Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 51:54
A sound of a cry [cometh] from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
54. Cp. Jer 48:3, Jer 50:22.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A cry – i. e., the war-cry.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
To assure them that what God threatened should certainly be, he calls to the Jews to listen, as if already there were cry from Babylon, and a sound of a great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
A sound of a cry [cometh] from Babylon,…. Of the inhabitants of it upon its being taken; which is said to denote the certainty of it, which was as sure as if the cry of the distressed was then heard:
and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans; that is, the report of a great destruction there, was, or would be, carried from thence, and spread all over the world.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The prophet in the spirit sees these destroyers as already come. A cry of anguish proceeds from Babylon, and great destruction; cf. Jer 50:22, Jer 50:46, and Jer 48:3. For (Jer 51:55) Jahveh lays waste Babylon, and destroys out of her , properly “the loud voice,” i.e., the loud noise and bustle of the city. “Their waves,” i.e., the surging masses of the conquering army, roar like many or great waters; cf. Isa 17:12. , lit., “there is given” (i.e., there sounds) “the noise of their voice,” i.e., of the roaring of their waves. “For there comes on Babylon a destroyer, so that her heroes are made prisoners, and her bows (by synecdoche for weapons) broken in pieces.” The Piel has here an intransitive sense, “to break or shiver into pieces,” like , Isa 48:8; Isa 60:11. This must take place, for Jahveh is a God of retribution; cf. Jer 51:24. This retribution He will execute in such a way as to make the princes, wise men, rulers, and heroes of Babylon sink down into an eternal sleep, by presenting to them the cup of wrath. On and , cf. Jer 51:39. On the enumeration of the different classes of leaders and supporters of the state, cf. Jer 51:23 and Jer 50:35; and on the designation of Jahveh as King, Jer 48:15, with the remark there made.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Jeremiah in a manner exults over Babylon, in order that the faithful, having had all obstacles removed or surmounted, might feel assured that what the Prophet had predicted of the fall of Babylon would be confirmed, he then brings them to the very scene itself, when he says, that there would be the voice of a cry from Babylon, and that there would be great breaking or distress from the land of the Chaldeams
We, at the same time, may render שבר, shober, here “crashing,” so that it may correspond with the previous clause: he had said, The voice of a cry from Babylon; now he says, a crashing from the land of the Chaldeans They call that sound crashing, which is produced by some great shaking; as when a great mass falls, it does not happen without a great noise. This, then, is properly what the Prophet means. We have already stated why he used these words, even that the faithful might have before their eyes the event itself, which as yet was incredible. It follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
E. The Final Pronouncement Against Babylon Jer. 51:54-58
TRANSLATION
(54) Hark! A cry from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans. (55) For the LORD is destroying Babylon, silencing her great noise. Her waves roar like many waters, the noise of their voice is given forth. (56) For a destroyer shall come against her, against Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows shattered, for a God of recompense is the LORD; He will surely recompense. (57) And I will cause her princes, wise. men, governors, leaders and mighty men to drink and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and never awake (oracle of the King, the LORD of hosts is His name). (58) Thus says the LORD of hosts: The wide wall of Babylon shall be utterly razed, and her high gates shall be put to the torch. Thus people labor for nothing and nations get weary only for fire.
COMMENTS
With prophetic ear Jeremiah can hear the cry at Babylon as the destruction of the city commences (Jer. 51:54). The foe sweeps into Babylon like a great sea, its roar drowning out the great voice (the tumult) of the city (Jer. 51:55). The military arm of Babylon is crushed, the defensive weapons are destroyed (Jer. 51:56). The leaders of Babylon will drink the cup of Gods wrath and fall into a helpless stupor that they may not be able to defend the city. Indeed they will be slain in their drunkenness and will sleep a perpetual sleep, the sleep of death (cf. Jer. 51:39). The Lord of hosts, the King of creation, has spoken it and it shall come to pass (Jer. 51:57). The broad walls of Babylon, which must have appeared impregnable to the captives there, will be overthrown and the gates of the city will be burned. Ancient testimony about the dimensions of the walls of Babylon is contradictory. Herodotus, the Greek historian, estimated these walls to have been more than 350 feet high. On the basis of excavation at the ancient site of Babylon modern scholars estimate the walls to have been about 60 or 70 feet high and about 40 feet wide.[421] Herodotus further testifies that in the circuit of the wall of Babylon were a hundred gates, all of brass, with brazen lintels and side-posts.[422] These gates will be burned i.e., attacked, destroyed and melted down. Countless thousands of workers from many nations of the world labored to make the citadel of Babylon impregnable. But when the Lord begins to pour out His wrath upon that city all of their weary labor will be proved to have been in vain; all the work of their hands will be set to the torch. It is very appropriate that Jeremiah closes the Babylon oracle with a quote from his contemporary Habakkuk: The peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for fire; and they shall be weary (cf. Hab. 2:13).
