Jeremiah 51:39-42

51:39 When their appetites are all stirred up, ¹ 

I will set out a banquet for them.

I will make them drunk

so that they will pass out, ² 

they will fall asleep forever,

they will never wake up,” ³ 

says the Lord. ⁴ 

51:40 “I will lead them off to be slaughtered

like lambs, rams, and male goats.” ⁵ 

51:41 “See how Babylon ⁶  has been captured!

See how the pride of the whole earth has been taken!

See what an object of horror

Babylon has become among the nations! ⁷ 

51:42 The sea has swept over Babylon.

She has been covered by a multitude ⁸  of its waves. ⁹ 

[51:39]  ¹ tn Heb “When they are hot.”

[51:39]  ² tc The translation follows the suggestion of KBL 707 s.v. עָלַז and a number of modern commentaries (e.g., Bright, J. A. Thompson, and W. L. Holladay) in reading יְעֻלְּפוּ (ye’ullÿfu) for יַעֲלֹזוּ (ya’alozu) in the sense of “swoon away” or “grow faint” (see KBL 710 s.v. עָלַף Pual). That appears to be the verb that the LXX (the Greek version) was reading when they translated καρωθῶσιν (karwqwsin, “they will be stupefied”). For parallel usage KBL cites Isa 51:20. This fits the context much better than “they will exult” in the Hebrew text.

[51:39]  ³ sn The central figure here is the figure of the cup of the Lord’s wrath (cf. 25:15-29, especially v. 26). Here the Babylonians have been made to drink so deeply of it that they fall into a drunken sleep from which they will never wake up (i.e., they die, death being compared to sleep [cf. Ps 13:3 (13:4 HT); 76:5 (76:6 HT); 90:5]). Compare the usage in Jer 51:57 for this same figure.

[51:39]  ⁴ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[51:40]  ⁵ tn Heb “I will bring them down like lambs to be slaughtered, like rams and he goats.”

[51:41]  ⁶ sn Heb “Sheshach.” For an explanation of the usage of this name for Babylon see the study note on Jer 25:26 and that on 51:1 for a similar phenomenon. Babylon is here called “the pride of the whole earth” because it was renowned for its size, its fortifications, and its beautiful buildings.

[51:41]  ⁷ tn Heb “How Sheshach has been captured, the pride of the whole earth has been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!” For the usage of “How” here see the translator’s note on 50:23.

[51:42]  ⁸ tn For the meaning “multitude” here rather than “tumult” see BDB 242 s.v. הָמוֹן 3.c, where reference is made that this refers to a great throng of people under the figure of an overwhelming mass of waves. The word is used of a multitude of soldiers, or a vast army in 1 Sam 14:16; 1 Kgs 20:13, 18 (cf. BDB 242 s.v. הָמוֹן 3.a for further references).

[51:42]  ⁹ tn Heb “The sea has risen up over Babylon. She has been covered by the multitude of its waves.”