Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 51:52
Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
52. See on Jer 51:47.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For which complaints of my people, or rather for which profanation of my holy place, I will be revenged upon their graven images, and not only upon their idols, but upon the worshippers of them, and cause a groaning of wounded men over all the country of the Chaldeans; I will cause them to know that their idols are not able to protect them from my power and justice.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
52. Whereforebecause of thesesighs of the Jews directed to God (Jer51:21).
I . . . judgment upon . . .imagesin opposition to the Babylonian taunt that Jehovah’sreligion was a thing of naught, since they had burned His temple (Jer51:51): I will show that, though I have thus visited the Jewsneglect of Me, yet those gods of Babylon cannot save themselves, muchless their votaries, who shall “through all her land” lieand “groan” with wounds.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will do judgment upon her graven images,…. Destroy their gods, who have reproached the God of Israel, and profaned his sanctuaries; and for that reason; [See comments on Jer 51:47]; it is an answer to the objection and complaint of the Jews, and is designed for their comfort and encouragement:
and through all her land the wounded shall groan; because of their wounds and pain; and which their idols could not cure, ease, or prevent.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The design of the Prophet is, as I have reminded you, to raise up the minds of the godly that they might not succumb under their trials, on seeing that they were exposed to shame and were destitute of all honors. He then says that the time would come when God would take vengeance on the idols of Babylon. And thus God claims for himself that power which seemed then to have almost disappeared; for the temple being overthrown, the Babylonians seemed in a manner to triumph over him, as God’s power in the temple was overcome. Then as the ruin of it, as we have said, seemed to have extinguished God’s power, the Prophet applies a remedy, and says that though the temple was overthrown, yet God remained perfect and his power unchangeable. But among other things he bids the faithful patiently to wait, for he invites their attention to the hope of what was as yet hidden.
We now see how, these things, agree, and why the Prophet uses the particle “therefore,” לכן, laken: Therefore, behold, the days are coming, that is, though ye are confounded, yet God will give you a reason for glorying, so that ye shall again sing joyfully his praises. But he says, “the days will come;” by these words he reminds us that we are to cherish the hope of the promises until God completes his work; and thus he corrected that ardor by which we are seized in the midst of our afflictions, for we wish immediately to fly away to God. The Prophet, then, here exhorts the faithful to sustain courage until the time fixed by God; and so he refers them to God’s providence, lest they assumed too much in wishing him to act as their own minds led them. Come then shall the days when I shall visit the graven images of Babylon; and groan or cry, etc.; for the word אנק , anak, means to cry. Some render thus, “groan shall the wounded;” and they render the last word “wounded,” because they think it improper to say that the slain cry or groan. But the Prophet means that the cry in that slaughter would be great, that is, that while the Babylonians were slain, a great howling would be everywhere. It follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
A Further Prophecy Of The Destruction Of Babylon And Its Gods ( Jer 51:52-53 ).
Note the similarity of these words with Jer 51:47. The repetition brings out the importance and certainty of what is said. YHWH will execute judgment on the graven images of Babylon, bringing them into disrepute and shaming them utterly. Their gods would be shown up as helpless. That the destruction of Babylon would bring Bel/Marduk into disrepute was also the view of Nebuchadrezzar, for when speaking of the great walls which he had built, he stated, ‘to make more difficult the attack of an enemy against Imgur Bel, the indestructible wall of Babylon, I constructed a bulwark like a mountain’. He knew that as Babylon’s protective ‘wall’ Bel would have to take the shame of its defeat.
Furthermore the whole land of Babylonia was to be filled with the groans of the wounded. None of their gods would do them any good (each city would have its own gods). Why even though Babylon should mount up to Heaven it would not save her. There is a probable reference her to Gen 11:4 in respect of the city and tower of Babel whose ‘top was unto Heaven’. Compare the similar hint in Jer 51:8. So very much in Jeremiah’s mind was Babylon as antagonistic to YHWH from the beginning of history, the great anti-God city. But all its attempts to make impregnable defences would prove in vain. For the destroyers who came against her would be from YHWH.
Jer 51:52-53
“Wherefore, behold, the days come,
The word of YHWH,
That I will execute judgment on her graven images,
And throughout all her land,
The wounded will groan.
Though Babylon should mount up to heaven,
And though she should fortify the height of her strength,
Yet from me will destroyers come to her,
The word of YHWH.”
Compare for the beginning Jer 51:47. Once more the prophetic word of YHWH declares judgment on the gods of Babylon which are but ‘graven images’. The humbling of Babylonia was to be the humbling of these images, and a revealing of them for what they were. We must not underestimate the effect of these words on the people of Jeremiah’s day. To us they were long forgotten idols. To the people of Jeremiah’s day they had great significance. Besides being huge and awe-inspiring they could be seen as the foundation of the might of Babylon, and they sustained a huge culture of soothsayers, magicians, enchanters, astrologers, stargazers, prognosticators and religious wise men (Isa 47:9-15), all at the service of the king and of Babylon. But the defeat, and finally the destruction, of Babylon would bring the whole into disrepute.
‘Throughout all her land the wounded (literally those who have been pierced) will groan.’ The graven images will have proved unable to prevent the slaughter of its people, and the large number of dying wounded arising from the invasion. And this would be so whatever attempts (like that of Nebuchadrezzar above) were made to protect Babylon. Another attempt to mount up to Heaven would do her no good, and all her great fortifications would be in vain. For the destroyers who came against her would be from YHWH. And this was the assured word of YHWH.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 51:52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
Ver. 52. Wherefore, behold, the days come. ] So soon is God up at the cry of his poor people. Psa 12:5
I will do judgment.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 51:52-53
52Therefore behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
When I will punish her idols,
And the mortally wounded will groan throughout her land.
53Though Babylon should ascend to the heavens,
And though she should fortify her lofty stronghold,
From Me destroyers will come to her, declares the Lord.
Jer 51:53 The imagery of geographical high places which was used of Edom does not fit Babylon, which was located mostly in the Tigris/Euphrates River valley and plain. It is imagery which may reflect her trust in the gods of the sky who they worshiped from their manmade towers, ziggurats (possibly related to Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
that I: Jer 51:47, Jer 50:38
her graven images: This was verified when Xerxes destroyed all the temples of Babylon, bc 479.
the wounded: Isa 13:15, Isa 13:16, Eze 30:24, Dan 5:30, Dan 5:31
Reciprocal: Isa 21:9 – all Isa 46:1 – Bel Jer 50:2 – her idols Luk 10:30 – wounded
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 51:52. This sad state of mind is being comforted by the promise that divine judgment was to be poured out upon the oppressor nation. The heathens relied on their graven images and other false gods for support. The downfall of this government, therefore, would be a defeat for these idols.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Days would come, however, when the Lord would punish Babylon’s idols, and many people would die throughout the land of the Chaldeans.