Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 50:14
Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.
14. Cp. Isa 13:16-22, specially Jer 50:18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
place the colon after bow.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The prophet calls to the Medes and Persians, with those who should come with them to their assistance, to put themselves in military order ready to come up against Babylon. The Persians (as was noted before) were very famous for the bow, therefore he speaketh unto them as an army of archers, to shoot at the Babylonians, and to
spare no arrows; because Babylon had
sinned against the Lord exceedingly, as Gen 13:13, by their idolatry, luxury, and cruel usage of the Jews, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. Summons to the Median armyto attack Babylon.
against the LordByoppressing His people, their cause is His cause. Also by profaningHis sacred vessels (Da 5:2).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about,…. This is directed to the Medes and Persians, to dispose of their army in proper places round about the city of Babylon, to besiege it; and to order their instruments of war, fit for that purpose, a convenient manner; since they might be sure of victory, the Lord being wroth with it, and having so severely threatened its ruin:
all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows; the Elamites, or Persians, as before observed, were well skilled in archery; and, as Xenophon q reports, Cyrus had in his army, when he came to Babylon, a great number of archers and slingers; and the archers are called upon to draw the bow, who were expert at it, and not spare their arrows, since they would everyone do execution, as in Jer 50:9; and the slingers to “cast [their stones] at her” r, for so may be rendered; and thus it is interpreted, by Jarchi and by Kimchi, of casting either arrows or stones:
for she hath sinned against the Lord; which brought the wrath of God upon her; and chiefly the ill treatment of his people was the sin against him he resented.
q Cyropaedia, l. 9. c. 1. l. 7. c. 1. r “jacite contra eam”, Pagninus, De Dieu “jacite ad eam”, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Vs. 14-16: DIVINE VENGEANCE EXECUTED
1. The attackers of Babylon are encouraged to press the battle upon her who has grievously sinned against Jehovah, (vs. 14). 2. One can almost hear the Median battle-cry (vs. 15a) before which Babylon surrenders.
a. Now she will reap what she has sown, (comp. vs. 29; Jer Psa 137:8; Gal 6:7-8).
b. And it is clear that this retribution is the very vengeance of the Lord upon the oppressor of His people, (comp. Jer 46:10).
3. Though conquerors usually spared those engaged in agriculture, it was not to be so with Babylon, (vs. 16a).
4. Fearing the sword of the new oppressor, the captives of Babylon flee to their own lands, (vs. 16b; comp. Isa 13:14; Jer 51:9).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The Prophet now turns to address the Medes and Persians, and instigates them, in the name of God, to destroy Babylon. We have already said, why the Prophets assume authority over all nations, even that they might show that God’s power is connected with his word. For men do not easily apprehend the efficacy of God’s word, and think that the air is to no purpose beaten by an empty sound. Hence the Prophets show that God has his hand extended whenever he speaks, so that nothing is announced in vain. This then is the reason why the Prophet now, as before, commands the Persians and Medes strenuously to exert themselves in attacking Babylon.
He says, first, Set in order, that is, the battle, or the assault; set in order against Babylon; and then, around, so that no escape might be open to them. He adds, All ye who bend the bow, for this mode of fighting was common among the Medes and Persians, as it appeared elsewhere; and the Orientals still follow the same practice, for they throw darts at their enemy, and move here and there, for they do not engage in pitched battles. he afterwards says, Throw or shoot at her, spare not the arrow; the singular is here used for the plural, he adds the reason, because they have acted wickedly against God. (59)
Though the iniquity of Babylon was manifold, there is yet no doubt but that God here undertakes the cause of his Church. Then, of all the sins of the Chaldeans, the chief was this, that they had oppressed the Church of God; for we know with what favor God regards his children, so that he who hurts them toucheth the apple of his eye, as he testifies elsewhere. (Zec 2:8.) This singular effect of love Jeremiah sets forth when he says, that the Chaldeans had acted wickedly against Jehovah, even because they had tyrannically oppressed his Church.
