Jeremiah 50:15

15 Cry ye against it, everywhere it gave (up the) hand; the foundaments thereof fell down, and the walls thereof be destroyed; for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take ye vengeance of it; as it did, do ye to it. (Cry ye against it, yea, everywhere it threw up its hands; its foundations fell down, and its walls be destroyed; for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take ye vengeance upon it; as it did, so do ye unto it.)

Jeremiah 50:15 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 50:15

Shout against her round about
As soldiers do when they make an assault upon a place, to encourage one another, and dismay the besieged; just as the Israelites did when they surrounded Jericho: she hath given her hand;
submitted to the conqueror, and sued for mercy. The Targum is,

``she is delivered into her hand;''
the hand of the Persians, by two princes of Babylon, who went off to Cyrus, and showed him how to take the city; or rather it was delivered by Zopyrus into the hands of Darius: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down;
not at the taking of it by Cyrus, but afterwards by Darius; for this respects the conclusion of its destruction, which was progressive and gradual: for it [is] the vengeance of the Lord:
which he decreed, threatened, and took, and that on account of his people, who had been ill treated here; so the Targum,
``for it is the vengeance of the people of the Lord:''
and her enemies are called upon to take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her;
that is, to execute the Lord's vengeance, of which the Persians were the instruments; and who were to go according to the law of retaliation, which is a just one; to do to Babylon as she had done to Jerusalem, and other places, she had utterly destroyed. These words seem to be referred to, and much the same are used of mystical Babylon, ( Revelation 18:6 ) .

Jeremiah 50:15 In-Context

13 For the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be driven all into wilderness; each that shall pass by Babylon, shall wonder, and shall hiss on all the wounds thereof. (Because of the Lord's anger it shall not be inhabited, but all of it shall be driven, or made, into a wilderness; each person who shall pass by Babylon shall wonder, and shall hiss at all its wounds.)
14 All ye that bend bow, be made ready against Babylon by compass; overcome ye it, spare ye not arrows, for it sinned to the Lord. (All ye who bend bow, be made ready against Babylon all around it, or on every side; and then overcome ye it, spare ye not any arrows, for it hath sinned against the Lord.)
15 Cry ye against it, everywhere it gave (up the) hand; the foundaments thereof fell down, and the walls thereof be destroyed; for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take ye vengeance of it; as it did, do ye to it. (Cry ye against it, yea, everywhere it threw up its hands; its foundations fell down, and its walls be destroyed; for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take ye vengeance upon it; as it did, so do ye unto it.)
16 Lose ye a sower of Babylon, and him that holdeth a sickle in the time of harvest, from the face of [the] sword of the culver; each man shall be turned (again) to his people, and each man shall flee to his land. (Destroy ye each sower of Babylon, and him who holdeth a sickle at the time of harvest. Before the coming cruel sword, each man shall return to his own people, and each person shall flee to his own land.)
17 Israel is a scattered flock, lions casted out it; first (the) king (of) Assur ate it, (and) this last, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, did away the bones thereof. (Israel is a scattered flock, for the lions cast it out; first, the king of Assyria ate it, and then lastly, this Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, did away its bones.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.