Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 50:2
Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, [and] conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
2. and set up a standard; publish ] The LXX omit. Cp. for the “standard” Isa 13:2 (R.V. “ensign”) as the probable origin of the expression here. It was to be a signal either to attract attention or as a point of rendez-vous.
Bel ] properly lord, apparently to be distinguished here from Merodach (Marduk), who was the tutelary divinity of Babylon. Cp. Isa 46:1, where Bel occurs coupled with Nebo, son of Merodach.
idols ] lit. idol-blocks, a term of contempt very frequently found in Ezekiel (Jer 6:4, Jer 22:3, etc.). It seems to have meant primarily something rolled, hence a long sacred stone, then a stone image, lastly an idol in general.
dismayed ] better, as mg. broken down.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Confounded … confounded – ashamed … ashamed.
Merodach – This deity, in the inscriptions Marduk, was the tutelary god of Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar, who called his son Evil-Merodach, appears to have been especially devoted to his service. He was really identical with Bel, and his equivalent among the planets was Jupiter: and as such he was styled King of heaven and earth.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. Declare ye among the nations] God’s determination relative to this empire.
Set up a standard] Show the people where they are to assemble.
Say, Babylon is taken] It is a thing so firmly determined, that it is as good as already done.
Bel] The tutelar deity of Babylon is confounded, because it cannot save its own city.
Merodach] Another of their idols, is broken to pieces; it was not able to save itself, much less the whole empire.
Her idols are confounded] It is a reproach to have acknowledged them.
Her images] Great and small, golden and wooden, are broken to pieces; even the form of them no longer appears.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The prophet calls to men to publish it amongst other nations, and to
set up a standard, to make some signal to gather all people together to hear what he had to say from God against Babylon, which had been an instrument of great mischief unto most people that lived about them, to whom it would therefore be glad and joyful news to hear that Babylon their common enemy was ruined. That by
Bel and
Merodach are meant two principal idols of the Babylonians, most think; but what, is not so well agreed. Some think that Bel is Baal by contradiction; but they judge most probably who think it was the image of one Belus, who was formerly a king of Babylon; and they judge the like of Merodach: we find in Scripture that Merodach was some of their kings names, Isa 39:1; Jer 52:31. Those who desire to be further satisfied about these idols may read the English Annotations upon Isa 46:1, and our Annotations upon that verse. It was an ordinary practice amongst the heathens, when they had any princes died that had been famous in their government, to pay a divine homage to their images and statues. These idols are said to be
confounded, either because they should not be able at this pinch to help their suppliants, or because they should be destroyed together with the silly people that adored them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. Declare . . . among . . .nationswho would rejoice at the fall of Babylon theiroppressor.
standardto indicatethe place of meeting to the nations where they were to hear the goodnews of Babylon’s fall [ROSENMULLER];or, the signal to summon the nations together against Babylon(Jer 51:12; Jer 51:27),[MAURER].
Belthe tutelary god ofBabylon; the same idol as the Phoelignician Baal, that is, lord, thesun (Isa 46:1).
confoundedbecauseunable to defend the city under their protection.
MerodachanotherBabylonian idol; meaning in Syria “little lord”; from whichMerodach-baladan took his name.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Declare ye among the nations,…. The taking of Babylon; a piece of news, in which the nations of the world had a concern, as well as the Jews, being brought under the Babylonish yoke, from which they would now be freed; and therefore such a declaration must be very acceptable and joyful to them. Some take these words to be the words of God to the prophet; others, the words of Jeremiah to the nations; the meaning is only, that such a declaration should be made, and such things done, as follow:
and publish, and set up a standard; publish, [and] conceal not; cause it to be heard far and near; and, that it may be heard, set up a sign or standard, to gather the people together to hear it; for this standard was not to be set up for the enlisting of men, or gathering them together, to go up and fight against Babylon, since it was now taken; but as a token of victory, and as expressive joy, on account of it; or rather for the reason given; see Isa 13:2;
say, Babylon is taken; this is the thing to be declared, published, and not concealed; but with an audible voice to be pronounced, and rung throughout the several nations of the earth. Thus, when the everlasting Gospel is preached to every nation on earth, and Christ is set up in it as an ensign and standard to the people; it shall be everywhere published, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen”, Re 14:6;
Bel is confounded; an idol of the Babylonians, thought by some to be the same with Baal by contraction; he is by the Septuagint called Belus, the name of one of their kings; who might be idolized after his death, as was usual among the Heathen lions: he is said to be “confounded”, because he must have been, could he have been sensible of the taking of Babylon, where his temple stood, and he was worshipped, since he was not able to protect it; or rather, because his worshippers were confounded, that gloried in him, and put their trust in him. So the Targum,
“they are confounded that worship Bel;”
[See comments on Isa 46:1].
