Jeremiah 50:15

15 Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands [in surrender]; her defense towers have fallen; her walls are demolished. Since this is the Lord's vengeance, take out your vengeance on her; as she has done, do the same to her.

Jeremiah 50:15 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 50:15

Shout against her round about
As soldiers do when they make an assault upon a place, to encourage one another, and dismay the besieged; just as the Israelites did when they surrounded Jericho: she hath given her hand;
submitted to the conqueror, and sued for mercy. The Targum is,

``she is delivered into her hand;''

the hand of the Persians, by two princes of Babylon, who went off to Cyrus, and showed him how to take the city; or rather it was delivered by Zopyrus into the hands of Darius: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down;
not at the taking of it by Cyrus, but afterwards by Darius; for this respects the conclusion of its destruction, which was progressive and gradual: for it [is] the vengeance of the Lord:
which he decreed, threatened, and took, and that on account of his people, who had been ill treated here; so the Targum,

``for it is the vengeance of the people of the Lord:''

and her enemies are called upon to take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her;
that is, to execute the Lord's vengeance, of which the Persians were the instruments; and who were to go according to the law of retaliation, which is a just one; to do to Babylon as she had done to Jerusalem, and other places, she had utterly destroyed. These words seem to be referred to, and much the same are used of mystical Babylon, ( Revelation 18:6 ) .

Jeremiah 50:15 In-Context

13 Because of the Lord's wrath, she will not be inhabited; she will become a desolation, every bit of her. Everyone who passes through Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds.

14 Line up in battle formation around Babylon, all you archers! Shoot at her! Do not spare an arrow, for she has sinned against the Lord.

15 Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands [in surrender]; her defense towers have fallen; her walls are demolished. Since this is the Lord's vengeance, take out your vengeance on her; as she has done, do the same to her.

16 Cut off the sower from Babylon as well as him who wields the sickle at harvest time. Because of the oppressor's sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to his own land.

17 Israel is a stray lamb, chased by lions. The first who devoured him was the king of Assyria; this last who has crunched his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.