Introduction to Jeremiah 46–51
LIKE OTHER PROPHETIC BOOKS, Jeremiah contains a series of prophecies (or oracles) about other nations. And as with these other books,1 Jeremiah’s oracles are largely collected into one section (Jer. 46–51; cf. 25:19–26). The location of the collected oracles, however, is one of the biggest differences between the Hebrew and Greek versions of the book. In the Greek versions, the oracles against the nations come after 25:13.2 Moreover, the order of the oracles differs somewhat between the versions. The Hebrew manuscripts begin with oracles against Egypt, while the Greek begins with the oracle against Elam.
English versions of the Bible generally follow the chapter arrangements of the Hebrew Bible (the Masoretic Text). This is not necessarily the earliest order of the oracles or placement in a Jeremiah book. Scholars cannot say with certainty what was the original order or placement in the larger collection. Indeed, that question is not nearly as important as that of the collection’s contents. Possibly the prophet’s oracles against the nations circulated in more than one order from an early time in their literary history.3 In fact, most likely some of the oracles were given individually and only later assembled into a literary collection.
Scholars are divided over which institutions in ancient Israel fostered the public utterance of such prophecies and thereby helped shape their form and concerns. The two most prominent suggestions are cultic festivals, when communities gathered for worship, or councils assembled for war.4 Both settings were locations where presentations about God’s judgment or curses against evildoers would be made. Prophets and priests are naturally associated with cultic festivals as well as with the public decisions about going to war (cf. 1 Kings 22). In the case of Jeremiah 46–51, the oracles preserve almost nothing about their institutional setting(s). They sit like an appendix at the end of the book, preserving only a few clues as to their origin in the prophet’s ministry.
A handful of chronological indicators are preserved in the oracles. For example, 46:2 provides a date that prompted a prophecy against Egypt (605 B.C.), and 49:34 refers to a prophecy early in Zedekiah’s reign (597 B.C.). Thus, what has been said about the book of Jeremiah as a whole also applies to the collection of the oracles about the nations: The prophecies were gathered over a period of time and were placed together because of their common focus on other peoples. They preserve much of their oral flavor but little of the life-settings in Jeremiah’s ministry. As a published collection, they bear the marks of editing, such as brief introductory formulae and (apparently) some elaboration/updating in the final text.5
The purpose of the collection of oracles in Jeremiah 46–51 appears to be to preserve for posterity the prophet’s words about God’s judgment in the historical process. Martial language is replete throughout the oracles,6 which depict God’s wrath as operating through the warfare between neighboring states. Individually and as a collection, these oracles demonstrate the designation of Jeremiah as “a prophet to the nations” (1:5). They presuppose that God is the Lord of history and the moral Judge (and potential Deliverer) of all peoples.
These prophecies are not to be read as blueprints for international events to come in the late seventh/early sixth centuries B.C. any more than they are to be read as blueprints for the twenty-first century A.D. They do indicate elements of historical relations during Jeremiah’s day, but more fundamentally they indicate God’s resolve to judge idolatry, hubris, and cruelty through the historical process and his intention to use that same process to reveal his glory. In this regard the oracles about the nations function like the prophecies to Israel, Judah, and Jerusalem. They mediate judgment (actualized or to come) and, in some cases, indicate the possibilities of restoration and renewal.
Jeremiah’s prophecies about other nations have within them some words addressed to or about God’s people (e.g., 46:27–28; 50:4–5, 17–20; 51:5–10). Also, at the end of chapter 51 comes a prose account of instructions that Jeremiah gave to Seraiah, Baruch’s brother, when Seraiah went to Babylon on a diplomatic mission (51:59–64). Seraiah was to take a scroll with written prophecies about Babylon, tie a stone to the scroll, and then throw it in the Euphrates River as a sign that Babylon would sink like the weighted scroll.
Not only should the oracles about the nations in Jeremiah be read in conjunction with oracles about Judah and Jerusalem, but also the fate of the nations themselves cannot finally be separated from what God has in store for his covenant people. Judgment and deliverance alike belong to God. Indeed, judgment on the nations is mere preparation for the announcement of good news that will be spread among them by early Christians (see below).
