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Text -- Jeremiah 50:1-43 (NET)
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Context
Judgment Against Babylon
50:1 The Lord spoke concerning Babylon and the land of Babylonia through the prophet Jeremiah .
50:2 “Announce the news among the nations ! Proclaim it! Signal for people to pay attention ! Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say : ‘Babylon will be captured . Bel will be put to shame . Marduk will be dismayed . Babylon’s idols will be put to shame . Her disgusting images will be dismayed .
50:3 For a nation from the north will attack Babylon . It will lay her land waste . People and animals will flee out of it. No one will inhabit it.’
50:4 “When that time comes ,” says the Lord , “the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together . They will come back with tears of repentance as they seek the Lord their God .
50:5 They will ask the way to Zion ; they will turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten .
50:6 “My people have been lost sheep . Their shepherds have allow them to go astray . They have wandered around in the mountains . They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another. They have forgotten their resting place .
50:7 All who encountered them devoured them. Their enemies who did this said , ‘We are not liable for punishment! For those people have sinned against the Lord , their true pasture . They have sinned against the Lord in whom their ancestors trusted .’
50:8 “People of Judah, get out of Babylon quickly! Leave the land of Babylonia ! Be the first to depart ! Be like the male goats that lead the herd .
50:9 For I will rouse into action and bring against Babylon a host of mighty nations from the land of the north . They will set up their battle lines against her. They will come from the north and capture her. Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier who does not return from the battle empty-handed .
50:10 Babylonia will be plundered . Those who plunder it will take all they want,” says the Lord .
50:11 “People of Babylonia, you plundered my people . That made you happy and glad . You frolic about like calves in a pasture . Your joyous sounds are like the neighs of a stallion .
50:12 But Babylonia will be put to great shame . The land where you were born will be disgraced . Indeed , Babylonia will become the least important of all nations . It will become a dry and barren desert .
50:13 After I vent my wrath on it Babylon will be uninhabited . It will be totally desolate . All who pass by will be filled with horror and will hiss out their scorn because of all the disasters that have happened to it.
50:14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon , all you soldiers who are armed with bows . Shoot all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back ! For she has sinned against the Lord .
50:15 Shout the battle cry from all around the city. She will throw up her hands in surrender. Her towers will fall . Her walls will be torn down . Because I, the Lord , am wreaking revenge , take out your vengeance on her ! Do to her as she has done !
50:16 Kill all the farmers who sow the seed in the land of Babylon . Kill all those who wield the sickle at harvest time . Let all the foreigners return to their own people . Let them hurry back to their own lands to escape destruction by that enemy army .
50:17 “The people of Israel are like scattered sheep which lions have chased away . First the king of Assyria devoured them. Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones .
50:18 So I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all , say : ‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his land just as I punished the king of Assyria .
50:19 But I will restore the flock of Israel to their own pasture . They will graze on Mount Carmel and the land of Bashan . They will eat until they are full on the hills of Ephraim and the land of Gilead .
50:20 When that time comes, no guilt will be found in Israel . No sin will be found in Judah . For I will forgive those of them I have allowed to survive . I, the Lord , affirm it!’”
50:21 The Lord says , “Attack the land of Merathaim and the people who live in Pekod ! Pursue, kill , and completely destroy them! Do just as I have commanded you!
50:22 The noise of battle can be heard in the land of Babylonia. There is the sound of great destruction .
50:23 Babylon hammered the whole world to pieces. But see how that ‘hammer ’ has been broken and shattered! See what an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations !
50:24 I set a trap for you, Babylon ; you were caught before you knew it. You fought against me. So you were found and captured .
50:25 I have opened up the place where my weapons are stored . I have brought out the weapons for carrying out my wrath . For I , the Lord God who rules over all , have work to carry out in the land of Babylonia .
50:26 Come from far away and attack Babylonia! Open up the places where she stores her grain ! Pile her up in ruins ! Destroy her completely! Do not leave anyone alive !
50:27 Kill all her soldiers ! Let them be slaughtered ! They are doomed , for their day of reckoning has come , the time for them to be punished .”
50:28 Listen ! Fugitives and refugees are coming from the land of Babylon . They are coming to Zion to declare there how the Lord our God is getting revenge , getting revenge for what they have done to his temple .
