The word of the Lord that came unto Jeremiah the prophet
against Elam
The Persians, as it is commonly understood, who descended from Elam the son of Shem, ( Genesis 10:22 ) ; according to Josephus {w}; but rather the country of Elymais is here designed; which, though in the times of Cyrus, was added to, and made a part of, the Persian empire, yet was a country distinct both from Persia and Media; and as such is spoken of by Pliny F24; though as near unto Persia, and bordering on Media; according to Stephanus F25, the Elymaites were a country that belonged to the Assyrians; and so Strabo F1 places the Elymaeans in Aturia or Assyria; and it seems very manifest that Elam served under Sennacherib, king of Assyria, when he besieged Jerusalem, ( Isaiah 22:6 ) ; and afterwards fell into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and became subject to him, which is the calamity here threatened them; for certain it is, that, in Belshazzar's time, Shushan in Elam was the royal seat of the kings of Babylon, ( Daniel 8:2 ) ; now this prophecy against Elam was delivered out in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah;
perhaps in the first year of his reign, ten or eleven years before the destruction of Jerusalem; how long before it had its accomplishment is not certain: saying:
as follows: