Jeremiah 51:2

2 "I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may ¹winnow her And may devastate her land; For on every side they will be opposed to her In the day of her calamity.

Jeremiah 51:2 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:2

And I will send unto Babylon farmers, that shall fan her, and
shall empty her land
Or, "strangers that shall fan her" ^F3; meaning the Medes and Persians, who should be like a strong wind upon the mountains, where corn, having been threshed, was fanned, and the chaff carried away by the wind; and such would the Chaldeans be in the hand of the Persians, scattered and dispersed among the nations as chaff with the wind, and their cities be emptied of inhabitants, and of their wealth and riches. The Targum is,

``I will send against Babylon spoilers, that shall spoil and exhaust the land:''

for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about;
in the time of the siege they shall surround her on all sides, so that none might escape; as Babylon had been a fanner of the Lord's people, now she should be fanned herself, and stripped of all she had; see ( Jeremiah 15:7 ) .

---

FOOTNOTES:

F3 (Myrz) "alienos", Cocceius; some in Vatablus; so Kimchi, Ben Melech, Abendana.

Jeremiah 51:2 In-Context

1 Thus says the LORD : "Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai The spirit of a destroyer.

2 "I will dispatch foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow her And may devastate her land; For on every side they will be opposed to her In the day of her calamity.

3 "Let not him who bends his bow bend it, Nor let him rise up in his scale-armor; So do not spare her young men; Devote all her army to destruction.

4 "They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, And pierced through in their streets."

5 For neither Israel nor Judah has been forsaken By his God, the LORD of hosts, Although their land is full of guilt Before the Holy One of Israel.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 41:16; Jeremiah 15:7; Matthew 3:12

Footnotes

• [a] Some versions read "winnowers"