Jeremiah 50:13

13 Because of the Lord's wrath, she will not be inhabited; she will become a desolation, every bit of her. Everyone who passes through Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds.^[a]

Jeremiah 50:13 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 50:13

Because of the wrath of the Lord, it shall not be inhabited,
&c.] That is, Babylon; which the Targum expresses,

``because thou, Babylon, hast provoked the Lord;''

by their idolatry, luxury, ill usage of his people, and profanation of the vessels of the sanctuary; therefore it should be destroyed, and left without an inhabitant in it: but it shall be wholly desolate;
as it now is. Pausanias says ^F15, in his time there was nothing but a wall remaining; and Jerom ^F16 says, he had it from a brother Elamite, or Persian, that Babylon was then a park or place for royal hunting, and that beasts of every kind were kept within its walls: of mystical Babylon, see ( Revelation 16:19 ) ( 18:2 ) ; everyone that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all
her plagues;
any traveller that had seen it in its glory would now be astonished to see the desolation of it; and, by way of scorn and derision, hiss at the judgments of God upon it, and rejoice at them, and shake their head, as the Targum.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Arcadica, sive l. 8. p. 509.
F16 Comment. in Isaiam, fol. 23. C.

Jeremiah 50:13 In-Context

11 Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph- you who plundered My inheritance- because you frolic like a young cow treading grain and neigh like stallions,

12 your mother will be utterly humiliated; she who bore you will be put to shame. Look! She will lag behind all the nations- a dry land, a wilderness, an Arabah.

13 Because of the Lord's wrath, she will not be inhabited; she will become a desolation, every bit of her. Everyone who passes through Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds.

14 Line up in battle formation around Babylon, all you archers! Shoot at her! Do not spare an arrow, for she has sinned against the Lord.

15 Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands [in surrender]; her defense towers have fallen; her walls are demolished. Since this is the Lord's vengeance, take out your vengeance on her; as she has done, do the same to her.

Footnotes

• [a] Jr 19:8; 49:17