Jeremiah 51:1-5

Judgment on Babylon

1 This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will stir up against Babylon and against the people of Leb-kamai ^[a] the spirit of a destroyer.

2 I will send strangers to Babylon to winnow her and empty her land; for they will come against her from every side in her day of disaster.

3 Do not let the archer bend his bow or put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; devote all her army to destruction! ^[b]

4 And they will fall slain in the land of the Chaldeans, ^[c] and pierced through in her streets.

5 For Israel and Judah have not been abandoned by their God, the LORD of Hosts, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.”

Jeremiah 51:1-5 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.

Footnotes

• [a] Leb-kamai is a code name for Chaldea, that is, Babylonia.
• [b] Forms of the Hebrew cherem refer to the giving over of things or persons to the LORD, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
• [c] That is, the Babylonians; also in verse 54