JER 50

Jeremiah 50:26

WEB

Come against her from the farthest border. Open her storehouses. Cast her up as heaps. Destroy her utterly. Let nothing of her be left.

BSB

Come against her from the farthest border. Break open her granaries; pile her up like mounds of grain. Devote her to destruction; leave her no survivors.

KJV

Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left.

Matthew Henry

Verses 21–32

Jeremiah 50:21–32

Here, 1. The forces are mustered and commissioned to destroy Babylon, and every thing is got ready for a descent upon that potent kingdom: Go up against that land by Merathaim, the country of the Mardi, that lay part in Assyria and part in Armenia; and go among the inhabitants of Pekod, another country (mentioned Eze 23:23) which Cyrus took in his way to Babylon. The forces of Cyrus are called to go up against Babylon (Jer 50:21), to come against her from the utmost border. Let all come together, for there will be both work and pay enough for them all, Jer 50:26. Distance of place must not be their hindrance from engaging in this work. The archers particularly must be called together against Babylon, Jer 50:29. Thus the Lord hath opened his armoury (Jer 50:25), his treasury (so the word is), and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation, as great princes fetch out of their magazines and stores all necessary provisions for their armies when they undertake any great expedition. Media and Persia are now God's armoury; thence he fetches the weapons of his wrath, Cyrus and his great officers and armies, whom he will make use of for the destruction of Babylon. Note, Great men are but instruments which the great God makes use of to serve his own purposes. He has variety of instruments, has them at command, has armouries ready to be opened according as the occasion is. This is the work of the Lord God of hosts. Note, When God has work to do he will make it appear that he is God of hosts, and will not want instruments to do it with. 2. Instructions are given them what to do. In general, Do according to all that I have commanded thee, Jer 50:21. It was said of Cyrus (Isa 44:28), He shall perform all my pleasure, in his expedition against Babylon. They must waste and utterly destroy after them; when they have destroyed once they must go over them again, or destroy their posterity that should come after them. They must open her store-houses (Jer 50:26), rifle her treasures, and turn her artillery against herself. They must cast her up as heaps; let all the wealth and pomp of Babylon be shovelled up in a heap of ruins and rubbish. Tread her down as heaps (so the margin reads it) and destroy her utterly. See how little account the great God makes of those things which men so much value and value themselves so much upon. Their princes and great men, who are fat and bulky, shall fall by the sword, not as men of war in the field of battle, which we call a bed of honour, but as beasts by the butcher's hand (Jer 50:27): Slay all her bullocks, all her mighty men; let them go down sottishly and insensibly, as an ox to the slaughter. Woe unto them! their case is the more sad for the little sense they have of it. Their day has come to fall, the time when they must be reckoned with, and they are not aware of it. 3. Assurances are given them of success. Let them do what God commands, and they shall accomplish what he threatens. A great destruction shall be made, Jer 50:22. Babylon shall become a desolation (Jer 50:23); her young men and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day which should have been her defence, Jer 50:30. God is against her (Jer 50:31); he has laid a snare for her (Jer 50:24); he has formed this enterprise against her, that she should be surprised as a bird taken in a snare. Cyrus shall no doubt prevail, for he fights under God. God will kindle a fire in the cities of Babylon (Jer 50:32); and who can stand before him when he is angry, or quench the fire that he has kindled? 4. Reasons are given for these severe dealings with Babylon. Those that are employed in this war may, if they please, know the grounds of it, and be satisfied in the justice of it, which it is fit all should be that are called to such work. (1.) Babylon has been very troublesome, vexatious, and injurious, to all its neighbours; it has been the hammer of the whole earth (Jer 50:23), beating, beating down, and beating to pieces, all the nations far and near. It has done so long enough; it is time now that it be cut asunder and broken. Note, He that is the god of nations will sooner or later assert the injured rights of nations against those that unjustly and violently invade them. The God of the whole earth will break the hammer of the whole earth. (2.) Babylon has bidden defiance to God himself: Thou has striven against the Lord (Jer 50:24), hast joined issue with him (so the word signifies) as in law or battle, hast openly opposed him, set up rivals with him, raised rebellion against him; therefore thou art now found, and caught, as in a snare. Note, Those that strive against the Lord will soon find themselves over-matched. (3.) Babylon ruined Jerusalem, the holy city, and the holy house there, and must now be called to an account for that. This is the manifesto published in Zion, in the day of Babylon's visitation; it is the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple, Jer 50:28. The burning of the temple, and the carrying away of its vessels, were articles in the charge against Babylon on which greater stress was laid than upon its being the hammer of the whole earth; for Zion was the joy and glory of the whole earth. Note, Whatever wrong is done to God's church (his temple in the world) it will certainly be reckoned for; and no vengeance will be sorer nor heavier than the vengeance of the temple. (4.) Babylon has been very haughty and insolent, and therefore must have a fall; for it is the glory of God to look upon those that are proud and to abase them, Job 40:12. I am against thee, O thou most proud! Jer 50:31 and again Jer 50:32. Thou pride (so the word is), as proud as pride itself. Note, the pride of men's hearts sets God against them and ripens them apace for ruin; for God resists the proud and will bring them down. The most proud shall stumble and fall; they shall fall not so much by others' thrusting them down as by their own stumbling; for they hold their heads so high that they never look under their feet, to choose their way and avoid stumbling-blocks, but walk at all adventures. Babylon's pride must unavoidably be her ruin; for she has been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel (Jer 50:29), has insulted him in insulting over his people; she has made him her enemy, and therefore, when she has fallen, none shall raise her up, Jer 50:32. Who can help those up whom God will throw down?

