Jeremiah 51:2

2 And I will send to Babylon fanners, and they shall fan her, and shall destroy her land: for they are come upon her on every side in the day of her affliction.

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 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Jeremiah 51:2 In-Context

1 Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will raise up as it were a pestilential wind against Babylon and against the inhabitants thereof, who have lifted up their heart against me.

2 And I will send to Babylon fanners, and they shall fan her, and shall destroy her land: for they are come upon her on every side in the day of her affliction.

3 Let not him that bendeth, bend his bow, and let not him go up that is armed with a coat of mail: spare not her young men, destroy all her army.

4 And the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and the wounded in the regions thereof.

5 For Israel and Juda have not been forsaken by their God the Lord of hosts: but their land hath been filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.