And thou shall say
Not only use the above sign and ceremony, but explain the meaning of it to those of his friends who might accompany him; and what he said was in the name of the Lord, as the form and manner in which the following words are delivered show: thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will
bring upon her;
as this book, with the stone bound to it, does, and shall no more rise than that can; the evil of punishment brought on Babylon will sink her to such a degree, that she will never be able to bear up under it; but be so depressed by it as never to rise to her former state and grandeur any more: and they shall be weary;
the inhabitants of it, and have no strength to resist their enemies; or, rather, shall be so weak as not to be able to stand up under the weight and pressure upon them, but shall sink under it; or shall weary themselves in vain to preserve their city from ruin, or restore it when ruined; see ( Jeremiah 51:58 ) ; thus far [are] the words of Jeremiah;
that is, concerning the destruction of Babylon, as is said concerning Moab, ( Jeremiah 48:47 ) ; for what Maimonides F13 says, that though Jeremiah lived some time after, yet ceased to prophesy; or that, when he had finished his prophecy concerning Babylon, he prophesied no more, is not true; for it is certain that many of his prophecies were delivered out after the date of this, though this is recorded last: or the sense may be, thus far are the prophetic words of Jeremiah; and so the Targum,
``hitherto is the prophecy of the words of Jeremiah;''what follows in the next chapter being historical; for there is no necessity to conclude from hence that that was wrote by any other hand; either, as many have thought, by Ezra; or by the men of the great synagogue, as Abarbinel.