Merodach is broken in pieces; another of their idols, which signifies a “pure lord”; some of their kings had this as one of their names,
Isa 39:1. The Targum is,
“they are broken that worshipped Merodach;”
her idols are confounded, her images are broken to pieces; these were their lesser deities, as the other two were their greater ones; all should be destroyed along with it; as all the idols and images of the church of Rome will, when that is destroyed, Re 9:20.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The fall of Babylon, and deliverance of Israel. – Jer 50:2. “Tell it among the nations, and cause it to be heard, and lift up a standard; cause it to be heard, conceal it not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is ashamed, Merodach is confounded; her images are ashamed, her idols are confounded. Jer 50:3. For there hath come up against her a nation out of the north; it will make her land a desolation, and there shall be not an inhabitant in it: from man to beast, [all] have fled, are gone. Jer 50:4. In those days, and at that time, saith Jahveh, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; they shall go, weeping as they go, and shall seek Jahveh their God. Jer 50:5. They shall ask for Zion, with their faces [turned to] the road hitherwards, [saying], Come, and let us join ourselves to Jahveh by an eternal covenant [which] shall not be forgotten. Jer 50:6. My people have been a flock of lost ones; their shepherds have misled them [on] mountains which lead astray: from mountain to hill they went; they forgot their resting-place. Jer 50:7. All who found them have devoured them; and their enemies said, We are not guilty, for they have sinned against Jahveh, the dwelling-place of justice, and the hope of their fathers, Jahveh. Jer 50:8. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and from the land of the Chaldeans; let them go forth, and let them be like he-goats before a flock. Jer 50:9. For, behold, I will stir up, and bring up against Babylon, an assembly of great nations out of the land of the north: and they shall array themselves against her; on that side shall she be taken: his arrows [are] like [those of] a skilful hero [who] does not return empty. Jer 50:10. And [the land of the] Chaldeans shall become a spoil; all those who spoil her shall be satisfied, saith Jahveh.”
In the spirit Jeremiah sees the fall of Babylon, together with its idols, as if it had actually taken place, and gives the command to proclaim among the nations this event, which brings deliverance for Israel and Judah. The joy over this is expressed in the accumulation of the words for the summons to tell the nations what has happened. On the expression, cf. Jer 4:5-6; Jer 46:14. The lifting up of a standard, i.e., of a signal-rod, served for the more rapid spreading of news; cf. Jer 4:6; Jer 6:1, Isa 13:2, etc. “Cause it to be heard” is intensified by the addition of “do not conceal it.” The thing is to be proclaimed without reserve; cf. Jer 38:14. “Babylon is taken,” i.e., conquered, and her idols have become ashamed, inasmuch as, from their inability to save their city, their powerlessness and nullity have come to light. Bel and Merodach are not different divinities, but merely different names for the chief deity of the Babylonians. Bel = Baal, the Jupiter of the Babylonians, was, as Bel-merodach, the tutelary god of Babylon. “The whole of the Babylonian dynasty,” says Oppert, Expd. en Msopot. ii. p. 272, “places him [Merodach] at the head of the gods; and the inscription of Borsippa calls him the king of heaven and earth.” , “images of idols,” and , properly “logs,” an expression of contempt for idols (see on Lev 26:30), are synonymous ideas for designating the nature and character of the Babylonian gods.
Jer 50:3 Babylon is fallen by a people from the north, that has gone out against her, and makes her land a desolation. This nation is described in Jer 50:9 as a collection, union of great nations, that are enumerated especially in Jer 51:27-28. On “it [the nation] shall make her land,” etc., cf. Jer 2:15; Jer 48:9; on the expression “from man to beast,” cf. Jer 33:12; Jer 9:9. is from , Jer 50:8 and Jer 49:30 = , from , Jer 9:9.
