Глава 50

1–16. Prophecy about Babylon. Jeremiah 50:1–46. Babylon and her gods will fall (1–3), and Israel and Judah will gain freedom at this time (4–5). – These are the two main thoughts of the prophecy of the L and LI chapters. Developing them, the prophet says that previously the chosen people suffered a lot from enemies for their apostasy from Jehovah, but now they will leave Chaldea, which in turn will be completely devastated for its joy, which it showed in destroying the Jewish state. Israel will again settle in its land and will live, pure from sins, in communion with Jehovah, while Babylon is threatened by a terrible invasion of hostile hordes and the sword will destroy all the Chaldeans (6-46). Jeremiah 50:1. The word that the Lord spoke about Babylon and about the land of the Chaldeans through Jeremiah the prophet: "Through Jeremiah the Prophet". This inscription is explained by the fact that this prophecy was not pronounced by Jeremiah personally, but was sent to Babylon with Seraiah (Jeremiah 51.59). Jer.50:2. proclaim and proclaim among the nations, and raise a banner, declare, do not hide, say: “Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is crushed, her images are put to shame, her idols are crushed.” Banner signal for notification of important news. – “Bel” is the highest god of the Babylonians (cf. Is 46.1). – “Merodach” – in Assyrian. Marduk is the same as Vil. Jer.50:3. For from the north a people has risen up against him, who will make his land desolate, and no one will live there, from man to beast, they will all move and leave. “From the north... people” - see also Jeremiah 51.27. Jer.50:4. In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the sons of Israel will come, they and the sons of Judah together, and they will walk and weep, and they will seek the Lord their God. Wed. Jer 3:18, 21, 31:8. Tears testify to Israel's true repentance. Jer.50:6. My people were like lost sheep; their shepherds led them astray and scattered them into the mountains; They wandered from mountain to hill and forgot their bed. Wed. Jer 10:21, 23ff. The mountains in which the Jews were lost like sheep are the great alien kingdoms from which the Jews sought help. Jer.50:7. All who found them devoured them, and their oppressors said: “We are not to blame, for they have sinned before the Lord, before the habitation of righteousness, and before the Lord, the hope of their fathers.” Wed. Jer 2.3. Foreign peoples took advantage of the fact that the Jews had forgotten their God and, as a result, were left without protection. – “The Habitation of Righteousness” in Jeremiah 31.23 is called Jerusalem, and here is Jehovah Himself, so named as the true Refuge, where the chosen people could find safety for themselves. Jehovah is also called “the hope of the fathers” - cf. Jer 14:8, 17:13. Jer.50:8. Flee from the midst of Babylon, and leave the land of the Chaldeans, and be like goats before a flock of sheep. The captive Jews should be the first to leave Babylon, like goats going before the flock, and others will follow (v. 16). Jer.50:9. For behold, I will raise up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north, and they will set themselves against it, and it will be taken; Their arrows, like those of a skilled warrior, do not return in vain. The arrows of enemies are compared to good warriors who do not return without completing the task they have undertaken (“from a skilled warrior” - more correctly: like a skilled warrior). Jeremiah 50:12. Your mother will be in great shame; she who gave birth to you will blush; This is the future of those peoples - desert, dry land and steppe. "Your mother" is your country, Chaldea. Jeremiah 50:15. Raise a cry against him on all sides; he offered his hand; its strongholds fell, its walls were broken down, for this is the retribution of the Lord; take revenge on him; as he did, so do you do to him. “He gave his hand” - as a sign of surrender. Perhaps they had previously held some sign of surrender in their hand. Jeremiah 50:16. Destroy in Babylon both he who sows and he who uses the sickle in the harvest; out of fear of the destructive sword, let everyone return to his people, and let everyone flee to his own land. There were fertile fields inside the walls of Babylon. – Regarding the foreigners who lived in Babylon, see Isaiah 13.14. Jer.50:21. Go to it, to the outrageous land, and punish its inhabitants; devastate and destroy everything behind them, says the Lord, and do everything that I have commanded you. An appeal to the conqueror who must take Babylon. – “Outrageous” – in Hebrew. Meratajim double indignation, delivered here according to Heb. duality number strengthens the thought, cf. Court. 15.16; Ps 67.18. – “Punish its inhabitants” – more precisely from the Hebrew: “and punish the inhabitants (of the country)” (pekod). This is the name of Chaldea, as a special opponent of Jehovah and as having deserved punishment from God for this opposition. - “Everything is behind them”, - more precisely: “their last remnant.” Jeremiah 50:25. The Lord opened His storehouse and took from it the vessels of His wrath, because the Lord God of hosts has business in the land of the Chaldeans. “Vessels of His wrath” – His weapons, cf. Isa 13.5. Jer.50:27. Kill all her oxen, let them go to slaughter; woe to them! for their day has come, the time of their visitation. Oxen are strong, young Chaldeans, cf. Jer 48.15. Jer.50:28. The voice of those fleeing and escaping from the land of Babylon is heard to proclaim in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for His church. That the Temple of Jerusalem would be destroyed by the Chaldeans, this was known to Jeremiah for a long time. Jer.50:31. Behold, I am against you, O pride, says the Lord God of hosts; for your day has come, the time of your visitation. "Pride" is the new name for Babylon Jer.50:36. the sword against the charmers, and they will go mad; a sword against his soldiers, and they will be afraid; The charmers are the false prophets of Babylon, astrologers (cf. Isa 44.25). “They will go mad,” that is, they will turn out to be fools who do not understand anything. Jer.50:38. drought will come upon its waters, and they will dry up; for this is the land of idols, and they will go mad because of the idolatrous monsters. “They will go mad” is better: they boast about their monsters (gods). This is the cause of God's wrath. Jer.50:39. And steppe animals with jackals will settle there, and ostriches will live on it, and it will not be inhabited forever and not inhabited for generations. Wed. Isa 13.20–22 and Isa 34.14. Jer.50:41. Behold, a people is coming from the north, and a great nation, and many kings are rising up from the ends of the earth; Jer.50:42. holding a bow and a spear in their hands; they are cruel and unmerciful; their voice is noisy like the sea; rushing on horses, arrayed as one man to fight with you, daughter of Babylon. Jer.50:43. The king of Babylon heard the news about them, and his hands dropped; grief overtook him, torment, like a woman in childbirth. Jer.50:44. Behold, he ascends like a lion from the heights of the Jordan to the fortified dwellings; but I will make them leave it hastily, and whoever is chosen will entrust it to him. For who is like Me? and who will demand an answer from Me? And what shepherd will resist Me? Jer.50:45. Hear therefore the decree of the Lord which He has decreed concerning Babylon, and His intentions which He has concerning the land of the Chaldeans: verily, the least of the flocks shall carry them away; verily he will lay waste their habitations with them. Jer.50:46. At the sound of the taking of Babylon the earth will shake, and a cry will be heard among the nations. Jer 49.19–21 is repeated here with some modifications. You might be interested in: