Jeremiah 51:13

13 You live beside a great river, and you are rich in treasures. But your time has come; your cruelty has caught up with you.

Jeremiah 51:13 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:13

O thou that dwellest upon many waters
Here Babylon is addressed, either by the Lord, or by the prophet, or the godly Jews; who is described by her, situation, which was by the great river Euphrates; which being branched out into several canals or rivers, both ran through it, and encompassed it; hence mention is made of the rivers of Babylon, ( Psalms 137:1 ) ; and a fit emblem this city was of mystical Babylon, which is also said to sit on many waters, interpreted of people and nations, ( Revelation 17:1 Revelation 17:15 ) ; and which Kimchi here interprets of an affluence of good things, though he admits of the literal sense of the words: abundant in treasures:
of corn, and of the fruits of the earth, and so in condition to hold out a siege, as well as strongly fortified by art and nature, before described; and of gold and silver, the sinews of war, which she had got together, partly by commerce, and partly by the spoil of other nations; and yet neither her situation nor her affluence could secure her from ruin: thine end is come, [and] the measure of thy covetousness;
this flourishing city was now near its end, and with it the whole Babylonish monarchy; the time fixed by the Lord, for the duration of one and the other, was now come; and whereas her covetousness was insatiable, and would have known no bounds, for the enlargement of her dominions, and for the accumulation of more wealth and riches; God set a limit to it, beyond which it should not go; which measure was now filled up, and the time for it expired. The Targum is,

``the day of thy destruction is come, and the time of the visitation of thy wickedness,''

Jeremiah 51:13 In-Context

11 Sharpen your arrows; prepare your shields. The LORD is stirring up the spirit of kings from Media. He intends to destroy Babylon; this is the LORD's retribution, a day of reckoning for his temple.

12 Set up a flag on the walls of Babylon, fortify the guards, post watchmen, prepare an ambush, because the LORD has a plan against the inhabitants of Babylon. He will accomplish it, just as he said he would.

13 You live beside a great river, and you are rich in treasures. But your time has come; your cruelty has caught up with you.

14 The LORD of heavenly forces has sworn by his own name: I'm going to fill your cities with soldiers like a swarm of locusts; they will celebrate their victory over you.

15 God made the earth by his might, shaped the world by his wisdom, and crafted the skies by his knowledge.

Footnotes

• [a] Heb uncertain