Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 51:46

And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumor that shall be heard in the land; 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.

46. a rumour a rumour ] Rumour shall succeed rumour, as the years go on, and disquieting revolts shall foreshadow the final break-up of the Babylonian empire.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Literally, And beware lest your heart faint, and ye be afraid because of the rumour that is heard in the land: for in one year shall one rumour come, and afterward in another year another rumour; and violence shall be in the land etc. The fall of Babylon was to be preceded by a state of unquiet, mens minds being unsettled partly by rumors of the warlike preparations of the Medes, and of actual invasions: partly by intestine feuds. So before the conquest of Jerusalem by the Romans the Church had similar warnings Mat 24:6-7.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 46. A rumour shall – come one year] A year before the capture of the city there shall be a rumour of war, – and in that year Belshazzar was defeated by Cyrus. In the following year the city was taken.

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

And lest your heart faint; and lest they should be affrighted by the succession of evils year after year that should come on Babylon. Some think it were better translated, And let not your heart faint. Though you should hear of Cyruss coming year after year, yet faint not; (for they say Cyrus was one year preparing, and that he spent the second year in passing through Assyria, so as he came not at Babylon till the third year;) no, not though you should see or hear of successive troubles, and a great deal of violence in the land by the opposition of great princes one to another, for none of them shall do you any harm; but this doth not so well suit to the former verse, where they are bidden to make haste out and to save their own lives. I do therefore prefer the sense of our interpreters, and their translation of it, as making another argument to persuade them to make haste out, because they would by reason of the successive evils year after year coming upon the Babylonians live there very troublesome and uneasy lives.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

46. And lestCompare, for thesame ellipsis, Gen 3:22; Exo 13:17;Deu 8:12. “And in order thatyour heart may not faint at the (first) rumor” (of war), I willgive you some intimation of the time. In the first “year”there shall “come a rumor” that Cyrus is preparing for waragainst Babylon. “After that, in another year, shall come arumor,” namely, that Cyrus is approaching, and has alreadyentered Assyria. Then is your time to “go out” (Jer51:45). Babylon was taken the following or third year ofBelshazzar’s reign [GROTIUS].

violence in the landofBabylon (Ps 7:16).

ruler against ruleror,”ruler upon ruler,” a continual change of rulers in a shortspace. Belshazzar and Nabonidus, supplanted by Darius or Cyaxares,who is succeeded by Cyrus.

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

And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land,…. The rumour of war in the land of Chaldea; the report of the Medes and Persians preparing to invade it, and besiege Babylon, in the peace of which city the Jews had peace; and therefore might fear they should suffer in the calamities of it; but, lest they should, they are ordered to go cut of it, and accept the liberty that should be granted by the conqueror, who would do them no hurt, but good; and had therefore nothing to fear from him; and, as a token, assuring them of this, the following things are declared; which, when they should observe, they need not be troubled, being forewarned; yea, might take encouragement from it, and believe that their redemption drew nigh:

a rumour shall both come [one] year and after that in [another] year [shall come] a rumour; in one year there was a rumour of the great preparation Cyrus was making to invade Chaldea, and besiege Babylon; in another year, that is, the following, as the Targum rightly renders it, there was a second rumour of his coming; and who actually did come into Assyria, but was stopped at the river Gyndes, not being able to pass it for want of boats; and, being enraged at the loss of a favourite horse in it, resolved upon the draining it; which he accomplished, by cutting many sluices and rivulets; in doing which he spent the whole summer; and the spring following came to Babylon, as Herodotus l relates; when what is after predicted followed:

and violence in the land, ruler against ruler; the king of Babylon came out with his forces to meet Cyrus, as the same historian says; when a battle ensue, in which the former was beat, and obliged to retire into the city, which then Cyrus besieged; and thus violence and devastations were made in the land by the army of the Medes and Persians; and ruler was against ruler; Cyrus against Belshazzar, and Belshazzar against him. Some read it, “ruler upon ruler” m; that is, one after another, in a very short time; so Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel; thus two before Belshazzar, then Darius, and, after Darius, Cyrus.

l L. 1. sive Clio, c. 189, 190. m “dominator super dominatorem”, Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Yet they are not to despair when the catastrophe draws near, and all kinds of rumours of war and oppression are abroad. The repetition of expresses the correlative relation, – this and that report; cf. Ewald, 360, c. The suffix in has a neuter sense; the word means “afterwards” (= , Job 42:16). is also to be taken as dependent, grammatically, on : “and when a deed of violence is committed in the land, one ruler (rises up) against the other.” These words presuppose not merely a pretty long duration of the war, but also rebellion and revolution, through which Babylon is to go to ruin. In this sense they are employed by Christ for describing the wars and risings that are to precede His advent; Mat 24:6; Mar 13:7; Luk 21:9.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Here the Prophet in due time anticipates a danger, lest the Jews should be disturbed in their minds, when they saw those dreadful shakings which afterwards happened; for when their minds were raised to an expectation of a return, great commotions began to arise in Babylon. Babylon, as it is well known, was for a long time besieged, and, as is usual in wars, every day brings forth something new. As, then, God, in a manner, shook the whole land, it could not be, especially under increasing evils, but that the miserable exiles should become faint, being in constant fear; for they were exposed to the wantonness of their enemies. Then the Prophet seasonably meets them here, and shows that there was no cause for them to be disturbed, whatever might happen.

