Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 51:34
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath cast me out.
34. me ] mg. us, but “me” is best throughout the v. as in Jer 51:35. Israel suddenly becomes the speaker. For the figure cp. Isa 27:1.
dragon ] The Heb. Tannin is lit. any great monster of river or sea, e.g. the crocodile (Psa 74:13; Eze 29:3).
my delicates ] Israel’s treasured possessions. The word is used as a substantive here only in the Bible. Cp. 3 Hen. VI. II. 5, where the king speaks of the shepherd’s homely curds as “far beyond a prince’s delicates.” ( Bible Word Book.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Literally, Nebuchadrezzar … hath devoured us, hath crushed us, he hath set as aside as an empty vessel, he hath swallowed as like a crocodile, he hath filled his maw with my delicacies Gen 49:20, he hath cast us out. My wrong and my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitress of Zion say: and my blood be etc. Nebuchadnezzar had devoured Jerusalem, had treated her as ruthlessly as a crocodile does its prey, and for this cruelty he and Babylon are justly to be punished.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 34. Nebuchadrezzar – hath devoured me] These are the words of Judea; he has taken away all my riches.
He hath cast me out.] He shall vomit all up; i.e., they shall be regained.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The prophet speaketh this in the name of the Jews, complaining of the
king of Babylon as the author of all the miseries they had endured, which he expresseth by several phrases signifying the same thing, viz. that it was the king of Babylon that had ruined. them, and filled himself and his soldiers with their delicate things, and cast them out of their land, dealing with them as wolves or other beasts of prey, that eat what they please of other beasts they have preyed upon, and leave the rest in the fields.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
34. meZion speaks. Her groansare what bring down retribution in kind on Babylon (Jer 50:17;Psa 102:13; Psa 102:17;Psa 102:20).
empty vesselHe hasdrained me out.
dragonThe serpentoften “swallows” its prey whole; or a sea monster[GROTIUS].
filled his belly . . . castme outlike a beast, which, having “filled” himselfto satiety, “casts out” the rest [CALVIN].After filling all his storehouses with my goods, he has cast meout of this land [GROTIUS].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me,…. Or “us” w; everyone of us: these are the words of Zion and Jerusalem, as appears from Jer 51:35; complaining of the injuries done them by the king of Babylon, who had eaten them up; spoiled their substance, as the Targum; took their cities, plundered them of their riches, and carried them away captive:
he hath crushed me; to the earth; or “bruised” or “broken”, even all her bones; see Jer 50:17;
he hath made me an empty vessel; emptied the land of its inhabitants and riches, and left nothing valuable in it:
he hath swallowed me up like a dragon; or “whale”, or any large fish, which swallow the lesser ones whole. The allusion is to the large swallow of dragons, which is sometimes represented as almost beyond all belief; for not only Pliny x from Megasthenes reports, that, in India, serpents, that is, dragons, grow to such a bulk, that they will swallow whole deer, and even bulls; but Posidonius y relates, that in Coelesyria was one, whose gaping jaws would admit of a horse and his rider: and Onesicritus z speaks of two dragons in the country of Abisarus in India; the one was fourscore and the other a hundred and forty cubits long;
he hath filled his belly with my delicates; with the treasures of the king and his nobles; with the vessels of the temple, and the riches of the people, which he loaded himself with to his full satisfaction. So the Targum,
“he filled his treasury with the good of my land;”
he hath cast me out; out of my land, and carried me captive; so the Targum.
w The “Cetib”, or textual reading, is “us”; but the “Keri”, or marginal reading, is “me”, which our version follows, and so the same in the four following words, in the text. x Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 14. col. 436. y Apud Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 3. c. 14. col. 436. z Apud Strabo. Geograph. l. 15. p. 480.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This judgment comes on Babylon for its offences against Israel. The king of Babylon has devoured Israel, etc. Those who complain, in Jer 51:34, are the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, in whose name the prophet enumerates the crimes of Babylon. “Nebuchadnezzar has devoured us,” i.e., oppressed us. The plural suffixes to the verbs have been needlessly changed in the Qeri into singulars, for the simple reason, perhaps, that with and in Jer 51:35 the address makes a transition into the singular. signifies to throw enemies into confusion by causing a panic, for the purpose of destroying them; hence to destroy, see on Deu 2:15; here to destroy, crush. “He set us down like an empty vessel” refers to the country and the people; he has swept the country of human beings, and robbed the people of everything. , usually a sea-monster, crocodile (Isa 27:1; Isa 51:9, etc.); here a beast of prey which devours everything. , “delights,” then “dainty meats,” Gen 49:20.