50:29 “Call for archers to come against Babylon ! Summon against her all who draw the bow ! Set up camp all around the city! Do not allow anyone to escape ! Pay her back for what she has done . Do to her what she has done to others. For she has proudly defied me, the Holy One of Israel .
50:30 So her young men will fall in her city squares . All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time ,” says the Lord .
50:31 “Listen ! I am opposed to you, you proud city,” says the Lord God who rules over all . “Indeed , your day of reckoning has come , the time when I will punish you.
50:32 You will stumble and fall , you proud city; no one will help you get up . I will set fire to your towns ; it will burn up everything that surrounds you.”
50:33 The Lord who rules over all says , “The people of Israel are oppressed . So too are the people of Judah . All those who took them captive are holding them prisoners. They refuse to set them free .
50:34 But the one who will rescue them is strong . He is known as the Lord who rules over all . He will strongly champion their cause . As a result he will bring peace and rest to the earth , but trouble and turmoil to the people who inhabit Babylonia .
50:35 “Destructive forces will come against the Babylonians ,” says the Lord . “They will come against the people who inhabit Babylonia , against her leaders and her men of wisdom .
50:36 Destructive forces will come against her false prophets ; they will be shown to be fools ! Destructive forces will come against her soldiers ; they will be filled with terror !
50:37 Destructive forces will come against her horses and her chariots . Destructive forces will come against all the foreign troops within her; they will be as frightened as women ! Destructive forces will come against her treasures ; they will be taken away as plunder !
50:38 A drought will come upon her land; her rivers and canals will be dried up . All of this will happen because her land is filled with idols . Her people act like madmen because of those idols they fear .
50:39 Therefore desert creatures and jackals will live there. Ostriches will dwell in it too. But no people will ever live there again . No one will dwell there for all time to come.
50:40 I will destroy Babylonia just like I did Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns. No one will live there . No human being will settle in it,” says the Lord .
50:41 “Look ! An army is about to come from the north . A mighty nation and many kings are stirring into action in faraway parts of the earth .
50:42 Its soldiers are armed with bows and spears . They are cruel and show no mercy . They sound like the roaring sea as they ride forth on their horses . Lined up in formation like men going into battle , they are coming against you, fair Babylon !
50:43 The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear when he hears news of their coming . Anguish will grip him, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Jer 50:1; Jer 50:1; Jer 50:2; Jer 50:2; Jer 50:2; Jer 50:2; Jer 50:2; Jer 50:2; Jer 50:3; Jer 50:4; Jer 50:4; Jer 50:5; Jer 50:5; Jer 50:6; Jer 50:6; Jer 50:7; Jer 50:7; Jer 50:7; Jer 50:8; Jer 50:8; Jer 50:8; Jer 50:9; Jer 50:9; Jer 50:9; Jer 50:9; Jer 50:9; Jer 50:10; Jer 50:10; Jer 50:11; Jer 50:11; Jer 50:11; Jer 50:11; Jer 50:12; Jer 50:12; Jer 50:13; Jer 50:13; Jer 50:14; Jer 50:14; Jer 50:14; Jer 50:15; Jer 50:15; Jer 50:15; Jer 50:16; Jer 50:16; Jer 50:17; Jer 50:17; Jer 50:17; Jer 50:18; Jer 50:19; Jer 50:19; Jer 50:20; Jer 50:20; Jer 50:20; Jer 50:21; Jer 50:21; Jer 50:21; Jer 50:21; Jer 50:21; Jer 50:21; Jer 50:22; Jer 50:22; Jer 50:23; Jer 50:24; Jer 50:25; Jer 50:25; Jer 50:25; Jer 50:25; Jer 50:25; Jer 50:25; Jer 50:26; Jer 50:26; Jer 50:26; Jer 50:26; Jer 50:27; Jer 50:27; Jer 50:27; Jer 50:27; Jer 50:28; Jer 50:28; Jer 50:29; Jer 50:29; Jer 50:29; Jer 50:30; Jer 50:31; Jer 50:31; Jer 50:31; Jer 50:31; Jer 50:31; Jer 50:32; Jer 50:33; Jer 50:33; Jer 50:34; Jer 50:34; Jer 50:34; Jer 50:34; Jer 50:34; Jer 50:34; Jer 50:35; Jer 50:35; Jer 50:35; Jer 50:36; Jer 50:36; Jer 50:36; Jer 50:37; Jer 50:37; Jer 50:37; Jer 50:38; Jer 50:38; Jer 50:38; Jer 50:38; Jer 50:39; Jer 50:39; Jer 50:39; Jer 50:40; Jer 50:40; Jer 50:40; Jer 50:41; Jer 50:42; Jer 50:43; Jer 50:43; Jer 50:43
NET Notes: Jer 50:1 Heb “The word which the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans by the hand of Jeremiah the prophet.”
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NET Notes: Jer 50:2 This refers to the fact that the idols that the Babylonians worshiped will not be able to protect them, but will instead be carried off into exile wit...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:3 A nation from the north refers to Medo-Persia which at the time of the conquest of Babylon in 539 b.c. had conquered all the nations to the north, the...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:4 Heb “and the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together. They shall go, weeping as they go, and they will seek the Lo...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:5 See Jer 32:40 and the study note there for the nature of this lasting agreement.
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NET Notes: Jer 50:6 The allusion here, if it is not merely a part of the metaphor of the wandering sheep, is to the worship of the false gods on the high hills (2:20, 3:2...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:7 These two verses appear to be a poetical summary of the argument of Jer 2 where the nation is accused of abandoning its loyalty to God and worshiping ...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:8 The words “Be the first to leave” are not in the text but spell out the significance of the simile that follows. They have been supplied i...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:11 Heb “Though you rejoice, though you exult, you who have plundered my heritage, though you frolic like calves in a pasture and neigh like stallio...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:13 Compare Jer 49:17 and the study note there and see also the study notes on 18:16 and 19:8.
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NET Notes: Jer 50:15 Heb “Because it is the Lord’s vengeance.” The first person has again been used because the Lord is the speaker and the nominal expre...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:16 Heb “Because of [or out of fear of] the sword of the oppressor, let each of them turn toward his [own] people and each of them flee to his [own]...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:17 If the prophecies which are referred to in Jer 51:59-64 refer to all that is contained in Jer 50–51 (as some believe), this would have referred ...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:18 Heb “Therefore thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” The first person is again adopted because the Lord is speaking. For this ti...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:19 The metaphor of Israel as a flock of sheep (v. 17) is continued here. The places named were all in Northern Israel and in the Transjordan, lands that ...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:20 Heb “Oracle of the Lord.” In this case it is necessary to place this in the first person because this is already in a quote whose speaker ...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:22 The verbs in vv. 22-25 are all descriptive of the present, but all of this is really to take place in the future. Hebrew poetry has a way of rendering...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:23 Heb “How broken and shattered is the hammer of all the earth!” The “hammer” is a metaphor for Babylon who was God’s war ...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:24 Heb “You were found [or found out] and captured because you fought against the Lord.” The same causal connection is maintained by the orde...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:25 The verbs in vv. 22-25 are all descriptive of the present but, all of this is really to take place in the future. Hebrew poetry has a way of rendering...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:26 Heb “Do not let there be to her a remnant.” According to BDB 984 s.v. שְׁאֵרִית this...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:27 The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
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NET Notes: Jer 50:28 This verse appears to be a parenthetical exclamation of the prophet in the midst of his report of what the Lord said through him. He throws himself in...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:29 The Holy One of Israel is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah. It is applied to the Lord only here and in 51:5 in the book of Jeremiah. ...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:32 Heb “And the proud one will fall and there will be no one to help him up. I will start a fire in his towns and it will consume all that surround...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:33 Heb “Oppressed are the people of Israel and the people of Judah together,” i.e., both the people of Israel and Judah are oppressed. Howeve...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:34 This translation again reflects the problem often encountered in these prophecies where the Lord appears to be speaking but refers to himself in the t...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:36 The verb here (חָתַת, khatat) could also be rendered “be destroyed” (cf. BDB 369 s.v. חָת&...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:37 Heb “A sword against his horses and his chariots and against all the mixed company [or mixed multitude] in her midst and they will become like w...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:38 Heb “by the terrors.” However, as HALOT 40 s.v. אֵימָה indicates these are “images that cause te...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:39 Heb “It will never again be inhabited nor dwelt in unto generation and generation.” For the meaning of this last phrase compare the usage ...
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NET Notes: Jer 50:41 A mighty nation and many kings is an allusion to the Medo-Persian empire and the vassal kings who provided forces for the Medo-Persian armies.
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NET Notes: Jer 50:42 Heb “daughter Babylon.” The word “daughter” is a personification of the city of Babylon and its inhabitants.
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