Jeremias 51:20

20 Then Jeremias answered all the people, the mighty men, and the women, and all the people that returned him words for answer, saying,

Jeremias 51:20 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:20

Thou [art] my battle axe [and] weapons of war
This is said by the Lord, either to Cyrus, as some, to which our version inclines, whom God made use of as an instrument to subdue nations and kingdoms, and destroy them; see ( Isaiah 45:1 ) ; or rather Babylon, and the king of it, who had been the hammer of the earth, ( Jeremiah 50:23 ) ; as it may be rendered here, "thou [art] my hammer" ^F19; or, "hast been"; an instrument in his hands, of beating the nations to pieces, as stones by a hammer, and of destroying them, as by weapons of war: this, and what follows, are observed to show, that though Babylon had been used by the Lord for the destruction of others, it should not be secure from it itself, but should share the same fate; unless this is to be understood of the church of God, and kingdom of Christ, which in the latter day will break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth, ( Daniel 2:44 ) ; which sense seems to have some countenance and confirmation from ( Jeremiah 51:24 ) "in your sight". The Targum is,

``thou art a scatterer before me, a city in which are warlike arms;''

which seems to refer to Babylon: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I
destroy kingdoms;
or, "with thee I have broke in pieces, [and] have destroyed"; the future instead of the past ^F20; as the nations and kingdoms of Judea, Egypt, Edom, Moab, Ammon, and others: or, "that I may break in pieces" ^F21 and so it expresses the end for which he was a hammer, as well as the use he had been or would be of.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (yl hta Upm) "malleus es, [vel] fuisti mihi", Pagninus, Piscator, Cocceius, Schmidt.
F20 "Dispersi, perdidi", Lutherus; "conquassavi", Munster; "dissipavi", Piscator.
F21 (ytupnw) "ut dissiparem", Junius & Tremellius; "ut dispergam", Schmidt.

Jeremias 51:20 In-Context

18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, we have all been brought low, and have been consumed by sword and by famine.

19 And whereas we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured drink-offerings to her, did we make cakes to her, and pour drink-offerings to her, without our husbands?

20 Then Jeremias answered all the people, the mighty men, and the women, and all the people that returned him words for answer, saying,

21 Did not the Lord remember the incense which ye burned in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, and your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land? and came it not into his heart?

22 And the Lord could no longer bear , because of the wickedness of your doings, and because of your abominations which ye wrought; and so your land became a desolation and a waste, and a curse, as at this day;