(Note: The form actually found in the Masoretic text is , “from (out of, with) my dainties.” – Tr.)
, from , signifies to wash away, push away (see Delitzsch on Isa 4:4); in other places Jeremiah uses , Jer 8:3; Jer 16:15, etc. “Let my wrong (i.e., the wrong done me) come upon Babylon.” This wrong is more fully specified, with reference to the figure of swallowing, by “my flesh and blood;” cf. Mic 3:3. The Lord will avenge this wrong, Jer 51:36, cf. Jer 50:34; Jer 51:6, Jer 51:11; He will also dry up the sea of Babylon, and make her spring dry up. Many expositors understand these latter words metaphorically, as referring to the sea of nations surging in Babylon (Jer 51:42, Jer 51:55), and view the treasures and riches as the fountain from which the sea of nations sprang up (Hitzig); but the context demands a literal interpretation, inasmuch as in Jer 51:37 the subject treated of is the laying waste of the country. The sea of Babylon is the Euphrates, with its canals, lakes, and marshes, i.e., the abundance of water to which Babylonia owed its fertility, and the city its influence as the centre of the then known world. Isaiah (Isa 21:1) accordingly calls Babylon, emblematically, the desert of the sea, inasmuch as the region in which Babylon stands is a plain, broken in such a manner by the Euphrates, as well as by marshes and lakes, as that the city, so to speak, swims in the sea (Delitzsch). The source of spring of the sea is the Euphrates, and the drying up of this spring is not to be understood literally of the drying up of the Euphrates, but signifies a drying up of the springs of water that fertilize the country. On the figures employed in Jer 51:37, cf. Jer 9:10; Jer 18:16; Jer 49:33.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Vs. 34-40: JUDAH’S COMPLAINT AGAINST BABYLON
1. Like some great monster, Nebuchaanezzar had swallowed the land of Judah in a single gulp – filling his belly with her delicacies and casting her out, (vs. 34; comp. Isa 24:1-3).
2. Thus, she calls for vengeance upon Babylon for her violence and bloodsrred. (vs. 35; comp. Psa 137:8).
3. And the Lord promises to plead her cause – executing vengeance upon Babylon unto utter devastation! (vs. 36-37; Psa 140:12; Rom 12:19).
4. Their triumphant shouts of exultation, likened to the roaring of a lion over its prey, will be silenced, (vs. 38; comp. Jer 2:15; Jer 4:7; Jer 50:17).
5. The Lord is preparing a feast – making them so drunk, with the wine of His indignation, that they will sleep a perpetual sleep of death! (vs. 39, 57; comp. Jer 48:26).
6. He will bring them down like slaughter-animals, (vs. 40; Jer 50:27; comp. Isa 34:6-8).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Here is mentioned the complaint of the chosen people, and this was done designedly by Jeremiah, in order that the Jews might feel assured that their miseries were not overlooked by God; for nothing can distress us so much as to think that God forgets us and disregards the wrongs done to us by the ungodly, hence the Prophet here sets the Israelites in God’s presence, that they might be convinced in their own minds that they were not disregarded by God, and that he was not indifferent to the unjust and cruel treatment they received from their enemies. For this complaint is made, as though they expostulated with God in his presence.
He then says, Devoured me and broken me in pieces has Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon (96) The word, to eat, or devour, was enough; but Jeremiah wished to express something more atrocious by adding the word, to break in pieces; (97) for he intimates that Babylon had not been like a man who devours meat set before him, but that she had been a cruel wild beast, who breaks in pieces the very bones. We now, then, understand the design of the Prophet; he amplifies the savageness of the king of Babylon, by saying that God’s people had not only been devoured by him as men swallow down their food, but that they had also been torn in pieces by his teeth, as though he had been a lion, or a bear, or some other wild animal; for these not only devour their prey, but also with their teeth break in pieces whatever is harder than flesh, such as bones.
For the same purpose he adds, He has set me an empty vessel, that is, he has wholly exhausted me, as when one empties a flagon or a cask. Then he says, he has swallowed me like a dragon (98) It is a comparison different from the former, but yet very suitable; for dragons are those who devour a whole animal; and this is what the Prophet means. Though these comparisons do not in everything agree, yet as to the main thing they are most appropriate, even to show that God suffered his people to be devoured, as though they had been exposed to the teeth of a lion or a bear, or as though they had been a prey to a dragon.
He adds, Filled has he his belly with my delicacies, that is, whatever delicate thing I had, he has consumed it. He then says, he has cast off the remnants, like wolves and lions and other wild beasts, who, when they have more prey than what suffices them, choose what is most savory; for they choose the head of man that they may eat the brain; they suck the blood, but leave the intestines and whatever they do not like. So also the Prophet says here of the miserable Jews, that they had been so devoured that the enemy, having been satiated, had cast. off the remainder. (99)
We hence learn that God’s people had been so exposed to plunder, that the conqueror was not only satisfied, but cast away here and there what remained; for satiety, as it is well known, produces loathsomeness. But the Prophet refers to the condition of the miserable people; for their wealth had been swallowed up by the Chaldeans, but their household furniture was plundered by the neighboring nations; and the men themselves had been driven into exile, so that there came a disgraceful scattering. They were then scattered into various countries, and some were left through contempt in the land; thus was fulfilled what is said here, “He has cast me out,” even because these wild beasts, the Chaldeans, became satiated; meat was rejected by them, because they could not consume all that was presented to them.
By these figurative terms, as it has been stated, is set forth the extreme calamity of the people; and the Prophet no doubt intended to meet such thoughts as might otherwise have proved very harassing to the Jews. For as they found no end to their evils, they might have thought that they had been so cast away by God as to become the most miserable of men. This is the reason why our Prophet anticipates what might have imbittered the minds of the godly, and even driven them to despair, he then says, that notwithstanding all the things which had happened, yet God had not forgotten his people; for all these things were done as in his sight.
With regard to us, were God not only to double the calamities of his Church, but also to afflict it in an extreme degree, yet what the Prophet says here ought to afford us aid, even that God’s chosen people were formerly so consumed, that the remainder was cast away in contempt; for the conqueror, though insatiable, could not yet consume all that he got as a prey, because his cupidity could not contain it. It now follows, —
(96) The pronoun after the verbs in this verse is in the plural number, us, according to the present Hebrew text, but according to the Keri and several copies, it is in the singular number, me. The authority as to MSS. is nearly equal; only the latter reading is favored by the versions and the Targ, and also by the verse which follows. — Ed.
(97) The common meaning of the verb is, violently to disturb, but it is evidently used in the sense of breaking, crushing, or breaking in pieces, in Isa 28:28; and this is the most suitable sense here, as it follows “devouring.” — Ed.
(98) Or a sea-monster, or a whale, who devours smaller fish whole and entire. — Ed.
(99) The last verb is left out by the Sept. , rendered “cast out,” by the Vulg. , “destroyed,” by the Syr. ; “made to emigrate,” by the Targ. The verb properly means to drive out or away; and their ejection from the land is what is meant. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
B. The Complaint of Israel and the Reply of the Lord Jer. 51:34-40
TRANSLATION
(34) Nebuchadnezzar has devoured us, has crushed us, has set us down like an empty vessel. Like a monster he has devoured us, filled his belly with my dainties, expelled us. (35) May the violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitress of Zion say. May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. (36) Therefore, thus says the LORD: Behold, I am about to plead your cause and execute your vengeance and I will dry up her seas and cause her fountains to fail. (37) And Babylon shall be heaps, a habitation of jackals, an astonishment and place over which one will whistle, without inhabitant. (38) They shall roar together like young lions, growl like lions whelps. (39) When they become hot I will prepare a feast for them; I will make them drunken that they may rejoice and them sleep a perpetual sleep from which they shall not wake (oracle of the LORD). (40) I will bring them down like sheep to slaughter, like rams with he-goats.
COMMENTS
In Jer. 51:34-35 Jeremiah hears as it were the bitter complaints of the Jewish captives against the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar has devoured and crushed Israel; he has emptied his land and caused it to stand like an empty vessel. Like some great monster of the sea or river the king of Babylon had swallowed all in which Israel delights (his delicacies). Just what monster Jeremiah had in mind as he penned these words is uncertain. It was probably a crocodile or perhaps a large serpent. The King James translation dragon is unfortunate and misleading. Nebuchadnezzar had cast out Israel i.e., he had rejected and discarded Israel as though the people of God were something worthless or repulsive (Jer. 51:34). For this violence, outrage and indignity Israel would see the vengeance of the Lord upon Babylon (Jer. 51:35). It is as though Israel is a plaintiff standing before a judge and demanding that the guilty oppressor be punished. The reference to the flesh and blood in Jer. 51:35 refers back to the figure of Babylon devouring Israel in the previous verse.
