Jeremiah 51:47

47 Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall visit on the graven images of Babylon; and all the land thereof shall be shamed, and all slain men thereof shall fall down in the midst thereof. (And so lo! days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall punish Babylon for its carved idols; and all its land shall be shamed, and all its slain men shall fall down in its midst.)

Jeremiah 51:47 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:47

Therefore, behold, the days come that I will do judgment on
the graven images of Babylon
Because of the connection of these words, some understand ( Jeremiah 51:46 ) of the report of the deliverance of the Jews time after time; and yet nothing came of it, which disheartened them; and they were used more cruelly, and with greater violence, by the Chaldeans and their kings, one after another; and "therefore" the following things are said; but the particle may be rendered "moreover" F14, as some observe; or "surely", certainly, of a truth, as in ( Jeremiah 5:2 ) ; the time is hastening on, the above things being done, when judgment shall be executed, not only upon Bel the chief idol, ( Jeremiah 51:44 ) ; but upon all the idols of the Chaldeans; which should be broke to pieces, and stripped of everything about them that was valuable; the Medes and Persians having no regard to images in their worship; though Dr. Prideaux F15 thinks that what is here said, and in ( Jeremiah 51:44 ) ; were fulfilled by Xerxes, when he destroyed and pillaged the Babylonian temples: and her whole land shall be confounded;
the inhabitants of it, when they see their images destroyed, in which they trusted for their safety: and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her;
in the midst of Babylon; where the king and his army were shut up, and dared not move out; and where they were slain when the army of Cyrus entered.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 (Nkl) "praeterea"; so Gataker.
F15 Connexion, par. 1. B. 2. p. 101. B. 4. p. 242, 243.

Jeremiah 51:47 In-Context

45 My people, go ye out from the midst thereof, that each man save his soul from the wrath of the strong vengeance of the Lord; (My people, go ye out from its midst, so that each person can save his own soul from the anger of the strong vengeance of the Lord;)
46 and lest peradventure your heart wax nesh, and lest ye dread the hearing, that shall be heard in the land; and (an) hearing shall come in a year, and after this year shall come (another) hearing, and wickedness in the land, and a lord on a lord. (lest perhaps your heart grow soft, and lest ye fear the rumour, that shall be heard in the land; yea, a rumour shall come this year, and after this year another rumour shall come, and wickedness in the land, and a lord against a lord.)
47 Therefore lo! days come, saith the Lord, and I shall visit on the graven images of Babylon; and all the land thereof shall be shamed, and all slain men thereof shall fall down in the midst thereof. (And so lo! days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall punish Babylon for its carved idols; and all its land shall be shamed, and all its slain men shall fall down in its midst.)
48 And heaven's, and earth's, and all things that be in those, shall praise on Babylon; for raveners shall come from the north to it, saith the Lord. (And heaven, and the earth, and everything that is in them, shall praise the victory over Babylon; for robbers, or thieves, shall come from the north to destroy it, saith the Lord, and they will.)
49 And as Babylon did, that slain men fell down in Israel, so of Babylon slain men shall fall down and in all the land. (And as Babylon caused the slain to fall down in Israel, so now the slain of all the earth shall fall down in Babylon.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.