The prophecies about the nations7 come in the following sequence:
About Egypt |
46:2–26 |
A word to God’s people |
46:27–28 |
About the Philistines |
47:1–7 |
About Moab |
48:1–47 |
About Ammon |
49:1–6 |
About Edom |
49:7–22 |
About Damascus |
49:23–27 |
About Kedar (Arabs) |
49:28–33 |
About Elam |
49:34–39 |
About Babylon |
50:1–51:64 |
A recent phenomenon from the Middle East may help modern readers understand the role of the oracles against neighbor states in Jeremiah 46–51. In 1990 hostilities broke out in the region when Iraq threatened and then invaded Kuwait. Eventually several Western nations were drawn into the fray in what became known as the Gulf War. The struggle between Kuwait and Iraq was carried out in more ways than through fighting or diplomatic wrangling. Both states also carried on a propaganda war by several means, including the hiring of bedouin poets who adapted classical Arabic verse on the radio to sting the opposition. The oracles or poems announced divine judgment on the enemy, and their authors used sarcasm and parody in order to belittle the opposition. The poets’ efforts became popular radio programs, and both Kuwaiti and Iraqi poets competed for acclaim as the best in concocting such oracles. “Going public” with such oracles stated a case against the opponent and set them up for the predicted fall to come.
Jeremiah’s oracles against neighbor states also adapted classical forms of Hebrew poetry used for oracles against nations since at least the time of Amos. These oracles too announce divine judgment and use sarcasm to reveal the hubris and cruelty of the opponents. They are witnesses against injustice as well as advocates of justice to be meted out by God.
One of the striking things about these oracles in Jeremiah (and in the other prophetic books) is that they are primarily concerned with God’s just judgment to come. They offer a vantage point of universal judgment on Gentiles (= nations) for such matters as their oppression of God’s people or of their more general inhumanity in conduct. It is instructive to put this emphasis beside that of the New Testament when the latter addresses the fate of the nations. The New Testament documents have two major foci in this regard. (1) The nations will be judged by God and by the risen Christ. One sees this most clearly in Jesus’ teaching, both in apocalyptic discourses (e.g., Matt. 24; Mark 13; Luke 21) and elsewhere (e.g., Matt. 25; Luke 10:1–15). The New Testament letters also reflect this conviction (e.g., 2 Peter 3:1–13; Rev. 19:11–21).
(2) The gospel of redemption through the death and resurrection of Christ is to be preached among the nations because Jew and Gentile alike are called to repent and to receive new life in Christ (e.g., Acts 3:17–26; Rom. 15:7–22; Rev. 5:9–10). In speaking about the gospel among the nations, the New Testament sometimes refers to the Old Testament promise that through Abraham’s seed “all peoples on earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:3) or that Israel is to be “a light for the Gentiles” (Isa. 49:6).8
By way of summary, the oracles against the nations in the Old Testament prophets are part of a larger biblical concern. They set up standards of judgment and express concern for justice and the need for repentance. The broader biblical concern for the salvation of the nations is predicated on their need for repentance and the gift of God’s transforming grace.
Jeremiah 46:1–49:39
1THIS IS THE WORD of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations:
2Concerning Egypt:
This is the message against the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah:
3“Prepare your shields, both large and small,
and march out for battle!
mount the steeds!
Take your positions
with helmets on!
Polish your spears,
put on your armor!
5What do I see?
They are terrified,
they are retreating,
their warriors are defeated.
They flee in haste
without looking back,
and there is terror on every side,”
declares the LORD.
6“The swift cannot flee
nor the strong escape.
In the north by the River Euphrates
they stumble and fall.
7“Who is this that rises like the Nile,
like rivers of surging waters?
8Egypt rises like the Nile,
like rivers of surging waters.
She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth;
I will destroy cities and their people.’
9Charge, O horses!
Drive furiously, O charioteers!
March on, O warriors—
men of Cush and Put who carry shields,
men of Lydia who draw the bow.