In response to the appeal of oppressed Israel the Lord declares that He will take up their cause and bring vengeance upon their enemies. The sea and fountain of Babylon shall dry up (Jer. 51:36). Probably the reference here is to the Euphrates river and to the irrigation canals which crisscrossed the country bringing fertility to an otherwise arid land. Water in many ways was more precious than gold to the ancient Babylonians since the prosperity of the land depended upon transporting the waters of the Euphrates to the inland agricultural regions. With the destruction of this elaborate irrigation and water control system, Babylon rapidly became an uninhabited desert marked by shapeless and unsightly heaps (i.e., mounds of ruins) and occupied only by jackals.[418] Those who pass by the desolate site of Babylon will hiss or whistle in astonishment at what has befallen the once proud metropolis (Jer. 51:37).
[418] The King James is again misleading in rendering the Hebrew word dragons. A different Hebrew word from that used in Jer. 51:34 is used here and commentators are in general agreement that fie word used here means jackals.
In Jeremiahs day the Babylonians were like lion cubs growling in exultation over the spoil which they had won from conquered nations (Jer. 51:38). But while the Babylonians are in the midst of their greedily enjoyment the Lord will prepare for them a banquet of His own making. He will pour them out a full cup, not of wine but of wrath. Not realizing the fatal contents of that cup the Babylonians drink, become intoxicated, and fall into the drunkards sleepa sleep from which they never will awake (Jer. 51:39). The devouring lion shall become as a lamb led to the slaughter (Jer. 51:40). The mention of lambs, rams and he-goats in Jer. 51:40 may be a way of saying that all classes of the population will go down to the slaughter.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(34) He hath made me an empty vessel.The pronouns in one form of the Hebrew text are most of them in the plural, devoured us, crushed us, made us. The prophet speaks of himself and Israel as having suffered wrong and outrage at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. The land had been spoiled till it was as an empty vessel.
He hath swallowed me up like a dragon.The Hebrew noun probably stands for a crocodile (as in Isa. 27:1; Isa. 51:9; Eze. 29:3), or is used generally for any sea-monster. The delicates (dainties in Gen. 49:20) are the corn and wine and oil and fruits of Palestine with which the Chaldan armies had enriched themselves.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
34, 35. The pronouns are in the plural, but have been without warrant changed into the singular in the Keri, and so in the English Version. The literal reading is, hath devoured us, crushed us, etc., etc. The reference is to Israel, and the doctrine of the passage is, that these calamities have fallen on Babylon because of its offences against Israel.
Dragon Usually a sea monster; probably the crocodile.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Cry Of Jerusalem For Vengeance ( Jer 51:34-35 ).
In these two verses we have the words of ‘the inhabitants of Zion’, the words of ‘Jerusalem’ as they remind God of what Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon, had done to them. Jerusalem lay in ruins, the Temple destroyed and emptied of its treasures, the choicest of the people carried away into exile, the whole land utterly devastated. What was more they had watched as their babies’ heads had been smashed against the walls of their houses, their choicest young women, and even their older women and wives, had been ceaselessly raped and left for dead, and their sons had been slaughtered. They were totally distraught.
Jer 51:34-35
“Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me,
He has crushed me,
He has made me an empty vessel,
He has, like a monster, swallowed me up,
He has filled his maw with my delicacies,
He has cast me out.
The violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon,
Will the inhabitant of Zion say,
And, ‘My blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,’
Will Jerusalem say.”
The cry of God’s people that YHWH would see what Nebuchadrezzar had done and would avenge it on Babylon and Babylonia, is raised to YHWH. It is hugely descriptive. Nebuchadrezzar is depicted as a fearsome monster who has devoured them, who has crushed them, who has drained them of all that they had (made them like an empty vessel), who has swallowed them up, filling himself up on all their choicest things, and has then cast them away violently as unwanted scraps. And they pray that Babylon will reap the consequences of what it has done, and that their blood may be avenged on the whole of Babylonia as it thrived on its ill-gotten gains.
