken, again, as a potent watchword at our parliamentary elections? Can we not, each one of us, deal at any rate with our own vote as with a serious trust? Can we not raise over our polling-booths a standard of principle rather than party? Can we not muster courage to demand fair play for all; to denounce the use of unworthy weapons in the process of electioneering–the weapons of declamation and mob-flattery, of slander and personal abuse, of mere brute force, obstruction, and of secret bribery, boycotting, or cowardly intimidation? Set up a standard in the land. What nobler principle for our legislation itself? A standard of mercy and unselfishness, of wise and intelligent sympathy in dealing with the needs of the many; a standard of absolute impartiality, strict and entire justice, in legislating for the uneducated and the helpless classes of our population.

4. So, too, with respect to other matters of less distinctly political interest. There is room, surely, for a higher standard in questions of pressing social gravity, such as, for example, the subject of national education. Here, at any rate, the Church is pre-eminently bound to hold aloft the ideal of that which alone is worthy of the name of education. Or, turning again to such facts as are revealed by our criminal statistics, in view of the open sore of our national intemperance; or of the not less terrible though secret cancer of our national impurity, can we not, as carrying the Cross of our dear Lords self-denial on our foreheads, can we not do something towards setting up a standard in our homes, in our streets, in our business, and in our amusements,–a standard of sobriety and of purity?

5. So, again, in our very amusements. It rests with you, of the English Church laity, to set up a standard in the land. It is for you, who are the patrons of the English stage, to pronounce with no faltering accent that the drama–whether grave or gay–no more necessitates the stimulus of an immoral plot, or the adjuncts of a vicious art, than the pen of a Macaulay, a Tennyson, or a Browning, need defile itself with the innuendoes of a Wycherley or the coarseness of a Congreve.

6. And once again, in reference to those forum of sin to which as a great commercial people we arc especially prone. Have we not enough knowledge of a sound political economy to see that all the remedies which Parliament can propose will never touch the root of the evil we deplore? that what is wanted is not so much the mere readjustment of taxation, still less the forcible redistribution of our wealth, as the introduction of a higher standard into our commercial transactions; the standard of a fairer co-operation between the capitalist and the workman–of a more just and upright dealing between tradesman and customer–of a closer sympathy between master and servant, between producer and consumer: a standard of hard, but not slavish, honest, and conscientious work–a standard of fair working hours and fair working profits; a standard of just prices and honest weights and measures; a standard of thrift and temperance and industry, that will condemn idleness and dishonesty in the workman, the producer, but which will not excuse indolence and selfishness and unbridled luxury in the consumer; a standard which denounces all trade adulterations, all lying labels, all imitation brands, all false advertisements, and other similar forms of commercial ostentation and inequity; a standard, moreover, which declares such sins to be as sinful among the warehouses of the city as in the village shop, and pronounces the vices of the west to be at least as criminal as the crimes of the east. Lift up your hearts, then, comrades in the sacred battlefield of right and wrong! Look to that warrior Christ who leads us on. (H. B. Ottley, M. A.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 27. Set ye up a standard] Another summons to the Medes and Persians to attack Babylon.

Ararat, Minni] The Greater and Lesser Armenia.

And Ashchenaz] A part of Phrygia, near the Hellespont. So Bochart, Phaleg, lib. i. c. 3, lib. iii. c. 9. Concerning Ashchenaz Homer seems to speak, Il. ii. 370, 371: –

, ,

‘ .

“Ascanius, godlike youth, and Phorcys led

The Phrygians from Ascania’s distant land.”

Calmet thinks that the Ascantes, who dwelt in the vicinity of the Tanais, are meant.

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

The former words of this verse are expounded by those that follow; setting up of standards and blowings of trumpets are preparatory to bring armies together. The setting up of standards, and blowing of trumpets, are military signs of the will of those princes or captains-general whose those standards are, and to whom those trumpets belong, that those soldiers who are under their command should gather themselves together to the places where those standards are set up, and those trumpets blown. What this

kingdom of Ararat was, and those of

Minni and

Ashchenaz, is very hard to determine. We read of a mountain called Ararat, where the ark rested after the flood, Gen 8:4. Of Minni we read no where else: most writers think these were two kingdoms within Armenia. Ashchenaz descended from Noah by Japheth, Gen 10:3, Certain it is that the emperor of the Medes had the dominion of these places, from whence it is very probable that either Cyrus or Darius, or both, drew out soldiers to help them to conquer the Chaldeans.

Appoint a captain against her: after people are gathered together for war, the first thing to be done is to put them into military order, constituting a captain-general.

Cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars. Others read it, like the wasting caterpillar, or like the horrible affrighting caterpillar. Great disputes there are amongst critical interpreters what caterpillars are here meant, the caterpillars being generally smooth; but as we know not the complexion of insects over all the world, so even amongst us we see some caterpillars that look a little rough: that which alone we are here to attend is wily the Median horses are compared to these insects: undoubtedly it is either,

1 With respect to their numbers, for caterpillars in those countries used to come in vast numbers.

2. Or in regard of the horror and trembling caused by them in people when they came, being a great plague to the places which they infested.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

27. (Jer50:29). As in Jer 51:12the Babylonians were told to “set up the standard,” so hereher foes are told to do so: the latter, to good purpose; the former,in vain.

AraratUpper or MajorArmenia, the regions about Mount Ararat.

MinniLower or LesserArmenia. RAWLINSON saysthat Van was the capital of Minni. It was conquered by Tettarrassa,the general of Tetembar II, the Assyrian king whose wars are recordedon the black obelisk now in the British Museum.

Ashchenaza descendantof Japheth (Ge 10:3), who gavehis name to the sea now called the Black Sea; the region bordering onit is probably here meant, namely, Asia Minor, including places namedAscania in Phrygia and Bithynia. Cyrus had subdued Asia Minor and theneighboring regions, and from these he drew levies in proceedingagainst Babylon.

rough caterpillarsThehorsemen in multitude, and in appearance bristling with javelins andwith crests, resemble “rough caterpillars,” or locusts ofthe hairy-crested kind (Na 3:15).

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

Set ye up a standard in the land,…. Not in Chaldea, but rather in any land; or in all the countries which belonged to Media and Persia; where Cyrus’s standard is ordered to be set up, to gather soldiers together, and enlist in his service, in order to go with him in his expedition against Babylon:

blow the trumpet among the nations; for the same purpose, to call them to arms, to join the forces of Cyrus, and go with him into the land of Chaldea:

prepare the nations against her: animate them, stir up their spirits against her, and furnish them with armour to engage with her: or, “sanctify” x them; select a certain number out of them fit for such work:

call together the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; the two former are generally thought to intend Armenia the greater, and the lesser; and the latter Ascania, a country in Phrygia; and certain it is that Cyrus first conquered these countries, and had many Armenians, Phrygians, and Cappadocians, in his army he brought against Babylon, as Xenophon y relates. The Targum is, declare

“against her to the kingdoms of the land of Kardu, the army of Armenia and Hadeb,”

or Adiabene:

appoint a captain against her; over all these forces thus collected: Cyrus seems to be intended; unless the singular is put for the plural, and so intends a sufficient number of general officers of the army:

cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars; or “locusts” z; which though generally smooth, yet some fire hairy and rough; to which the horses in Cyrus’s army are compared, for their multitude, the shape of their heads, long manes, and manner of going, leaping, and prancing. So the Targum,

