Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 51:50
Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
50. Let those in exile in Babylon, who have escaped death, hasten their return to Jerusalem, while yet there is time.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Afar off – Or, from afar, from Chaldaea, far away from Yahwehs dwelling in Jerusalem. The verse is a renewed entreaty to the Jews to leave Babylon and journey homewards, as soon as Cyrus grants them permission.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 50. Ye that have escaped the sword] The Jews.
Let Jerusalem come into your mind.] Pray for its restoration; and embrace the first opportunity offered of returning thither.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
It is hard to resolve whether the prophet here speaks to the Chaldeans, or the Medes, or the Jews, though most understand it of the Jews, whom God would have leave Babylon as soon as they should have a liberty proclaimed; and to remember when they came into Judea the great things, both of justice toward the Chaldeans and mercy toward them, which God had done; and keep Jerusalem in their mind, as the place where they were to worship God according to his direction, and for which God had so wrought.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
50. escaped . . . swordnamely,of the Medes. So great will be the slaughter that even some of God’speople shall be involved in it, as they had deserved.
afar offthough ye arebanished far off from where ye used formerly to worship God.
let Jerusalem come into yourmindWhile in exile remember your temple and city, so as toprefer them to all the rest of the world wherever ye may be (Isa62:6).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still,…. The Jews, who had escaped the sword of the Chaldeans when Jerusalem was taken, and were carried captive into Babylon, where they had remained to this time; and had also escaped the sword of the Medes and Persians, when Babylon was taken; these are bid to go away from Babylon, and go into their land, and not stay in Babylon, or linger there, as Lot in Sodom; or stop on the road, but make the best of their way to the land of Judea:
remember the Lord afar off; the worship of the Lord, as the Targum interprets it; the worship of the Lord in the sanctuary at Jerusalem, from which they were afar off at Babylon; and had been a long time, even seventy years, deprived of it, as Kimchi explains it:
and let Jerusalem come into your mind; that once famous city, the metropolis of the nation, that now lay in ruins; the temple that once stood in it, and the service of God there; that upon the remembrance of, and calling these to mind, they might be quickened and stirred up to hasten thither, and rebuild the city and temple, and restore the worship of God. It is not easy to say whose words these are, whether the words of the prophet, or of the Lord by him; or of the inhabitants of the heavens and earth, whose song may be here continued, and in it thus address the Jews.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Final summing up of the offence and the punishment of Babylon. Jer 51:50. “Ye who have escaped the sword, depart, do not stay! remember Jahveh from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. Jer 51:51. We were ashamed, because we heard reproach; shame hath covered our face, for strangers have come into the holy places of the house of Jahveh. Jer 51:52. Therefore, behold, days are coming, saith Jahveh, when I will take vengeance on her graven images; and through all her land shall the wounded groan. Jer 51:53. Though Babylon ascended to heaven, and fortified the height of her strength, yet from me there shall come destroyers to her, saith Jahveh. Jer 51:54. The noise of a cry [comes] from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans. Jer 51:55. For Jahveh lays waste Babylon, and destroys out of her the great noise; and her waves sound like many waters: a noise of their voice is uttered. Jer 51:56. For there comes against her, against Babylon, a destroyer, and her heroes are taken; each one of their bows is broken: for Jahveh is a God of retributions, He shall certainly recompense. Jer 51:57. And I will make drunk her princes and her wise men, her governors and her lieutenant-governors, and her heroes, so that they shall sleep an eternal sleep, and not awake, saith the King, whose name is Jahveh of hosts. Jer 51:58. Thus saith Jahveh of hosts: The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly destroyed, and her high gates shall be burned with fire, so that nations toil for nothing, and peoples for the fire, and thus are weary.”
