Jeremiah 50

23. hammer--that is, Babylon, so called because of its ponderous destructive power; just as "Martel," that is, "a little hammer," was the surname of a king of the Franks ( Isaiah 14:6 ).

24. I--Thou hast to do with God, not merely with men.
taken . . . not aware--HERODOTUS relates that one half of the city was taken before those in the other half were "aware" of it. Cyrus turned the waters of the Euphrates where it was defended into a different channel, and so entered the city by the dried-up channel at night, by the upper and lower gates ( Daniel 5:30 Daniel 5:31 ).

25. weapons of his indignation--the Medes and Persians ( Isaiah 13:5 ).

26. from the utmost border--namely, of the earth. Or, from all sides LUDOVICUS DE DIEU].
storehouses--or, "her houses filled with men and goods" [MICHAELIS]. When Cyrus took it, the provisions found there were enough to have lasted for many years.
as heaps--make of the once glorious city heaps of ruins. Vast mounds of rubbish now mark the site of ancient Babylon. "Tread her as heaps of corn which are wont to be trodden down in the threshing-floor" [GROTIUS].

27. bullocks--that is, princes and strong warriors ( Jeremiah 46:21 , Psalms 22:12 , Isaiah 34:7 ).
go down to . . . slaughter--The slaughterhouses lay low beside the river; therefore it is said, "go down"; appropriate to Babylon on the Euphrates, the avenue through which the slaughterers entered the city.

28. declare in Zion . . . temple--Some Jews "fleeing" from Babylon at its fall shall tell in Judea how God avenged the cause of Zion and her temple that had been profaned ( Jeremiah 52:13 , Daniel 1:2 , 5:2 ).

29. archers--literally, "very many and powerful"; hence the Hebrew word is used of archers ( Job 16:13 ) from the multitude and force of their arrows.
according to all that she hath
proud against the Lord--not merely cruel towards men ( Isaiah 47:10 ).

31. most proud--literally, "pride"; that is, man of pride; the king of Babylon.
visit--punish ( Jeremiah 50:27 ).

33. Israel and . . . Judah were oppressed--He anticipates an objection, in order to answer it: Ye have been, no doubt, "oppressed," therefore ye despair of deliverance; but, remember your "Redeemer is strong," and therefore can and will deliver you.

34. strong--as opposed to the power of Israel's oppressor ( Revelation 18:8 ).
plead . . . cause--as their advocate. Image from a court of justice; appropriate as God delivers His people not by mere might, but by righteousness. His plea against Satan and all their enemies is His own everlasting love, reconciling mercy and justice in the Redeemer's work and person ( Micah 7:9 Zechariah 3:1-5 1 John 2:1 ).
give rest . . . disquiet--There is a play on the similarity of sounds in the two Hebrew verbs to express more vividly the contrast: "that He may give quiet to the land of Judah (heretofore disquieted by Babylon); but disquiet to the inhabitants of Babylon" (heretofore quietly secure) ( Isaiah 14:6-8 ).

35-37. The repetition of "A sword" in the beginning of each verse, by the figure anaphora, heightens the effect; the reiterated judgment is universal; the same sad stroke of the sword is upon each and all connected with guilty Babylon.
wise men--( Isaiah 47:13 ). Babylon boasted that it was the peculiar seat of wisdom and wise men, especially in astronomy and astrology.

36. liars--Those whom he before termed "wise men," he here calls "liars" (impostors), namely, the astrologers (compare Isaiah 44:25 , Romans 1:21-25 , 1 Corinthians 1:20 ).

37. as women--divested of all manliness ( Nahum 3:13 ).

38. drought--Altering the pointing, this verse will begin as the three previous verses, "A sword." However, all the pointed manuscripts read, "A drought," as English Version. Cyrus turned off the waters of the Euphrates into a new channel and so marched through the dried-up bed into the city ( Jeremiah 51:32 ). Babylonia once was famed for its corn, which often yielded from one to two hundredfold [HERODOTUS]. This was due to its network of water-courses from the Euphrates for irrigation, traces of which [LAYARD] are seen still on all sides, but dry and barren ( Isaiah 44:27 ).
their idols--literally, "terrors." They are mad after idols that are more calculated to frighten than to attract ( Jeremiah 51:44 Jeremiah 51:47 Jeremiah 51:52 , Daniel 3:1 ). Mere bugbears with which to frighten children.

39. wild beasts of the desert--wild cats, remarkable for their howl [BOCHART].
wild beasts of the
owls--rather, "female ostriches"; they delight in solitary places. Literally, "daughters of crying." Compare as to spiritual Babylon, Revelation 18:2 .
no more inhabited for ever--The accumulation of phrases is to express the final and utter extinction of Babylon; fulfilled not immediately, but by degrees; Cyrus took away its supremacy. Darius Hystaspes deprived it, when it had rebelled, of its fortifications. Seleucus Nicanor removed its citizens and wealth to Seleucia, which he founded in the neighborhood; and the Parthians removed all that was left to Ctesiphon. Nothing but its walls was left under the Roman emperor Adrian.

40. ( Isaiah 13:19 ). Repeated from Jeremiah 49:18 .

41-43. (Compare Jeremiah 6:22-24 ). The very language used to describe the calamities which Babylon inflicted on Zion is that here employed to describe Babylon's own calamity inflicted by the Medes. Retribution in kind.
kinds--the allies and satraps of the various provinces of the Medo-Persian empire: Armenia, Hyrcania, Lydia, &c.
coasts--the remote parts.

42. cruel--the character of the Persians, and even of Cyrus, notwithstanding his wish to be thought magnanimous ( Isaiah 13:18 ).
like a man--So orderly and united is their "array," that the whole army moves to battle as one man [GROTIUS].

43. hands waxed feeble--attempted no resistance; immediately was overcome, as HERODOTUS tells us.

44-46. Repeated mainly from Jeremiah 49:19-21 . The identity of God's principle in His dealing with Edom, and in that with Babylon, is implied by the similarity of language as to both.

46. cry . . . among the nations--In Edom's case it is, "at the cry the noise thereof was heard in the Red Sea." The change implies the wider extent to which the crash of Babylon's downfall shall be heard.