An assembly of great nations from the north country:
And they shall set themselves in array against her;
From thence she shall be taken :

Their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man;

None shall return in vain.

And Chaldea shall be a spoil:

All that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.
Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced,

O ye destroyers of mine heritage,

Because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass,
And bellow as bulls;

Your mother shall be sore confounded;

She that bare you shall be ashamed:

Behold, the hindermost of the nations

Shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

an assembly of great nations] the Medo-Persian Empire. See the names of individual nations who helped to compose it in li. 27, 28.

expert man] This is much better than the reading in the Eng. margin, viz. destroyer. In the Heb. the two differ by the position of a dot.

none shall return] Arrows do not in any case return, as does e.g. a sword. Therefore we may not on the analogy of the expression contained in 2 Sam. i. 22 understand none of the arrows, but rather of the warriors.

11. This verse is probably to be connected with the preceding, and thus gives the reason why Chaldaea is to be spoiled. We should therefore make ver. 12 begin a new sentence, and not form part of this one, as in the Eng. Vers. If on the other hand we retain the punctuation adopted in our Vers., we had best render not Because but Although. The verbs in the Heb. are in the fem. sing., but have been altered to the plural through a failure to perceive that the former might be used of the nation. In the English however we must keep the plural on account of the word 'destroyers.'

destroyers] plunderers.

are grown fat] leap.

at grass] better, threshing. The command not to muzzle the mouth of the ox that trode out the corn (Deut. xxv. 4) would bring about special playfulness on the part of the animals thus unusually well fed. bellow as bulls] neigh as steeds. For the last word see note on viii. 16.

12. confounded] ashamed, a word closely akin to that used twice in

ver. 2.

shall be ashamed] shall blush.

the hindermost of the nations shall be...] rather, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a desert, and a waste. Babylon,

10

12

JEREMIAH

21

13

14

15

16

Because of the wrath of the LORD it shall not be inha-
bited,

But it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by
Babylon shall be astonished,

And hiss at all her plagues.

Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about:

All

ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: For she hath sinned against the LORD.

Shout against her round about:

She hath given her hand :

Her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: For it is the vengeance of the LORD: take vengeance upon her;

As she hath done, do unto her.

Cut off the sower from Babylon,

which was as Amalek of old (Numb. xxiv. 20) "the first of the nations,” shall now take the lowest place.

13.

For the language of this verse see chaps xviii, 16, xix. 8, xlix. 17, with notes.

14. Babylon's enemies are called upon to begin the siege, and that the picture may be the more graphic, the archers in particular are addressed.

15. Shout] Raise the battle cry.

she hath given her hand] This expression denotes to make an agree ment, bargain, and hence to submit oneself. Its application is illustrated by the following passages: Gen. xxiv. 2, xlvii. 29; 2 Kings x. 15; 1 Chron. xxix. 24 (margin); 2 Chron. xxx. 8 (margin); Ezra x. 19; Lam. v. 6. Compare the Latin phrase manus dare.

foundations] rather, supports, battlements, that on which the city rests her strength: so the Septuagint.

her walls are thrown down] This was not done by Cyrus, who entered the city beneath the walls by the river bed, after diverting the stream. It therefore points on to the later capture of Babylon by Darius, who "having become master of the place, destroyed the wall, and tore down all the gates; for Cyrus had done neither the one nor the other when he took Babylon." Herod. Bk. iii. 159 (Rawl.). See however Rawlinson's note, shewing that breaches in the wall are all that can have been here meant.

it is the vengeance of the Lord] because Babylon has afflicted His people.

16. Cut off the sower from Babylon] As the word used is Babylon, not Chaldaea, it has been thought that the reference is to the large spaces which we know were reserved within the city for agricultural and pastoral purposes in case of siege. It is better however to take Babylon (as probably in ver. 8 above) to be equivalent to Babylonia,

And him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest; For fear of the oppressing sword

They shall turn every one to his people,

And they shall flee every one to his own land.

17- 20.

While punishment is decreed for Babylon, Restoration and Forgiveness shall be the Lot of Israel.

Israel is a scattered sheep;

The lions have driven him away:

First the king of Assyria hath devoured him;

And last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

17

Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of 13
Israel;

Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land,
As I have punished the king of Assyria.

And I will bring Israel again to his habitation,

whose fertility is thus described by Herod. Bk. i. 193 (Rawl.), "in grain it is so fruitful as to yield commonly two hundred-fold, and when the production is the greatest, even three hundred-fold." As Cyrus was careful to spare the country about Babylon, this feature of the attack may also point to a subsequent siege (see ver. 15).

sickle] better than the marginal scythe, as a small instrument' is meant, such as was used for cutting grapes (Joel iii. 13). they shall turn...] taken from Is. xiii. 14. The members of different conquered nations, whom Nebuchadnezzar had brought together to servitude in Babylon, shall be freed.