Jer 50:4-6 Then, when Babylon shall have fallen, the children of Israel and Judah return out of their captivity, seeking Jahveh their God with tears of repentance, and marching to Zion, for the purpose of joining themselves to Him in an eternal covenant. The fall of Babylon has the deliverance of Israel as its direct result. The prophet views this in such a way, that all the steps in the fulfilment (the return from Babylon, the reunion of the tribes previously separated, their sincere return to the Lord, and the making of a new covenant that shall endure for ever), which will actually follow successively in long periods, are taken together into one view. By the statement made regarding the time, “In those days, and at that time,” the fall of Babylon and the deliverance of Israel (which Jeremiah sees in the spirit as already begun) are marked out as belonging to the future. Israel and Judah come together, divided no more; cf. Jer 3:18. “Going and weeping they go,” i.e., they always go further on, weeping: cf. Jer 41:6; 2Sa 3:16; Ewald, 280, b. Cf. also Jer 3:21; Jer 31:9. Seeking the Lord their God, they ask for Zion, i.e., they ask after the way thither; for in Zion Jahveh has His throne. “The way hither” (i.e., to Jerusalem) “is their face,” sc. directed. “Hither” points to the place of the speaker, Jerusalem. are imperatives, and words with which those who are returning encourage one another to a close following of the Lord their God. is imperative for , like in Isa 43:9, Joe 3:11; cf. Ewald, 226, c. It cannot be the imperfect, because the third person gives no sense; hence Graf would change the vowels, and read . But suspicion is raised against this by the very fact that, excepting Ecc 8:15, , in the sense of joining oneself to, depending on, occurs only in the Niphal. is a modal accusative: “in an eternal covenant which shall not be forgotten,” i.e., which we will not forget, will not break again. In fact, this is the new covenant which the Lord, according to Jer 31:31., will make in time to come with His people. But here this side of the matter is withdrawn from consideration; for the point treated of is merely what Israel, in his repentant frame and returning to God, vows he shall do.
Israel comes to this determination in consequence of the misery into which he has fallen because of his sins, Jer 50:5-7. Israel was like a flock of lost sheep which their shepherds had led astray. , a flock of sheep that are going to ruin. The participle in the plural is joined with the collective noun ad sensum, to show what is imminent or is beginning to happen. The verb points to the subject ; hence the Qeri is unnecessary. The plural suffixes of the following clause refer to as a collective. The shepherds led the people of God astray on (a local accusative; on the Kethib , cf. Jer 31:32; Jer 49:4; it is not to be read ), mountains that render people faithless. These mountains were so designated because they were the seats of that idolatry which had great power of attraction for a sinful people, so that the seduction or alienation of the people from their God is ascribed to them. is used in the sense which the verb has in Isa 47:10. The Qeri gives the less appropriate idea, “the shepherds made the sheep stray.” Hitzig’s translation, “they drove them along the mountain,” does to suit the verb . Moreover, the mountains in themselves do not form unsuitable pasture-ground for sheep, and does not mean “a bare, desolate mountain-range.” The objection to our view of , that there is no very evident proof that worship on high places is referred to (Graf), is pure fancy, and the reverse only is true. For the words which follow, “they (the sheep) went from mountain to hill, and forgot their resting-place,” have no meaning whatever, unless they are understood of the idolatrous dealings of Israel. The resting-place of the sheep ( , the place where the flocks lie down to rest), according to Jer 50:7, is Jahveh, the hope of their fathers. Their having forgotten this resting-place is the result of their going from mountain to hill: these words undeniably point to the idolatry of the people on every high hill (Jer 2:20; Jer 3:2; Jer 17:2, etc.).
Jer 50:7 The consequence of this going astray on the part of Israel was, that every one who found them devoured them, and while doing so, cherished the thought that they were not incurring guilt, because Israel had been given up to their enemies on account of their apostasy from God; while the fact was, that every offence against Israel, as the holy people of the Lord, brought on guilt; cf. Jer 2:3. This befell Israel because they have sinned against Jahveh. , “the habitation (or pasture-ground) of righteousness.” So, in Jer 31:23, Zion is called the mountain on which Jahveh sits enthroned in His sanctuary. As in other places Jahveh Himself is called a fortress, Psa 18:3; a sun, shield, Psa 84:12; a shade, Psa 121:5; so here He is called the One in whom is contained that righteousness which is the source of Israel’s salvation. As such, He was the hope of the fathers, the God upon whom the fathers put their trust; cf. Jer 14:8; Jer 17:13; Psa 22:5. The repetition of at the end is intended to give an emphatic conclusion to the sentence.