Come, he says, and rise shall various rumors; but stand firm in your minds. Interpreters confine these rumors to the first year of Belshazzar; but I know not whether such a view is correct. I consider the words simply intended to strengthen weak minds, lest they should be overwhelmed, or at least vacillate, through trials, when they heard of grievous commotions.

But there is a doctrine here especially useful; for when God designs to aid his Church, he suffers the world to be, in a manner, thrown into confusion, that the favor of redemption may appear more remarkable. Unless, then, the faithful were to have some knowledge of God’s mercy, they could never endure with courageous minds the trials by which God proves them, and while Satan, on the other hand, seeks to upset their faith. There is the prelude of this very thing to be seen in the ancient people: God had promised to be their redeemer; when the day drew nigh, war suddenly arose, and the Medes and the Persians, as locusts, covered the whole land. We know what various evils war brings with it. There is, then, no doubt but that the children of God sustained many and grievous troubles, especially as they were exiles there; they must have suffered want, they must have been harassed in various ways. Now, as the event of war was uncertain, they might have fainted a hundred times, had they not been supported by this prophecy. But, as I have said, so now also God deals with his Church; for when a deliverer appears, all things seem to threaten ruin rather than to promise a joyful and happy deliverance. It is then necessary, that these prophecies should come to our minds, and that we should apply, for our own benefit, what happened formerly to our fathers, for we are the same body. There is, therefore, no reason for us at this day to wonder, if all things seem to get worse and worse, when yet God has promised that the salvation of his Church will ever be precious to him, and that he will take care of her: how so? because it is said, Let not your heart be faint, fear ye not when rumors arise, one after another; when one year brings tumults, and then another year brings new tumults, yet let not all this disturb your minds. (104)

And Christ seems to allude to these words of the Prophet, when he says,

“

Wars shall arise, and rumors of wars: be ye not troubled.” (Mat 24:6)

These words of Christ sufficiently warn us not to think it strange, if the Church at this day be exposed to violent waves, and be tossed as by continual storms: why so? because it is right and just that our condition should be like that of the fathers, or at least approach to it. We now, then, understand the design of the Prophet, and the perpetual use that ought to be made of what is here taught.

He afterwards adds, Violence in the land, and a ruler upon or after a ruler. This refers to Cyrus, who succeeded Darius, whom some call Cyaxares. They, indeed, as it is well known, both ruled; but Darius, who was older, had the honor of being the supreme king. Afterwards Cyrus, when Darius was dead, became the king of the whole monarchy. And Darius the Mede lived only one year after Babylon was taken. But I doubt not but that the Prophet here bids the Jews to be of good courage and of a cheerful mind, though the land should often change its masters; for that change, however often, could take away nothing from God’s authority and government. It afterwards follows, —

(104) Some, as Blayney, following the Syr. , connect this verse with the preceding: The Jews are bidden to leave Babylon, that they might escape the wrath of God, and lest their hearts should faint at the evil romors that would spread there, —

And lest your heart faint, And ye be afraid of the rumor rumored in the land, — For it shall come in one year, the romor, etc.

But if פן, rendered lest, be taken, as it is sometimes, a dissuasive particle, then the rendering would be as follows, —

And let not your heart be faint, Nor be ye afraid of the rumor rumored in the land; When it shall come in one year, the rumor, And afterwards in a year, the rumor, And violence shall be in the land, ruler against ruler.

The reference seems to be to the commotions in Babylon before the liberation of the Jews. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(46) And lest your heart faint . . .Better, Let not your heart faint; fear ye not . . .

For the rumour that shall be heard in the land.It lies in the nature of the case that the final catastrophe of the city would be preceded by a period of uncertainty and suspense. Men would hear of the union of the Medes and Persians under Cyrus, of the murder of Evil-Merodach by Neriglissar, of the death of Neriglissar in fighting against the enemy (B.C. 555). The child-king, whom Berosus calls Laborosoarchod, was dethroned by his nobles after a few months, and was succeeded by the father of the Belshazzar of Dan. 5:1, the Labynetus of Herodotus, whose true name was Nabo-nahid. The whole empire was in the throes of dissolution. The words present a singular parallel to those which speak of wars and rumours of wars in Mat. 24:6-7; Luk. 21:9.

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

46. And lest your heart faint In order that the sense here may come out into expression, some such word as beware should be employed. Beware lest your heart faint.

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