We must recognise that this cry was founded on what they saw as the basis of all justice, ‘an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth’, neither more nor less. That was true justice. It was not until the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that the possibility was mooted that there should be forgiveness, even for such things under all circumstances, something which He Himself illustrated as He cried out on behalf of those who had crucified Him, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’. Justice had been overridden by mercy.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 51:34. Nebuchadrezzarhath crushed me This is a pathetic description of the calamities brought upon the Jews by Nebuchadrezzar and his forces; who, after devouring the wealth, and laying waste the beauty of their country, carried them away captives into a strange land. The imprecation in the following verse is very similar to that in Psa 137:8.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
17. BABYLONS MISDEED, ISRAELS COMPLAINT, JEHOVAHS SENTENCE
Jer 51:34-40
34Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, devoured us, he crushed us,
He put us away as an empty vessel,
He swallowed us like a dragon,
He filled his belly19 with my best and cast us out.20
35My wrong and my flesh be on Babylon, say the inhabitress of Zion
My blood on the inhabitants of Chaldea, say Jerusalem.
36Therefore thus saith21 Jehovah:
Behold, I fight thy battle, and execute thy vengeance,
And cause her sea to dry up and seal up her spring.
37And Babylon shall become ruins, the abode of jackals,
A terror and an object of scorn, which is bare of inhabitants.
38They will roar one with another like young lions,
They will growl22 like the young of the lioness.
39For their intoxication I prepare them a drinking-bout,
And make them drunken that they may rejoice,
Fall asleep to a perpetual sleep
And never awake, saith Jehovah.
40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
Like rams with he-goats.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Nebuchadnezzar has devoured Israel, emptied his land and caused it to stand like an empty vessel, having cast out the people (Jer 51:34). For this Israel invokes the vengeance of Jehovah (Jer 51:35). To this desire the Lord declares Himself willing to respond; as Babylon has emptied Israel, so shall it become an empty unwatered desert; as Nebuchadnezzar has devoured Israel like a dragon, so shall the Chaldeans roar like lions; as they have revelled in Israels flesh and blood, so shall they empty the cup of wrath even to fatal drunkenness, and be brought as sheep to the slaughter (Jer 51:36-40). Three main thoughts are thus plainly distinguishable, the expositio facti, the complaint and the sentence.
Jer 51:34. Nebuchadrezzar cast us out. Nebuchadnezzar has devoured (Jer 50:17; Jer 50:17) and crushed (literally disturbavit, Exo 14:25; Exo 23:27; Jos 10:10; 2Ch 15:6) Israel; and then let the land stand like an empty vessel. Hitzig regards the words he put us away, as spoken by the land, but this view is opposed by the plural pronoun. It is better to regard the people and land as speaking together. Then the first clause refers to the persons, the second to the land, the third to the particular things, which the enemy took with him as plunder out of the country.Dragon, , Isaiah 1, bellua maritima, , (Gen 1:21; Job 7:12; Ps. 158:7). 2. Serpent (Exo 7:9-10; Exo 7:12; Deu 32:33; Psa 74:13). 3. Crocodile (Isa 27:1; Isa 51:9; Eze 29:3; Eze 32:2; Psa 74:13), In this place it is usually translated dragon, this being viewed as a modification of the second meaning. It is really a matter of indifference what great animal is intended, and it therefore suffices to render the word by a general term.
Jer 51:35. My wrong Jerusalem. After the representation of the condition of things, Israel here appears as a plaintiff, and demands as his right the punishment of the oppressor.My wrong. Comp. Gen 16:5.My flesh and my blood point back to devoured, Jer 51:34.Inhabitants of Chaldea. Comp. Jer 51:24; Jer 50:10. [By my flesh we are here to understand the blood-relations of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, or the Jews throughout the country, who were killed or carried captive to Babylon. Henderson.S. R. A.]
