Jeremiah 49:34

34 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam, when Zedekiah first became king of Judah, saying,

Jeremiah 49:34 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 49:34

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:

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4.
F24 Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 25, 26, 27.
F25 De urbibus apud Cocceium in loc.
F1 Geograph. l. 16. in principio, 507.

Jeremiah 49:34 In-Context

32 And their camels will be taken from them by force, and their great herds will come into the hands of their attackers: those who have the ends of their hair cut I will send in flight to all the winds; and I will send their fate on them from every side, says the Lord.

33 And Hazor will be a hole for jackals, a waste for ever: no one will be living in it, and no son of man will have a resting-place there.

34 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet about Elam, when Zedekiah first became king of Judah, saying,

35 This is what the Lord of armies has said: See, I will have the bow of Elam, their chief strength, broken.

36 And I will send on Elam four winds from the four quarters of heaven, driving them out to all those winds; there will be no nation into which the wanderers from Elam do not come.