Ver. 1. Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst,] scil., Of the land of Chaldea, in the royal seat and centre of that great monarchy. A destroying wind.] Blasting and boisterous. See Jeremiah 4:11,12. Ventum pestilentem. -Vulg, υβριστας.— Septuag.
Ver. 2. And I will send unto Babylon farmers.] Who shall make as clean work as they once did in Judea, disperse her inhabitants, and dissipate her riches.
Ver. 3. Against him that bendeth.] Periphrasis Babylonii, omnibus gentibus infesti.
Ver. 4. Thus the slain shall fall.] Both within the walls a nd without, των φονων ουτ αριθμος ουθ ορος, there shall be neither measure nor end of manslaughter, as Plutarch saith of Rome in Sulla’s time.
Ver. 5. For Israel hath not been forsaken.] Heb., Widowed. Though their land was filled with sin.] Heb., Guilt, or delinquency, or devastation. The Scripture hath been fully made good to us of this nation, while the fulness of sin in us hath not yet abated the fulness of grace in God toward us. See those four gracious yets, Zechariah 1:17. [See Trapp on “Zec 1:17”]
Ver. 6. Flee out of the midst of Babylon.] See Jeremiah 1 8. So, in the Hew Testament, we are called upon to flee and avoid the corruptions of the world and of Antichrist. (1 John 2:7,8 Ephesians 5:6 Revelation 14:3-5 18:4) For this is a time, &c.] As Jeremiah 50:15,25,27,28 46:10.
Ver. 7. Babylon hath been a golden cup.] See Jeremiah 25:15 Re 17:4. In the Lord’s hand,] i.e., Oeconomia et dispensatione eius: He had the mixing and distributing of it.
Ver. 8. Babylon is suddenly fallen.] Jeremiah 50:2. So ruet alto a culmine Roma So Rome will be destroyed from its highest heights. (Revelation 14:8 18:2,10) If so be she may be healed,] q.d., Try you may, but it is to no purpose. See Jeremiah 46:11.
Ver. 9. We would have healed Babylon.] Say the foreign nations that came to help her, or the people of God, say others, that were kept captive by her, as Daniel and the rest. But she is not healed.] Or, She could not be healed. See Hosea 7:1. For her judgment reacheth unto heaven.] It coelo clamor, proportionable to her sin. (Revelation 18:5) Vox electorum. -Oecolamp.
Ver. 10. The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness,] i.e., Our just cause, and the righteousness of our religion, derided by the Babylonians.
Ver. 11. Make bright the arrows,] q.d., Do so, O Chaldeans, if ye think it will boot you anything at all for the shoring up of your tottering state, whereas the Lord is resolved to bring it down.
Ver. 12. Set up the standard.] An irony all along, as Jeremiah 51:11. Hortatio ironica. -Piscator.
Ver. 13. O thou that dwellest upon many waters.] Euphrates and Tigris especially, famous rivers running from Babylonia into the Persian Sea. Hence most geographers hold, and not improbably, that that land was a part of the garden of Eden; fruitful it was beyond credulity. Thine end is come, and the measure (Heb., the cubit) of thy covetousness.] Cuius avaritiae totus non sufficit orbis. The covetous cormorant’s mouth, with his Give, give, shall shortly be stopped with a spadeful of mould, and his “never enough” quit with fire enough in the bottom of hell.
Ver. 14. Surely I will fill thee with men as with caterpillers.] So they shall seem both for multitude and humming noise, barritu militari. They shall lift up a shout against thee.] As peasants did at their harvest home. See Jeremiah 48:33.
Ver. 15. He hath made the earth by his power.] And can therefore easily and quickly unmake this great monarchy. See Jeremiah 10:12. [See Trapp on “Jer 10:12”]
Ver. 16. When he uttereth his voice, &c.] See Jeremiah 10:13.
Ver. 17. Every man is brutish.] See Jeremiah 10:14.
Ver. 18. They are vanity.] See Jeremiah 10:15.
Ver. 19. The portion of Jacob, &c.] See Jeremiah 10:16.
Ver. 20. Thou art my battle axe, and weapon of war.] Cestra fuisti mihi, Thou hast been my pole axe, such as horsemen use to batter their enemies’ helmets and other harness.
Ver. 21. And with thee.] O Babylonian king. Will I break in pieces.] Or rather, Have I broken in pieces. And hence thy perdition.
Ver. 22. With thee also will I break (or, By thee have I broken) in pieces man and woman.] But especially my people of the Jews, whom I more valued than all the men and women in the world besides.
Ver. 23. The shepherd and his flock, the husbandman and his yoke, &c.] This particular enumeration is very emphatic. [so Jeremiah 50:35,37,38]