Jer 50:8-10 To escape from this misery, Israel is to flee from Babylon; for the judgment of conquest and plunder by enemies is breaking over Babylon. The summons to flee out of Babylon is a reminiscence of Isa 38:20. The Kethib may be vindicated, because the direct address pretty often makes a sudden transition into the language of the third person. They are to depart from the land of the Chaldeans. No more will then be necessary than to change into . The simile, “like he-goats before the flock,” does not mean that Israel is to press forward that he may save himself before any one else (Graf), but that Israel is to go before all, as an example and leader in the flight (Ngelsbach).
Jer 50:9-10 For the Lord arouses and leads against Babylon a crowd of nations, i.e., an army consisting of a multitude of nations. As mee reminds us of Isa 13:17, so remind us of in Isa 13:4. , to make preparations against. is not used of time (Rosenmller, Ngelsbach, etc.), for this application of the word has not been established from the actual occurrence of instances, but it has a local meaning, and refers to the “crowd of nations:” from that place where the nations that come out of the north have assembled before Babylon. In the last clause, the multitude of great nations is taken together, as if they formed one enemy: “his arrows are like the arrows of a wisely dealing (i.e., skilful) warrior.”
(Note: Instead of , J. H. Michaelis, in his Biblia Halens., has accepted the reading on the authority of three Erfurt codices and three old editions (a Veneta of 1618; Buxtorf’s Rabbinic Bible, printed at Basle, 1720; and the London Polyglott). J. D. Michaelis, Rosenmller, Maurer, and Umbreit have decided for this reading, and point to the rendering of the Vulgate, interfectoris, and of the Targum, , orbans. On the other hand, the lxx and Syriac have read and rendered ; and this reading is not merely presented by nonnulli libri, as Maurer states, but by twelve codices of de Rossi, and all the more ancient editions of the Bible, of which de Rossi in his variae lectiones mentions forty-one. The critical witnesses are thus overwhelming for ; and against there lies the further consideration, that has the meaning orbare, to render childless, only in the Piel, but in the Hiphil means abortare, to cause or have miscarriages, as is shown by , Hos 9:14.)
The words do not permit of being referred, on the strength of 2Sa 1:22, to one particular arrow which does not come back empty; for the verb , though perhaps suitable enough for the sword, which is drawn back when it has executed the blow, is inappropriate for the arrow, which does not return. The subject to is si , the hero, who does not turn or return without having accomplished his object; cf. Isa 55:11. In Jer 50:10, is the name of the country, “Chaldeans;” hence it is construed as a feminine. The plunderers of Chaldea will be able to satisfy themselves with the rich booty of that country.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
He predicts the ruin of Babylon, not in simple words, for nothing seemed then more unreasonable than to announce the things which God at length proved by the effect. As Babylon was then the metropolis of the East, no one could have thought that it would ever be possessed by a foreign power. No one could have thought of the Persians, for they were far off. As to the Medes, who were nearer, they were, as we know, sunk in their own luxuries, and were deemed but half men. As then there was so much effeminacy in the Medes, and as the Persians were so far off and inclosed in their own mountains, Babylon peaceably enjoyed the empire of the whole eastern world. This, then, is the reason why the Prophet expresses at large what he might have set forth in a very few words.
Tell, he says, among the nations, publish, raise up a sign, and again, publish To what purpose is such a heap of words? even that the faithful might learn to raise up their thoughts above the world, and to look for that which was then, according to the judgment of all, incredible. This confidence shews that Jeremiah did not, in vain, foretell what he states; but he thundered as it were from heaven, knowing whence he derived this prophecy. And his proclamation was this, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, and Merodach is broken I know not why some think that Merodach was an idol: for as to Bel, we know that the Babylonians trusted in that god, or rather in that figment. But the Prophet mentions here evidently the name of a king well known to the Jews, in order to show that Babylon, with all its defences and its wealth, was already devoted to destruction: for we know that men look partly to some god, and partly to human or temporal means. So the Babylonians boasted that they were under the protection of Bel, and dared proudly to set up this idol in opposition to the only true God, as the unbelieving do; and then in the second place, they were inebriated with confidence in their own power: and hypocrisy ever rules in the unbelieving, so that they arrogate to themselves much more than what they ascribe to their idols. It is then the same thing as though he had said, that Babylon was taken, that Bel was confounded, and that the kingdom was broken, or broken in pieces. (50)
The name Merodach, as I have said, was well known among the Jews, and mention is made of a father and of a son of this name, by Isaiah and in sacred history. (Isa 39:1; 2Kg 20:12.) It is no wonder, then, that the Prophet should name this king, though dead, on account of the esteem in which he was held, as we have seen in the case of the kingdom of Syria, he mentioned Ben-hadad, though no one supposes that he was then alive; but as Ben-hadad distinguished himself above other kings of Syria, the Prophet introduced his name. For the same reason, in my opinion, he names Merodach here.
