Jeremiah 50:3

3 For a folk shall ascend from the north against it, which folk shall set the land thereof into wilderness; and none shall be that shall dwell therein, from man unto beast; and they be moved, and went away. (For a nation shall come from the north against it, which nation shall make its land into a wilderness; and there shall be no one who shall live there, from man unto beast; yea, they shall remove themselves, and shall go far away.)

Jeremiah 50:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 50:3

For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her
The Medes and Persians, which under Cyrus were one nation; and which not only lay north of Judea, where this prophecy came, but of Babylon, against which they were to come; and might lay more north to it, before the enlargement of their dominions; and besides, Cyrus came through Assyria to Babylon, which lay north of it; see ( Isaiah 41:25 ) . Thus, as Rome Pagan was sacked and taken by the Goths and Vandals, that came out of the north; so Rome Papal, and the antichristian states, will be destroyed by the Christian princes of the north, or those who have embraced what the Papists call the northern heresy; tidings out of the north shall trouble antichrist, ( Daniel 11:44 ) ; which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein;
that is, in process of time; for this desolation was not made at once; it was begun by Cyrus, made greater by Darius, and completed by Seleucus Nicator; they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast;
or, "from man to beast" ^F4; such as were not slain should either flee away or be carried captive; so that in time none should remain, either of man or beast; see ( Isaiah 13:19-22 ) ; and for the accomplishment of it on mystical Babylon see ( Revelation 18:2 Revelation 18:21-23 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (hmhb dew Mdam) "ab homine et usque ad animal", Pagninus, Montanus; "ad bestiam", Schmidt.

Jeremiah 50:3 In-Context

1 The word which the Lord spake of Babylon, and of the land of Chaldees, in the hand of Jeremy, the prophet. (The word which the Lord spoke about Babylon, and the land of the Chaldeans, by the prophet Jeremiah.)

2 Tell ye among heathen men, and make ye heard; raise ye [up] a sign; preach ye, and do not ye hold still; say ye, Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed, Merodach is overcome; the graven images thereof be shamed, the idols of them be overcome. (Tell ye out among the heathen, and make ye it heard; raise ye up a sign; preach ye, and do not ye hold back; say ye, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is overcome with despair; its carved idols be put to shame, yea, its idols be broken in pieces.)

3 For a folk shall ascend from the north against it, which folk shall set the land thereof into wilderness; and none shall be that shall dwell therein, from man unto beast; and they be moved, and went away. (For a nation shall come from the north against it, which nation shall make its land into a wilderness; and there shall be no one who shall live there, from man unto beast; yea, they shall remove themselves, and shall go far away.)

4 In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together, going and weeping; they shall haste, and seek their Lord God in Zion, (In those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the Israelites shall come, they and the people of Judah together, going and weeping; they shall make haste, and shall seek the Lord their God,)

5 and they shall ask the way. Hither the faces of them shall come, and they shall be set to the Lord with bond of peace everlasting, which shall not be done away by any forgetting. (and they shall ask the way to Zion. They shall come here, and they shall be joined to the Lord with an everlasting covenant, which shall not be done away with by any forgetting.)