Jer 51:36-40. Therefore thus with he goats. The Lord receives the complaint of Israel. He declares himself ready to execute the punishment desired. The close connection of the words with Jer 51:35 is clear from therefore, and from its whole purport.I fight, etc. Comp. Jer 50:34; Jer 51:6; Jer 51:11; Jer 51:56; Jer 50:15; Jer 50:28.Cause to dry up, etc. The abundance of water, to which the land of Babylon owes its fertility and power, the Lord will dry up and even seal up the springs. Comp. Jer 50:38.Her sea. Comp. rems. on Jer 51:13. The main land, on which Babylon stands, is a large plain, which is so broken up with marshes and lakes by the Euphrates, that it floats, as it were, in the sea. The low land on the lower Euphrates is, as it were, wrung from the sea; for before Semiramis erected the dikes, the Euphrates used to overflow it all ( ,Herod., I., 184); Abydenus (in Euseb. Prp., IX., 41), even says that at first it was all water, and was also called . Delitzsch on Isa 21:1.Become ruins. Comp. Jer 9:10; Jer 18:16; Jer 19:8; Jer 25:9; Jer 25:18; Jer 29:18; Jer 51:29. According to the theory of recompense which the Lord has presented in Jer 51:36 (comp. Jer 51:6) the desolation and evacuation here predicted corresponds to the emptying, which Israel, according to Jer 51:34, had experienced from Babylon.In Jer 51:38 it is not an element of the punishment, but on the contrary the revelling of the Babylonians in the enjoyment of their plunder, which is described (comp. Jer 2:15; Amo 3:4).
Jer 51:39. While now they are in the heart of their greedy enjoyment (comp. Hos 7:4-7) the Lord will prepare them a banquet of his own kind. He will pour them out a full cap, but of wrath (Jer 25:15-27). Of this excitement and sleep will be the consequencethe excitement of anguish and the sleep of death (Jer 51:57).That they may rejoice, is therefore intended ironically. Comp. Isa 21:5, and Delitzsch, ad loc.The remarkable fulfilment of these words in the surprise of the Chaldeans while feasting (Dan 5:1 sqq.; Herod., I., 191; Cyrop., VII., 23) is no more to be traced to special prediction, than the fulfilment of Jer 51:31-32; Jer 50:24. The prophet has no expectation that his picture of wild carousal, and the exchange of this for another ironically so-called, would correspond so literally to the facts. That this was the case was not, however, due to a coincidence, but to divine Providence. Comp. rems. on Jer 51:31-32.I will bring them, etc. Comp. Jer 48:15; Jer 50:27. Lambs, rams, he-goats! All classes of the population are to fall a sacrifice to the butchers knife. Comp. Isa 34:6; Eze 39:18; Jer 50:8.This description also, from Jer 51:38 onwards, stands in evident contrast to the devouring of Israel by the Chaldeans, in Jer 51:34.
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:
[19]Jer 51:34., belly, is . .
[20]Jer 51:34.. The singular suffix has induced the Masoretes to make the previous verbs conformable to this, but this change of number is by no means rare. Comp. Jer 9:7; Jer 10:4; Jer 13:20; Naegelsb. Gr., 105, 7 Anm. 2. Some commentators would attach the word to the following, and read because the Hiph of signifies to wash, rinse away (Isa 4:4; Eze 40:38; 2Ch 4:6), and does not occur elsewhere in Jeremiah, while is very common with him (Jer 8:3; Jer 16:15; Jer 23:3; Jer 23:8; Jer 27:10; Jer 27:15, etc.). The meaning of rinsing, however, lies at the foundation of that casting away (the Hiph. of is to cast away, wash away, Delitzsch on Isa 4:4, S. 89), and the brevity of the second half of the verse is not without analogy. Comp. Jer 50:26; Jer 51:28.
[21]Jer 51:35. Comp. Isa 12:6. The expression occurs only in these two places.
[22]Jer 51:38., snarl, growl, is an . .
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Jer 51:34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicates, he hath cast me out.
Ver. 34. Nebuchadnezzar hath devoured me, he hath crushed me.] A graphical description of the Babylonian cruelty.
He hath cast me out.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 51:34-40
34Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me and crushed me,
He has set me down like an empty vessel;
He has swallowed me like a monster,
He has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
He has washed me away.
35May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon,
The inhabitant of Zion will say;
And, May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,
Jerusalem will say.
36Therefore thus says the Lord,
Behold, I am going to plead your case
And exact full vengeance for you;
And I will dry up her sea
And make her fountain dry.
37Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals,
An object of horror and hissing, without inhabitants.
38They will roar together like young lions,
They will growl like lions’ cubs.
39When they become heated up, I will serve them their banquet
And make them drunk, that they may become jubilant
And may sleep a perpetual sleep
And not wake up, declares the Lord.
40I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
Like rams together with male goats.
Jer 51:34-39 Jerusalem/Judah (Jer 51:35 d) is personified as a devastated people (Jer 51:34).