“they shall cause the horses to come up, leaping like the shining locust;”

that is of a yellow colour, and shines like gold. So the word the Targum here uses is used by Jonathan in Le 13:32; of hair yellow as gold, and here to be understood of hairy locusts: and, as Aelianus a says, there were locusts of a golden colour in Arabia. And such may be meant here by the Chaldee paraphrase, which well expresses their motion by leaping; see Joe 2:5; and which agrees with that of horses. The word rendered “rough” has the signification of horror in it, such as makes the hair to stand upright; see Job 4:15; and so some b render it here. And Bochart c, from Alcamus, an Arabic writer, observes, that there is a sort of locusts which have two hairs upon their head, which are called their horn, which when erected may answer to this sense of the word; and he brings in the poet Claudian d, as describing the locust by the top of its head, as very horrible and terrible; and that some locusts? have hair upon their heads seems manifest from Re 9:8; though it may be, the reason why they are here represented as so dreadful and frightful may not be so much on account of their form, as for the terror they strike men with, when they come in great numbers, and make such terrible havoc of the fruits of the earth as they do; wherefore the above learned writer proposes to render the words, “as the horrible locusts” e.

x “sanctificate”, Piscator, Schmidt. y Cyropaedia, l. 5. c. 15. l. 7. c. 21. z “sicut bruchum”, Montanus, Schmidt. a De Animal. l. 10. c. 13. b “horripilantem”, Montanus “qui horret”, Piscator, Cocceius. c Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 2. col. 456. d “Horret apex capitis, medio fera lumina surgunt Vertice”, &c. Epigram. 13. e “Non tam [horrentem], quam [horrendum] sonat”.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

A summons addressed to the nations to fight against Babylon, in order that, by reducing the city, vengeance may be taken for the offence committed against Israel by Babylon. Jer 51:27. “Lift up a standard on the earth, sound a trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz against her; appoint troops against her; bring up horses lie horrid locusts. Jer 51:28. Prepare nations against her, the kings of the Medes and her governors, and all her lieutenant-governors, and all the land of his dominion. Jer 51:29. Then the earth quakes and trembles: for the purposes of Jahveh against Babylon are being performed, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without an inhabitant. Jer 51:30. The heroes of Babylon have ceased to fight, they sit in the strongholds: their strength is dried up; they have become women; they have set her habitations on fire; her bars are broken. Jer 51:31. One runner runs against another, and one messenger against another, to tell the king of Babylon that his city is wholly taken. Jer 51:32. And the crossing-places have been seized, and the marches have they burned up with fire, and the men of war are confounded. Jer 51:33. For thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little, and the time of harvest will come to her. Jer 51:34. Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured us, and ground us down; he hath set us down [like] an empty vessel, he hath swallowed us like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my dainties; he hath thrust me out. Jer 51:35. Let the inhabitress of Zion say, ‘My wrong and my flesh [be] upon Babylon;’ and let Jerusalem say, ‘My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea.’ Jer 51:36. Therefore thus saith Jahveh: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and execute vengeance for thee; ad I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. Jer 51:37. And Babylon shall become heaps [of ruins], a dwelling-place of dragons, an astonishment, and a hissing, without an inhabitant.”

The lifting up of the standard (Jer 51:27) serves as a signal for the nations to assemble for the struggle against Babylon. does not mean “in the land,” but, as the parallel “among the nations” shows, “on the earth.” , “consecrate prepare against her (Babylon) nations” for the war; cf. Jer 6:4; Jer 22:7. , as in Jer 50:29. The kingdoms summoned are: Ararat, i.e., the middle (or eastern) province of Armenia, in the plain of Araxes, which Moses of Chorene calls Arairad, Araratia (see on Gen 8:4); Minni, which, according to the Syriac and Chaldee, is also a name of Armenia, probably its western province (see Gesenius’ Thesaurus, p. 807); and Ashkenaz, which the Jews take to be Germany, although only this much is certain, that it is a province in the neighbourhood of Armenia. For Asken is an Armenian proper name, and az an Armenian termination; cf. Lagarde’s Gesammelte Abhandll. S. 254, and Delitzsch on Gen 10:3, Gen 10:4 ed. , “appoint, order against her.” does not mean “captains” or leaders, for this meaning of the foreign word (supposed to be Assyrian) rests on a very uncertain etymology; it means some peculiar kind of troops, but nothing more definite can be affirmed regarding it. This meaning is required by the context both here and in Nah 3:17, the only other place where the word occurs: see on that passage. The sing. corresponds with the sing. , and is therefore to be taken collectively, “troops and horses.” Whether the simile belongs merely to “horses,” or to the combination “troops and horses,” depends on the meaning attached to the expression. Modern expositors render it “bristly locusts;” and by that they understand, like Credner ( Joel, S. 298), the young grasshopper after it has laid aside its third skin, when the wings are still enveloped in rough horny sheaths, and stick straight up from the back of the animal. But this explanation rests on an erroneous interpretation of Nah 3:17. means to shudder, and is used of the shivering or quivering of the body (Psa 119:120), and of the hair (Job 4:15); and does not mean a particular kind of locusts, through Jerome, on Nah 3:17, renders it attelabus (parva locusta est inter locustam et bruchum, et modicis pennis reptans potius quam volans, semperque subsiliens) , but is a poetic epithet of the locust, “the devourer.” If any one prefers to view as referring to the nature of the locusts, he may with Bochart and Rosenmller, think of the locustarum species, quae habet caput hirsutum . But the epithet “horrid” is probably intended merely to point out the locusts as a fearful scourge of the country. On this view, the comparison refers to both clauses, and is meant to set forth not merely the enormous multitude of the soldiery, but also the devastation they make of the country. In Jer 51:28 mention is further made of the kings of the Medes (see on Jer 51:11), together with their governors and lieutenant-governors (see on Jer 51:23), and, in order to give prominence to the immense strength of the army, of “all the land of his dominion;” on these expressions, cf. Jer 34:1 and 1Ki 9:19. The suffix refers to the king of Media, as the leader of the whole army; while those in “her governors, and all her lieutenant-governors,” refer to the country of Media.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Vs. 27-33: AN ALLIANCE AGAINST BABYLON

1. Jehovah of hosts is, Himself, Commander of the forces being assembled against Babylon; at His signal a standard is set up, and the trumpet blown, to rally the nations around it, (vs. 27-28) – Ararat, Minni, Ashkenaz, Media and every land that is under her dominion.

2. The land of Babylon is pictured as trembling and writhing in anguish because of the Lord’s irrevocable purpose to make her desolate, (vs. 29; comp. Jer 8:16; Jer 10:10; Jer 50:46).

3. Disheartened, discouraged, and terrified by what is coming upon them, the mighty men of Babylon ceased to fight – remaining in their fortresses, (vs. 30; Jer 50:15; Jer 50:36-37; Psa 76:1-6).

4. Posts and messengers inform the King of Babylon concerning the total collapse and panic of his men of war; Babylon’s is a LOST CAUSE! (vs. 31-32; comp. 2Sa 18:19-33).