Now God will have nothing, as it were, apart from his children: and hence we learn a useful doctrine, — that the salvation of his Church is so precious in the sight of God, flint he regards the wrong done to the faithful as done to himself. Thus there is no reason why we should torment ourselves, when the ungodly harass us, because God will at length really show that our salvation is not less dear to him than their own eyes are to men. It afterwards follows, —
(59) Or literally, “Because against Jehovah has she sinned.” — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(14) All ye that bend the bow.The words are descriptive of the light-armed troops that formed the strength of the Medo-Persian army (see Jer. 49:35; Jer. 1:14). The words belong properly to the previous clause, and the colon should come after them. Stress is laid in the latter clause on the fact that Babylon has sinned in her cruelty and luxury and tyranny against the righteous government of Jehovah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14-16. Put yourselves in array, etc. These verses are a command to the nations to gather themselves together to execute the purposes of Jehovah. The language is vivid and graphic, and the picture truthful and impressive. The battle array, the bended bow, the thickly flying arrows, the shout of battle, the shattered buttresses, the falling walls and the wholesale and indiscriminate slaughter, are all crowded into this brief description.
She hath given her hand Ordinarily a pledge of faithfulness; here a sign of submission.
Foundations The original occurs only here, but cannot mean “foundations,” as that is quite unsuitable to the connexion. Better, buttresses or battlements.
Sower handleth the sickle No fields are richer than those on the plains of Babylon. Herodotus represents them as yielding two hundred fold. But sower and reaper shall be cut off, and these rich fields shall remain untilled.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Call For Its Destruction ( Jer 50:14-16 ).
In view of the heinousness of her sins God will exact vengeance on Babylon, by exacting from her what she has exacted from others. And this was not only a message to Babylon, but to all who overrode others. Today it is a warning to all whose main interest is in secularism, self-interest and wealth that one day God will call them to account for their failure to listen to His voice.
Jer 50:14-15
“Set yourselves in array against Babylon round about,
All you who bend the bow,
Shoot at her, spare no arrows,
For she has sinned against YHWH,
Shout against her round about,
She has submitted herself,
Her bulwarks are fallen, her walls are thrown down,
For it is the vengeance of YHWH,
Take vengeance on her,
As she has done, do to her.”
The invading armies are called on to surround Babylon, setting themselves in array against her, giving out warlike cries against her, whilst the archers are called on to pour in arrows on her in large numbers. And this because she and her inhabitants have sinned against YHWH. It is the vengeance of YHWH. For they are accountable for what they have done to His people. The consequence is then seen. Her bulwarks fall, her walls are thrown down. And this is because YHWH is taking vengeance on her on behalf of all against whom she has sinned. What she has done to others will now be done to her (compare Psa 137:8). It is a reminder that, in the end, all, however great, come under YHWH’s judgment.
When Cyrus the Persian took Babylon his general did so by his troops diverting the river and entering the city along the dried up river bed. The main buildings were preserved, and in line with his policy (which also resulted in the restoration of official worship at Jerusalem) the national gods were restored to prominence and the new year festival became once more prominent (both had suffered decline under Nabonidus and Belshazzar). It would be later under Xerxes that the city was finally destroyed in accordance with Jeremiah’s prophecy.
‘She has submitted herself.’ Literally, ‘she has given her hand’ in submission. Compare the use of the phrase in Ezr 10:19; 1Ch 29:24; 2Ch 30:8; Lam 5:6.
Jer 50:16
“Cut off the sower from Babylon,
And him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest,
For fear of the oppressing sword they will turn every one to his people,
And they will flee every one to his own land.”
The idea of the sower and the sickle-bearer being cut off is an indication of hard times ahead when all fruitfulness will cease. There will be no joy in harvest, for there will be no harvesters. They will have been slaughtered. This was an inevitable consequence of long term invasion, but few had thought that it would ever happen to Babylon. But now it would. Babylon would find itself under siege, with food supplies growing short. Yet there would still be time for people to flee as the invading armies approached.
