Jeremiah 50:3

3 For a nation will come out of the north to attack her, reduce her cities to rubble. Empty of life - no animals, no people - not a sound, not a movement, not a breath.

Jeremiah 50:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 50:3

For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her
The Medes and Persians, which under Cyrus were one nation; and which not only lay north of Judea, where this prophecy came, but of Babylon, against which they were to come; and might lay more north to it, before the enlargement of their dominions; and besides, Cyrus came through Assyria to Babylon, which lay north of it; see ( Isaiah 41:25 ) . Thus, as Rome Pagan was sacked and taken by the Goths and Vandals, that came out of the north; so Rome Papal, and the antichristian states, will be destroyed by the Christian princes of the north, or those who have embraced what the Papists call the northern heresy; tidings out of the north shall trouble antichrist, ( Daniel 11:44 ) ; which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein;
that is, in process of time; for this desolation was not made at once; it was begun by Cyrus, made greater by Darius, and completed by Seleucus Nicator; they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast;
or, "from man to beast" F4; such as were not slain should either flee away or be carried captive; so that in time none should remain, either of man or beast; see ( Isaiah 13:19-22 ) ; and for the accomplishment of it on mystical Babylon see ( Revelation 18:2 Revelation 18:21-23 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F4 (hmhb dew Mdam) "ab homine et usque ad animal", Pagninus, Montanus; "ad bestiam", Schmidt.

Jeremiah 50:3 In-Context

1 The Message of God through the prophet Jeremiah on Babylon, land of the Chaldeans:
2 "Get the word out to the nations! Preach it! Go public with this, broadcast it far and wide: Babylon taken, god-Bel hanging his head in shame, god-Marduk exposed as a fraud. All her god-idols shuffling in shame, all her play-gods exposed as cheap frauds.
3 For a nation will come out of the north to attack her, reduce her cities to rubble. Empty of life - no animals, no people - not a sound, not a movement, not a breath.
4 "In those days, at that time" - God's Decree - "the people of Israel will come, And the people of Judah with them. Walking and weeping, they'll seek me, their God.
5 They'll ask directions to Zion and set their faces toward Zion. They'll come and hold tight to God, bound in a covenant eternal they'll never forget.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.