10But that day belongs to the Lord, the LORD Almighty—
a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his foes.
The sword will devour till it is satisfied,
till it has quenched its thirst with blood.
For the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will offer sacrifice
in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
11“Go up to Gilead and get balm,
O Virgin Daughter of Egypt.
But you multiply remedies in vain;
there is no healing for you.
12The nations will hear of your shame;
your cries will fill the earth.
One warrior will stumble over another;
both will fall down together.”
13This is the message the LORD spoke to Jeremiah the prophet about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to attack Egypt:
14“Announce this in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol;
proclaim it also in Memphis and Tahpanhes:
‘Take your positions and get ready,
for the sword devours those around you.’
15Why will your warriors be laid low?
They cannot stand, for the LORD will push them down.
16They will stumble repeatedly;
they will fall over each other.
They will say, ‘Get up, let us go back
to our own people and our native lands,
away from the sword of the oppressor.’
17There they will exclaim,
‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise;
he has missed his opportunity.’
18“As surely as I live,” declares the King,
whose name is the LORD Almighty,
“one will come who is like Tabor among the mountains,
like Carmel by the sea.
19Pack your belongings for exile,
you who live in Egypt,
for Memphis will be laid waste
and lie in ruins without inhabitant.
20“Egypt is a beautiful heifer,
but a gadfly is coming
against her from the north.
21The mercenaries in her ranks
are like fattened calves.
They too will turn and flee together,
they will not stand their ground,
for the day of disaster is coming upon them,
the time for them to be punished.
22Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent
as the enemy advances in force;
they will come against her with axes,
like men who cut down trees.
23They will chop down her forest,”
declares the LORD,
“dense though it be.
They are more numerous than locusts,
they cannot be counted.
24The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame,
handed over to the people of the north.”
25The LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I am about to bring punishment on Amon god of Thebes, on Pharaoh, on Egypt and her gods and her kings, and on those who rely on Pharaoh. 26I will hand them over to those who seek their lives, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his officers. Later, however, Egypt will be inhabited as in times past,” declares the LORD.
27“Do not fear, O Jacob my servant;
do not be dismayed, O Israel.
I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid.
28Do not fear, O Jacob my servant,
for I am with you,” declares the LORD.
“Though I completely destroy all the nations
among which I scatter you,
I will not completely destroy you.
I will discipline you but only with justice;
I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”
47:1This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:
2This is what the LORD says:
“See how the waters are rising in the north;
they will become an overflowing torrent.
They will overflow the land and everything in it,
the towns and those who live in them.
The people will cry out;
all who dwell in the land will wail
3at the sound of the hoofs of galloping steeds,
at the noise of enemy chariots
and the rumble of their wheels.
Fathers will not turn to help their children;
their hands will hang limp.
to destroy all the Philistines
and to cut off all survivors
who could help Tyre and Sidon.
The LORD is about to destroy the Philistines,
the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.
5Gaza will shave her head in mourning;
Ashkelon will be silenced.
O remnant on the plain,
how long will you cut yourselves?
6“‘Ah, sword of the LORD,’ you cry,
‘how long till you rest?
Return to your scabbard;
cease and be still.’
7But how can it rest
when the LORD has commanded it,
when he has ordered it
to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”
48:1Concerning Moab:
This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined.
Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured;
the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered.
2Moab will be praised no more;
in Heshbon men will plot her downfall:
‘Come, let us put an end to that nation.’
You too, O Madmen, will be silenced;
the sword will pursue you.
3Listen to the cries from Horonaim,
cries of great havoc and destruction.
4Moab will be broken;
her little ones will cry out.
5They go up the way to Luhith,
weeping bitterly as they go;
on the road down to Horonaim
anguished cries over the destruction are heard.
6Flee! Run for your lives;
become like a bush in the desert.
7Since you trust in your deeds and riches,
you too will be taken captive,
and Chemosh will go into exile,
together with his priests and officials.
8The destroyer will come against every town,
and not a town will escape.
The valley will be ruined
and the plateau destroyed,
because the LORD has spoken.