1. Babylon has devoured me – BDB 37, KB 46, Qal perfect
2. Babylon has crushed me – BDB 243, KB 251, Qal perfect
3. Babylon has set me down as an empty vessel – BDB 426, KB 427, Hiphil perfect
4. Babylon has swallowed me like a monster – BDB 118, KB 134, Qal perfect
5. Babylon has filled his stomach with my delicacies – BDB 569, KB 583, Piel perfect
6. Babylon has washed me away – BDB 188, KB 216, Hiphil perfect
Every one of these (except #5) has a Kethiv and Qere form related to plural or singular.
Jer 51:34
NASBwashed me away
NKJVspit me out
NRSV, REB spewed me out
TEVthrew the rest away
NJBthrew me out
JPSOArinsed me out
LXX omit
The MT has the verb rinse or cleanse away (BDB 188, KB 216, Hiphil perfect). The verb can refer to
1. ritual washing – 2Ch 4:6; Eze 40:38
2. cleansing – Isa 4:4
3. here the context seems to demand a mouth rinse and expulsion of the liquid
The point is Babylon used Jerusalem and then spit her out as useless!
Jer 51:35 a This is praying/wishing that what Babylon did to Jerusalem/Judah, others will do to her (cf. Jer 50:15; Jer 50:29). The speaker is personified Jerusalem.
Jer 51:36-40 YHWH describes what He will do to Babylon and for Judah.
1. for Judah
a. plead your case, Jer 50:34; Jer 51:36 (i.e., act as your advocate)
b. exact full vengeance on her behalf
2. to Babylon
a. dry up her sea (i.e., commerce)
b. become a heap of ruins
c. become a haunt of jackals, cf. Jer 49:33
d. become an object of horror
e. become an object of hissing
f. make them the food of a banquet
g. make then drunk (lit. rejoice), cf. Jer 51:57
h. make them sleep forever
i. make them sacrificial animals
Jer 51:38-39 The context demands that this refers to Babylon. They are enjoying their spoils in Jer 51:38. However, their victories make them vulnerable to excess (drunkenness), which leads to destruction and death (Jer 51:39, lines 3 & 4, Jer 51:40).
In Jer 51:40 the Babylonians are like animals being led to slaughter. They cannot defend themselves. As they treated others, now they will receive!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
me. Here, and in Jer 51:35, the Hebrew text reads “us”; but the margin, and some codices, with two early printed editions, read “me”, which is followed by the Authorized Version.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 51:34-40
Jer 51:34-40
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath, like a monster, swallowed me up, he hath filled his maw with my delicacies; he hath cast me out. The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. They shall roar together like young lions; they shall growl as lions’ whelps. When they are heated, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith Jehovah. I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats.
Harrison’s summary of this paragraph has this: “Nebuchadnezzar has devoured Jerusalem with the greedy gulp of a monster (the New English Bible has “dragon”), and for this excess his land shall be punished. The idiom of recompense (Jer 51:35) is that of Gen 16:5).”
I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry…
(Jer 51:36). This writer cannot believe that Almighty God would dignify the mythological tale of a vast underground ocean by here promising to dry it up. Could God dry up something that never existed? Therefore, we reject the notion that, This is a reference to the mythological wellsprings of life. The Euphrates and its system of canals were the wellsprings of life for Babylon, not some mythological underground sea. See under Jer 51:13, above. Smith supposed that there might also be a reference here to, The great lake dug by Nitocris to receive the waters of the Euphrates.
Like a monster…
(Jer 51:34). See my comment on Isa 27:1 regarding the monster mentioned there.
The Complaint of Israel and the Reply of the Lord Jer 51:34-40
In Jer 51:34-35 Jeremiah hears as it were the bitter complaints of the Jewish captives against the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar has devoured and crushed Israel; he has emptied his land and caused it to stand like an empty vessel. Like some great monster of the sea or river the king of Babylon had swallowed all in which Israel delights (his delicacies). Just what monster Jeremiah had in mind as he penned these words is uncertain. It was probably a crocodile or perhaps a large serpent. The King James translation dragon is unfortunate and misleading. Nebuchadnezzar had cast out Israel i.e., he had rejected and discarded Israel as though the people of God were something worthless or repulsive (Jer 51:34). For this violence, outrage and indignity Israel would see the vengeance of the Lord upon Babylon (Jer 51:35). It is as though Israel is a plaintiff standing before a judge and demanding that the guilty oppressor be punished. The reference to the flesh and blood in Jer 51:35 refers back to the figure of Babylon devouring Israel in the previous verse.