Once more there is addressed to Israel the call to return immediately; cf. Jer 51:45 and Jer 50:8. The designation, “those who have escaped from the sword,” is occasioned by the mention in Jer 51:49 of those who are slain: it is not to be explained (with Ngelsbach) from the circumstance that the prophet sees before him the massacre of the Babylonians as something that has already taken place. This view of the matter agrees neither with what precedes nor what follows, where the punishment of Babylon is set forth as yet to come. It is those who have escaped from the sword of Babylon during the exercise of its sway that are meant, not those who remain, spared in the conquest of Babylon. They are to go, not to stand or linger on the road, lest they be overtaken, with others, by the judgment falling upon Babylon; they are also to remember, from afar, Jahveh the faithful covenant God, and Jerusalem, that they may hasten their return. is a form of the imperative from ; it occurs only here, and has probably been chosen instead of , because this form, in the actual use of language, had gradually lost its full meaning, and become softened down to a mere interjection, while emphasis is here placed on the going. After the call there follows, in Jer 51:51, the complaint, “We have lived to see the dishonour caused by the desecration of our sanctuary.” This complaint does not permit of being taken as an answer or objection on the part of those who are summoned to return, somewhat in this spirit: “What is the good of our remembering Jahveh and Jerusalem? Truly we have thence a remembrance only of the deepest shame and dishonour” (Ngelsbach). Such an objection the prophet certainly would have answered with a reproof for the want of weakness of faith. Ewald accordingly takes Jer 51:51 as containing “a confession which the exiles make in tears, and filled with shame, regarding the previous state of dishonour in which they themselves, as well as the holy place, have been.” On this view, those who are exhorted to return encourage themselves by this confession and prayer to zeal in returning; and it would be necessary to supply dicite before Jer 51:51, and to take as meaning, “We are ashamed because we have heard scoffing, and because enemies have come into the holy places of Jahveh’s house.” But they might have felt no shame on account of this dishonour that befell them. signifies merely to be ashamed in consequence of the frustration of some hope, not the shame of repentance felt on doing wrong. Hence, with Calvin and others, we must take the words of Jer 51:51 as a scruple which the prophet expresses in the name of the people against the summons to remember Jahveh and Jerusalem, that he may remove the objection. The meaning is thus something like the following: “We may say, indeed, that disgrace has been imposed on us, for we have experienced insult and dishonour; but in return for this, Babylon will now be laid waste and destroyed.” The plural denotes the different holy places of the temple, as in Ps. 68:36. The answer which settles this objection is introduced, Jer 51:52, by the formula, “Therefore, behold, days are coming,” which connects itself with the contents of Jer 51:51: “Therefore, because we were obliged to listen to scoffing, and barbarians have forced their way into the holy places of the house of our God, – therefore will Jahveh punish Babylon for these crimes,” The suffixes in and refer to Babylon. is used in undefined generality, “slain, pierced through.”
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
The Prophet again bids the faithful quickly to flee from Chaldea; but he says, They who remain from the sword He then intimates that the slaughter would be such, that it would include many of God’s people, and that they would be destroyed. And we know that many among them deserved such a sad end; but the Prophet now turns to address those who had been preserved through God’s special favor. He then bids them to depart and not to stand still or stay.
Now, we said yesterday what was the object of this exhortation, even that the faithful might feel assured of their free return to their own country, from which, nevertheless, they thought they were perpetually excluded; for they had wholly despaired of deliverance, though it had been so often promised. This exhortation, then, contains a promise; and in the meantime the Prophet reminds us, that though God inflicted a temporary punishment on the chosen people, yet his vengeance on the Babylonians would be perpetual. For God not only tempers his rigor towards the faithful when he chastises them, but he also gives them a happy issue, so that all their afflictions become helps to their salvation, as Paul also teaches us. (Rom 8:28.) In short, the punishments inflicted by God on his children are so many medicines; for he always consults their safety even when he manifests tokens of his wrath. But the case with the ungodly is different; for all their punishments are perpetual, even those which seem to have an end. How so? because they lead to eternal ruin. This is what the Prophet means when he bids those who remained, to flee from Chaldea, according to what we observed yesterday, when he said, Flee ye from the indignation of God’s wrath. There is, then, an implied comparison between the punishment which brings ultimate ruin on the reprobate, and the temporary punishment inflicted by God on his children.