Cross-references: Ezek 23:23 · Jer 50:21 · Jer 50:26 · Jer 50:29 · Jer 50:25 · Isa 44:28 · Jer 50:27 · Jer 50:22 · Jer 50:23 · Jer 50:30 · Jer 50:31 · Jer 50:24 · Jer 50:32 · Jer 50:28 · Job 40:12

Hebrew interlinear

לָ֤הּlahprep + suffix · pronominal · 3rd · fem · sing
לָ֖הּlahprep + suffix · pronominal · 3rd · fem · sing

H935

בּוֹאbôwʼ/bo/

v — go, come

Derivation: a primitive root;

to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)

KJV: abide, apply, attain, × be, befall, besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, × certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, × doubtless again, eat, employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, have, × indeed, (in-) vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, × (well) stricken (in age), × surely, take (in), way.

בּוֹא

vb — come in

בּוֹא 2569 vb. come in, come, go in, go

Qal

1. come in

2. come (approach, arrive)

3. go, i.e. walk, associate with

4. go from speaker, but with limit of motion given

Hiph.

1. cause to come in, bring in (conduct, lead, obj. persons and animals)

2. cause to come, bring, bring near, etc. (animate obj.)

Hoph.

a. be brought in (of pers. and things)

b. be brought

c. be introduced, put

H7093

קֵץqêts/kates/

n-m — extremity, after

Derivation: contracted from 7112;

an extremity; adverbially (with prepositional prefix) after

KJV: after, (utmost) border, end, (in-) finite, × process.

קֵץ

n.m — end

קֵץ 68 n.m. end

1. end, usu. of time, esp. in phr. מִקֵּץ at the end of a definite time

2. end, in space

H6605

פָּתַחpâthach/paw-thakh'/

v — open wide, loosen, begin, plough, carve

Derivation: a primitive root;

to open wide (literally or figuratively); specifically, to loosen, begin, plough, carve

KJV: appear, break forth, draw (out), let go free, (en-) grave(-n), loose (self), (be, be set) open(-ing), put off, ungird, unstop, have vent.

פָּתַח

vb — open

פָּתַח vb. open

Qal open sack

Niph. be opened

Pi. be opened

1. free, i.e. ungird, camels

2. loosen (and remove) sack-cloth

3. open gates, doors

Hithp. loosen thee the fetters of thy neck

פָּתַח

vb — engrave

[פָּתַח] vb. Pi. engrave

Pu. stones engraved with the engravings of a signet.

H3965

מַאֲבוּסmaʼăbûwç/mah-ab-ooce'/

n-m — granary

Derivation: from 75;

a granary

KJV: storehouse.

מַאֲבוּס

n.[m.] — granary

[מַאֲבוּס] n.[m.] granary (= place of fodder)

H5549

סָלַלçâlal/saw-lal'/

v — mound, exalt, oppose

Derivation: a primitive root;

to mound up (especially a turnpike); figurative, to exalt; reflexively, to oppose (as by a dam)

KJV: cast up, exalt (self), extol, make plain, raise up.

סָלַל

vb — lift up

[סָלַל] vb. lift up, cast up

Qal

1. cast up a highway

2. cast up a way

3. lift up

Pilp. exalt her (i.e. Wisdom)

Hithp. exalt oneself

H3644

כְּמוֹkᵉmôw/kem-o'/

prt — as, thus, so

Derivation: or כָּמוֹ; a form of the prefix k, but used separately [compare 3651];

as, thus, so

KJV: according to, (such) as (it were, well as), in comparison of, like (as, to, unto), thus, when, worth.

כְּמוֹ

adv — like

כְּמוֹ adv. and conj. like, as, when (lit. the like of what (viz.) …, a pleon. form of כְּ (v. מוֹ), and, like it, prop. a subst.)

H6194

עָרֵםʻârêm/aw-rame'/

n-f — heap, sheaf

Derivation: (Jeremiah 50:26) or (feminine) עֲרֵמָה; from 6192;

a heap; specifically, a sheaf

KJV: heap (of corn), sheaf.

עֲרֵמָה

n.f — heap

עֲרֵמָה n.f. heap

H2763

חָרַםchâram/khaw-ram'/

v — seclude, devote to religious uses, be blunt as to the nose

Derivation: a primitive root;

to seclude; specifically (by a ban) to devote to religious uses (especially destruction); physical and reflexive, to be blunt as to the nose

KJV: make accursed, consecrate, (utterly) destroy, devote, forfeit, have a flat nose, utterly (slay, make away).

חָרַם

vb — ban

[חָרַם] vb. Hiph. ban, devote, exterminate

Hiph. ban, devote

Hoph.

1. be put under the ban, devoted (to death)

2. devoted, i.e. forfeited, to the temple treasures

חָרַם

vb — slit

[חָרַם] vb. slit (nose, lip, ear, etc.), mutilate esp. face—Qal Lv 21:18 (H)

H408

אַלʼal/al/

adv — not, nothing

Derivation: a negative particle (akin to 3808);

not (the qualified negation, used as a deprecative); once (Job 24:25) as a noun, nothing

KJV: nay, neither, + never, no, nor, not, nothing (worth), rather than.

אַל

adv. of negation — not

אַל adv. of negation, denying however, not objectively as a fact, but subjectively as a wish, expressing therefore a deprecation or prohibition

H1961

הָיָהhâyâh/haw-yaw/

v — exist, be, become, come to pass

Derivation: a primitive root (compare 1933);

to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)

KJV: beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.

הָיָה

vb — fall out

הָיָה 3570 vb. fall out, come to pass, become, be

Qal

I.

1.

a. Fall out, happen

b. occur, take place, come about, come to pass

2. esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass

a.

(1). וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)

(2). rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה

b. less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)

II. Come into being, become

1.

a. abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come

b. sq. prep.

2. become

a. sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)

b. sq. pred. adj.

c. become like

d. sq. pred. לְ pers.

e. sq. לְ pred.

f. oft. c. לְ pred. לְ pers.

g. with עַל and לְ

h. sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of

III. Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming)

1. exist, be in existence

2. abide, remain, continue

3. with word of locality, be in or at a place, be situated, stand, lie

4. as copula, joining subj. & pred.

5. periphrastic conjug.

Niph.

1. either be done, be brought about, or occur, come to pass

2. be done, finished, gone

H7611

שְׁאֵרִיתshᵉʼêrîyth/sheh-ay-reeth'/

n-f — remainder

Derivation: from 7604;

a remainder or residual (surviving, final) portion

KJV: that had escaped, be left, posterity, remain(-der), remnant, residue, rest.

שְׁאֵרִית

n.f — rest

שְׁאֵרִית n.f. rest, residue, remnant, remainder

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