[421] Streane, op. cit., p. 342.
[422] Herodotus I. 179.
The abiding lesson in all this is succinctly stated in Jer. 51:56 : The Lord is a God of recompense. He will surely requite. The God of the Bible is a God of judgment however much moderns may wish it otherwise. He will require, i.e., render the full payment, to any individual or nation that despises Him and mocks His word. Be not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap (Gal. 6:7).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
A Prophetic Description Of The Fulfilment Of YHWH’s Word Spoken Against Babylon And Confirmation That It Would Be So ( Jer 51:54-58 ).
The section dealing with YHWH’s word against Babylon, which began at Jer 50:1, ends with these verses making clear that Babylon will be laid waste and that God will obtain recompense for what Babylon had done to Israel/Judah, to His Temple and to the nations. It follows on Jer 51:50 where we have more than a hint of the coming restoration of Jerusalem. Thus the restoration of Jerusalem and the destruction of Babylon can be seen as inter-connected. It is not accidental that chapter 52 will major on Babylon’s destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, followed by the hint of the restoration of the Davidic monarchy. Out of darkness will come the first glimmer of light.
Jer 51:54-57
“The sound of a cry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
For YHWH lays Babylon waste,
And destroys out of her the great voice,
And their waves roar like many waters,
The noise of their voice is uttered,
For the destroyer is come upon her,
Even on Babylon,
And her mighty men are taken,
Their bows are broken in pieces,
For a God of recompenses is YHWH,
He will surely requite (‘requiting He will requite’).
And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men,
Her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men,
And they will sleep a perpetual sleep,
And will not wake,
The word of the King,
Whose name is YHWH of hosts.”
Note the continuing play on the idea of the voices arising from the land. Initially the sound of a cry coming from Babylon probably indicates a cry of hopelessness, for it is accompanied by the sounds of destruction coming from the land, and these arise because YHWH Himself is laying the land waste, even though the instruments be Medo-Persians. There might be a case, however, for seeing the cry that arises as being that of the invaders, tying in with Jer 51:55 b. But either way the consequence is that ‘the great voice’ of Babylon is destroyed. The great voice of Babylon is the noise of the city’s conversations and cries arising out of its day to day living, and especially out of its festivities. That will be destroyed as the cry of Jer 51:51 goes upwards.
‘And their waves roar like many waters, the noise of their voice is uttered, for the destroyer is come upon her, even on Babylon.’ If we take the cry in Jer 51:54 as that of the invaders then the ‘their’ refers back to it. If we see it as referring to the plaintive cry of Babylon then the ‘their’ must still be seen as referring to the invaders, with the antecedent being found in ‘the destroyers’ of Jer 51:53. ‘Their waves roaring like many waters’ parallels ‘the noise of their voice being uttered’, and refers not to literal waters but to the flood of armed men who will pour over the land crying out their war-cries, and shouting exultantly as they seize booty and rape women (compare Jer 6:23), as the destroyer comes on Babylon. For the idea of a flood of invaders compare Isa 8:7-8
‘And her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces, for a God of recompenses is YHWH, He will surely requite.’ The result is that Babylon’s armed mighty men are rendered helpless, and their bows are broken in pieces. Compare Jer 51:3. And this is because it is the recompense of God towards a sinful and evil nation. For He is ‘a God of recompenses’. It is His very nature. And He is requiting on them what they have done to others, and especially what they have done to His people, a continuing theme of the whole two chapters.
‘And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men, and they will sleep a perpetual sleep, and will not wake. The word of the King, Whose name is YHWH of hosts.’ Note the repetition of the idea in Jer 51:29. The primary idea here is that they will drink of the cup of YHWH’s anger (antipathy against sin) which will result in perpetual sleep, i.e. death. See chapter Jer 25:15-16; Jer 25:26-27. There was, however, a more literal fulfilment as Daniel 5 makes clear. On the night that Babylon was taken Belshazzar and his lords were feasting and drowning themselves in drink, something which was immediately followed by their deaths as the Persian soldiery arrived in the palace. Herodotus tells us that in fact the whole city was engaged in feasting.
And so that we might have no doubt as to the fulfilment of this prophecy it is declared to be that, not only of YHWH, but of YHWH, King over all, in contrast to the mere princes of the Babylonians (which included their king).
‘Her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men.’ This description covers all the people whom Babylon depended on for its security. The chief princes and their advisers, the governors and the deputies, and finally the trained fighting machine.
Jer 51:58
“Thus says YHWH of hosts,
The broad walls of Babylon will be utterly overthrown,
And her high gates will be burned with fire,
And the peoples shall labour for vanity,
And the nations for the fire,
And they will be weary.”
The section on the judgment of Babylon closes with a confirmation of the fact that all its attempts to make itself invulnerable would fail. Its huge walls, one of the wonders of the ancient world, would eventually be overthrown. Its massive gates would be burned with fire. The labour of those who had built and erected them would turn out to be in vain, and they would weary themselves over something that would end up being burned with fire. That is the end of all labour and activity which is not truly God-driven (1Co 3:10-15).
‘The peoples shall labour for vanity (for what is in vain).’ This is also cited in Hab 2:13, possibly suggesting that it was a common saying.
‘And they shall be weary.’ The people will have worn themselves out for nothing. Possibly it also contains the idea that, having laboured so much on the walls, to then see their destruction rendering their labour useless, would add to their weariness. But its repetition in Jer 51:64 suggests that it has a deeper meaning, and that is that the fruit of association with Babylon was not to be ‘rest’ (which was the destiny of God’s people) but permanent weariness. The repetition in Jer 51:64 brings out that the state is to be seen as being a permanent one, just as today we live in a weary world.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 51:54 A sound of a cry [cometh] from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:
Ver. 54. A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon. ] See Jer 48:3 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 51:54-58
54The sound of an outcry from Babylon,
And of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55For the Lord is going to destroy Babylon,
And He will make her loud noise vanish from her.
And their waves will roar like many waters;
The tumult of their voices sounds forth.
56For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon,
And her mighty men will be captured,
Their bows are shattered;
For the Lord is a God of recompense,
He will fully repay.
57I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,
Her governors, her prefects and her mighty men,
That they may sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,
Declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58Thus says the Lord of hosts,
The broad wall of Babylon will be completely razed
And her high gates will be set on fire;
So the peoples will toil for nothing,
And the nations become exhausted only for fire.
Jer 51:54-58 This is another in a series of poetic prophecies about the fall of Babylon.
Jer 51:54 There are no verbals in Jer 51:54, just stark nouns.
1. hark – BDB 876
2. cry – BDB 277
3. great destruction – adjective, BDB 152 and noun, BDB 991
Jer 51:56 a God of recompense This characterization of YHWH as One who holds humans accountable for their actions is a recurrent theme (cf. Jer 51:6; Isa 35:4; Isa 59:18 [twice]; Isa 66:6; Lam 3:64). For a full list of all the places in Scripture where this truth is revealed, see the note at Jer 17:10.
He will fully repay This is an intensified grammatical form. The infinitive absolute and imperfect verb of the same root (BDB 1022, KB 1532) are used.
Jer 51:58 will be completely razed As Jer 51:56 had an intensified grammatical form, so too, here (i.e., infinitive absolute and imperfect verb of the same root).
This purposeful hyperbole is a common feature of prophetic and apocalyptic literature (see D. Brent Sandy, Plowshares and Pruning Hooks). It was not meant to be taken in a modern, western literalism. In fact, Cyrus did not destroy the walls of the city of Babylon. The amazingly huge, thick double walls of Babylon (cf. Herodotus 1.178ff) were destroyed by Xerxes I in 482 B.C.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Jer 51:54-58
Jer 51:54-58
The sound of a cry from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! For Jehovah layeth Babylon waste, and destroyeth out of her the great voice; and their waves roar like many waters; the noise of their voice is uttered: for the destroyer is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, their bows are broken in pieces; for Jehovah is a God of recompenses, he will surely requite. And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her deputies, and her mighty men; and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly overthrown, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they shall be weary.
They shall sleep. saith the King …..
(Jer 51:57). Right in the midst of all the records regarding ancient kings, governors, deputies, etc., the real KING is introduced. He is Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel.
The broad walls of Babylon…
(Jer 51:58). Once more, we shall allow the ancient pagan authorities to tell us about those broad walls. Herodotus gave their breadth as 85 feet, Strabo and Curtius agreed that they were 31 feet; and Donald Wiseman found some pagan authority who gave the width as 25 feet! One ancient writer tells us that four chariots could be raced abreast upon the top of Babylon’s walls.
E. The Final Pronouncement Against Babylon Jer 51:54-58
With prophetic ear Jeremiah can hear the cry at Babylon as the destruction of the city commences (Jer 51:54). The foe sweeps into Babylon like a great sea, its roar drowning out the great voice (the tumult) of the city (Jer 51:55). The military arm of Babylon is crushed, the defensive weapons are destroyed (Jer 51:56). The leaders of Babylon will drink the cup of Gods wrath and fall into a helpless stupor that they may not be able to defend the city. Indeed they will be slain in their drunkenness and will sleep a perpetual sleep, the sleep of death (cf. Jer 51:39). The Lord of hosts, the King of creation, has spoken it and it shall come to pass (Jer 51:57). The broad walls of Babylon, which must have appeared impregnable to the captives there, will be overthrown and the gates of the city will be burned. Ancient testimony about the dimensions of the walls of Babylon is contradictory. Herodotus, the Greek historian, estimated these walls to have been more than 350 feet high. On the basis of excavation at the ancient site of Babylon modern scholars estimate the walls to have been about 60 or 70 feet high and about 40 feet wide. Herodotus further testifies that in the circuit of the wall of Babylon were a hundred gates, all of brass, with brazen lintels and side-posts. These gates will be burned i.e., attacked, destroyed and melted down. Countless thousands of workers from many nations of the world labored to make the citadel of Babylon impregnable. But when the Lord begins to pour out His wrath upon that city all of their weary labor will be proved to have been in vain; all the work of their hands will be set to the torch. It is very appropriate that Jeremiah closes the Babylon oracle with a quote from his contemporary Habakkuk: The peoples shall labor for vanity, and the nations for fire; and they shall be weary (cf. Hab 2:13).
The abiding lesson in all this is succinctly stated in Jer 51:56 : The Lord is a God of recompense. He will surely requite. The God of the Bible is a God of judgment however much moderns may wish it otherwise. He will require, i.e., render the full payment, to any individual or nation that despises Him and mocks His word. Be not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap (Gal 6:7).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Jer 48:3-5, Jer 50:22, Jer 50:27, Jer 50:43, Jer 50:46, Isa 13:6-9, Isa 15:5, Zep 1:10, Rev 18:17-19
Reciprocal: Jer 4:6 – and a great Jer 46:12 – thy cry
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 51:54. The cry that is predicted refers to the wail of distress that the people of Babylon were to utter at her shameful overthrow.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
15. The justice of Babylon’s judgment 51:54-58
It was righteous and just for Yahweh to judge Babylon. The repetition of terms from Jer 50:2-3; Jer 50:46 forms an inclusio (bookends) that frames the entire oracle against Babylon. [Note: Smothers, p. 372.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
When the Lord destroys the land of the Chaldeans, there will be loud cries of anguish that will replace the loud noise of her hustle and bustle. These cries would resemble the sound of the waves of the sea.