The sum of the whole is, that though Babylon thought itself safe and secure through the help of its idol, and also through its wealth and warlike power, and through other defences, yet its confidence would become vain and empty, for God would bring to shame its idol and destroy its king. He again returned to the idols, and not without reason; for he thus called the attention of his own nation to the only true God, and also reminded them how detestable was the idolatry which then prevailed among the Chaldeans. And it was necessary to set this doctrine before the Jews, and to impress it on them, that they might not abandon themselves to the superstitions of heathens, as it happened. But the Prophet designedly spoke of images and idols, that the Jews might know that it was the only true God who had adopted them, and that thus they might acquiesce in his power, and know that those were only vain fictions which were much made of through the whole world by the heathens and unbelieving. It now follows —
(50) Most consider that “Merodach” here was a false god; first probably a king, afterwards deified. As confounded, or put to shame, is applied to Bel, the other verb חת, should be rendered “dismayed” or terrified, a meaning which it often has, —
Taken is Babylon, Confounded is Bel, Terrified is Merodach; Confounded are her images, Terrified are her idols.
The word for “images” means labor, and refers to the labor and pains taken by those who made them; and the word for “idols” means a trunk or log of wood from which they were made. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) Set up a standard.Better, lift up a signal. The noun is the same as in Jer. 4:6; Jer. 4:21. Here, however, its use is not that of furnishing a rallying point for an army, but that of a means of rapid communication, like the succession of beacon-fires in the opening of the Agamemnon of schylus (Agam., 272-307). The tidings of the fall of Babylon are to be proclaimed as quickly as may be throughout the world.
Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces.Strictly speaking these, as found in the inscriptions, were names of the same deity (see Note on Isa. 46:1). The name of Bel appears in the names of the two great walls of Babylon, Imgur-Bel and Nimetti-Bel (Records of the Past, v. 125). The latter name, sometimes in the form of Marduk, appears as lord of heaven and earth, and Nebo is subordinate to him. Nebuchadnezzars devotion to him is indicated by the name he gave his son, Evil-merodach (Jer. 52:31), and by describing himself in his inscriptions as worshipper of Marduk (Records of the Past, v. 113). So we have among Chaldan names Merodach-baladan (2Ki. 20:12; Isa. 39:1), Kurdur-Marduk, and others. The inscriptions at Borsippa speak of him as the great lord, the most ancient of the gods, the lord of the gates of heaven, and so on (Rawlinsons Herodotus, i. 627-631).
Idols . . . images.The words had better be inverted. The former word denotes sculptured pillars, the latter blocks or columns. (See Note on Lev. 26:30.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE FALL OF BABYLON AND DELIVERANCE OF ISRAEL, Jer 50:2-10.
2. Set up (rather, as the margin, lift up) a standard As a means of spreading the good news.
Bel Merodach These are not two separate deities, but rather two names suggesting two aspects of one deity. “Bel” is the Aramean divinity answering to the Phenician Baal, the Phenician and Babylonian Jupiter. “Merodach” is the same, as the tutelar god of Babylon.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Fall Of Babylon Will Lead On To The Spiritual Restoration Of Israel ( Jer 50:2-5 ).
What is to come on Babylon is to be a warning to God’s people not to trust in Babylon or enjoy its debauchery and its false religious ideas. Rather they are to take heed to YHWH’s words and return to Him in repentance and tears. For God’s purpose is not only the destruction of Babylon, but the spiritual restoration of His people. And this is equally true for us today.
Jer 50:2-3
“Declare you among the nations and publish,
And set up a standard (or ‘signal’),
Publish, and conceal not,
Say, ‘Babylon is taken!’
Bel is put to shame,
Merodach (Marduk) is dismayed,
Her images are put to shame,
Her idols are dismayed.
