Jeremiah 51:36

36 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to plead your case^[a] and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea^[b] and make her fountain run dry.

Jeremiah 51:36 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:36

Therefore thus saith the Lord
In answer to the prayers of the inhabitants of Zion and Jerusalem, imprecating divine vengeance on Babylon: behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee;
not by words only, but by deeds, inflicting punishment on their enemies: and I will dry up her sea;
the confluence of waters about Babylon; the river Euphrates, the channel of which was drained by Cyrus, by which means he took the city; and this may figuratively design the abundance of riches and affluence of good things in Babylon, which should now be taken from her: and make her springs dry;
deprive her of all the necessaries of life; and stop up all the avenues by which she was supplied with them; and cut off all communication of good things to her.

Jeremiah 51:36 In-Context

34 "Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty dish; he has swallowed me like a sea monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies; he has vomited me out,"

35 says the inhabitant of Zion; "Let the violence [done] to me and my family [be done] to Babylon. Let my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea," says Jerusalem.

36 Therefore, this is what the Lord says: I am about to plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her fountain run dry.

37 Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a jackals' den, a desolation and an object of scorn, without inhabitant.

38 They will roar together like young lions; they will growl like lion cubs.

Footnotes

• [a] Jr 50:34; 1 Sm 24:15; Pr 23:11
• [b] Ex 14:16-15:21