Jeremiah 51:1-10

1 This is what the LORD says: “See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai.^[a]

2 I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster.

3 Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy^[b] her army.

4 They will fall down slain in Babylon,^[c]fatally wounded in her streets.

5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land^[d] is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.

6 “Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the LORD’s vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves.

7 Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD’s hand; she made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore they have now gone mad.

8 Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken. Wail over her! Get balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.

9 “ ‘We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens.’

10 “ ‘The LORD has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the LORD our God has done.’

Jeremiah 51:1-10 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 51

The former part of this chapter is a continuation of the prophecy of the preceding chapter, concerning the destruction of Babylon, Jer 51:1-58; the latter part of it contains a prophecy of Jeremiah sent to the captives in Babylon by the hand of Seraiah, with the copy of the above prophecy against Babylon, and an order to fasten a stone to it, and cast it into the river Euphrates, as a sign, confirming the utter and irreparable ruin of Babylon, Jer 51:59-64.

Cross References

• 1. S Isaiah 13:17
• 2. Jeremiah 25:12
• 3. Isaiah 13:5
• 4. S Isaiah 41:16; Jeremiah 15:7; Matthew 3:12
• 5. S Isaiah 13:9
• 6. S Jeremiah 50:29
• 7. Jeremiah 46:4
• 8. Isaiah 13:15
• 9. S Isaiah 13:18; Jeremiah 49:26; Jeremiah 50:30
• 10. S Leviticus 26:44; Isaiah 54:6-8
• 11. Hosea 4:1
• 12. S Isaiah 48:20; Jeremiah 50:8
• 13. Numbers 16:26; Revelation 18:4
• 14. Jeremiah 50:27
• 15. S Isaiah 1:24; S Jeremiah 50:15
• 16. ver 24,56; Deuteronomy 32:35; S Job 21:19; Jeremiah 25:14; Jeremiah 50:29; Lamentations 3:64
• 17. S Isaiah 51:22; Jeremiah 25:15-16; Jeremiah 49:12; Revelation 14:8-10; Revelation 17:4
• 18. S Isaiah 14:15; S Isaiah 21:9; S Revelation 14:8
• 19. Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 46:11
• 20. S Isaiah 13:14; S Isaiah 31:9; Jeremiah 50:16
• 21. Revelation 18:4-5
• 22. Micah 7:9
• 23. Psalms 64:9; S Jeremiah 50:28

Footnotes

• [a]. "Leb Kamai" is a cryptogram for Chaldea, that is, Babylonia.
• [b]. The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
• [c]. Or "Chaldea"
• [d]. Or "Almighty," / "and the land of the Babylonians"