For Babylon was a centre to which people flocked from many nations in order to enjoy its way of life, a life of luxury, idolatry and debauchery, and in order to engage in trade (see Isa 47:15). Now the fear of what was coming through ‘the oppressing sword’ would cause them to desert the city and return to their own peoples and to their own lands. Babylon would find herself forsaken by her erstwhile friends. The way of the transgressor is always hard in the end.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
4. THE VENGEANCE OF JEHOVAH
Jer 50:14-16
14Array yourselves against Babylon round about, all ye archers,
Shoot13 at her, spare not14 the arrows,
For against Jehovah hath she sinned.
15Cry against her round about!
She stretches forth15 her hand;
Fallen are her bastions,16
Thrown down are her walls.
For Jehovahs vengeance it is.
Avenge yourselves on her!
As she hath done, do also unto her.
16Exterminate the sower from Babylon,
And him that handleth the sickle at the time of harvest.
Before the destroying sword let every one turn to his people,
And every one flee into his own land.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
This picture is a supplement to the foregoing, and a further delineation of particular features. (a) The attack is described more in detail (Jer 50:14-15 a); (b) the connection between the fall of Babylon and its malignant pride (Jer 50:11) traced through the idea of recompense and vengeance of Jehovah (Jer 50:14 b, 15b); and (c) the desolation of Babylon, described generally in Jer 50:12-13, is rendered more palpable in Jer 50:16 by the setting forth of single characteristic features.
Jer 50:14-15. Array unto her.Array evidently refers to equip (), Jer 50:9, but as the attack was only ordered therein general, the manner of it is here more specially designated. Comp. Jer 50:29; Jer 46:9.Both these verses correspond exactly in their structure. Each begins with a summons to attack, and closes with a causal sentence of the purport that this warlike proceeding is an act of Jehovahs vengeance. Yet there is a gradation in the two, for while in Jer 50:14 the attack is described in only its first stage, Jer 50:15 brings before us the last decisive storm in the words Cry against her, which has the surrender for its immediate consequence. That the words are to be understood in this sense, seems to me clear from round about. Comp. Jer 50:14. The triumphant cry sounds not from the environs, but from within the city.Stretches forth her hand. This is a token of subjection. Det manus vincique se patiatur. Cicero, De Amic. Cap. 26 fin. Comp. 2Ch 30:8; Lam 5:6.For Jehovahs, etc. This point also is here expressed more strongly than in Jer 50:14 b, and thus forms the transition from Jer 50:14 to the threatening of judgment. Babylon has called forth the vengeance of Jehovah by its malicious pleasure and arrogant violence. Comp. Jer 50:28; Jer 51:6; Jer 51:11; Jer 51:36; Jer 46:10.As she hath done. Comp. Jer 50:29; Psa 137:8; Rev 18:6-7.
Jer 50:16. Exterminate his own land. This verse also specializes a general idea expressed in the previous context, viz., that of desolation, and this from two points of view. It is first said that what had hitherto been an ornament of the city, and had increased their power of resistance, viz., the fields inside the walls (Diod. Sic., II. 9; Curt. Jer 5:4; Plin.Hist. Nat., XVIII. 17), will be given up to desolation for lack of men. It is evident that the prophet had these fields within the city in view from the fact that he is describing the siege of the city of Babylon throughout. Then, however, he predicts the flight of all who are not Babylonians (for the Babylonians will fall by the sword), Israel at their head (Jer 50:8). Comp. Jer 46:16; Isa 13:14.Destroying sword. Comp. Jer 25:38; Jer 46:16. In the latter passage the LXX. translates as here, , which Theodoret explains: . Another explanation is given by Walton (Polyglott, Lond., Tom. I., pag. 47. Introd.): Ira columb (Jer 25:38), gladius columb designant iram et gladium Chaldorum, in quorum labaro erat columba argentea pennis inauratis Semiramidem reprsentans.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Daniels Babylonian empire resumes, as it were, the thread which was broken off with the tower-erection and kingdom of Nimrod. In the Babylonian tower-building the whole of the then existing humanity was united against God; with the Babylonian kingdom began the period of the universal monarchies, which again aspired after an atheistical union of entire humanity. Babylon has since and even to the Revelation (Jeremiah 18) remained the standing type of this world. Auberlen, Der proph. Daniel, S. 230.
