Discovery BoxJeremiah 50:1-33
Context50:1 The Lord spoke concerning Babylon and the land of Babylonia 1 through the prophet Jeremiah. 2
50:2 “Announce 3 the news among the nations! Proclaim it!
Signal for people to pay attention! 4
Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say:
‘Babylon will be captured.
Bel 5 will be put to shame.
Marduk will be dismayed.
Babylon’s idols will be put to shame.
Her disgusting images 6 will be dismayed. 7
50:3 For a nation from the north 8 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, 9
“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. 10
50:5 They will ask the way to Zion;
they will turn their faces toward it.
They will come 11 and bind themselves to the Lord
in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten. 12
50:6 “My people have been lost sheep.
Their shepherds 13 have allow them to go astray.
They have wandered around in the mountains.
They have roamed from one mountain and hill to another. 14
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. 15
They have sinned against the Lord in whom their ancestors 16 trusted.’ 17
50:8 “People of Judah, 18 get out of Babylon quickly!
Leave the land of Babylonia! 19
Be the first to depart! 20
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 21 from the land of the north.
They will set up their battle lines against her.
They will come from the north and capture her. 22
Their arrows will be like a skilled soldier 23
who does not return from the battle empty-handed. 24
50:10 Babylonia 25 will be plundered.
Those who plunder it will take all they want,”
says the Lord. 26
50:11 “People of Babylonia, 27 you plundered my people. 28
That made you happy and glad.
You frolic about like calves in a pasture. 29
Your joyous sounds are like the neighs of a stallion. 30
50:12 But Babylonia will be put to great shame.
The land where you were born 31 will be disgraced.
Indeed, 32 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. 33
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. 34
50:14 “Take up your battle positions all around Babylon,
all you soldiers who are armed with bows. 35
Shoot 36 all your arrows at her! Do not hold any back! 37
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. 38
Her towers 39 will fall.
Her walls will be torn down.
Because I, the Lord, am wreaking revenge, 40
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. 41
Let all the foreigners return to their own people.
Let them hurry back to their own lands
to escape destruction by that enemy army. 42
50:17 “The people of Israel are like scattered sheep
which lions have chased away.
First the king of Assyria devoured them. 43
Now last of all King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has gnawed their bones. 44
50:18 So I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, say: 45
‘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 46
on the hills of Ephraim and the land of Gilead. 47
50:20 When that time comes,
no guilt will be found in Israel.
No sin will be found in Judah. 48
For I will forgive those of them I have allowed to survive. 49
I, the Lord, affirm it!’” 50
“Attack 52 the land of Merathaim
and the people who live in Pekod! 53
Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them! 54
Do just as I have commanded you! 55
50:22 The noise of battle can be heard in the land of Babylonia. 56
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! 57
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. 58
50:25 I have opened up the place where my weapons are stored. 59
I have brought out the weapons for carrying out my wrath. 60
For I, the Lord God who rules over all, 61
have work to carry out in the land of Babylonia. 62
50:26 Come from far away and attack Babylonia! 63
Open up the places where she stores her grain!
Pile her up in ruins! 64 Destroy her completely! 65
Do not leave anyone alive! 66
50:27 Kill all her soldiers! 67
Let them be slaughtered! 68
They are doomed, 69 for their day of reckoning 70 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. 71
50:29 “Call for archers 72 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, 73
the Holy One of Israel. 74
50:30 So her young men will fall in her city squares.
All her soldiers will be destroyed at that time,”
says the Lord. 75
50:31 “Listen! I am opposed to you, you proud city,” 76
says the Lord God who rules over all. 77
“Indeed, 78 your day of reckoning 79 has come,
the time when I will punish you. 80
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.” 81
50:33 The Lord who rules over all 82 says,
“The people of Israel are oppressed.
So too are the people of Judah. 83
All those who took them captive are holding them prisoners.
They refuse to set them free.
[50:1] 1 tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.
