Jeremiah 50:15

15 Shout against her round about; she hath given her hand. Her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.

Jeremiah 50:15 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 50:15

Shout against her round about
As soldiers do when they make an assault upon a place, to encourage one another, and dismay the besieged; just as the Israelites did when they surrounded Jericho: she hath given her hand;
submitted to the conqueror, and sued for mercy. The Targum is,

``she is delivered into her hand;''

the hand of the Persians, by two princes of Babylon, who went off to Cyrus, and showed him how to take the city; or rather it was delivered by Zopyrus into the hands of Darius: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down;
not at the taking of it by Cyrus, but afterwards by Darius; for this respects the conclusion of its destruction, which was progressive and gradual: for it [is] the vengeance of the Lord:
which he decreed, threatened, and took, and that on account of his people, who had been ill treated here; so the Targum,

``for it is the vengeance of the people of the Lord:''

and her enemies are called upon to take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her;
that is, to execute the Lord's vengeance, of which the Persians were the instruments; and who were to go according to the law of retaliation, which is a just one; to do to Babylon as she had done to Jerusalem, and other places, she had utterly destroyed. These words seem to be referred to, and much the same are used of mystical Babylon, ( Revelation 18:6 ) .

Jeremiah 50:15 In-Context

13 Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate; every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished and hiss at all her plagues.

14 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about; all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she hath sinned against the LORD.

15 Shout against her round about; she hath given her hand. Her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down; for it is the vengeance of the LORD. Take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her.

16 Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest; for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.

17 "Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away. First the king of Assyria hath devoured him, and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones."