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Text -- Jeremiah 51:1-25 (NET)
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51:1 The Lord says , “I will cause a destructive wind to blow against Babylon and the people who inhabit Babylonia.
51:2 I will send people to winnow Babylonia like a wind blowing away chaff . They will winnow her and strip her land bare . This will happen when they come against her from every direction , when it is time to destroy her.
51:3 Do not give her archers time to string their bows or to put on their coats of armor . Do not spare any of her young men . Completely destroy her whole army .
51:4 Let them fall slain in the land of Babylonia , mortally wounded in the streets of her cities.
51:5 “For Israel and Judah will not be forsaken by their God , the Lord who rules over all . For the land of Babylonia is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel .
51:6 Get out of Babylonia quickly, you foreign people . Flee to save your lives . Do not let yourselves be killed because of her sins . For it is time for the Lord to wreak his revenge . He will pay Babylonia back for what she has done .
51:7 Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord’s hand . She had made the whole world drunk . The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. So they have all gone mad .
51:8 But suddenly Babylonia will fall and be destroyed . Cry out in mourning over it! Get medicine for her wounds ! Perhaps she can be healed !
51:9 Foreigners living there will say, ‘We tried to heal her, but she could not be healed . Let’s leave Babylonia and each go back to his own country . For judgment on her will be vast in its proportions. It will be like it is piled up to heaven , stacked up into the clouds .’
51:10 The exiles from Judah will say, ‘The Lord has brought about a great deliverance for us! Come on, let’s go and proclaim in Zion what the Lord our God has done !’
51:11 “Sharpen your arrows ! Fill your quivers ! The Lord will arouse a spirit of hostility in the kings of Media . For he intends to destroy Babylonia . For that is how the Lord will get his revenge – how he will get his revenge for the Babylonians’ destruction of his temple .
51:12 Give the signal to attack Babylon’s wall ! Bring more guards ! Post them all around the city! Put men in ambush ! For the Lord will do what he has planned . He will do what he said he would do to the people of Babylon .
51:13 “You who live along the rivers of Babylon, the time of your end has come . You who are rich in plundered treasure , it is time for your lives to be cut off .
51:14 The Lord who rules over all has solemnly sworn , ‘I will fill your land with enemy soldiers . They will swarm over it like locusts . They will raise up shouts of victory over it.’
51:15 He is the one who by his power made the earth . He is the one who by his wisdom fixed the world in place, by his understanding he spread out the heavens .
51:16 When his voice thunders , the waters in the heavens roar . He makes the clouds rise from the far-off horizons . He makes the lightning flash out in the midst of the rain . He unleashes the wind from the places where he stores it.
51:17 All idolaters will prove to be stupid and ignorant . Every goldsmith will be disgraced by the idol he made. For the image he forges is merely a sham . There is no breath in any of those idols.
51:18 They are worthless , objects to be ridiculed . When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed .
51:19 The Lord, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob , is not like them . For he is the one who created everything , including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own . He is known as the Lord who rules over all .
51:20 “Babylon, you are my war club , my weapon for battle . I used you to smash nations . I used you to destroy kingdoms .
51:21 I used you to smash horses and their riders . I used you to smash chariots and their drivers .
51:22 I used you to smash men and women . I used you to smash old men and young men . I used you to smash young men and young women .
51:23 I used you to smash shepherds and their flocks . I used you to smash farmers and their teams of oxen . I used you to smash governors and leaders .”
51:24 “But I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wicked things they did in Zion right before the eyes of you Judeans,” says the Lord .
51:25 The Lord says , “Beware ! I am opposed to you, Babylon! You are like a destructive mountain that destroys all the earth . I will unleash my power against you; I will roll you off the cliffs and make you like a burned-out mountain .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Jer 51:1; Jer 51:1; Jer 51:1; Jer 51:2; Jer 51:2; Jer 51:2; Jer 51:2; Jer 51:2; Jer 51:3; Jer 51:3; Jer 51:4; Jer 51:4; Jer 51:4; Jer 51:5; Jer 51:5; Jer 51:5; Jer 51:5; Jer 51:5; Jer 51:6; Jer 51:6; Jer 51:6; Jer 51:7; Jer 51:7; Jer 51:7; Jer 51:8; Jer 51:9; Jer 51:9; Jer 51:9; Jer 51:10; Jer 51:10; Jer 51:11; Jer 51:11; Jer 51:11; Jer 51:11; Jer 51:11; Jer 51:11; Jer 51:12; Jer 51:12; Jer 51:12; Jer 51:12; Jer 51:12; Jer 51:12; Jer 51:13; Jer 51:13; Jer 51:14; Jer 51:14; Jer 51:14; Jer 51:15; Jer 51:19; Jer 51:19; Jer 51:20; Jer 51:20; Jer 51:20; Jer 51:21; Jer 51:23; Jer 51:24; Jer 51:24; Jer 51:25; Jer 51:25; Jer 51:25; Jer 51:25; Jer 51:25
NET Notes: Jer 51:1 Heb “the people who live in Leb-qamai.” “Leb-qamai” is a code name for “Chaldeans” formed on the principle of subs...
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NET Notes: Jer 51:3 For the concept underlying this word see the study note on “utterly destroy” in Jer 25:9 and compare the usage in 50:21, 26.
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NET Notes: Jer 51:4 The words “cities” is not in the text. The text merely says “in her streets” but the antecedent is “land” and must...
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NET Notes: Jer 51:8 The verbs in this verse and the following are all in the Hebrew perfect tense, a tense that often refers to a past action or a past action with presen...
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NET Notes: Jer 51:9 This is an admittedly very paraphrastic translation that tries to make the figurative nuance of the Hebrew original understandable for the average rea...
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NET Notes: Jer 51:10 There is some difference of opinion as to the best way to render the Hebrew expression here. Literally it means “brought forth our righteousness...
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NET Notes: Jer 51:11 Verse 11c-f appears to be a parenthetical or editorial comment by Jeremiah to give some background for the attack which is summoned in vv. 11-12.
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NET Notes: Jer 51:12 Heb “For the Lord has both planned and done what he said concerning the people living in Babylon,” i.e., “he has carried out what he...
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NET Notes: Jer 51:13 Heb “You who live upon [or beside] many waters, rich in treasures, your end has come, the cubit of your cutting off.” The sentence has bee...
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NET Notes: Jer 51:14 Heb “I will fill you with men like locusts.” The “you” refers to Babylon (Babylon is both the city and the land it ruled, Baby...
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NET Notes: Jer 51:15 The participle here is intended to be connected with “Lord who rules over all” in the preceding verse. The passage is functioning to under...
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NET Notes: Jer 51:19 With the major exception discussed in the translator’s note on the preceding line vv. 15-19 are a verbatim repetition of 10:12-16 with a few min...
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NET Notes: Jer 51:20 Heb “I smash nations with you.” This same structure is repeated throughout the series in vv. 20c-23.
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NET Notes: Jer 51:21 Heb “horse and its rider.” However, the terms are meant as generic or collective singulars (cf. GKC 395 §123.b) and are thus translat...
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NET Notes: Jer 51:23 These two words are Akkadian loan words into Hebrew which often occur in this pairing (cf. Ezek 23:6, 12, 23; Jer 51:23, 28, 57). BDB 688 s.v. ס...
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