[50:1] 2 tn Heb “The word which the
[50:2] 3 tn The verbs are masculine plural. Jeremiah is calling on other unnamed messengers to spread the news.
[50:2] 4 tn Heb “Raise a signal flag.”
[50:2] 5 sn Bel was originally the name or title applied to the Sumerian storm god. During the height of Babylon’s power it became a title that was applied to Marduk who was Babylon’s chief deity. As a title it means “Lord.” Here it is a poetical parallel reference to Marduk mentioned in the next line.
[50:2] 6 tn The Hebrew word used here (גִּלּוּלִים, gillulim) is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as “worthless things” (אַלִילִים, ’alilim), “vanities,” or “empty winds” (הֲבָלִים, havalim).
[50:2] 7 tn The verbs here are all in the tense that views the actions as though they were already done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). The verbs in the next verse are a mixture of prophetic perfects and imperfects which announce future actions.
[50:3] 8 sn A nation from the north refers to Medo-Persia which at the time of the conquest of Babylon in 539
[50:4] 9 tn Heb “oracle of the
[50:4] 10 tn 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
[50:5] 11 tc The translation here assumes that the Hebrew בֹּאוּ (bo’u; a Qal imperative masculine plural) should be read בָּאוּ (ba’u; a Qal perfect third plural). This reading is presupposed by the Greek version of Aquila, the Latin version, and the Targum (see BHS note a, which mistakenly assumes that the form must be imperfect).
[50:5] 12 sn See Jer 32:40 and the study note there for the nature of this lasting agreement.
[50:6] 13 sn The shepherds are the priests, prophets, and leaders who have led Israel into idolatry (2:8).
[50:6] 14 sn 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).
[50:7] 15 tn This same Hebrew phrase “the habitation of righteousness” is found in Jer 31:23 in relation to Jerusalem in the future as “the place where righteousness dwells.” Here, however, it refers to the same entity as “their resting place” in v. 6 and means “true pasture.” For the meaning of “pasture” for the word נָוֶה (naveh) see 2 Sam 7:8 and especially Isa 65:10 where it is parallel with “resting place” for the flocks. For the meaning of “true” for צֶדֶק (tsedeq) see BDB 841 s.v. צֶדֶק 1. For the interpretation adopted here see G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 365. The same basic interpretation is reflected in NRSV, NJPS, and God’s Word.
[50:7] 17 sn 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 idols. Whereas those who tried to devour Israel were liable for punishment when Israel was loyal to God (2:3), the enemies of Israel who destroyed them (i.e., the Babylonians [but also the Assyrians], 50:17) argue that they are not liable for punishment because the Israelites have sinned against the
[50:8] 18 tn The words “People of Judah” are not in the Hebrew text but are implicit from the context. They have been supplied in the translation to clarify the subject of the address.
[50:8] 19 tn Heb “the land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.
[50:8] 20 tn 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 in the translation for clarity.
[50:9] 21 sn Some of these are named in Jer 51:27-28.
[50:9] 22 tn Heb “She will be captured from there (i.e., from the north).”
[50:9] 23 tc Read Heb ַָמשְׂכִּיל (moskil) with a number of Hebrew
[50:9] 24 tn Or more freely, “Their arrows will be as successful at hitting their mark // as a skilled soldier always returns from battle with plunder.”
[50:10] 25 tn Heb “The land of the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.
[50:10] 26 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[50:11] 27 tn The words “People of Babylonia” are not in the text but they are implicit in the reference in the next verse to “your mother” which refers to the city and the land as the mother of its people. These words have been supplied in the translation to identify the referent of “you” and have been added for clarity.
[50:11] 28 tn Or “my land.” The word can refer to either the land (Jer 2:7, 16:8) or the nation/people (Jer 12:7, 8, 9).