He bids them to remember Jehovah from afar Some apply this to the seventy years, but, in my view, in a sense too restricted. I then doubt not but that the Prophet bids them to entertain hope and to look to God, however far they may have been driven from him, as though he were wholly alienated from them. The Israelites had then been driven into distant lands, as though God never meant to restore them. As, then, the distance was so great between Chaldea and Judea, what else could come into the minds of the miserable exiles but that God was far removed from them, so that it was in vain for them to seek or call upon him? The Prophet obviates this want of faith, and raises their confidence, so that they might not cease to flee to God, though they had been driven into distant lands: Be, then, mindful of Jehovah from afar
Then he adds, Let Jerusalem ascend on your heart; that is, though so many obstacles may intercept your faith, yet think of Jerusalem. The condition of the people required that they should be thus animated, for they might otherwise, as it has been said, have a hundred times despaired, and have thus become torpid in their calamities. Then the Prophet testifies that an access to God was open to them, and that though they were removed far, he yet had a care for them, and was ready to bring help whenever called upon And for the same reason he bids them to direct their minds to Jerusalem, so as to prefer the Temple of God to all the world, and never to rest quiet until God restored them, and liberty were given them of worshipping him there.
Now this passage deserves special notice, as it applies to us at this day; for when the scattering of the Church takes place, we think that we are forsaken by God, and we also conclude that he is far away from us, so that he is sought in vain. As, then, we are wont, being inclined to distrust, to become soon torpid in our calamities, as though we were very remote from God, and as though he did not turn his eyes to look on our miseries, let us apply to ourselves what is here said, even to remember Jehovah from afar; that is, when we seem to be involved in extreme miseries, when God hides his face from us and seems to be afar off; in short, when we think ourselves forsaken, and circumstances appear as proving this, we ought still to contend with all such obstacles until our faith triumphs, and to employ our thoughts in remembering God, though he may be apparently alienated from us. Let us also learn to direct our minds to the Church; for however miserable our condition may be, it is yet better than the happiness which the ungodly seek for themselves in the world. When, therefore, we see the ungodly flattering themselves as to their possessions, when we see them pleased and delighted as though God were dealing indulgently with them, let then Jerusalem come to our minds, That is, let us prefer the state of the Church, which may be yet sad and deformed, and such as we would shun, were we to follow our own inclinations. Let then the condition of the Church come to our minds, that is, let us embrace the miseries common to the godly, and let it be more pleasant to us to be connected with the children of God in all their afflictions, than to be inebriated with the prosperity of those who only delight in the world, and are at the same time accursed by God. This is the improvement which we ought to make of what is here taught. It now follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(50) Ye that have escaped the sword . . .The words call on the people to fulfil the prediction of Jer. 50:4-5. Even in that distant land, afar off from the Temple of Jehovah, they are to remember that they are Israelites, and to think of Jerusalem as their home. In Psa. 137:5-6 we have, as it were, by anticipation, the answer of the exiles. They had not forgotten Jerusalem in the revelry of their conquerors. They were not likely to forget her when their conquerors were, in their turn, conquered.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
FINAL SUMMING UP, Jer 51:50-58.
50. Remember the Lord afar off Namely, in Babylon, the land of your captivity. Such language as this would be well suited to stir up the hopes and affections of the captive Israelites. and induce a longing to return to their own land.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
In The Light Of Events God Calls On His People To Remember Him Afresh, And To Remember Jerusalem, Revealing The State Of Confusion In Which His People Are ( Jer 51:50-51 ).
God now calls on His exiled people, in the light of the events which will take place, to ‘remember YHWH’ (turn their thoughts towards Him in worship and obedience) even though they are far from the land and the Temple site (at which spasmodic worship still continued), and to let Jerusalem ‘go up on their hearts’, i.e. affect their thinking spiritually, with the consequence that they will make their way back there. They are not to be content with their exile. For while God could be worshipped anywhere, as the prophets had made clear, the fulfilment of God’s purposes required His people to return to their land.