5. The daughter of Babylon is likened to a threshing floor at the time it is trodden down in readiness for the threshing; harvest time is fast approaching, (vs. 33; Isa 21:9-10; comp. Joe 3:13).

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

The Prophet here confirms what he had before taught, even that Babylon, however proud on account of its strongholds, would not yet escape God’s hand. Had he used a simple mode of speaking, hardly any one would have ventured to look for what the Prophet said. It was then necessary to introduce figurative expressions, of which we have before spoken. Here, then, with the highest authority, he commands the nations to raise up war against Babylon.

We must observe, as I have before reminded you, that by such modes of speaking, the effect of prophetic doctrine is set forth. For the unbelieving deride whatever they hear, because the voice of God is the same to them as though it were a sound flowing through the air. Hence the Prophet shows that he was endued with the power of God, and that the hand of God was connected with his mouth, so that he fulfills whatever he predicts. Raise, he says, a standard. This might have appeared ludicrous, for we know that the Prophet was despised, not only at Jerusalem, but also in his own town where he had been born: by what right, then, or on what ground does he now boldly command all nations, and bid the banners to be raised? But as I have said, he shows that a false judgment would be formed of what he said, except the people thought that God himself spoke.

Sound with the trumpet, he says, among all nations, and then, sanctify against her the nations; and further, assemble, literally, “make to hear,” but it means, in Piel, to collect, to assemble. As to the word Ararat, it may be taken for Armenia. I know not why some have taken Minni to be the lower Armenia, for there is no creditable author for such an opinion. Nor is it certain what country the Prophet designates by Ashchenaz. But it is evident from histories, that the great army which Darius, or Cyrus under the authority of Darius, led with him, had been collected from various and even remote nations. For he brought with him the Hyrcanians and the Armenians, and some from many unknown places. As, then, heathen authors declare that this army was collected indiscriminately from many nations and almost unknown, it is nothing strange that the Hebrew names are at this day unknown. And there is no doubt but that the Prophet here indirectly intimates some great shaking of the world, as though he had said, that even barbarous nations, The name of whom hath not hitherto been heard of, would come like all overwhelming flood to destroy Babylon. He will hereafter speak of the Medes; but here he treats the subject in a different way, as though he had said, that so great would be the multitude of enemies, that Babylon, notwithstanding its largeness, would be easily overthrown. We now perceive the Prophet’s design as to these obscure words.

He says afterwards, Set up a leader against her This is to be understood of Cyrus, whose vigor was especially apparent in that war. Nor is there a doubt but that he led his uncle and father-in-law to undertake the war. For those historians fable, who say that Cyrus was cast away by his grandfather, and that he was brought up privately by Astyages, and that he afterwards made war with his grandfather. All these things have been invented. For it is quite evident that Darius, the king of the Medes, was the chief in that war, and Daniel is our best witness on this point. Heathen writers imagine that there was no king of the Medes except under the authority of Cyrus. But Cyrus did not rule until after the death of his father-in-law, or his uncle, whose daughter he had married. It then follows, that he was the general, so that he carried on the war under the authority of Darius. Cyrus then was, as it were, the hired soldier of his uncle and father-in-law, but at length he obtained the kingdom of the Medes and the whole empire of the East. Of this leader, then, I understand this passage, when the Prophet says, Set up or appoint a leader against Babylon: (90) he adds, Bring forth, or make to ascend, the horse as the locust This refers to their number; as though he had said, Bring forth against Babylon horses without number, who shall be as locusts. He compares them to locusts, not for strength or skill in war, but only with regard to their number. But as the locusts are frightful, he applies to them the word סמר, samer, “dreadful,” as though he had said, They are, indeed, locusts as to their abundance, but they are at the same time dreadful, as though they had on them frightful hairs. It afterwards follows, —

(90) The Version and the Targ. all differ as to the word טפסר, rendered by Calvin, “leader.” It is translated “commander” by Blayney. Parkhurst says that it is a Chaldee word, from טפס, to reduce to order, and סר, a ruler. Then it means a commanding officer, a caption, or a general. It occurs only here and in Nah 3:17. — Ed

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

III. THE DOOM OF BABYLON Jer. 51:27-58

The third section of the Babylon oracle which begins in Jer. 51:27 emphasizes the final doom of Babylon. The attack of the enemy is again described in vivid detail (Jer. 51:27-33). Israel lodges a complaint before God concerning their treatment at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. The Lord acknowledges their complaint and assures His distressed people that Babylon will be punished for her crimes (Jer. 51:34-40). Babylons demolition will mean Israels liberation (Jer. 51:41-46); Babylons retribution, Israels return (Jer. 51:47-53). To all of this is added a final pronouncement against Babylon (Jer. 51:54-58).

A. The Attack of the Enemy Jer. 51:27-33

TRANSLATION

(27) Lift up a standard in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations: Sanctify against her nations! Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz! Appoint over her a captain! Bring up horses like hairy locusts! (28) Sanctify against her nations, the kings of Media and her governors, and leaders and all the land of their dominion. (29) Then the land shall tremble and writhe, for the purposes of the LORD against Babylon stand to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. (30) The mighty men of Babylon have ceased to fight; they sit in the strongholds; their strength has failed; they act like women. Her dwelling places are ablaze, her bars are broken. (31) Runner shall run to meet runner, messenger to meet messenger, to declare to the king of Babylon that his city is captured from one end to the other (32) and the passages have been seized, the reeds burned, and the men of war are terrified. (33) For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is being trampled upon; yet a little while and the time of harvest shall have come to her.

COMMENTS

Once again in this oracle the Lord calls upon the nations to make preparations for the final onslaught against Babylon. The standard and the trumpet were means of gathering and directing the operations of great hosts of men in antiquity (cf. Jer. 50:2; Jer. 51:12). Prepare i.e., consecrate or sanctify (ASV mar) the nations against her. It was the custom in that time to begin every war with sacred rites in which the soldiers consecrated themselves to the deity. The campaign against Babylon is viewed throughout this oracle as a holy war because it has to do with a work of the Lord (Jer. 50:25) and the vengeance of His sanctuary (Jer. 50:28). Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz, located in present-day Armenia, were the northern allies of the Medes. The word translated marshal is an Assyrian word denoting a high military officer, perhaps an enlisting or mustering officer. The cavalry which would play such an important role in the conquest of Babylon is compared to a plague of locusts (cankerworm, ASV). The meaning of the word translated rough is unknown (Jer. 51:27). Led by the rulers of the Medes (Jer. 51:28) the vast army marches southward toward Babylon causing the land to tremble and be in pain at the news of their approach. God has determined to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant and that divine purpose is about to be fulfilled (Jer. 51:29).

The prophet turns his gaze to what is happening among the defenders of Babylon. At the approach of the enemy host the Babylonian soldiers become panic-stricken. Cowardice makes them withdraw into the strong fortification where they helplessly watch the bars and gates battered down and the dwelling places burned (Jer. 51:30). From every quarter Of the city the messengers hasten to the royal palace with the news that the city has fallen to the enemy (Jer. 51:31). The enemy has seized the passages across the river Euphrates[416] which ran through the city thus cutting off all hope of escape. The reedy swamps around Babylon are put to the torch both to cut off escape and to burn out fugitives who might have sought refuge there[417] (Jer. 51:32). But how can Jeremiah speak so confidently of the demise of Babylon which in his day was at the zenith of power? Jeremiah replies, Babylon is like a threshing-floor, a piece of ground made level by trampling or treading, which the Lord the God of Israel is already preparing for the harvest. It is yet a little while and the time of harvest and subsequent threshing shall come to Babylon (Jer. 51:33).