[50:11] 29 tc Reading כְּעֶגְלֵי דֶשֶׁא (kÿ’egle deshe’) or כְּעֵגֶל בַּדֶּשֶׁא (kÿ’egel baddeshe’) as presupposed by the Greek and Latin versions (cf. BHS note d-d) in place of the reading in the Hebrew text כְּעֶגְלָה דָשָׁה (kÿ’eglah dashah, “like a heifer treading out the grain”) which does not fit the verb (פּוּשׁ [push] = “spring about” [BDB 807 s.v. I פּוּשׁ] or “paw the ground” [KBL 756 s.v. פּוּשׁ] and compare Mal 3:20 for usage). This variant reading is also accepted by J. Bright, J. A. Thompson, F. B. Huey, and G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers.
[50:11] 30 tn Heb “Though you rejoice, though you exult, you who have plundered my heritage, though you frolic like calves in a pasture and neigh like stallions, your mother…” The particle כִּי (ki) introduces a concessive protasis according to BDB 473 s.v. כִּי 2.c(a). Many interpret the particle as introducing the grounds for the next verse, i.e., “because…” The translation here will reflect the concessive by beginning the next verse with “But.” The long protasis has been broken up and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style.
[50:12] 31 tn Heb “Your mother will be utterly shamed, the one who gave you birth…” The word “mother” and the parallel term “the one who gave you birth” are used metaphorically for the land of Babylonia. For the figure compare the usage in Isa 50:1 (Judah) and Hos 2:2, 5 (2:4, 7 HT) and see BDB 52 s.v. אֵם 2 and 408 s.v. יָלַד Qal.2.c.
[50:12] 32 tn Heb “Behold.” For the use of this particle see the translator’s note on 1:6.
[50:13] 33 tn Heb “From [or Because of] the wrath of the
[50:13] 34 sn Compare Jer 49:17 and the study note there and see also the study notes on 18:16 and 19:8.
[50:14] 35 tn Heb “all you who draw the bow.”
[50:14] 36 tc The verb here should probably be read as a Qal imperative יְרוּ (yÿru) from יָרָה (yarah) with a few Hebrew
[50:14] 37 tn Heb “Shoot at her! Don’t save any arrows!”
[50:15] 38 tn Heb “She has given her hand.” For the idiom here involving submission/surrender see BDB 680 s.v. נָתַן Qal.1.z and compare the usage in 1 Chr 29:24; 2 Chr 30:8. For a different interpretation, however, see the rather complete discussion in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 366) who see this as a reference to making a covenant. The verb in this line and the next two lines are all Hebrew perfects and most translators and commentaries see them as past. God’s Word, however, treats them as prophetic perfects and translates them as future. This is more likely in the light of the imperatives both before and after.
[50:15] 39 tn The meaning of this word is uncertain. The definition here follows that of HALOT 91 s.v. אָשְׁיָה, which defines it on the basis of an Akkadian word and treats it as a loanword.
[50:15] 40 tn Heb “Because it is the
[50:16] 41 tn Heb “Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time.” For the meaning “kill” for the root “cut off” see BDB 503 s.v. כָּרַת Qal.1.b and compare usage in Jer 11:19. The verb is common in this nuance in the Hiphil, cf. BDB 504 s.v. כָּרַת Hiph, 2.b.
[50:16] 42 tn 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] country.” Compare a similar expression in 46:16 where the reference was to the flight of the mercenaries. Here it refers most likely to foreigners who are counseled to leave Babylon before they are caught up in the destruction. Many of the commentaries and English versions render the verbs as futures but they are more likely third person commands (jussives). Compare the clear commands in v. 8 followed by essentially the same motivation. The “sword of the oppressor,” of course, refers to death at the hands of soldiers wielding all kinds of weapons, chief of which has been a reference to the bow (v. 14).
[50:17] 43 sn The king of Assyria devoured them. This refers to the devastation wrought on northern Israel by the kings of Assyria beginning in 738
[50:17] 44 tn The verb used here only occurs this one time in the Hebrew Bible. It is a denominative from the Hebrew word for “bones” (עֶצֶם, ’etsem). BDB 1126 s.v. עֶָצַם, denom Pi, define it as “break his bones.” HALOT 822 s.v. II עָצַם Pi defines it as “gnaw on his bones.”