2. For what reason does Babylon appear as a type of the world? Why not Nineveh, or Persepolis, or Tyre, or Memphis, or Rome? Certainly not because Babylon was greater, more glorious, more powerful or prouder and more ungodly than those cities and kingdoms. Nineveh especially was still greater than Babylon (comp. Duncker, Gesch. d. Alterth. I. S. 474, 5), and Assyria was not less hostile to the theocracy, having carried away into captivity the northern and larger half of the people of Israel. Babylon is qualified for this representation in two ways: 1. because it is the home of worldly princedom and titanic arrogance (Gen 10:8; Gen 11:1-4); 2. because Babylon destroyed the centre of the theocracy, Jerusalem, the temple and the theocratic kingdom, and first assumed to be the single supreme power of the globe.
3. When God has used a superstitious, wicked and tyrannical nation long enough as His rod, He breaks it in pieces and finally throws it into the fire. For even those whom He formerly used as His chosen anointed instruments He then regards as but the dust in the streets or as chaff before the wind. Cramer.
4. No monarch is too rich, too wicked, too strong for God the Lord. And He can soon enlist and engage soldiers whom He can use against His declared enemies. Cramer.
5. Israel was founded on everlasting foundations, even Gods word and promise. The sins of the people brought about that it was laid low in the dust, but not without hope of a better resurrection. Babylon, on the other hand, must perish forever, for in it is the empire of evil come to its highest bloom. Jeremiah owns the nothingness of all worldly kingdoms, since they are all under this national order to serve only for a time. We are to be subject to them and seek their welfare for the sake of the souls of men, whom God is educating therein; a Christian however cannot be enthusiastic for them after the manner of the ancient heathen nor of ancient Israel, for here we have no abiding city, our citizenship is in heaven. The kingdoms of this world are no sanctuaries for us and we supplicate their continuance only with the daily bread of the fourth petition. Jeremiah applies many words and figures to Babylon which he has already used in the judgments on other nations, thus to intimate that in Babylon all the heathenism of the world culminates, and that here also must be the greatest anguish. What, however, is here declared of Babylon must be fulfilled again on all earthly powers in so far as, treading in its footprints, they take flesh for their arm and regard the material of this world as power, whether they be called states or churches. Diedrich.
6. On Jer 50:2. In putting into the mouth of Israel, returning from Babylon, the call to an everlasting covenant with Jehovah, the prophet causes them 1. to confess that they have forgotten the first covenant; 2. he shows us that the time of the new covenant begins with the redemption from the Babylonish captivity. He was far, however, from supposing that this redemption would be only a weak beginning, that the appearance of the Saviour would be deferred for centuries, that Israel would sink still deeper as an external , and that finally the Israel of the new covenant would itself appear as a , (1Pe 1:9-12).
7. From what Jeremiah has already said in Jer 31:31-34 of the new covenant we see that its nature and its difference from the old is not unknown to him. Yet he knows the new covenant only in general. He knows that it will be deeply spiritual and eternal, but how and why it will be so is still to him part of the .
8. On Jer 50:6. Jeremiah here points back to Jeremiah 23. Priests, kings and prophets, who should discharge the office of shepherds, prove to be wolves. Yea, they are the worst of wolves, who go about in official clothing. There is therefore no more dangerous doctrine than that of an infallible office. Jer 14:14; Mat 7:15; Mat 23:2-12.
9. On Jer 50:7. It is the worst condition into which a church of God can come, when the enemies who desolate it can maintain that they are in the right in doing so. It is, however, a just nemesis when those who will not hear the regular messengers of God must be told by the extraordinary messengers of God what they should have done. Comp. Jer 40:2-3.
