Jeremiah 51:33

33 Soon the enemy will cut them down and trample them like grain on a threshing place. I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, have spoken."

Jeremiah 51:33 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:33

For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel
"The Lord of hosts", the Lord God omnipotent, and can do all things; "the God of Israel", and therefore will plead their cause, and take vengeance on Babylon: the daughter of Babylon [is] like a threshing floor;
on which the nations of the earth had been threshed, or punished and destroyed; and now she was like a threshing floor, unto which should be gathered, and on which should be laid, her king, princes, and the people of the land, and be there beat and crushed to pieces. The Targum renders it the congregation of Babylon; and the Septuagint the houses of the king of Babylon; so the Arabic version: [it is] time to thresh her;
not the floor, but the sheaves on it: or, "it is the time to tread her" ^F21; as corn was trodden out by the oxen; or rather as threshing floors, being new laid with earth, were trodden, and so made hard and even, and by that means prepared for threshing against the harvest; when the corn would be ripe, cut down, and gathered in, and laid up, as follows: yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come;
when she would be ripe for ruin, and God would, by his instruments, put in the sickle of his wrath, and cut her down, her king, her princes, her cities, and her people; see ( Revelation 14:15 Revelation 14:16 ) . The Targum is,

``and yet a very little while, and spoilers shall come to her.''

---

FOOTNOTES:

F21 (hkyrdh te) "tempus calcandi eam", Pagninus, Calvin; "tempus calcare eam", Montanus; "eo tempore quo illa calcari solet", Piscator.

Jeremiah 51:33 In-Context

31 Messenger after messenger runs to tell the king of Babylonia that his city has been broken into from every side.

32 The enemy have captured the river crossing and have set the fortresses on fire. The Babylonian soldiers have panicked.

33 Soon the enemy will cut them down and trample them like grain on a threshing place. I, the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, have spoken."

34 The king of Babylonia cut Jerusalem up and ate it. He emptied the city like a jar; like a monster he swallowed it. He took what he wanted and threw the rest away.

35 Let the people of Zion say, "May Babylonia be held responsible for the violence done to us!" Let the people of Jerusalem say, "May Babylonia be held responsible for what we have suffered!"