[50:18] 45 tn Heb “Therefore thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” The first person is again adopted because the
[50:19] 46 tn Heb “their soul [or hunger/appetite] will be satisfied.”
[50:19] 47 sn 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 were lost to the Assyrians in the period 738-722
[50:20] 48 tn Heb “In those days and at that time, oracle of the
[50:20] 49 sn Compare Jer 31:34 and 33:8.
[50:20] 50 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[50:21] 51 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[50:21] 52 sn The commands in this verse and in vv. 26-27 are directed to the armies from the north who are referred to in v. 3 as “a nation from the north” and in v. 9 as a “host of mighty nations from the land of the north.” The addressee in this section shifts from one referent to another.
[50:21] 53 sn Merathaim…Pekod. It is generally agreed that the names of these two regions were chosen for their potential for wordplay. Merathaim probably refers to a region in southern Babylon near where the Tigris and Euphrates come together before they empty into the Persian Gulf. It was known for its briny waters. In Hebrew the word would mean “double rebellion” and would stand as an epithet for the land of Babylon as a whole. Pekod refers to an Aramean people who lived on the eastern bank of the lower Tigris River. They are mentioned often in Assyrian texts and are mentioned in Ezek 23:23 as allies of Babylon. In Hebrew the word would mean “punishment.” As an epithet for the land of Babylon it would refer to the fact that Babylon was to be punished for her double rebellion against the
[50:21] 54 tn Heb “Smite down and completely destroy after them.” The word translated “kill” or “smite down” is a word of uncertain meaning and derivation. BDB 352 s.v. III חָרַב relates it to an Aramaic word meaning “attack, smite down.” KBL 329-30 s.v. II חָרַב sees it as a denominative from the word חֶרֶב (kherev, “sword”), a derivation which many modern commentaries accept and reflect in a translation “put to the sword.” KBL, however, gives “to smite down; to slaughter” which is roughly the equivalent of the meaning assigned to it in BDB. The word only occurs here and in v. 27 in the Qal and in 2 Kgs 3:23 in the Niphal where it means something like “attacked one another, fought with one another.” Many commentators question the validity of the word “after them” (אַחֲרֵיהֶם, ’akharehem) which occurs at the end of the line after “completely destroy.” The Targum reads “the last of them” (אַחֲרִיתָם, ’akharitam) which is graphically very close and accepted by some commentators. The present translation has chosen to represent “after them” by a paraphrase at the beginning “pursue them.”
[50:21] 55 tn Heb “Do according to all I have commanded you.”
[50:22] 56 tn The words “of Babylonia” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They have been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.
[50:23] 57 tn Heb “How broken and shattered is the hammer of all the earth!” The “hammer” is a metaphor for Babylon who was God’s war club to shatter the nations and destroy kingdoms just like Assyria is represented in Isa 10:5 as a rod and a war club. Some readers, however, might not pick up on the metaphor or identify the referent, so the translation has incorporated an identification of the metaphor and the referent within it. “See how” and “See what” are an attempt to capture the nuance of the Hebrew particle אֵיךְ (’ekh) which here expresses an exclamation of satisfaction in a taunt song (cf. BDB 32 s.v. אֵיךְ 2 and compare usage in Isa 14:4, 12; Jer 50:23).
[50:24] 58 tn Heb “You were found [or found out] and captured because you fought against the
[50:25] 59 tn Or “I have opened up my armory.”
[50:25] 60 tn Heb “The
[50:25] 61 tn Heb “the Lord Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of this rendering and the significance of this title see the study note on 2:19.
[50:25] 62 tn The words “of Babylonia” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They have been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent.