[416] At right angles with the river were the main streets of Babylon. At the end of each was a gate and probably steps leading down to the river. Transportation across the river in boats was provided at each of these points. Other commentators understand the passages to be the fords across the canals around Babylon.
[417] Considerable disagreement about the meaning of reeds burned with fire exists among commentators. The explanation offered here is that of John Bright, op. cit., p. 357.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(27) Prepare the nations.The word here and in Jer. 51:29 conveys, as in Jer. 22:7, the idea of consecration.

Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz.The first of these names was unknown to Greek and Roman geographers, and though here rendered Arareth by the LXX., is elsewhere translated by Armenia, as in the English version of Isa. 37:38. The name Ararat is Sanscrit, and means the holy land. The site of Minni has not been identified, and the name does not occur elsewhere, unless, with some scholars, we find it in Psa. 45:9, and translate out of the ivory palaces of Minni. The name Minyes is found in Josephus (Antt. i. 3, p. 6), and Minnai in the Assyrian inscriptions. Rawlinson (Herod. i. p. 464) places them above Lake Urumiyeh. It is clear from the context that their country formed part of Armenia. Ashchenaz appears in Gen. 10:3 as connected with Gomer, i.e., with the Scythians. The first syllable has been supposed to contain the root of the name Asia, which has been gradually extended to the continent. The modern Jews apply the name Ashkenazim to those of their race that are settled in Germany and Eastern Europe, the name Sephardim being applied to those of Spain and the West.

Appoint a captain against her.The word for captain is found only here and in Nah. 3:17. It was probably an Assyrian word, meaning either captain or host.

Cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.Better, as the bristly locusts. The word describes the insect in its third stage of growth, when the wings are not yet unfolded from their cases, and when they are most destructive in their ravages.

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

THE NATIONS SUMMONED AGAINST BABYLON, Jer 51:27-37.

27. Set ye up a standard Another call to war. This whole passage is a parallelism of that which commences at Jer 51:12, but descends more into particulars.

In the land Better, earth.

Prepare Literally, consecrate; alluding to the religions solemnities with which war is begun. The kingdoms here mentioned, Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz, were located in or near Armenia.

Captain This word occurs besides only in Nah 3:17, and its precise import is doubtful. In both passages the habits of locusts are probably had in view.

Rough caterpillars Rather, as the bristly locust; spoken “of the locust after its third skin, when the wings are still covered with the rough, horny hide.” Furst.

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

The Work of the Spoilers
v. 27. Set ye up a standard in the land, around which the attacking forces might rally in order to proceed against Babylon, blow the trumpet among the nations, summoning them to be mustered for war, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Upper Armenia, Minni, Lower Armenia, and Ashchenaz, a country bordering on Armenia; appoint a captain against her, so that there would be efficient leadership; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars, like hairy-crested grasshoppers.
v. 28. Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the satraps, or princes, of the empire, the captains thereof, the governors of the smaller provinces, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion. This detailed enumeration is made for the purpose of increasing the impression of great and irresistible power.
v. 29. And the land shall tremble and sorrow, as with a great earthquake; for every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, every plan that He had decided upon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
v. 30. The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they gave up resistance, they no longer waged offensive warfare, they have remained in their holds, what they believed to be impregnable fortresses; their might hath failed, they became as women, altogether discouraged, not daring to offer active opposition; they, the enemies, have burned her dwelling-places, her bars are broken. When the stratagem of Cyrus in diverting the stream of the Euphrates succeeded and his soldiers entered the city through its empty bed, they found little or no opposition and could easily open the city gates from within.
v. 31. One post, or courier, shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, coming from all parts of the city with their information concerning the taking of the city, to show the king of Babylon, to bring him the news, that his city is taken at one end, that is, to its utmost end, every part in the hands of the enemies,
v. 32. and that the passages are stopped, the places where the river was usually crossed being occupied by the enemy’s forces, and the reeds they have burned with fire, taking away even the last means of defense, and the men of war are affrighted. Such was the message which the couriers would bring from every side.
v. 33. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor, the whole empire being included in this figure; it is time to thresh her, by the customary treading or stamping by means of which the kernels of grain were separated from their hulls; yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come, when she would be trodden under foot. The inhabitants of Israel and Judah are now introduced with a lament showing the reason for the Lord’s punishment upon Babylon.
v. 34. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, discarding them like a useless dish, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, like some monster of the deep, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, with all the finest foods, he hath cast me out. The heaping of similar expressions brings out the greatness of the ruin which had come upon Judah.
v. 35. The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say, in pleading for justice against the oppressor; and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say.
v. 36. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, in answering this cry of His children, Behold, I will plead thy cause and take vengeance for thee, acting as the Advocate in defending the rights of His people; and I will dry up her sea, the Euphrates with all its channels, canals, and swamps, and make her springs dry, so that she would no longer have a rich supply of water to give fertility to her land.
v. 37. And Babylon shall become heaps, abandoned ruins, a dwelling-place for dragons, of jackals, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.
v. 38. They shall roar together like lions, shouting in drunken revelry; they shall yell as lions’ whelps, growling over their food. This probably is a reference to the fact that Babylon was taken on a night when its rulers and leading citizens were attending a drunken debauch.
v. 39. In their heat I will make their feasts, or, “For their intoxication I prepare them a drinking-bout,” and I will make them drunken that they may rejoice and sleep a perpetual sleep, being overcome by death, and not wake, saith the Lord.
v. 40. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats, all the classes of Babylon’s population being included. And here the prophet inserts a word of astonishment over the downfall of Babylon.
v. 41. How is Sheshach taken! Cf. Jer 25:26. And how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! namely, Babylon, which was an object of envy and praise throughout the world. How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations! an object of surprised horror.
v. 42. The sea is come up upon Babylon, namely, in the hostile armies which would flood the land; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. The image is based upon the action of the Euphrates, which, without the restraint of dikes and irrigation canals, would sometimes rise so high as to overflow the entire valley.
v. 43. Her cities are a desolation, reverting back to the desert stage, a dry land and a wilderness, where amid steppes stretched interminably, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
v. 44. And I will punish Bel in Babylon, the chief deity of the Babylonians, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up, taking away from him what he had robbed and devoured through the hands of those who worshiped him; and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him, flocking to Babylon in streams to consecrate their treasures to him; yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall, so that the city would be open to all enemies. The destruction of Babylon thus being decided, the people of God are admonished to leave its confines.
v. 45. My people, go ye out of the midst of her, fleeing out of the city appointed to ruin, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the Lord, which would be poured out upon Babylon.
v. 46. And lest your heart faint and ye fear for the rumor that shall be heard in the land, namely, tales of war and of acts of violence, which should not daunt the people of Jehovah: a rumor shall both come one year, and after that, in another year, shall come a rumor and violence in the land, ruler against ruler, so that rebellion and revolution preceded the fall of the empire. Some commentators find here a sequence of events for the guidance of the Jews; for the first rumor spoke of the uprising of the Medes, the second of the approach of Cyrus, while this event fixed the time when the Jews should prepare to leave the city of Babylon.
v. 47. Therefore, behold, the days come that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon, executing His sentence of destruction upon them; and her whole land shall be confounded, be put to shame by His punishment, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her, practically all her inhabitants being included in the slaughter.
v. 48. Then the heaven and the earth and all that is therein shall sing for Babylon, rejoicing over her fall; for the spoilers shall come unto her from the North, saith the Lord, and the sentence executed by him is the cause of their jubilation.
v. 49. As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, being engaged in their slaughter, so at Babylon, by a just recompense, shall fall the slain of all the earth, for representatives of the various nations of the earth were at Babylon at the time of her overthrow. The prophet now summarizes the guilt and the punishment of Babylon.
v. 50. Ye that have escaped the sword, at or before the taking of the city, go away, stand not still, in order not to share the fate of Babylon. Remember the Lord afar off, Jehovah, the God of the covenant, and let Jerusalem come into your mind, so that the thought of the return to their home country and its capital would immediately occur to them. But the prophet now, in the name of the congregation, gives utterance to an objection on their part, with the purpose of removing it.
v. 51. We are confounded, so the Jews might say, because we have heard reproach, they had recollections only of the deepest shame and humiliation in connection with Jerusalem and the Temple; shame hath covered our faces, for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord’s house, even into those parts which were forbidden to the heathen. But the prophet anticipates and removes these objections.
v. 52. Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will do judgment upon her graven images, the idols of Babylon, this being Jehovah’s answer upon their taunt in burning His Temple as though He were powerless to avenge Himself; and through all her land the wounded shall groan, stricken down by the Lord’s mighty hand.
v. 53. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, in an attempt to storm the stronghold of the Lord itself, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, literally, “make inaccessible the height of her firmness,” so that her walls would rise up to a precipitous height, apparently impregnable, yet from Me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord, so that she would be overthrown and destroyed.
v. 54. A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, as the invading enemies begin their work of destruction, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans,
v. 55. because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice, the deafening din of the boastful revelers; when her waves, the surging streams of her inhabitants, do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered, it sounds far and wide, in a mighty commotion.
v. 56. Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, her greatest champions and heroes being obliged to submit without a struggle, since resistance was impossible, every one of their bows is broken, all their weapons rendered useless, for the Lord God of recompenses shall surely requite, rewarding them the evil which they had committed, paying back their wickedness as they deserved.
v. 57. And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, the counselors of the kingdom, her captains and her rulers and her mighty men, all those who were at the head of the nation, both in peace and in war; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, namely, the sleep of death, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
v. 58. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, in a final summary of His warning and threat against Babylon, The broad walls of Babylon, which, according to some accounts, were so broad that two four-horse chariots could pass anywhere, shall be utterly broken, demolished completely; and her high gates, the one hundred magnificent gates of brass, shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labor in vain, in erecting the mighty wall which was their pride, and the folk in the fire, rather, “for the fire,” their handiwork being consumed in the general destruction, and they shall be weary. Cf Hab 2:13. The prophecy thus having been stated, the chapter closes with a historical conclusion concerning the manner in which the prophecy was delivered.
v. 59. The word which Jeremiah, the prophet, commanded Seraiah, the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, evidently a brother of Baruch, when he went with Zedekiah, the king of Judah, rather, “in behalf of Zedekiah,” on an embassy for him, into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign, six years before Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince, literally, “prince of the resting-place,” that is, marshal of the caravan, he who had charge of the journey.
v. 60. So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon, as contained in the last two ers.
v. 61. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon and shalt see, rather, “then observe very carefully,” and shalt read all these words,
v. 62. then shalt thou say, O Lord, Thou hast spoken against this place to cut it off that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever, reminding the Lord, as it were, that the threats of His prophecy must be fulfilled.
v. 63. And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, the communication contained on this roll, that thou shalt bind a stone to it and cast it into the midst of Euphrates, in a symbolical act expressing the fulfillment of the prophecy upon Babylon,
v. 64. and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her; and they, the Babylonians, shall be weary, they shall be so overcome that it would be impossible for them to recover their strength. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah, the last chapter being in the nature of a historical epilog added by some other inspired writer. To proclaim the Word of God to friend and foe alike, regardless of consequences, that is a characteristic of the true servant of the Lord.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Jer 51:27. Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz See Isa 13:4-5. Instead of rough caterpillars, Bochart reads bristled locusts.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