For out of the north there comes up a nation against her,
Who will make her land desolate,
And none will dwell in it,
They are fled, they are gone, both man and beast.”
The prophet looks ahead and speaks as though Babylon’s defeat has just occurred. It is such an important and exciting event that the news has to be spread far and wide, by messenger, by signal fire, and by every other means. And the message is that ‘Babylon is taken’. It was news for which the world of that day had long waited. And not only is Babylon taken but also her chief god, Bel/Marduk, is put to shame (as he had been once before when Sennacherib had borne him off to Nineveh along with Nebo – Isa 46:1-2), along with all her other idols. The humiliation of the gods of these nations is an important aspect of Jeremiah’s prophecies (Jer 46:25; Jer 48:7; Jer 49:3). They had been seen by these nations as rivals of YHWH. Now they were being revealed for what they were.
Nebuchadrezzar himself boasted of himself as a ‘worshipper of Marduk’, and confirmed it by naming his son ‘Amel-marduk (Evil-merodach)’, whilst in inscriptions at Borsippa Marduk is described as ‘the great lord, the most ancient of the gods, the lord of the gates of heaven –’. Here ‘he’ is being brought down to size.
The antagonists who will do this will come ‘out of the north’ (compare Jer 1:14; Jer 4:6; Jer 6:1; Jer 10:22; Jer 13:20; Jer 46:20 ’ Jer 47:2; Jer 50:9; Jer 50:41; Jer 51:48). From the point of view of Palestine Egypt was to the south. The ‘neighbouring nations’ were east and west. Any invaders must therefore come ‘from the north’. (To Babylon the Persians came from the east, bur from the Palestinian viewpoint from the north. Cyrus did not destroy Babylon, but sought to preserve its ancient structures. It was finally destroyed by Xerxes in 478 BC). These invaders will make her land desolate and uninhabited.
‘None will dwell in it. They are fled, they are gone, both man and beast.’ For this compare Jer 46:19; Jer 49:18; Jer 49:33. What Babylon have done to others, will be done to them. Alexander the Great planned to restore the city, but died before it could be accomplished, and it began to deteriorate further. By the Christian era Babylon had virtually disappeared, although according to cuneiform texts the temple of Bel continued in existence until at least 75 AD.
Jer 50:4
“In those days, and in that time,
The word of YHWH,
The children of Israel will come,
They and the children of Judah together,
They will go on their way weeping,
And will seek YHWH their God.
The future of the people of Israel/Judah is directly contrasted with the fate of Babylon. ‘In those days and at that time’ ( the time when God will do His work of restoration) Israel and Judah together will come in weeping and repentance, seeking YHWH their God. This coming together of Israel and Judah is a fulfilment of Jer 3:18. Note that the weeping and repentance is prior to their looking towards Jerusalem There will be a new attitude of heart resulting in a new beginning. We can see a partial fulfilment of this in Ezr 3:13; Ezr 8:21-23. A greater fulfilment occurred at the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It is a reminder to us that however grievously we have sinned we can always turn to God in weeping and repentance with the assurance that we will be accepted as long as we intend to commence a new beginning.
Jer 50:5
“They will enquire concerning Zion,
With their faces turned towards it (literally ‘hitherward’),
Saying, ‘Come you, and join yourselves to YHWH,
In an everlasting covenant which will not be forgotten.’ ”
Their weeping and repentance will result in their looking towards Zion, calling on all His people to join themselves to YHWH in an everlasting covenant, one that will not be ‘forgotten’ as the old one had been. We have here a reminder of the new covenant promised in Jer 31:31-34, the covenant written in the heart. Note the use of the term ‘hitherward’ indicating that the author was in Palestine.
This commenced fulfilment when Israelites returned to Palestine in repentance from all parts of the world during the inter-testamental period, and continued when our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world and entered Jerusalem calling men and women to respond to the new covenant (Luk 22:20; Mat 26:28; Mar 14:24 ; 1Co 11:25; Heb 8:6-13). It continues as men continually respond to Jesus Christ and become partakers in that new covenant, turning their backs on ‘Babylon’, as members of the true Israel of God (Gal 3:29; Gal 6:16).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 50:2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, [and] conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
Ver. 2. Declare ye among the nations. ] Let all take notice of the good news; there shall be a general jail delivery, sing therefore Io triumphe.
Say, Babylon is taken.
