Jeremiah 51:27-37

27 Raise ye a sign in the land, sound ye with a clarion in hills; hallow ye folks on it, tell ye to the kings of Ararat, of Minni, and of Ashchenaz against it; number ye (the) Tifsar, that is, (the leader of the) host, against it, and bring ye an horse, as a bruchus having a prick. (Raise ye up a sign in the land, sound ye with a trumpet on the hills; prepare ye the nations against it, call ye together the kings of Ararat, and of Minni, and of Ashchenaz against it; appoint ye the Tifsar, that is, the captain, or the commander, of the army, against it, and bring ye up all the horses like a swarm of locusts.)
28 Hallow ye folks against it, the kings of Media, the dukes thereof, and all the magistrates thereof, and all the land of his power. (Dedicate ye the nations against it, the king of the Medes, its rulers, and all its magistrates, and all the land of his power.)
29 And the earth shall be moved, and shall be troubled; for the thought of the Lord shall fully awaken against Babylon, that he set the land of Babylon (into) desert, and unhabitable. (And the earth shall be shaken, and shall be troubled; for the thought of the Lord shall fully awaken against Babylon, that he make the land of Babylon into a wilderness, and uninhabited.)
30 The strong men of Babylon ceased of battle, they dwelled in strongholds; the strength of them is devoured, and they be made as women; the tabernacles thereof be burnt, the bars thereof be all-broken. (The strong men of Babylon ceased from battle, they lived in strongholds; their strength is devoured, and they be made like women; its buildings be burned down, its bars, or its locks, all be broken.)
31 A runner shall come to meet a runner, and a messenger (shall come) to meet a messenger, to tell to the king of Babylon, that his city is taken from the one end till to the tother end;
32 and the forths be before-occupied, and the marishes be burnt with fire, and the men warriors be troubled. (and the fords, that is, the crossings, be occupied, or be seized, and the marshes be burned down, and the warriors be troubled.)
33 For the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, The daughter of Babylon is as a cornfloor, (at) the time of threshing thereof; yet a little, and the time of reaping thereof shall come. (For the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith these things, The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor, at the time of its threshing; and then after a little while, its time of reaping, or of harvest, shall come.)
34 Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ate me, and devoured me; he made me as a void vessel, he as a dragon swallowed me (he made me like an empty vessel, he swallowed me up like a dragon); he filled his womb with my tenderness, and (then) he casted me out.
35 Wickedness against me, and my flesh on Babylon, saith the dwelling of Zion; and my blood on the dwellers of Chaldea, saith Jerusalem. (Let the wickedness done against me, and against my flesh, be upon Babylon, say the inhabitants of Zion; and let my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, saith Jerusalem.)
36 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall deem thy cause, and I shall venge thy vengeance; and I shall make the sea thereof forsaken, and I shall make dry the vein thereof. (And so the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall judge thy case, and I shall avenge thee; and I shall make its sea into a desert, and I shall dry up its springs.)
37 And Babylon shall be into burials, it shall be the dwelling (place) of dragons, wondering, and hissing, for that no dweller is. (And Babylon shall be for burials, or shall be a heap of ruins, it shall be the dwelling place of jackals, yea, a place for wondering, and hissing, where there be no inhabitants.)

Jeremiah 51:27-37 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.