Jeremiah 51:5

5 For Yisra'el is not forsaken, nor Yehudah, of his God, of the LORD of Hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Yisra'el.

Jeremiah 51:5 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:5

For Israel [hath] not [been] forsaken, nor Judah of his God,
of the Lord of hosts
That is, not totally and finally; for though they might seem to be forsaken, when carried captive by their enemies, yet they were not in such sense as a woman is deprived of her husband when dead, and she is become a widow, as the word ^F4 used may signify; or when divorced from him; or as children are deprived of their parents, and become orphans; but so it was not with Israel; for thought they were under the frowns of Providence, and the resentment of God they had sinned against, yet the relation between them still subsisted; he was their covenant God and Father, their husband and protector, and who would vindicate them, and avenge them on their enemies: though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel;
which was the reason why they were carried captive, and so seemed to be forsaken of God; or though their land was filled with punishment, with devastation and destruction, yet nevertheless God would appear for them, and restore that and them unto it; or rather this is to be understood of the land of the Chaldeans, as it is by Jarchi and Kimchi; and be rendered, "for their land is filled with [punishment] for sin, from", or "by", or "because of the Holy One of Israel" ^F5; by which it appears, that the people of God were not forsaken by him, and were not without a patron and defender of them; since it was a plain case that the land of the Chaldeans was filled with the punishment of the sword and other calamities by the Holy One of Israel, because of the sins they had committed against him, and the injuries they had done to his people. So the Targum,

``for their land is filled with, (punishment for) the sins of murder, by the word of the Holy One of Israel.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (Nmla) "viduus, [sive] viduatus", Vatablus, Calvin, Montanus; "ut vidua", Pagninus; "orbus", Schmidt.
F5 (Mva halm Mura yk) "quia terra illorum repleta est delicto, [sive] reatu, [vel] poena", Grotius; so some in Gataker. (larvy vwdqm) "a Sancto Israelis", Montanus, Schmidt; "propter Sanctum Israelis", Vatablus, Calvin, Cocceius; so Ben Melech.

Jeremiah 51:5 In-Context

3 Against [him who] bends let the archer bend his bow, and against [him who] lifts himself up in his coat of mail: and don't you spare her young men; destroy you utterly all her host.

4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Kasdim, and thrust through in her streets.

5 For Yisra'el is not forsaken, nor Yehudah, of his God, of the LORD of Hosts; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Yisra'el.

6 Flee out of the midst of Bavel, and save every man his life; don't be cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of the LORD's vengeance; he will render to her a recompense.

7 Bavel has been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, who made all the eretz drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.