10. On Jer 50:8. Babylon is opened, and it must be abandoned not clung to, for the captivity is a temporary chastisement, not the divine arrangement for the children of God. Gods people must in the general redemption go like rams before the herd of the nations, that these may also attach themselves to Israel, as this was fulfilled at the time of Christ in the first churches and the apostles, who now draw the whole heathen world after them to eternal life. Here the prophet recognizes the new humanity, which proceeds from the ruins of the old, in which also ancient Israel leads the way; thus all, who follow it, become Israel. Diedrich.The heathen felt somewhat of the divine punishment when they overcame so easily the usually so strongly protected nation. But Jeremiah shows them still how they deceived themselves in thinking that God had wholly rejected His people, for of the eternal covenant of grace they certainly understood nothing. Heim and Hoffmann on the Major Prophets.
11. On Jer 50:18. The great powers of the world form indeed the history of the world, but they have no future. Israel, however, always returns home to the dear and glorious land. The Jews might as a token of this return under Cyrus; the case is however this, that the true Holy One in Israel, Christ, guides us back to Paradise, when we flee to His hand from the Babylon of this world and let it be crucified for us. Diedrich.
12. On Jer 50:23. Although the Chaldeans were called of God for the purpose of making war on the Jewish nation on account of their multitudinous sins, yet they are punished because they did it not as God with a pure intention, namely, to punish the wrong in them and keep them for reformation; for they were themselves greater sinners than the Jews and continued with impenitence in their sins. Therefore they could not go scot-free and remain unpunished. Moreover, they acted too roughly and dealt with the Jews more harshly than God had commanded, for which He therefore fairly punished them. As God the Lord Himself says (Isa 47:6): When I was angry with My people I gave them into thine hands; but thou shewedst them no mercy. Therefore it is not enough that Gods will be accomplished, but there must be the good intention in it, which God had, otherwise such a work may be a sin and call down the divine punishment upon it. Wrtemb. Summ.
13. On Jer 50:31-34. God calls Babylon Thou Pride, for pride was their inward force and impulse in all their actions. But worldly pride makes a Babylon and brings on a Babylons fate . Pride must fall, for it is in itself a lie against God, and all its might must perish in the fire; thus will the humble and meek remain in possession of the earth: this has a wide application through all times, even to eternity. Diedrich.
14. On Jer 51:33. Israel is indeed weak and must suffer in a time of tyranny; it cannot help itself, nor needs it to do so, for its Redeemer is strong, His name The Lord Zebaothand He is, now, having assumed our flesh, among us and conducts our cause so that the world trembles. Diedrich.
15. On Jer 50:45. An emblem of the destruction of anti-christian Babylon, which was also the true hammer of the whole world. This has God also broken and must and will do it still more. And this will the shepherd-boys do, as is said here in Jer 51:45 (according to Luthers translation), that is, all true teachers and preachers. Cramer.
16. On Jeremiah 51. The doctrines accord in all points with the previous chapter. And the prophet Jeremiah both in this and the previous chapter does nothing else but make out for the Babylonians their final discharge and passport, because they behaved so valiantly and well against the people of Judah, that they might know they would not go unrecompensed. For payment is according to service. And had they done better it would have gone better with them. It is well that when tyrants succeed in their evil undertakings they should not suppose they are Gods dearest children and lean on His bosom, since they will yet receive the recompense on their crown, whatever they have earned. Cramer.
17. [Though in the hand of Babylon is a golden cup; she chooses such a cup, in order that mens eyes may be dazzled with the glitter of the gold, and may not inquire what it contains. But mark well, in the golden cup of Babylon is the poison of idolatry, the poison of false doctrines, which destroy the souls of men. I have often seen such a golden cup, in fair speeches of seductive eloquence: and when I have examined the venomous ingredients of the golden chalice, I have recognized the cup of Babylon. Origen in Wordsworth.S. R. A.]
