Jeremias 51:8

8 by provoking me with the works of your hands, to burn incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which ye entered to dwell there, that ye might be cut off, and that ye might become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

Jeremias 51:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:8

Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed
Or "broken" ^F7; even into shivers, as a cup is; for when it had been used to answer the purposes designed by the Lord, he let it fall cut of his hands at once, and it was broken; or rather he dashed it in pieces, as a potter's vessel. The destruction of Babylon was brought about in a very short time, considering the strength of it; and was unexpected by the inhabitants of it, and by the nations round about; but, when it was come, it was irreparable: so the destruction of mystical Babylon will be in one hour, and it will be an utter and entire destruction, ( Revelation 18:8 ) ; howl for her;
as the inhabitants of Babylon, and her friends and allies that loved her, did no doubt; and as the kings and merchants of the earth, and others, will howl for spiritual Babylon, ( Revelation 18:9-19 ) ; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed:
or balsam; see ( Jeremiah 46:11 ) ; which is said by way of derision and mockery, as Kimchi and Abarbinel observe; or in an ironical and sarcastic manner; suggesting, that, let what means soever be made use of, her wound was incurable, her ruin inevitable, and her case irrecoverable.

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 (rbvt) "confracta est", Schmidt; "fracta est", Cocceius; "contrita est", Piscator.

Jeremias 51:8 In-Context

6 So mine anger and my wrath dropped , and was kindled in the gates of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they became a desolation and a waste, as at this day.

7 And now thus has the Lord Almighty said, Wherefore do ye commit great evils against your souls? to cut off man and woman of you, infant and suckling from the midst of Juda, to the end that not one of you should be left;

8 by provoking me with the works of your hands, to burn incense to other gods in the land of Egypt, into which ye entered to dwell there, that ye might be cut off, and that ye might become a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?

9 Have ye forgotten the sins of your fathers, and the sins of the kings of Juda, and the sins of your princes, and the sins of your wives, which they wrought in the land of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem?

10 And have not ceased even to this day, and they have not kept to my ordinances, which I set before their fathers.