Jeremiah 51:42

42 The sea has risen over Babylon; its pounding waves overwhelm her.

Jeremiah 51:42 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:42

The sea is come up upon Babylon
A vast army, comparable to the great sea for the multitude thereof, even the army of the Medes and Persians under Cyrus; so the Targum,

``a king with his armies, which are numerous like the waters of the sea, is come up against Babylon:''

she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof;
being surrounded, besieged, surprised, and seized upon by the multitude of soldiers in that army, which poured in upon it unawares. Some think here is a beautiful antithesis, between the inundation of Cyrus's army and the draining of the river Euphrates, by which means he poured in his forces into Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:42 In-Context

40 I'll lead them off like lambs for slaughter, like rams and goats.

41 How Sheshach has been defeated, the pride of the whole earth taken captive! How Babylon has become a wasteland among the nations!

42 The sea has risen over Babylon; its pounding waves overwhelm her.

43 Her towns are devastated; her land is scorched and barren, a place where no one lives or dares to pass through.

44 I will punish Bel in Babylon; I will force him to vomit what he's consumed. Then nations will no longer stream to him, and Babylon's walls will collapse!