16. WAR AGAINST THE THRESHING-FLOOR OF BABYLON
Jer 51:27-33
27Raise ye a standard in the land,
Blow the trumpet among the nations,
Consecrate nations against her,
Call upon her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz;
Appoint a captain against her,
Bring up horses like bristly locusts.
28Consecrate nations against her,
The kings of Media with her satraps and all her governors,
And the whole land of their dominion.
29Then the earth quakes15 and trembles,
For the thoughts of Jehovah are being fulfilled16 on Babylon,
To make the land of Babylon a waste without an inhabitant.
30The heroes of Babylon have ceased to fight,
They sit in their strongholds;
Dried up17 is their strength,
They are become women;
They have burned her dwellings,
Her bars are broken.
31Courier runneth against courier, messenger against messenger,
To announce to the king of Babylon
That his city is taken to its utmost end,
32The passages occupied, the ponds burned with fire, the men of war confounded.
33For thus saith Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel,
The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor,
Now they tread her,18
Yet a little and the time of harvest will come to her.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
A very animated picture! Three main groups may be plainly distinguished, and a conclusion. The first group (Jer 51:27-29) shows us the enemies of Babylon, the Medes with the nations subject to their dominion advancing against Babylon with so great an army that the earth trembles. The second group is composed of the Babylonian warriors, who, overwhelmed by the success of the enemy, let their hands fall in powerless and spiritless dismay (Jer 51:30). In the third group we perceive the king of Babylon, who, sitting in his castle, receives from all sides the news of the capture of the city (Jer 51:31-32). In the closing words the prophet expresses the thought that all which is now being done to render the city splendid and glorious is no more than the preparation of the threshing-floor, on which in a short time the harvest will be piled. These verses are clearly distinguished from those which precede and follow, and exhibit a clear and connected picture.
Jer 51:27-29. Raise ye inhabitant, Jer 51:27 evidently contains a new beginning, for it summons to that which has to be done in the beginning of a warlike expedition. Comp. Jer 51:2; Jer 50:2.Consecrate, etc. It was the custom to commence every war with sacred rites (comp. Herz., R.-Enc., and Winer, R.-B.-W., s. v. Krieg); but here, as in Isa 13:3, the war appears to be designated as a holy one, because it, has to do with a work of Jehovah (Jer 50:23) and the vengeance of His sanctuary (Jer 50:28). Comp. Jer 6:4; Jer 22:7; Joel 4:9; Mic 3:5.Call. Comp. Jer 50:2; Jer 50:29.Ararat. Comp. Gen 8:4. [Cowles: The name Ararat is Sanskrit, meaning the holy land, a name probably due to traditions of Noahs ark.S. R. A.].In Isaiah (isa 37:38 coll.2Ki 19:37) a land of Ararat is spoken of. Theodoret says on the present passage, . According to Moses of Chorene (Hist. Armen. p. 361) Ararat was the chief district of Armenia and divided into twenty circuits. Comp. Delitzsch on Isa 37:38.Minni also, which occurs here only, Psa 45:9 being doubtful, belongs to Armenia; it was, according to Niebuhr (Ass. u. Bab. S. 427 coll. 136), the second chief state of this country.Ashkenaz must be sought for at any rate in the neighborhood of Armenia, since Togarmah is the brother of Ashkenaz according to Gen 10:3, and the country on the Pontus, Ararat and Caucasus is in general the home of the children of Japheth (Niebuhrut sup.). Knobel. (Vlkertafel and on Gen 10:3) regards Ashkenaz as the Asorum genus and says in reference to this passage: The Ashkenaz mentioned in Jer 51:27 appears to be a remnant of the Asi nation in Asia. [Comp. also Keil and Delitzsch on Gen 10:3, Tr. I. p. 163.S. R. A.]. In general these three peoples here mentioned correspond to the nations from the north which are spoken of in Jer 50:3; Jer 50:9.Appoint a captain. The word occurs besides only in Nah 3:17. The meaning is doubtful. All we learn from the context is that something hostile to Babylon is intended. The words against her follow four times in Jer 51:27-28, and cannot be taken in another sense the third time from the other three. It is therefore not a measure within Babylon but against Babylon which is spoken of. Appoint is then used as in Jer 15:3. I do not think that number, multitude can be the point of comparison between this and the parallel horses (it is certainly not so with in Nah 3:17), and that therefore the word designates troops of any kind (Graf, Meier). It is admitted by most commentators that it is an Assyrian word. (Comp. Strauss on Nahum, S. 123). In the inscription of Bisutun, the Assyrian text of which has been rendered in Hebrew letters by Oppert, (Exp. en Msop, II. p. 233), the word occurs times innumerable in the sense of King, as a title of Darius. Comp. also Strauss, S. 124 Anm., etc.;Brandis, Gewinn, etc., S. 101, 2. might thus be a compound of . The circumstance that the different nations have their leaders in their kings is no ground against this hypothesis, for the multifarious host would still need a common head. I therefore adhere provisionally to the meaning captain.Like bristly locusts. Comp. Jer 51:14. The comparison is very graphic, both with respect to the number and also the form and movements of the animals. Comp. Credner on Joe 1:4.Consecrate nations is repeated as a sign that the prophet will yet make new and important additions to the nations already mentioned.Kings of Media. The plural is no more to be regarded as an absolutely indifferent matter than as depending on distinct historical knowledge. It simply leaves open the possibility of a plurality. A great war with Babylon would certainly occupy the whole royal family of Media and might occupy several Median kings in succession. For an analogous case comp. Jer 17:20; Jer 19:3.Jeremiahs mention of the Medes is significant for two reasons: 1. because at that time, in the fourth year of Zedekiah (155 Nabon.=B. C. 598), Nebuchadnezzar was in all probability at war with Media. His father-in-law, Cyaxares, had died the year before, B. C. 594. This was a favorable epoch to cast off the previous supremacy of Media. We think that we may unhesitatingly assume that Nabukudrussur had to undertake a great war with Media in the years 154 and 155, says Niebuhr (Ass. u. Bab., S. 212, 3 and on his reasons for this view Ib. S. 211 and S. 284),2. because in the mention of the Medes there is a strong argument against those who assert that this prophecy was composed post eventum, during the captivity, for at this time the Persians and not the Medes would have been designated as the conquerors of Babylon. Comp. Jer 51:11.Her satraps. Comp. Jer 51:23; Jer 51:57.To make, etc. Comp. Isa 13:9; Jer 2:15; Jer 4:7; Jer 9:10; Jer 46:19; Jer 50:3; Jer 51:47.