The seat and throne of Anti-christ is expressly named Babylon, namely, the city of Rome, built on the seven hills (Rev 17:9). Just as Babylon brought so many lands and kingdoms under its sway and ruled them with great pomp and pride (the golden cup, which made all the world drunk, was Babylon in the hand of the Lord (Jer 51:7), and all the heathen drank of the wine and became mad)so has the spiritual Babylon a cup in its hand, full of the abomination and uncleanness of its whoredom, of which the kings of the earth and all who dwell on the earth have been made drunk. As it is said of Babylon that she dwells by great waters and has great treasures, so writes John of the Romish Babylon, that it is clothed in silk and purple and scarlet and adorned with gold, precious stones and pearls (Rev 18:12). Of Babylon it is said that the slain in Israel were smitten by her; so also the spiritual Babylon is become drunk with the blood of the saints (Rev 17:6). Just, however, as the Chaldean Babylon is a type of the spiritual in its pride and despotism, so also is it a type of the destruction which will come upon it. Many wished to heal Babylon but she would not be healed; so many endeavor to support the ruinous anti-christian Babylon, but all in vain. For as Babylon was at last so destroyed as to be a heap of stones and abode of dragons, so will it be with anti-christian Babylon. Of this it is written in Rev 14:8 : She is fallen, fallen, that great city, for she has made all nations drink of the wine of her fornication. And again, Babylon the great is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils and a hold of all foul and hateful birds (Rev 18:2). As the inhabitants of Babylon were admonished to flee from her, that every man might deliver his soul (Jer 51:6)and again, My people, go ye out from the midst of her and deliver every man his soul, etc. (Jer 51:45)so the Holy Spirit admonishes Christians almost in the same words to go out from the spiritual Babylon, that they be not polluted by her sins and at the same time share in her punishment. For thus it is written in Rev 18:4, I heard, says John, a voice from heaven saying, Go ye out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues, for her sins reach unto heaven and God remembers her iniquities. Wurtemb. Summarien.
18. On Jer 51:5. A monarch can sooner make an end of half a continent than draw a nail from a hut which the Lord protects.And if it is true that Kaiser Rudolph, when he revoked the toleration of the Picards and the same day lost one of his principal forts, said, I thought it would be so, for I grasped at Gods sceptre (Weismanni, Hist. Eccl. Tom. II. p. 320)this was a sage remark, a supplement to the words of the wise. Zinzendorf.
19. On Jer 51:9. We heal Babylon, but she will not be healed. Babylon is an outwardly beautiful but inwardly worm-eaten apple. Hence sooner or later the foulness must become noticeable. So is it with all whose heart and centre is not God. All is inwardly hollow and vain. When this internal vacuity begins to render itself externally palpable, when here and there a rent or foul spot becomes visible, then certainly come the friends and admirers of the unholy form and would improve, cover up, sew up, heal. But it does not avail. When once there is death in the body no physician can effect a cure.
20. On Jer 51:17; Jer 51:19-20. The children of God have three causes why they may venture on Him. 1. All men are fools, their treasure is it not; 2. The Lord is their hammer; He breaks through everything, and 3, they are an instrument in His hand, a heritage; in this there is happiness. Zinzendorf.
21. On Jer 51:41-44. How was Sheshach thus won, the city renowned in all the world thus taken? No one would have thought it possible, but God does it. He rules with wonders and with wonders He makes His church free. Babylon is a wonder no longer for its power, but for its weakness. We are to know the worlds weakness even where it still appears strong. A sea of hostile nations has covered Babylon. Her land is now a desolation. God takes Bel, the principal idol of Babylon, symbolizing its whole civil powers in hand, and snatches his prey from his teeth. Our God is stronger than all worldly forces, and never leaves us to them. Diedrich.
22. On Jer 51:58. Yea, so it is with all walls and towers, in which Gods word is not the vital force, even though they be entitled churches and cathedrals Gods church alone possesses permanence through His pure word. Diedrich.
23. On Jer 51:60-64. When we wish to preserve an archive safely, we deposit it in a record-office where it is kept in a dry place that no moisture may get to it. Seraiah throws his book-roll into the waters of the Euphrates, which must wash it away, dissolve and destroy it. But this was of no account. The main point was that he, Seraiah, as representative of the holy nation had taken solemn stock of the word of God against Babylon, and as it were taken God at His word, and reminded Him of it. In this manner the matter was laid up in the most enduring and safest archive that could be imagined; it was made a case of honor with the omniscient and omnipotent God. Such matters can, however, neither be forgotten, nor remain in dead silence, nor be neglected. They must be brought to such an end as the honor of God requires.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer 50:2. This text may be used on the feast of the Reformation, or any other occasion with reference to a rem bene gestam. The Triumph of the Good Cause, 1. over what enemies it is gained; 2. to what it should impel us; (a) to the avoidance of that over which we new triumph; (b) to the grateful proclamation of what the Lord has done for us, by word and by deed.
