Jeremiah 51:3

3 Don't let the Babylonian soldiers prepare their bows to shoot. Don't even let them put on their armor. Don't feel sorry for the young men of Babylon, but completely destroy her 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 This is what the Lord says: "I will soon cause a destroying wind to blow against Babylon and the Babylonian people.

2 I will send foreign people to destroy Babylon like a wind that blows chaff away. They will destroy the land. Armies will surround the city when the day of disaster comes upon her.

3 Don't let the Babylonian soldiers prepare their bows to shoot. Don't even let them put on their armor. Don't feel sorry for the young men of Babylon, but completely destroy her army.

4 They will be killed in the land of the Babylonians and will die in her streets.

5 The Lord God All-Powerful did not leave Israel and Judah, even though they were completely guilty in the presence of the Holy One of Israel.