In response to the appeal of oppressed Israel the Lord declares that He will take up their cause and bring vengeance upon their enemies. The sea and fountain of Babylon shall dry up (Jer 51:36). Probably the reference here is to the Euphrates river and to the irrigation canals which crisscrossed the country bringing fertility to an otherwise arid land. Water in many ways was more precious than gold to the ancient Babylonians since the prosperity of the land depended upon transporting the waters of the Euphrates to the inland agricultural regions. With the destruction of this elaborate irrigation and water control system, Babylon rapidly became an uninhabited desert marked by shapeless and unsightly heaps (i.e., mounds of ruins) and occupied only by jackals. The King James is again misleading in rendering the Hebrew word dragons. A different Hebrew word from that used in Jer 51:34 is used here and commentators are in general agreement that fie word used here means jackals. Those who pass by the desolate site of Babylon will hiss or whistle in astonishment at what has befallen the once proud metropolis (Jer 51:37).
In Jeremiahs day the Babylonians were like lion cubs growling in exultation over the spoil which they had won from conquered nations (Jer 51:38). But while the Babylonians are in the midst of their greedily enjoyment the Lord will prepare for them a banquet of His own making. He will pour them out a full cup, not of wine but of wrath. Not realizing the fatal contents of that cup the Babylonians drink, become intoxicated, and fall into the drunkards sleep-a sleep from which they never will awake (Jer 51:39). The devouring lion shall become as a lamb led to the slaughter (Jer 51:40). The mention of lambs, rams and he-goats in Jer 51:40 may be a way of saying that all classes of the population will go down to the slaughter.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the king: Jer 51:49, Jer 39:1-8, Jer 50:7, Jer 50:17, Lam 1:1, Lam 1:14, Lam 1:15
he hath made: Jer 48:11, Jer 48:12, Isa 24:1-3, Isa 34:11, Nah 2:2, Nah 2:9, Nah 2:10
swallowed: Jer 51:44, Job 20:15, Pro 1:12, Lam 2:16, Eze 36:3, Amo 8:4, Mat 23:14
Reciprocal: Deu 30:7 – General 2Sa 20:19 – swallow 2Ki 25:1 – Nebuchadnezzar 2Ch 16:10 – oppressed Job 5:5 – swalloweth Job 20:18 – swallow Psa 79:7 – For they Psa 80:13 – The boar Psa 94:5 – break Psa 102:20 – To hear Psa 107:39 – oppression Psa 124:3 – swallowed Isa 13:11 – I will punish Isa 14:1 – the Lord Isa 14:4 – How Isa 27:1 – the dragon Isa 42:22 – a people Isa 43:14 – For Isa 47:3 – I will take Jer 10:25 – eaten Jer 30:16 – General Jer 50:11 – ye destroyers Jer 50:33 – and all Hos 8:8 – swallowed Amo 4:1 – crush Nah 2:12 – and filled Hab 2:6 – that increaseth Hab 2:8 – the violence Hab 2:17 – of the city Zec 1:15 – and Zec 2:8 – the nations Rev 18:3 – her delicacies
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 51:34. The Lord speaks of the mistreatment of his people as if it had been done to Him. Jesus taught the same principle In Mat 25:45. The king of Babylon named in this verse was the one in power when the three captivities took place and hence he Is the one named in the complaint.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 51:34-35. Nebuchadrezzar hath devoured me Zion and Jerusalem, which are both expressed in the next verse, are the speakers here, and the words contain a pathetical description of the calamities brought upon the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar and his forces, who, after they had devoured the wealth and laid waste the beauty of Judea, then turned the inhabitants out of it, and led them captives into a strange land. The violence done to me and my flesh be upon Babylon Let God return upon her the violence she has done to me and to my children. Our nearest relations are called our flesh in Scripture. This imprecation is very similar to that in Psa 137:8, where see the note.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
51:34 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon hath {t} devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath swallowed me up like a dragon, he hath filled his belly with my delicacies, he hath cast me out.
(t) This is spoken in the person of the Jews bewailing their state and the cruelty of the Babylonians.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
12. Judah’s complaint against Babylon 51:34-40
The prophet explained Judah’s complaint against Babylon.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Jerusalem, personified, would say that Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed her. He had eaten her up, crushed her, cast her aside, swallowed her like a monster, and washed her away as with a flood. Nebuchadnezzar had done to Jerusalem what the great fish had done to Jonah. Jerusalem wished that her bloodstains on Babylon would identify Babylon as guilty.