Jer 51:30. The heroes of Babylon broken.Become women. Comp. Jer 50:37; Nah 3:13.They have burned. The subject is the enemies.Bars are broken. Comp. Amo 1:5; Isa 45:2; Lam 2:9.As only the capture of the city is described, the burning of the dwellings must not be referred to a burning of the whole city, presupposing the capture. It must rather be intended as a parallel to the breaking of the bars. The sentence discloses that the enemies had begun their work by setting the dwellings on fire. [Compare the account of the siege of Babylon in Xenophon as given by Wordsworth.S. R. A.]
Jer 51:31-32. Courier confounded. The prophet conceives of the king as in the midst of the city, in his citadel. When the city is taken from the end thereof (comp. Jer 50:26) the messengers hastening to inform the king would meet each other. This is a sad meeting, an accumulation of calamities which reminds us of the Jobs posts (Job 1:13 sqq.).Passages., are passages. Forts may be meant, but also bridges or tunnels, or even the stations of the messenger or ferries, since on account of the walls a landing could not be made at pleasure. Concerning the bridges which connected the two banks of the river in the middle of the city and the tunnel under the Euphrates, which connected the two royal castles, comp. Oppert, I. S. 192, etc. The Euphrates, moreover, had no fords, and the article forbids us to think of the bed of the Euphrates, laid dry by the diversion of the stream (Herod., I.191), as it denotes that definite and well-known points of transition are meant. The expression may well be referred to the bridge, the ferry-stations and perhaps also to the tunnel. Both this sentence and the following parts of Jer 51:33 belong to the announcements spoken of in Jer 51:31.The ponds burned with fire. This sentence is enigmatical. The view that the burning is not to be understood literally, but merely to be taken as figurative for drying up, for which an appeal is strangely made to 1Ki 18:38, seems to me as untenable as that, according to which the burning is to be referred merely to the sedge. The former view is opposed by the formal reason that the figure would be an unsuitably exaggerated one, the latter by the material reason that the burning of the sedge seems purposeless. But are the great water-works of Nebuchadnezzar to be conceived of as having no wood-work about them? Did not the flood-gates at least consist of wood? The great basin of Sepharvaim, e.g., might be opened and closed by flood gates (comp. Duncker, Gesch. d. Alterth. I. S. 849). If the Euphrates were dried up and it was wished to complete the act of demolition, the destruction of the sluices by fire might be an appropriate way of accomplishing this. I do not mean to say that I perceive a special prediction in these words. Jeremiah paints the picture of the destruction of Babylon in Colors, which in general betray a correct knowledge of Babylonian circumstances. This picture could not be applied to the capture of any city at pleasure, but the coloring is nowhere so specific that we must say it is either a mantle prediction or a vaticinium post eventum. Jeremiahs mind was occupied only with the great theme,Babylon will tall and be destroyed, and Israel will be delivered. He greatly varies this theme, and here and there a feature finds a surprisingly accurate fulfilment, but there may be here a deeply hidden connection between cause and effect, which we cannot fathom or demonstrate, and the prophet had no foreknowledge of this agreement of his words with the future reality. Comp. Jer 50:21 and the rems. on Jer 51:39. Kueper in the Beweis des Glaubens, February and March, 1867.Are confounded. Comp. Isa 13:8. The words as the purport of the message correspond exactly to what was reported as a fact in Jer 51:30. [Comp. Herod., I. 181; Aristot., Polit. III. c. l; Rawlinson, Anc. Mon. III. 363; and Pusey, on Daniel, p. 268, in Wordsworth and his note on the fulfilment of this prophecy.S. R. A.]
Jer 51:33. For thus saith to her. For attaches these words closely to the previous verse. What follows is separated by its specific contents, and thus the statement of reason forms a conclusion. When Jeremiah wrote Babylon stood at the zenith of its bloom. The rejoinder might then be made to him, How canst thou, contrary to all appearances, speak of such an enfeebling of this glorious army and of the capture and destruction of these impregnable bulwarks? Jeremiah replies, Babylon is a threshing-floor. All that is now done to render her great and glorious is no more than a preparation of the floor by treading. In a short time, however, the season of harvest will come to her. Jeremiah here leans back upon Jer 50:26. The glorious city shall one day serve only as a threshing-floor for all the treasures harvested by her enemies.
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:
[15]Jer 51:29.. The Imperf. with Vau consec. is used here because the prophet transports himself so vividly to the future that he regards it as already past. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 88, 5. There is therefore no necessity of reading with Meier.
[16]Jer 51:29.. Comp. Jer 44:28-29. On the singular comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 105, 4 b.
[17]Jer 51:30.The form is probably to be derived from exaruit. This root occurs only in two passages elsewhere; Isa 19:5, , and Isa 41:17, . The latter form may have stood for with Dag. f. euphon. Comp. Olsh., 83 b and 232 e; Delitzsch on Isa 19:5. Others would derive the forms from , or . Comp. Fuerst s. v. , Gesen., Thes. s. v. . At any rate a play upon words with appears to be intended.
[18]Jer 51:33.= facere. Comp. Hitzig ad loc.With regard to the construction, it is not necessary to assume an irregular infinitive form, but simply to supply . Comp. Jer 51:3 and Naegelsb. Gr., 80, 6.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

