Jeremías 50:42

42 Están armados con arcos y lanzas.
Son crueles y no tienen compasión de nadie.
Cuando avanzan sobre sus caballos
se oyen como el rugido del mar.
Vienen en formación de batalla
con planes de destruirte, Babilonia.

Jeremías 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.

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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.

Jeremías 50:42 In-Context

40 La destruiré tal como yo
destruí a Sodoma, a Gomorra
y a sus ciudades vecinas —dice el Señor
—.
Nadie vivirá allí;
nadie la habitará.

41 »¡Miren! Un gran ejército viene del norte.
Desde tierras lejanas se están levantando contra ti
una gran nación y muchos reyes.

42 Están armados con arcos y lanzas.
Son crueles y no tienen compasión de nadie.
Cuando avanzan sobre sus caballos
se oyen como el rugido del mar.
Vienen en formación de batalla
con planes de destruirte, Babilonia.

43 El rey de Babilonia ha oído informes acerca del enemigo
y tiembla de miedo.
Se apoderaron de él punzadas de angustia
como a una mujer en trabajo de parto.

44 »Vendré como un león que sale de los matorrales del Jordán
y atacaré las ovejas en los pastos.
Expulsaré a Babilonia de su tierra
y nombraré al líder que yo escoja.
Pues, ¿quién es como yo y quién puede desafiarme?
¿Qué gobernante puede oponerse a mi voluntad?».