Jeremiah 50:24

24 I set out a trap and you were caught in it. O Babylon, you never knew what hit you, Caught and held in the steel grip of that trap! That's what you get for taking on God.

Jeremiah 50:24 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 50:24

I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O
Babylon
Retorting to the stratagem that Cyrus used, in draining the river Euphrates, and marching his army up through it into the midst of the city of Babylon, and took it by surprise, while the inhabitants at night were feasting and revelling: this is said to be a snare laid by the Lord, because it was according to the counsel of his will, and through his directing and overruling providence: and thou wast not aware;
of what the enemy had done, of his march into the city, and taking of it; for, as Herodotus and Aristotle report, one part of the city was seized and taken before the other knew anything of it: thou art found, and also caught;
as wild beasts in a net, or birds in a snare. The Targum is,

``thy sins are sought, and are found, and also thou art taken:''

because thou hast striven against the Lord;
as persons litigate a point with each other in courts of judicature, or as warriors strive against each other in battle; she sinned against the Lord, and offended him, not only by her idolatry and luxury, but by her oppression of his people, and profaning the vessels of his house; as Belshazzar did, the night Babylon was taken. The Targum is,

``for with the people of the Lord thou hast strove.''

Jeremiah 50:24 In-Context

22 "The thunderclap of battle shakes the foundations!

23 The Hammer has been hammered, smashed and splintered, Babylon pummeled beyond recognition.

24 I set out a trap and you were caught in it. O Babylon, you never knew what hit you, Caught and held in the steel grip of that trap! That's what you get for taking on God.

25 "I, God, opened my arsenal. I brought out my weapons of wrath. The Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, has a job to do in Babylon.

26 Come at her from all sides! Break into her granaries! Shovel her into piles and burn her up. Leave nothing! Leave no one!