Jer 51:27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
Ver. 27. Set up a standard. ] Thus God the great Induperator bespeaketh the Medes and Persians as his field officers.

Prepare the nations against her. ] Heb., Sanctify, call them together to wage this sacred war against Babylon.

Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz, ] i.e., Of both the Armenias and of Aseania, subdued by Cyrus before he marched against Babylon. a Vatablus will have Ashchenaz to be Gothland; the Jews, Germany; but these were too far remote.
a Xenoph., Cyrop., lib. vii.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 51:27-32
27Lift up a signal in the land,
Blow a trumpet among the nations!
Consecrate the nations against her,
Summon against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz;
Appoint a marshal against her,
Bring up the horses like bristly locusts.
28Consecrate the nations against her,
The kings of the Medes,
Their governors and all their prefects,
And every land of their dominion.
29So the land quakes and writhes,
For the purposes of the Lord against Babylon stand,
To make the land of Babylon
A desolation without inhabitants.
30The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting,
They stay in the strongholds;
Their strength is exhausted,
They are becoming like women;
Their dwelling places are set on fire,
The bars of her gates are broken.
31One courier runs to meet another,
And one messenger to meet another,
To tell the king of Babylon
That his city has been captured from end to end;
32The fords also have been seized,
And they have burned the marshes with fire,
And the men of war are terrified.
Jer 51:27-32 YHWH calls on the Persian Empire to take up arms against Babylon in a series of imperatives.
1. lift up a signal – BDB 669, KB 724, Qal imperative, cf. Jer 51:12; Jer 50:2; Isa 5:26; Isa 13:2
2. blow a trumpet – BDB 1075, KB 1785, Qal imperative
3. consecrate the nations – BDB 872, KB 1073, Piel imperative
4. summon. . .kingdoms – BDB 1033, KB 1570, Hiphil imperative
5. appoint a marshal – BDB 823, KB 955, Qal imperative, cf. Jer 49:19; Jer 50:44
6. bring up horses – BDB 748, KB 828, Hiphil imperative
7. in Jer 51:28 a #3 is repeated
Jer 51:27 Ararat This nation is located around Lake Van. Today its territory is in Armenia, Russia, and Iran. It was known as Urartu by the Assyrians. This ethnic group participated in the Persian attack on Babylon.
Minni This refers to the people group south of Lake Van. They were later known as Scythians but at this time as Mannaeans.
Ashkenaz This group of people is mentioned in Gen 10:3; 1Ch 1:6, living east of Lake Urmia. They are also part of what later became the Scythians.
Jer 51:30 This is ANE imagery of dis-spirited soldiers.
1. they have ceased fighting
2. they stay in the stronghold
3. their strength is exhausted
4. they are like women
Their fortifications are breached.
1. set on fire
2. gate bars broken
Jer 51:31-32 This is a message to be delivered to the king of Babylon by the city’s defenders.
1. the city is captured
2. fords seized
3. marshes burned
4. soldiers terrified
There was no way to escape!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