The people, however, were not so sure. All that they could see was that strangers occupied what remained of Jerusalem, and that, to their reproach, the holy Temple mount, with all that remained of its holy buildings, was occupied by them. They were acknowledging that they bore a great burden of guilt.
Jer 51:50
“You who have escaped the sword,
Go you, stand not still,
Remember YHWH from afar,
And let Jerusalem come into your mind.”
The call goes out to those of Israel/Judah who had survived all that had happened and were still alive, not to stand still where they were, but to come back to their land despite the difficulties. This message would have gone out to exiled groups around the known world with whom Jeremiah was in contact. In their distant places they were to ‘remember YHWH’, calling to mind Him, His promises and His covenant. Parallel to this they were to ‘let Jerusalem go up on their hearts’, bringing it to mind and being filled with a desire to return there (compare Psa 137:5-6). This in the end was why Babylon had had to be severely dealt with, for while Babylon ruled on, such a return to Jerusalem would be impossible.
Jer 51:51
“We are confounded,
Because we have heard reproach,
Confusion has covered our faces,
For strangers are come into the sanctuaries of YHWH’s house.”
The reply of the worldwide exiles is that they are demoralised as they look at what the situation is. They see what remains of Jerusalem as occupied by foreigners, who even walk over the area where the holy places of YHWH’s house had been without giving it any thought, perhaps even conducting their own false worship there. And the thought fills the exiles with reproach, causing them to be confounded and confused and ashamed. One answer to their situation lies in the next verse. The graven images which had been given the credit for the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple were themselves about to be humbled in the dust by YHWH. What had happened to His Temple He would be fully avenged for.
Furthermore, little did they realise that one day God would cause the greatest man in the world of that day to arrange for exiles to return from Babylon, giving them his support and permission, returning to them the Temple vessels, and promising funds for the rebuilding of the Temple. They would only be comparatively few to begin with, but gradually others would be galvanised to return from distant places, to become a part of the new Israel. The beginnings of the story are told in the Book of Ezra fortified by the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 51:50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
Ver. 50. Ye that have escaped the sword, ] sc., Of the Medes and Persians, who at the taking of the city killed all promiscuously.
Go away, stand not still.
Remember the Lord afar off.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah.(with ‘eth). App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 51:50-53
Jer 51:50-53
Ye that have escaped the sword, go ye, stand not still; remember Jehovah from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind. We are confounded, because we have heard reproach; confusion hath covered our faces: for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of Jehovah’s house. Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will execute judgment upon her graven images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall destroyers come unto her, saith Jehovah.
Go ye, stand not still…
(Jer 51:50). See under Jer 51:6, above for comment on this.
We are confounded…
(Jer 51:51). God’s people appear to be the speakers here. God’s thundering reply came in the next verse.
Fortify the height of her strength…
(Jer 51:53). This may be either a reference to their famed Ziggurat, or to their high wall that surrounded the 200 square mile interior of the city. Speaking of the great wall, Smith has given us various estimates of its height.
“There is in this an allusion to the vast height of the walls of Babylon, though their actual measurement is very uncertain. Herodotus gave the height as 335 English feet, Pliny 235, Q. Curtius 150, and Strabo 75!”
Incidentally, the above named historians regarding the walls of Babylon are among that company of pagan writers sometimes quoted by radical critics as “authorities” in remarks that are alleged to cast doubt upon or to deny something in the Bible. Can one intelligently suppose that the whole crowd of ancient writers were any more reliable than the sacred writers of the Holy Bible?
