Yirmeyah 51:2

2 And will send unto Bavel winnowers, that shall blow her chaff away, and shall empty her land; for in the Yom Ra’ah (Day of Disaster) they shall be against her on every side.

Yirmeyah 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 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Yirmeyah 51:2 In-Context

1 1 Thus saith Hashem: Hineni, I will stir up against Bavel, and against them that dwell in Lev Kamai [i.e., Babylon] a ruach mashchit (spirit of destruction);

2 And will send unto Bavel winnowers, that shall blow her chaff away, and shall empty her land; for in the Yom Ra’ah (Day of Disaster) they shall be against her on every side.

3 Against her let the archer bend his keshet, and against her let him rise up in his armor; and spare ye not her bochurim; destroy ye utterly all her army.

4 Thus the slain shall fall in the Eretz Kasdim, and they that are thrust through in her streets.

5 For Yisroel hath not been forsaken nor Yehudah by Elohav, by Hashem Tzva’os; though their land be filled with asham (guilt) against Kadosh Yisroel.