prepare = set apart, or sanctify.
Minni. Frequently mentioned in the inscriptions, the Assyrians having been compelled to quell revolts there.
captain = muster-master or marshal, like the Assyrian dupsarru, or tablet-writer. Hebrew. tiphsar. Occurs only here and Nah 3:17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Jer 51:27-33
Jer 51:27-33
Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz: appoint a marshal against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough canker-worm. Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, the governors thereof, and all the deputies thereof, and all the land of their dominion. And the land trembleth and is in pain; for the purposes of Jehovah against Babylon do stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant. The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might hath failed; they are become as women: her dwelling-places are set on fire; her bars are broken. One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to met another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter: and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.
Ararat…
(Jer 51:27). This is an ancient name for part of Armenia, including the mountains where the ark rested. It was where the sons of Sennacherib went after they murdered him; and Jeremiah mentioned it here, along with the neighboring districts of Mini and Ashkenaz.
Ashkenaz…
(Jer 51:27). These people were the ancient equivalent of barbarians. Their neighbors were Ararat and Minni. They were located southeast of Lake Van. F14
Minni…
(Jer 51:27). This is the same as Mannai of the Assyrian inscriptions. They were located in the vicinity of the lakes Van and Urmia and seem to have been a very capable people in warfare. They aided the destruction of Nineveh (612 B.C.) and also participated in the capture of Babylon in 539 B.C.). They were vassals of Babylon in the fall of Nineveh, and of the Medes in the fall of Babylon.
The rough canker-worm…
(Jer 51:27). This was the name of the locust in its most devastating phase. See under Jer 51:14, above.
One post shall run to meet another. one messenger to meet another …..
(Jer 51:31). The famed courier system of Babylon brought the drunken king (Daniel 5) the news of the city’s capture from every quarter.
The men of war were affrighted…
(Jer 51:32). This is no wonder. The enemy were all over the city in total control of it; they had already burned the marshes, destroying any place of hiding or of ambush; the king was hopelessly drunk; and the mighty Babylon was as helpless as a woman untrained in war, with no protection, no armor, no weapons, and no hope. Let it be remembered, however, that this was a prophecy of what would happen, not a history of what did happen. The prophecy was so accurate, however, that some have mistaken it for history. The mention of the Medes and their allies both here and in Jer 51:11 are all the proof that is needed that here we have predictive prophecy, not history. No writer, writing afterward would have mentioned the Medes without bringing in the Persians.
Yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come for her…
(Jer 51:33). Note the future verb. We have prophecy, not history. Also, the focus upon Israel here, along with the mention of the fall of Babylon follows the pattern already mentioned, namely, (1) the fall of Babylon, followed by (2) the God of Israel’s care for his children.
THE DOOM OF BABYLON Jer 51:27-58
The third section of the Babylon oracle which begins in Jer 51:27 emphasizes the final doom of Babylon. The attack of the enemy is again described in vivid detail (Jer 51:27-33). Israel lodges a complaint before God concerning their treatment at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. The Lord acknowledges their complaint and assures His distressed people that Babylon will be punished for her crimes (Jer 51:34-40). Babylons demolition will mean Israels liberation (Jer 51:41-46); Babylons retribution, Israels return (Jer 51:47-53). To all of this is added a final pronouncement against Babylon (Jer 51:54-58).
The Attack of the Enemy Jer 51:27-33
Once again in this oracle the Lord calls upon the nations to make preparations for the final onslaught against Babylon. The standard and the trumpet were means of gathering and directing the operations of great hosts of men in antiquity (cf. Jer 50:2; Jer 51:12). Prepare i.e., consecrate or sanctify (ASV mar) the nations against her. It was the custom in that time to begin every war with sacred rites in which the soldiers consecrated themselves to the deity. The campaign against Babylon is viewed throughout this oracle as a holy war because it has to do with a work of the Lord (Jer 50:25) and the vengeance of His sanctuary (Jer 50:28). Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz, located in present-day Armenia, were the northern allies of the Medes. The word translated marshal is an Assyrian word denoting a high military officer, perhaps an enlisting or mustering officer. The cavalry which would play such an important role in the conquest of Babylon is compared to a plague of locusts (cankerworm, ASV). The meaning of the word translated rough is unknown (Jer 51:27). Led by the rulers of the Medes (Jer 51:28) the vast army marches southward toward Babylon causing the land to tremble and be in pain at the news of their approach. God has determined to make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant and that divine purpose is about to be fulfilled (Jer 51:29).
The prophet turns his gaze to what is happening among the defenders of Babylon. At the approach of the enemy host the Babylonian soldiers become panic-stricken. Cowardice makes them withdraw into the strong fortification where they helplessly watch the bars and gates battered down and the dwelling places burned (Jer 51:30). From every quarter Of the city the messengers hasten to the royal palace with the news that the city has fallen to the enemy (Jer 51:31). The enemy has seized the passages across the river Euphrates which ran through the city thus cutting off all hope of escape. At right angles with the river were the main streets of Babylon. At the end of each was a gate and probably steps leading down to the river. Transportation across the river in boats was provided at each of these points. Other commentators understand the passages to be the fords across the canals around Babylon. The reedy swamps around Babylon are put to the torch both to cut off escape and to burn out fugitives who might have sought refuge there (Jer 51:32). Considerable disagreement about the meaning of reeds burned with fire exists among commentators. But how can Jeremiah speak so confidently of the demise of Babylon which in his day was at the zenith of power? Jeremiah replies, Babylon is like a threshing-floor, a piece of ground made level by trampling or treading, which the Lord the God of Israel is already preparing for the harvest. It is yet a little while and the time of harvest and subsequent threshing shall come to Babylon (Jer 51:33).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

ye up: Jer 51:12, Jer 6:1, Jer 50:2, Jer 50:41, Isa 13:2-5, Isa 18:3, Amo 3:6, Zec 14:2
prepare: Jer 25:14
Ararat: Bochart reasonably concludes Ararat and Minni to be the greater and lesser Armenia; and Ashchenaz he thinks formed part of Phrygia near the Hellespont, part of that country being called Ascania by Homer. Cyrus had conquered Armenia, defeated Croesus king of Lydia – bc 548 and subdued several nations from the Egean sea to the Euphrates, before he marched against Babylon; and Xenophon also informs us that there were not only Armenians, but both Phrygians and Cappadocians in the army of Cyrus. Gen 8:4
Ashchenaz: Gen 10:3, Ashkenaz, 1Ch 1:6
cause: Jer 51:14, Jer 46:23, Jer 50:41, Jer 50:42, Jdg 6:5, Joe 2:2, Joe 2:3, Nah 3:15-17, Rev 9:7-11,After Cyrus had been the instrument in the hands of God of taking Babylon, he marched against Tomyris, queen of the Massagete, a Scythian nation, and was totally defeated – bc 530. The victorious queen, who had lost her son in a previous battle, was so incensed against Cyrus, that she cut off his head, and threw it into a vessel filled with human blood, exclaiming, “Sattia te sanguine, quem sitisti.
Reciprocal: 2Ki 19:37 – Armenia Isa 5:26 – he will Isa 13:4 – noise Isa 13:5 – from a far Isa 13:17 – I will Isa 21:2 – Go up Isa 21:5 – arise Isa 21:9 – behold Isa 37:38 – Armenia Isa 41:25 – raised Jer 4:6 – the standard Jer 6:4 – Prepare Jer 49:14 – Gather Jer 50:3 – out of the Jer 50:9 – I will raise Jer 50:14 – in array Jer 50:26 – against Jer 51:2 – in the day Jer 51:11 – the Lord hath Eze 7:14 – have Eze 26:11 – hoofs Eze 33:3 – he blow Hos 8:1 – the trumpet Joe 1:4 – the caterpillar Oba 1:1 – Arise Nah 2:5 – recount Hab 2:7 – they
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 51:27. The worid empires such as Merlo-Persia comprised the units of government in many localities. Some of such units are mentioned in this verse and they will be among the forces that Persia will bring against the capital of the Babylonians. Set up a standard in the land means the flag of the invading army will be planted in the conquered country.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Jer 51:27-29. Set ye up a standard blow the trumpet These were common signals for assembling armies together. Call together the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashehenaz These were countries under the dominion of the Medes. The two former probably the greater and lesser Armenia, and the latter a part of Phrygia, near the Hellespont: so Bochart thinks. And that both Armenians and Phrygians composed part of the army which Cyrus led against Babylon, may be seen in Xenophon. Cyropd., lib. 3. and lib. 7. Appoint a captain against her Appoint a proper person, who has skill, courage, and conduct, to command and direct all these nations. Such was Cyrus, who was accordingly appointed to this purpose. Cause her horses to come up as the rough caterpillars Or, the rough locusts, as Bochart renders it, who observes, that there are some insects of that kind rough and hairy. Blaney reads, bristled locusts. Locusts represent horses, not only in their swiftness, but likewise in the shape of their heads, and Joe 2:4, Rev 9:7, they are said to have the appearance of horses and horsemen. Prepare against her the kings of the Medes The several princes or viceroys of the provinces belonging to the Median empire, with their people. All princes and governors are called kings in the Hebrew language. The land shall tremble and sorrow An expression commonly used to express the confusion of the inhabitants under some great calamity. For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed, &c. See notes on Jer 50:16-40.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

51:27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of {q} Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.
(q) By these three nations he means Armenia the higher, Armenia the lower and Scythia; for Cyrus had gathered an army of various nations.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

11. God’s instruments of Babylon’s destruction 51:27-33
Several nations would ally themselves against Babylon.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Jeremiah called for an assembling of nations to go to war against Babylon. The kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz-all referred to in Assyrian inscriptions-were in eastern Anatolia (modern Armenia) north of Babylon. This united armed force would descend on Babylon like an army of locusts at a very destructive stage in their lifecycle (cf. Jer 51:14). [Note: Harrison, Jeremiah and . . ., p. 188.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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