Bel is confounded.
a Merodach sive Sceptrifer Chaldaica appellatione.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
publish . . . conceal not. Not now using symbols as in Jer 25:15.
set up = lift up.
Babylon is taken. Compare Rev 14:8; Rev 18:6, Rev 18:10, Rev 18:21 : showing that this prophecy is still future.
Bel. Contracted from the Aramaic form of Ba’al, the national god of Babylon. See Isa 46:1.
Merodaoh. Another name for Bel (= Baal), Babylon’s god.
images = manufactured gods. Compare Lev 26:30.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Declare: Jer 6:18, Jer 31:10, Jer 46:14, Psa 64:9, Psa 96:3, Isa 12:4, Isa 48:6, Isa 66:18, Isa 66:19, Rev 14:6-8
set up: Heb. lift up, Isa 13:2
Babylon: Jer 51:8, Isa 21:9, Rev 14:8, Rev 18:2
Bel: Jer 51:44, Isa 46:1
Merodach: Jer 52:31, Isa 39:1
her idols: Jer 50:46, Jer 43:12, Jer 43:13, Isa 37:19, Zep 2:11, Xerxes, after his return from his unsuccessful expedition into Greece, partly out of religious zeal, being a professed enemy to image worship, and partly to reimburse himself after his immense expenses, seized the sacred treasures, and plundered or destroyed the temples and idols of Babylon, thereby accomplishing the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah. – Isa 21:9, Isa 46:1, Jer 50:2, Jer 51:44, Jer 51:47, Jer 51:52.What God declares, “I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth that which he has swallowed,” was also literally fulfilled, when the vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought from Jerusalem and placed in the temple of Bel, Dan 1:2, were restored by order of Cyrus, Ezr 1:7, and again carried to Jerusalem. Bp. Newton, Dis. X.
Reciprocal: 1Sa 5:4 – the head Isa 13:4 – noise Isa 19:1 – the idols Isa 43:14 – For Isa 45:21 – Tell ye Isa 48:20 – utter it even Jer 4:6 – the standard Jer 4:16 – ye Jer 50:38 – the land Jer 50:41 – General Jer 51:17 – brutish by his knowledge Jer 51:18 – in the Jer 51:27 – ye up Eze 23:14 – portrayed Dan 3:14 – my gods Dan 4:8 – Belteshazzar Hos 8:6 – the calf Joe 3:9 – Proclaim Amo 3:9 – Publish Nah 1:14 – out Hab 2:18 – profiteth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 50:2. God was especially displeased with the heathen nations because they worshiped false gods and pretended to rely so much upon them, Bel was a short form for Baal which was a god of the Babylonians. Merodach was a title used in connection with the same god otherwise known as Bel or Baal. Is confounded is a prophecy that when the day of the Babylonian doom arrives her idol will avail her nothing.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
50:2 Declare ye among the nations, and proclaim, and set up a standard; proclaim, [and] conceal not: say, {a} Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, {b} Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
(a) After God had used the Babylonian’s service to punish other nations, this shows that their turn will come to be punished.
(b) These were two of their chief idols.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord commanded a proclamation among the nations that Babylon would be captured. Her chief idols, Bel and Marduk, as well as all her gods, would be humiliated, since it was their job to protect Babylon. [Note: See John D. W. Watts, "Babylonian Idolatry in the Prophets As a False Socio-Economic System," in Israel’s Apostasy and Restoration: Essays in Honor of Roland K. Harrison, pp. 118-20.] Bel was the title of the storm god Enlil, the chief god of Nippur. He was the equivalent of Baal in Canaan and Hadad in Aram. The Babylonians also called Marduk "Bel." [Note: Smothers, p. 365.] Marduk (Merodach) was the creator god who emerged as Babylon’s chief deity and the head of the pantheon of Babylonian idols. Jeremiah used Bel and Marduk in this verse to represent all the Babylonian gods. He referred to their images as pieces of human excrement (Heb. gilluleyha, "her idols"; cf. Lev 26:30; Deu 29:17; 1Ki 15:12; 1Ki 21:26; et al.). Ezekiel used this Hebrew word to describe idols no less than 38 times.
"In the spirit Jeremiah sees the fall of Babylon, together with its idols, as if it had actually taken place, and gives the command to proclaim among the nations this event, which brings deliverance for Israel and Judah." [Note: Keil, 2:269.]