Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 51:48
Then the heaven and the earth, and all that [is] therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
48. shall sing for joy over Babylon ] shall rejoice over her fall.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 48. The heaven and the earth – shall sing for Babylon] Its fall shall be a subject of universal rejoicing.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All the creatures in heaven and earth. shall rejoice at the vengeance which God shall take upon Babylon, which had been the destroyer of so many of their people. The Median soldiers are those here called spoilers from the north.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
48. heaven . . . earth . . . singfor Babylon (Isa 14:7-13;Isa 44:23; Rev 18:20).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then the heaven and the earth, and all that [is] therein,
shall sing for Babylon,…. At the destruction of her, rejoicing at it; not at the ruin of fellow creatures, simply considered; but relatively, at the righteousness of God in it, and the glory of his justice, and the deliverance of many by it from tyranny and bondage. This seems to be a figurative expression often used, in which the heavens and the earth are brought in as witnesses, approvers, and applauders, of what is done by the Lord. Some indeed interpret it of the angels, the inhabitants of the heavens, and of the Jews, dwellers on earth; and others of the church of God, in heaven and in earth; which, of the two, seems best; the like will be done at the fall of mystical Babylon, Re 18:20;
for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the Lord; the Medes and Persians that should and did spoil and plunder Babylon; and who came from countries that lay north to it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Heaven and earth, with all that is in them (i.e., the whole world, with its animate and inanimate creatures), break out into rejoicing over the fall of Babylon (cf. Isa 44:23), for Babylon has enslaved and laid waste all the world. The second part of Jer 51:48, “for the destroyers shall come from the north,” is logically connected with Jer 51:47, to which Jer 51:48 is to be taken as subordinate, in the sense, “over which heaven and earth rejoice.” On Jer 51:48, cf. Jer 50:3, Jer 50:9, Jer 50:41. Both parts of Jer 51:49 are placed in mutual relation by . These two particles, thus used, signify “as well as,” “not only…but also,” or “as…so.” Ewald, Hitzig, and Graf have quite missed the meaning of both clauses, since they take as a vocative, and render the whole thus: “Not only must Babylon fall, O ye slain ones of Israel, but slain ones of the whole earth have fallen on the side of Babylon (or through Babylon).” This view of the expression “slain ones of Israel” cannot be established, either from grammatical considerations or from a regard to the meaning of the whole. Not only is there no occasion for a direct address to the slain ones of Israel; but by such a view of the expression, the antithesis indicated by , between “the slain ones of Israel” and “the slain ones of the earth,” is thereby destroyed. Viewed grammatically, “the slain ones of Israel” can only be the subject dependent on the inf. : “the fall of the slain ones of Israel.” Kimchi has long ago hit the meaning in the explanation, , “as Babylon was the cause of the slain ones of Israel falling.” Similarly Jerome: et quomodo fecit Babylon ut caderent occisi ex Israel. This paraphrase may be vindicated on grammatical grounds, for the inf. constr. with , with or without , is used to express that on which one is engaged, or what one is on the point of doing; cf. Gesenius, 132, 3, Rem. 1. In this meaning, stands here without : “Just as Babylon was concerned in making the slain ones of Israel fall;” or better: “Just as Babylon was intent on the fall of slain ones in Israel, so also there fall because of Babylon (prop. dative, for Babylon) slain ones of all the earth;” because there are to be found, in the capital of the empire, people from all quarters of the world, who are slain when Babylon is conquered. The perf. is prophetic, like in Jer 51:47.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
That, he might more fully convince the Jews of the truth of all that he has hitherto said of the destruction of Babylon, he declares that God would effect it, and that it would be applauded by all the elements. Shout, he says, shall heaven and earth; which is a kind of personification — for he ascribes knowledge to heaven and earth. It might, indeed, be more refinedly explained, that angels and men would shout for joy, but it would be a frigid explanation; and the Prophet removes every ambiguity, by adding, and all that is in them: he includes, no doubt, the stars, men, trees, fishes, birds, fields, stones, and rivers. And the expression is very emphatical when he says, that all created things, though without reason and understanding, would yet be full of joy, so that they would, in a manner, rejoice and sing praise. If such would be the feeling in dead creatures, when God put forth his hand against Babylon, would it be possible for that city to remain safe, which was so hated by heaven and earth, and which was accursed by birds and wild beasts, by trees, and everything void of understanding!
We hence see that the Prophet heaps together all kinds of figures and modes of speaking, in order to confirm weak minds, so that they might confidently look forward to the destruction of Babylon. He at the same time intimates that Babylon was hated by all creatures, because it had reached to the highest pitch of wickedness. He then shows the cause by the effect, as though he had said that Babylon was hated by heaven and earth, so that heaven and earth seemed as though they deemed themselves in a manner polluted by the sight of that city. As long, then, as Babylon stood, heaven and earth sighed: but, on the contrary, when God appeared as an avenger, then heaven and earth, and all things in them, would shout with joy. Could it then be that God, the judge of the world, would always connive at its sins? If heaven and earth could not endure it, and Babylon was so loathsome to all, and joy would arise from its destruction, could God possibly allow that city, filled with so many sins, and detested by heaven and earth, to escape with impunity his judgment?
We now, then, more fully understand why the Prophet says that triumph and joy would be in heaven and earth, and among all created things.
He says, because; but the particle כי, ki, may be taken for an adverb of time: then he says, when from the north shall come wasters He alludes to the Medes, for the Persians were eastward. But as the Medes were nigher, and also their monarch hr wealthier, the Prophet refers especially to the Medes when he says that evil would come from the north. For the Medes were north of Chaldea, as the Persians were eastward.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(48) Then the heaven and the earth . . .The prophet, following in the track of Isaiah (Isa. 44:23), thinks of the whole creation as rejoicing in the righteous judgment of Jehovah on the guilty city, and in the liberation of His people. They sing, as it were, their Te Deum over the fall of Babylon under the attack of the Medo-Persian armies from the North.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 51:48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that [is] therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
Ver. 48. Then the heaven and the earth, &c., shall sing. ] Est hyperbolica prosopopoeia. This is an exagerated personification. There shall be, as it were, a new face set upon the world, and all the creatures shall appear to be well paid at the downfall of Babylon, under the oppressions whereof they even groaned and laboured. See what a similar general joy there will be at the ruin of Rome! Rev 18:20
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the heaven . . . shall sing. Figure of speech Poeanismos and Prosopopoeia.
all that is therein. Compare Rev 19:1-3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the heaven: Jer 51:10, Psa 58:10, Psa 58:11, Pro 11:10, Isa 44:23, Isa 48:20, Isa 49:13, Rev 15:1-4, Rev 16:4-7, Rev 18:20, Rev 19:1-7
the spoilers: Jer 51:11, Jer 50:3, Jer 50:9, Jer 50:41
Reciprocal: Isa 14:7 – they Isa 21:2 – the treacherous Jer 51:53 – from Jer 51:56 – the spoiler Hab 2:8 – thou Zec 6:6 – the north Zec 6:8 – quieted Rev 17:5 – Babylon
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 51:48. Sing for Babylon means that all intelligent creatures will feel jubilant, over (he downfall of the hated city. Spoilers from the north refers to the Meiles who were located north of Babylon. They were to come down upon the city and take from her the
personal belongings In which she took so much pride.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
51:48 Then the heaven and {c} the earth, and all that [is] in them, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come to her from the north, saith the LORD.
(c) All creatures in heaven and earth will rejoice and praise God for the destruction of Babylon the great enemy of his Church.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The whole earth-and heaven-would rejoice because of the coming enemy of Babylon that would descend on her from the north (cf. Rev 16:19).