17-20. WHILE PUNISHMENT IS DECREED FOR BABYLON, RestoraTION AND FORGIVENESS SHALL BE THE LOT OF ISRAEL.

17. The people of God are like a stray sheep, driven hither and thither and preyed upon by savage beasts.

the lions] lions.

first the king of Assyria hath devoured him] the first (lion) devoured him, (even) the king of Assyria.

and last...bones] and this one, the last, hath... (even) Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. The people, thoroughly weakened by the wars with Assyria, and by the captivity of the Ten Tribes, have afterwards had the feeble remnant of their strength crushed at the hands of Babylon. Assyria was a mighty Empire, but it has already paid the penalty for its cruelty towards the people of God. Such too shall be the fate of Babylon.

19. habitation] pasture-ground. This, while an equally accurate rendering of the Heb., accords better with the figure of speech found in

19

20

21

22

23

And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan,

And his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and
Gilead.

In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD,

The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall
be none;

And the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found:
For I will pardon them whom I reserve.

21-32. Babylon, both city and country, is hopelessly doomed.

Go up against the land of Merethaim, even against it,
And against the inhabitants of Pekod :

Waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD,
And do according to all that I have commanded thee.
A sound of battle is in the land,

And of great destruction.

How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken!

the remainder of the verse. The parts of the land which follow are chosen as those which were most productive.

20. In those days and in that time] the formula for introducing a prophecy which has to do with the times of the Messiah. Compare note on chap. xxiii. 5. Thus we see that the return of the people from Babylon is to be itself typical of the great and glorious period to follow for the Church of God.

whom I reserve] literally, whom I cause to remain, the remnant, who come forth at the end out of the long tribulation.

21-32. BABYLON, BOTH CITY AND COUNTRY, IS HOPELESSLY

DOOMED.

21. Merethaim... Pekod] Modern investigations have ascertained the existence of the latter name as that of a place in Babylonia ; it is therefore at least possible that the former may also have existed. Whether however Jeremiah intended to play upon the names of actually existent places or not, he doubtless meant to emphasize the senses of these two names, viz. double rebellion...punishment. The former, which has the Heb. termination of the dual number, is formed on the analogy of such words as Mizraim, Aram-Naharaim, etc., and double seems not to have reference to any two distinct acts of rebellion, but rather to mean intense, that which exceeds the rebellion of other nations. Compare ver. 31. See also note on xvii. 18.

waste] better, slay, as the context in ver. 27 shews that the same verb is there to be rendered.

23.

the hammer] For the figure itself compare xxiii. 29. The title,

How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!

I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O 24

Babylon,

And thou wast not aware:

Thou art found, and also caught,

Because thou hast striven against the LORD.

The LORD hath opened his armoury,

And hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation:

For this is the work of the Lord GOD of hosts

In the land of the Chaldeans.

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.

25

26

Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: 27

here given to Babylon, has been applied in other times to individuals, to Judas Maccabaeus (Heb. Makkâbh=a hammer, though this derivation for the name is but dubious), for his victories over Syria, to Charles Martel (French), who was grandfather of Charles the Great, and conquered the Saracens in a decisive battle at Tours in 732 A. D., and to Edward I. of England, on whose tomb at Westminster Abbey are inscribed the words "Scotorum Malleus."

24. I have laid a snare for thee] If this refer to the capture by Cyrus, see note on ver. 15 above for the manner in which it was effected. Whether however it applies to that occasion, or to Darius's later capture by Zopyrus's stratagem, the following words "thou wast not aware" will have equal point, as Herodotus speaks in each case of the amazement of the inhabitants (Bk. i. 191, iii. 158).

25. armoury] literally, store-house.

the weapons of his indignation] used also in Is. xiii. 5 of the nations who unconsciously discharge God's bidding in war.

for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts] for the Lord, the Lord of hosts, hath a work.

26. from the utmost border] The Heb. is 'from the end,' which may mean either as in Eng. Vers., or, all from every quarter, every one from first to last.

store-houses] quite a different word from that so rendered in ver. 25, and meaning granaries.

cast her up as heaps] pile up the treasures of grain which are contained in her and consume them in the midst of her.

27. Slay] See note on ver. 21.

her bullocks] her choice youths, the flower of her army. For the expression 'go down to the slaughter' compare xlviii. 15, and for 'the time of their visitation' xlvi. 21.