[50:26] 63 tn Heb “Come against her from the end.” There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of “from the end” (מִקֵּץ, miqqets). Some follow the suggestion of F. Giesebrecht in BDB 892 s.v. קָצֶה 3 and emend the text to מִקָּצֶה (miqqatseh) on the basis of the presumed parallel in Jer 51:31 which is interpreted as “on all sides,” i.e., “from every quarter/side.” However, the phrase does not mean that in Jer 51:31 but is used as it is elsewhere of “from one end to another,” i.e., in its entirety (so Gen 19:4). The only real parallel here is the use of the noun קֵץ (qets) with a suffix in Isa 37:24 referring to the remotest part, hence something like from the end (of the earth), i.e., from a far away place. The referent “her” has been clarified here to refer to Babylonia in case someone might not see the connection between v. 25d and v. 26.
[50:26] 64 tn Heb “Pile her up like heaps.” Many commentators understand the comparison to be to heaps of grain (compare usage of עֲרֵמָה (’aremah) in Hag 2:16; Neh 13:15; Ruth 3:7). However, BDB 790 s.v. עֲרֵמָה is more likely correct that this refers to heaps of ruins (compare the usage in Neh 4:2 [3:34 HT]).
[50:26] 65 sn Compare Jer 50:21 and see the study note on 25:9.
[50:26] 66 tn Heb “Do not let there be to her a remnant.” According to BDB 984 s.v. שְׁאֵרִית this refers to the last remnant of people, i.e., there won’t be any survivors. Compare the usage in Jer 11:23.
[50:27] 67 tn Heb “Kill all her young bulls.” Commentators are almost universally agreed that the reference to “young bulls” is figurative here for the princes and warriors (cf. BDB 831 s.v. פַּר 2.f, which compares Isa 34:7 and Ezek 39:18). This is virtually certain because of the reference to the time coming for them to be punished; this would scarcely fit literal bulls. For the verb rendered “kill” here see the translator’s note on v. 21.
[50:27] 68 tn Heb “Let them go down to the slaughter.”
[50:27] 69 tn Or “How terrible it will be for them”; Heb “Woe to them.” See the study note on 22:13 and compare the usage in 23:1; 48:1.
[50:27] 70 tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[50:28] 71 tn Heb “Hark! Fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of the
[50:29] 72 tn For this word see BDB 914 s.v. III רַב and compare usage in Prov 26:10 and Job 16:12 and compare the usage of the verb in Gen 49:23. Based on this evidence, it is not necessary to emend the form to רֹבִים (rovim) as many commentators contend.
[50:29] 73 tn Heb “for she has acted insolently against the
[50:29] 74 sn The Holy One of Israel is a common title for the
[50:30] 75 tn Heb “Oracle of the
[50:31] 76 tn Heb “Behold, I am against you, proud one.” The word “city” is not in the text but it is generally agreed that the word is being used as a personification of the city which had “proudly defied” the
[50:31] 77 tn Heb “oracle of the Lord Yahweh of armies.” For the rendering of this title and an explanation of its significance see the study note on 2:19.
[50:31] 78 tn The particle כִּי (ki) is probably asseverative here (so J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [NICOT], 739, n. 13, and cf. BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e for other examples). This has been a common use of this particle in the book of Jeremiah.
[50:31] 79 tn The words “of reckoning” are not in the text but are implicit from the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
[50:32] 81 tn 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 him.” The personification continues but now the stance is indirect (third person) rather than direct (second person). It is easier for the modern reader who is not accustomed to such sudden shifts if the second person is maintained. The personification of the city (or nation) as masculine is a little unusual; normally cities and nations are personified as feminine, as daughters or mothers.
[50:33] 82 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For an explanation of this title see the study note on 2:19.
[50:33] 83 tn Heb “Oppressed are the people of Israel and the people of Judah together,” i.e., both the people of Israel and Judah are oppressed. However, neither of these renderings is very poetic. The translation seeks to achieve the same meaning with better poetic expression.