2. On Jer 50:4-8. The deliverance of Israel from the Babylonian captivity a type of the deliverance of the Church. 1. The Church must humbly acknowledge the captivity suffered as a judgment of God. 2. She must turn like Israel inwardly with an upright heart unto the Lord; 3. She must become like Israel to all men a pattern and leader to freedom.
3. On Jer 50:5. A confirmation sermon. What is the hour of confirmation? 1. An hour which calls to separation; 2. an hour which leads to new connections; 3. an hour which fixes forever the old covenant with the souls friend. Florey, 1853.
4. On Jer 50:18-20. Assyria and Babylon the types of all the spiritual enemies of the church as of individual Christians. Every one has his Assyria and his Babylon. Sin is the destruction of men. Forgiveness of sins is the condition of life, for only where forgiveness of sins is, is there life and blessedness. In Christ we find the forgiveness of sins. He destroys the handwriting. He washes us clean. He is also the good shepherd who leads our souls into green pastures, to the spiritual Carmel.
5. On Jer 50:31-32. Warning against pride. Babylon was very strong and powerful, rich and splendid. It seemed invincible by nature and by art. Had it not then a certain justification in being proud, at least towards men? No; for no one has to contend only with men. Every one who contends has the Lord either for his friend or his enemy. It is the Lord from whom cometh victory (Pro 21:31). He it is who teacheth our hands to fight (Psa 18:35; Psa 144:1). His strength is made perfect in weakness (2Co 12:9). He can make the lame (Isa 33:23; Mic 4:7) and mortally wounded (Jer 37:10) so strong that they overmaster the sound (comp. Jer 51:45). He can make one man put to flight a thousand (Deu 32:30; Isa 30:17). With him can one dash in pieces a troop and leap over a wall (Psa 18:29). No one accordingly should be proud. The word of the Lord, I am against thee, thou proud one! is a terrible word which no one should conjure up against himself.
6. On Jer 50:33-34. The consolation of the Church in persecution. 1. It suffers violence and injustice. 2. Its redeemer is strong.
7. On Jer 51:5. God the Lord manifests such favor to Israel as to declare Himself her husband (Jer 2:2; Jer 3:1). But now that Israel and Judah are in exile, it seems as if they were rejected or widowed women. This, however, is only appearance. Israels husband does not die. He may well bring a period of chastisement, of purification and trial on His people, but when this period is over, the Lord turns the handle, and smites those through whom He chastised Israel, when they had forgotten that they were not to satisfy their own desire, but only to accomplish the Lords will on Israel.
8. On Jer 51:6. A time may come when it is well to separate ones self. For although it is said in Pro 18:1; he who separateth himself, seeketh that which pleaseth him and opposeth all that is goodand therefore separation, as the antipodes of churchliness, i.e., of churchly communion and humble subjection to the law of the co-operation of members (1Co 12:25 sqq.) is to be repudiated, yet there may come moments in the life of the church, when it will be a duty to leave the community and separate ones self. Such a moment is come when the community has become a Babylon. It should, however, be noted that one should not be too ready with such a decision. For even the life of the church is subject to many vacillations. There are periods of decay, obscurations, as it were, comparable to eclipses of the stars, but to these, so long as the foundations only subsist, must always follow a restoration and return to the original brightness. No one is to consider the church a Babylon on account of such a passing state of disease. It is this only when it has withheld the objective divine foundations, the means of grace, the word and sacrament, altogether and permanently in their saving efficacy. Then, when the soul can no longer find in the church the pure and divine bread of life; it is well to deliver the soul that it perish not in the iniquity of the church. From this separation from the church is, however, to be carefully distinguished the separation within the church, from all that which is opposed to the healthy life of the church, and is therefore to be regarded as a diseased part of the ecclesiastical body. Such separation is the daily duty of the Christian. He has to perform it with respect to his private life in all the manifold relations, indicated to us in Mat 18:17; Rom 16:17; 1Co 5:9 sqq.; 2Th 3:6; Tit 3:10; 2Jn 1:10-11.Comp. the article on Sects, by Palmer in Herzog, R.-Enc., XXI., S. 21, 22.
