Jeremiah 51:42

42 Babylon's enemies will sweep over it like an ocean. Like roaring waves they will cover it.

Jeremiah 51:42 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:42

The sea is come up upon Babylon
A vast army, comparable to the great sea for the multitude thereof, even the army of the Medes and Persians under Cyrus; so the Targum,

``a king with his armies, which are numerous like the waters of the sea, is come up against Babylon:''

she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof;
being surrounded, besieged, surprised, and seized upon by the multitude of soldiers in that army, which poured in upon it unawares. Some think here is a beautiful antithesis, between the inundation of Cyrus's army and the draining of the river Euphrates, by which means he poured in his forces into Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:42 In-Context

40 "I will lead them down like lambs to be put to death. They will be like rams and goats that have been killed.

41 "Babylon will be captured! The whole earth was very proud of it. But it will be taken over by others! The nations will be shocked when it falls.

42 Babylon's enemies will sweep over it like an ocean. Like roaring waves they will cover it.

43 The towns of Babylonia will be empty. It will become a dry and desert land. No one will live there. No one will even travel through it.

44 I will punish the god Bel in Babylon. I will make Bel spit out what it has swallowed. The nations will not come and worship it anymore. And Babylon's walls will fall down.