Babylons Retribution and Israels Return Jer 51:47-53
Using a formula which he has previously used some fourteen times, Behold, the days come, Jeremiah develops anew the theme of the divine vengeance upon Babylon and the subsequent vindication of Israel. The threat against Bel in Jer 51:44 is now expanded to include all the idols of Babylon (cf. also Jer 50:2). Realizing that they have no higher power to whom they can turn the idolaters of Babylon are utterly confounded and ashamed. The defenders of Babylon are wounded and slain in the very midst of the city and the gods are unable to intervene on their behalf (Jer 51:47). When the destroyer from the north, the Medo-Persian armies, capture Babylon the whole universe rejoices (Jer 51:48). Heaven and earth rejoice because once again the Lord has demonstrated His wisdom, power and justice; once again it becomes evident that He and not Satan is the real Ruler of this universe. The sin of Babylon against Israel shall be recompensed. Just as Babylon had caused so many of Israel to fall in battle, so many from all over the land of[420] Babylonia shall be slain when Babylon fails (Jer 51:49). The Hebrew word for Babylonia can also be translated earth. Keil thinks this verse refers to the multitudes from all over the world who might be in Babylon at the time the city falls.
The prophet next turns to those who have escaped the sword of divine vengeance against Babylon. He bids thee exiles to remember the Lord and Jerusalem and not to tarry in Babylonia (Jer 51:50). But the captives are so filled with grief and remorse at what has happened to their Temple that they seem not to hear or acknowledge the joyful prophetic exhortation of Jer 51:50. We are confounded, dismayed, confused because strangers have entered into the sacred sanctuaries of the Lords house thus profaning them. The Babylonian victory over Jerusalem was regarded by the heathen as a sign of triumph for their gods. Those Israelites who tried to remain faithful to the Lord alone were subjected to constant reproach and ridicule by their neighbors (Jer 51:51). But again the Lord reminds those captives of what He has previously stated in this oracle, that the days are coming when He will vindicate Himself by executing judgment on the gods of Babylon (Jer 51:52). Though the city should raise up her defensive walls and towers even to the heavens, yet the city will not be able to withstand the assault of the destroyer sent against her by the Lord (Jer 51:53).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
escaped: Jer 51:6, Jer 51:45, Jer 31:21, Jer 44:28, Jer 50:8, Isa 48:20, Isa 51:11, Isa 52:2, Isa 52:11, Isa 52:12, Zec 2:7-9, Rev 18:4
remember: Jer 29:12-14, Deu 4:29-31, Deu 30:1-4, Ezr 1:3-5, Neh 1:2-4, Neh 2:3-5, Psa 102:13, Psa 102:14, Psa 137:5, Psa 137:6, Dan 9:2, Dan 9:3, Dan 9:16-19
Jerusalem: Psa 122:6
Reciprocal: Psa 51:18 – Do Psa 137:1 – we wept Jer 50:28 – voice Eze 6:9 – remember Zec 2:6 – and flee Zec 10:9 – remember
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 51:50. Escaped the sword would refer to the same ones who are elsewhere considered the remnant” that was to survive the ravages of the captivity. (See Isa 1:9; Isa 10:21; Isa 37:31; Ezr 2:64.) This group is notified through the prediction to leave the land of their captivity and return to Jerusalem their own capital city.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 51:50-51. Ye that have escaped the sword Namely, the sword which wasted Babylon. Go away, stand not still This is spoken to the Jews, who, attending to the advice given them, Jer 51:45, withdrew from Babylon in time, and so escaped the sword by which they otherwise might have fallen. And here they are advised to flee still farther and farther off; but amidst all to remember their native country, and in particular Jerusalem, and the God they had worshipped there; and to pray for the restoration of the city and temple; and that he would avenge himself of the Babylonians for laying them in ruins. We are confounded, because we have heard reproach The prophet here represents the words or thoughts of the pious exiles, when they heard the Babylonians speaking of Jehovah with contempt, and deriding them for worshipping him, who could not, they said, deliver his city and temple out of their hands, or preserve them from being destroyed. For strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lords house The word sanctuaries, in the plural, is likewise used Psa 73:17, though our English reads there, sanctuary. Probably the several courts of the temple are meant by sanctuaries.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
51:50 Ye that {e} have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.
(e) Yet that are now captives in Babylon.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Israelites still alive in Babylon should "remember" Yahweh, and return to Jerusalem before destruction came on Babylon (cf. Jer 51:45). In the Bible, remembering usually involves returning to, not just recalling.