Jeremiah 51:23

51:1-58 The particulars of this prophecy are dispersed and interwoven, and the same things left and returned to again. Babylon is abundant in treasures, yet neither her waters nor her wealth shall secure her. Destruction comes when they did not think of it. Wherever we are, in the greatest depths, at the greatest distances, we are to remember the Lord our God; and in the times of the greatest fears and hopes, it is most needful to remember the Lord. The feeling excited by Babylon's fall is the same with the New Testament Babylon, Re 18:9,19. The ruin of all who support idolatry, infidelity, and superstition, is needful for the revival of true godliness; and the threatening prophecies of Scripture yield comfort in this view. The great seat of antichristian tyranny, idolatry, and superstition, the persecutor of true Christians, is as certainly doomed to destruction as ancient Babylon. Then will vast multitudes mourn for sin, and seek the Lord. Then will the lost sheep of the house of Israel be brought back to the fold of the good Shepherd, and stray no more. And the exact fulfilment of these ancient prophecies encourages us to faith in all the promises and prophecies of the sacred Scriptures.

And I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock,.... Or, have broken; which Abarbinel thinks respects the Arabians particularly, who were shepherds, and dwelt in tents; but it rather signifies shepherds and their flocks in general; who were killed or scattered wherever his armies came, which spared none, even the most innocent and useful, and though unarmed: and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; with which he ploughed his ground: signifying by this, as well as the former, that those were not spared, by which kingdoms were supported and maintained, as shepherds and husbandmen: and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers; by whom kingdoms and states are governed and protected.

Verse 23. - Captains ; rather, governors. It is the Hebraized form ( pekhah ) of the official name of an Assyrian or Babylonian governor ( pahhat ) . Rulers ; rather, viceroys ; Hebrew, segamin (plural). The singular, sagan , is Hebraized from the Assyrian sakun , Babylonian sagun. Jeremiah 51:23

23 . governors [mg. lieutenants ] and deputies ] Cp. Jeremiah 51:28; Jeremiah 51:57 ; also Ezekiel 23:6 ; Ezekiel 23:12-23 . The names in the original are not Heb. but Assyrian, and are often found in inscriptions in that language. The former is applied to Tattenai ( Ezra 5:6 ), Nehemiah ( Nehemiah 5:14 ), and Zerubbabel ( Haggai 1:1 ).

(23) With thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. —The exhausting of all sorts and conditions of men culminates in the ruling caste. The Hebrew word for “captain” ( Pekha ) is interesting as connected with the Arabic, with which we are now familiar in the form Pacha (Fürst, Lex. ) .

The omnipotence of the Lord and Creator of the whole world will destroy the idols of Babylon, and break the mighty kingdom that rules the world. Jeremiah 51:15 . "He who made the earth by His strength, establishing the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding; Jeremiah 51:16 . When, thundering, He makes a roaring sound of water in the heavens, He causes clouds to ascend from the end of the earth, makes lightnings for the rain, and brings forth the wind out of His treasures. Jeremiah 51:17 . Every man without knowledge is brutish; every goldsmith is ashamed because of the image: for his molten work is a lie, and there is no spirit in them. Jeremiah 51:18 . They are vanity, a work of mockery; in their time of visitation they perish. Jeremiah 51:19 . The Portion of Jacob is not like these; for He is the framer of all, and of the tribe of his inheritance: Jahveh of hosts is His name. Jeremiah 51:20 . Thou art a hammer to me, weapons of war; and with thee I will break nations in pieces, and with thee destroy kingdoms. Jeremiah 51:21 . And with thee I will break in pieces the horse and his rider, and with thee I will break in pieces the chariot and its rider. Jeremiah 51:22 . And with thee I will break in pieces man and woman, and with thee I will break in pieces old and young, and with thee I will break in pieces young man and maiden. Jeremiah 51:23 .

And with thee I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock, and with thee I will break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke [of oxen], and with thee I will break in pieces governors and deputy-governors. Jeremiah 51:24 . And I will recompense to Babylon, and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea, all their evil which they have done in Zion before your eyes, saith Jahveh. Jeremiah 51:25 . Behold, I am against thee, O mountain of destruction, saith Jahve, that destroyed all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand against thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and make thee a burnt mountain, Jeremiah 51:26 . So that they shall not take from thee a stone for a corner, or a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolations for ever, saith Jahveh." In order to establish, against all doubt, the fall of Babylon that has been announced under solemn oath, Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 51:15-19. repeats a passage from the address in Jeremiah 10:12-16, in which he holds up before the people, by way of warning, the almighty power of the living God, and the destruction of the idols at the time of the judgment.