9. On Jer 51:10. The righteousness which avails before God. 1. Its origin (not our work or merit, but Gods grace in Christ); 2. Its fruit, praise of that which the Lord has wrought in us (a) by words, (b) by works.
10. On Jer 51:50. This text may be used at the sending out of missionaries or the departure of emigrants. Occasion may be taken to speak 1, of the gracious help and deliverance, which the Lord has hitherto shown to the departing; 2, they may be admonished to remain united in their distant land with their brethren at home by (a) remembering the Lord, i.e., ever remaining sincerely devoted to the Lord as the common shield of salvation; (b) faithfuly serving Jerusalem, i.e., the common mother of us all (Gal 4:26), the church, with all our powers in the proper place and measure, and ever keeping her in our hearts.
Footnotes:
[13]Jer 50:14.. The Kal here only. Elsewhere Piel only occurs; Joel 4:3; Oba 1:11; Nah 3:10; Lam 3:53; Zec 2:4.
[14]Jer 50:14. with , as in Jer 51:3; Isa 9:18.
[15]Jer 50:15.Owing to the animation, of style, the perfects are without the connecting Vau. Comp. Jos 6:5; Jos 6:10; Jos 6:16; Jos 6:20; 1Sa 17:20.
[16]Jer 50:15. or (Chethibh) occurs here only. Likewise the form of the Keri . The root appears to be , from which at most in Hebrew the proper name is derived. Related, however, is , to be strong, firm (Arab, assa) from which (Isa 16:7) the foundation-walls and the Aram. , plur. (Ezr 4:12; Ezr 5:16; Ezr 6:3), which the prophet chose purposely. Comp. Jer 50:23. From the radical meaning to be strong, may also be derived that of fortification, defence, bastion.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Jer 50:14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the LORD.
Ver. 14. For she hath sinned against the Lord. ] Yea, she is a sink of sins, the contagion of the world, the shop of Satan, the adversary of the saints, &c. So, and much more than so, is spiritual Babylon, Cito itidem casura, ei essetis viri (said Petrarch long since), that groaneth for a downfall.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
in array: Jer 50:9, Jer 51:2, Jer 51:11, Jer 51:12, Jer 51:27, 1Sa 17:20, 2Sa 10:9, Isa 13:4, Isa 13:17, Isa 13:18
bend: Jer 50:29, Jer 50:42, Jer 46:9, Jer 49:35, Isa 5:28
for she: Jer 50:7, Jer 50:11, Jer 50:29, Psa 51:4, Hab 2:8, Hab 2:17, Rev 17:5
Reciprocal: Isa 21:2 – Go up Jer 49:28 – Arise Jer 50:15 – for it Jer 51:3 – let the Eze 24:3 – Set
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 50:14. This verse is a prediction in the form of an order for the North country (referred to in verse 9) to come against Babylon. The overthrow of Babylon by Persia was not as a favor for the conquering power, but as a punishment upon Babylon because she had sinned against the Lord.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
50:14 {o} Put yourselves in array against Babylon on every side: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath {p} sinned against the LORD.
(o) He speaks to the enemies the Medes and Persians.
(p) Though the Lord called the Babylonians his servants and their work his work in punishing his people, yet because they did it not to glorify God, but for their own malice and to profit themselves, it is here called sin.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Yahweh called Babylon’s enemies to attack her with all their strength because she had sinned against Him. The destruction should continue until the land was thoroughly ruined. She had destroyed other nations, and now she deserved the same treatment. The clause "she has given her hand" may be treaty terminology (cf. 2Ki 10:15; Eze 17:11-21).
"What is clearly in view here is treaty violation by concluding a treaty with another party." [Note: Smothers, p. 366.]