Jeremiah 50:42

42 Their armies have bows and spears. The soldiers are cruel and have no mercy. As the soldiers come riding on their horses, the sound is loud like the roaring sea. They stand in their places, ready for battle. They are ready to attack you, city of Babylon.

Jeremiah 50:42 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 50:42

They shall hold the bow and the lance
Or "spear". The Targum interprets it, "shields"; as many in Cyrus's army had ^F20; the one an offensive, the other a defensive weapon; or, if bow and lance, the one is used at a distance, the other when near. The Medes and Persians were well skilled in handling the bow, as once and again observed: this very properly describes the armour of the Persians; which were, as Herodotus ^F21 says, large bows and short spears; and Xenophon ^F23 observes, that, besides bows and arrows, they had two javelins or lances, one of which they cast, and the other they held and used in their hands, as they found necessary; and so Cyrus ^F24, in a speech of his, says that they had breast plates to cover their bodies, and lances or javelins which they could use by throwing or holding, as they pleased: they [are] cruel, and will not show mercy:
not even to infants, but dash them against the stones, ( Psalms 137:8 Psalms 137:9 ) ; see ( Isaiah 13:17 Isaiah 13:18 ) ; and (See Gill on Isaiah 13:17) and (See Gill on Isaiah 13:18); hence "horribilis Medus", in Horace ^F25: their voice shall roar like the sea;
when there is a tempest on it. This does not design the shout of the soldiers, when beginning the onset in battle, or making an attack upon a city besieged; but the noise of their march, their foot, and horse, and chariots, and the clashing of their army; all which, by reason of their numbers, would be very clamorous and terrible: and they shall ride upon horses;
the Persians had a large cavalry, their country abounding in horses: [everyone] put in array like a man to the battle, against thee, O
daughter of Babylon;
furnished with armour, and put in a proper disposition, all in rank and file, well accoutred, and full of spirit, prepared to engage in battle, with you, O ye inhabitants of Babylon.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F20 Cyropaedia, l. 5. c. 15.
F21 Terpsichore, sive l. 5. c. 49. & Polymnia, sive l. 7. c. 61.
F23 Cyropaedia, l. 1. c. 5.
F24 Ibid. l. 4. c. 16.
F25 Carmin. l. 1. Ode 29.

Jeremiah 50:42 In-Context

40 God completely destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them," says the Lord. "In the same way no people will live in Babylon, and no human being will stay there.

41 "Look! An army is coming from the north. A powerful nation and many kings are coming together from all around the world.

42 Their armies have bows and spears. The soldiers are cruel and have no mercy. As the soldiers come riding on their horses, the sound is loud like the roaring sea. They stand in their places, ready for battle. They are ready to attack you, city of Babylon.

43 The king of Babylon heard about those armies, and he became helpless with fear. Distress has gripped him. His pain is like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.

44 "Like a lion coming up from the thick bushes near the Jordan River to attack a strong pen for sheep, I will suddenly chase the people of Babylon from their land. Who is the one I have chosen to do this? There is no one like me, no one who can take me to court. None of their leaders can stand up against me."