Yirmeyah 50:43

43 Melech Bavel hath heard the report of them, and his hands fell feeble; anguish took hold of him, and labor pangs as of a woman in travail.

Yirmeyah 50:43 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 50:43

The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them
Belshazzar, as Kimchi; he had the report brought him of the invasion of his land by them; of their approach to Babylon, and design upon it; and of their number, character, and force: and his hands waxed feeble;
as they did when he saw the handwriting upon the wall, ( Daniel 5:6 ) ; anguish took hold of him, [and] pangs as of a woman in travail;
a sudden panic seized him, and he was quite dispirited at once, as a woman in childbirth, when her pains come upon her, and there is no avoiding them; though when those who were with Gobrias and Gadates rushed in upon him, they found him standing up with his sword drawn {z}, but unable to defend himself against such a posse as came in upon him.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Xenophon. Cyropaedia, l. 7. c. 23.

Yirmeyah 50:43 In-Context

41 Hinei, an am (people, army) shall come from the tzafon (north), and a Goy Gadol, and melachim rabbim shall be stirred up from the ends of the earth.

42 They shall wield keshet and spear; they are cruel, and shall show no rachamim; their voice shall roar like the yam, and they shall ride upon susim, every one put in array, like an ish for the milchamah, against thee, O Bat Bavel.

43 Melech Bavel hath heard the report of them, and his hands fell feeble; anguish took hold of him, and labor pangs as of a woman in travail.

44 Hinei, like an aryeh (lion) coming up from the thicket of the Yarden unto perennial pastures, I will make them suddenly run away from her; and who is the Bachur (Chosen One) that over her I will appoint? For who is like Me? And who can arraign Me? And who is that Ro’eh that will stand before Me?

45 Therefore hear ye the etzah of Hashem, that He hath planned against Bavel; and His purposes, that He hath purposed against the Eretz Kasdim; Surely the little ones of the tzon shall be dragged away; surely He shall make their naveh (pasture) desolate because of them.