Jeremiah 51:3

3 Let not him who bends the bow shoot his bow, and let him not rise high in his body armor. And you must not spare her young men; destroy her whole army.

Jeremiah 51:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:3

Against [him that] bendeth let the archer bend his bow
These are either the words of the Lord to the Medes and Persians, to the archers among them, to bend their bows and level their arrows against the Chaldeans, who had bent their bows and shot their arrows against others; or of the Medes and Persians stirring up one another to draw their bows, and fight manfully against the enemy: and against [him that] lifteth up himself in his brigandine;
or coat of mail; that swaggers about in it, proud of it, and putting his confidence in it, as if out of all danger. The sense is, that they should direct their arrows both against those that were more lightly or more heavily armed; since by them they might do execution among the one and the other: and spare ye not her young men;
because of their youth, beauty, and strength: destroy ye utterly all her host;
her whole army, whether officers or common soldiers; or let them be accoutred in what manner they will. The Targum is,

``consume all her substance.''

Jeremiah 51:3 In-Context

1 Thus says Yahweh: "Look, I [am] going to stir up against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai a destructive wind.

2 And I will send winnowers to Babylon, and they will winnow her, and they will lay waste her land, for they will be against her from all sides on [the] day of disaster.

3 Let not him who bends the bow shoot his bow, and let him not rise high in his body armor. And you must not spare her young men; destroy her whole army.

4 And they will fall slain in the land of [the] Chaldeans, and pierced through in her streets.

5 For neither Israel nor Judah [is] a widower from their God, from Yahweh of hosts, though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel."