Jeremiah 50:15

15 "Raise your battle cry against her on every side! She has ¹given herself up, her pillars have fallen, Her ²walls have been torn down. For this is the ³vengeance of the LORD: Take vengeance on her; ⁴As she has done to others, so do 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 indignation of the LORD she will not be inhabited, But she will be completely desolate; Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified And will hiss because of all her wounds.

14 "Draw up your battle lines against Babylon on every side, All you who bend the bow; Shoot at her, do not be sparing with your arrows, For she has sinned against the LORD .

15 "Raise your battle cry against her on every side! She has given herself up, her pillars have fallen, Her walls have been torn down. For this is the vengeance of the LORD : Take vengeance on her; As she has done to others, so do to her.

16 "Cut off the sower from Babylon And the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest; From before the sword of the oppressor They will each turn back to his own people And they will each flee to his own land.

17 "Israel is a scattered flock, the lions have driven them away. The first one who devoured him was the king of Assyria, and this last one who has broken his bones is Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Chronicles 29:24; 2 Chronicles 30:8; Lamentations 5:6
• 2. Jeremiah 50:44; Jeremiah 51:58
• 3. Jeremiah 46:10
• 4. Psalms 137:8; Revelation 18:6

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "her hand"