Jeremiah 50:41-46

41 "Behold, a people is coming ¹from the north, And a great nation and many kings Will be aroused from the remote parts of the earth.

42 "They ²seize their bow and javelin; They are ³cruel and have no mercy. Their ⁴voice roars like the sea; And they ride on ⁵horses, ⁶Marshalled like a man for the battle Against you, O daughter of Babylon.

43 "The ⁷king of Babylon has heard the report about them, And his hands hang limp; ⁸Distress has gripped him, Agony like a woman in childbirth.

44 "⁹Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan to a perennially watered pasture; for in an instant I will make them run away from it, and whoever is ¹⁰chosen I will appoint over it. For who is ¹¹like Me, and who will summon Me into court? And who then is the shepherd who can ¹²stand before Me?"

45 Therefore hear the ¹³plan of the LORD which He has planned against Babylon, and His purposes which He has purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: ¹⁴surely * they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely * He will make their pasture desolate because of them.

46 At the shout, "Babylon has been seized!" the ¹⁵earth is shaken, and an ¹⁶outcry is heard among the nations.

Jeremiah 50:41-46 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 50

This and the following chapter contain a long prophecy concerning the destruction of Babylon; and which is expressed in such language, that it may be, and is to be, accommodated to the destruction of mystical Babylon; and several passages in the book of the Revelation are borrowed from hence; and it is intermixed with promises and prophecies of the deliverance of God's people from thence, and of the conversion of the Jews, and the restoration of them to their own which will be at that time; see Jer 50:4,5,8,19,20,33,34. The destruction of Babylon in general is proclaimed and declared, and the manner and cause of it, Jer 50:1-13; then the enemies of Babylon are stirred up and animated to proceed against her, and execute the judgments of God upon her, Jer 50:14-30. Next follows the Lord's controversy with her, because of her pride and oppression of his people; and threatens her with the sword, drought, and utter destruction, Jer 50:31-40; and then a description is given of her enemies, that should be the instruments of her destruction, Jer 50:41-44; and the chapter is closed with observing, that this is all according to the counsel and purpose of God, Jer 50:45,46.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 13:2-5; Jeremiah 6:22; Jeremiah 50:3, 9; Jeremiah 51:27, 28
• 2. Jeremiah 6:23
• 3. Isaiah 13:17, 18; Isaiah 47:6
• 4. Isaiah 5:30
• 5. Jeremiah 8:16; Jeremiah 47:3; Habakkuk 1:8
• 6. Jeremiah 50:9, 14; Joel 2:5
• 7. Jeremiah 51:31
• 8. Jeremiah 30:6; Jeremiah 49:24
• 9. Jeremiah 49:19-21
• 10. Numbers 16:5
• 11. Isaiah 46:9
• 12. Job 41:10; Jeremiah 30:21
• 13. Psalms 33:11; Isaiah 14:24; Jeremiah 51:10, 11
• 14. Jeremiah 49:20
• 15. Jeremiah 10:10; Jeremiah 49:21; Ezekiel 26:18; Ezekiel 31:16
• 16. Isaiah 5:7; Isaiah 15:5; Jeremiah 46:12; Jeremiah 51:54; Ezekiel 27:28

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "pride"
• [b]. Or "an enduring habitation"
• [c]. Or "habitation"
• [d]. Lit "voice"