16 Cut off H3772 the sower H2232 from Babylon, H894 and him that handleth H8610 the sickle H4038 in the time H6256 of harvest: H7105 for fear H6440 of the oppressing H3238 sword H2719 they shall turn H6437 every one H376 to his people, H5971 and they shall flee H5127 every one H376 to his own land. H776
And it shall be as the chased H5080 roe, H6643 and as a sheep H6629 that no man taketh up: H6908 they shall every man H376 turn H6437 to his own people, H5971 and flee H5127 every one H376 into his own land. H776
He made many H7235 to fall, H3782 yea, one H376 fell H5307 upon another: H7453 and they said, H559 Arise, H6965 and let us go again H7725 to our own people, H5971 and to the land H776 of our nativity, H4138 from H6440 the oppressing H3238 sword. H2719
Be ye ashamed, H3001 O ye husbandmen; H406 howl, H3213 O ye vinedressers, H3755 for the wheat H2406 and for the barley; H8184 because the harvest H7105 of the field H7704 is perished. H6
Therefore the LORD, H3068 the God H430 of hosts, H6635 the Lord, H136 saith H559 thus; Wailing H4553 shall be in all streets; H7339 and they shall say H559 in all the highways, H2351 Alas! H1930 alas! H1930 and they shall call H7121 the husbandman H406 to mourning, H60 and such as are skilful H3045 of lamentation H5092 to wailing. H4553
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 50
Commentary on Jeremiah 50 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 50
In this chapter, and that which follows, we have the judgment of Babylon, which is put last of Jeremiah's prophecies against the Gentiles because it was last accomplished; and when the cup of God's fury went round (ch. 25:17) the king of Sheshach, Babylon, drank last. Babylon was employed as the rod in God's hand for the chastising of all the other nations, and now at length that rod shall be thrown into the fire. The destruction of Babylon by Cyrus was foretold, long before it came to its height, by Isaiah, and now again, when it has come to its height, by Jeremiah; for, though at this time he saw that kingdom flourishing "like a green bay-tree,' yet at the same time he foresaw it withered and cut down. And as Isaiah's prophecies of the destruction of Babylon and the deliverance of Israel out of it seem designed to typify the evangelical triumphs of all believers over the powers of darkness, and the great salvation wrought out by our Lord Jesus Christ, so Jeremiah's prophecies of the same events seem designed to point at the apocalyptic triumphs of the gospel church in the latter days over the New-Testament Babylon, many passages in the Revelation being borrowed hence. The kingdom of Babylon being much larger and stronger than any of the kingdoms here prophesied against, its fall was the more considerable in itself; and, it having been more oppressive to the people of God than any of the other, the prophet is very copious upon this subject, for the comfort of the captives; and what was foretold in general often before (ch. 25:12 and 27:7) is here more particularly described, and with a great deal of prophetic heat as well as light. The terrible judgments God had in store for Babylon, and the glorious blessings he had in store for his people that were captives there, are intermixed and counterchanged in the prophecy of this chapter; for Babylon was destroyed to make way for the turning again of the captivity of God's people. Here is,
And these being set the one against the other, it is easy to say which one would choose to take one's lot with, the persecuting Babylonians, who, though now in pomp, are reserved for so great a ruin, or the persecuted Israelites, who, though now in thraldom, are reserved for so great a glory.
Jer 50:1-8
Jer 50:9-20
God is here by his prophet, as afterwards in his providence, proceeding in his controversy with Babylon. Observe,
Jer 50:21-32
Here,
Jer 50:33-46
We have in these verses,