9Put salt on Moab,
for she will be laid waste;
her towns will become desolate,
with no one to live in them.
10“A curse on him who is lax in doing the LORD’s work!
A curse on him who keeps his sword from bloodshed!
11“Moab has been at rest from youth,
like wine left on its dregs,
not poured from one jar to another—
she has not gone into exile.
So she tastes as she did,
and her aroma is unchanged.
12But days are coming,”
declares the LORD,
“when I will send men who pour from jars,
and they will pour her out;
they will empty her jars
and smash her jugs.
13Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
as the house of Israel was ashamed
when they trusted in Bethel.
14“How can you say, ‘We are warriors,
men valiant in battle’?
15Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded;
her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,”
declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
16“The fall of Moab is at hand;
her calamity will come quickly.
17Mourn for her, all who live around her,
all who know her fame;
say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter,
how broken the glorious staff!’
18“Come down from your glory
and sit on the parched ground,
O inhabitants of the Daughter of Dibon,
will come up against you
and ruin your fortified cities.
19Stand by the road and watch,
you who live in Aroer.
Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping,
ask them, ‘What has happened?’
20Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.
Wail and cry out!
Announce by the Arnon
that Moab is destroyed.
21Judgment has come to the plateau—
to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath,
22to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
23to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon,
24to Kerioth and Bozrah—
to all the towns of Moab, far and near.
25Moab’s horn is cut off;
her arm is broken,”
declares the LORD.
26“Make her drunk,
for she has defied the LORD.
Let Moab wallow in her vomit;
let her be an object of ridicule.
27Was not Israel the object of your ridicule?
Was she caught among thieves,
that you shake your head in scorn
whenever you speak of her?
28Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks,
you who live in Moab.
Be like a dove that makes its nest
at the mouth of a cave.
29“We have heard of Moab’s pride—
her overweening pride and conceit,
her pride and arrogance
and the haughtiness of her heart.
30I know her insolence but it is futile,”
declares the LORD,
“and her boasts accomplish nothing.
31Therefore I wail over Moab,
for all Moab I cry out,
I moan for the men of Kir Hareseth.
32I weep for you, as Jazer weeps,
O vines of Sibmah.
Your branches spread as far as the sea;
they reached as far as the sea of Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen
on your ripened fruit and grapes.
33Joy and gladness are gone
from the orchards and fields of Moab.
I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy.
Although there are shouts,
they are not shouts of joy.
34“The sound of their cry rises
from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz,
from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah,
for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
35In Moab I will put an end
to those who make offerings on the high places
and burn incense to their gods,”
declares the LORD.
36“So my heart laments for Moab like a flute;
it laments like a flute for the men of Kir Hareseth.
The wealth they acquired is gone.
37Every head is shaved
and every beard cut off;
every hand is slashed
and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
38On all the roofs in Moab
and in the public squares
there is nothing but mourning,
for I have broken Moab
like a jar that no one wants,”
declares the LORD.
39“How shattered she is! How they wail!
How Moab turns her back in shame!
Moab has become an object of ridicule,
an object of horror to all those around her.”
40This is what the LORD says:
“Look! An eagle is swooping down,
spreading its wings over Moab.
and the strongholds taken.
In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
42Moab will be destroyed as a nation
because she defied the LORD.
43Terror and pit and snare await you,
O people of Moab,”
declares the LORD.
44“Whoever flees from the terror
will fall into a pit,
whoever climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a snare;
for I will bring upon Moab
the year of her punishment,”
declares the LORD.
45“In the shadow of Heshbon
the fugitives stand helpless,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
a blaze from the midst of Sihon;
it burns the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls of the noisy boasters.
46Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh are destroyed;
your sons are taken into exile
and your daughters into captivity.
47“Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in days to come,”
declares the LORD.
Here ends the judgment on Moab.
49:1Concerning the Ammonites:
This is what the LORD says:
“Has Israel no sons?
Has she no heirs?
Why then has Molech taken possession of Gad?
Why do his people live in its towns?
2But the days are coming,”
declares the LORD,
“when I will sound the battle cry
against Rabbah of the Ammonites;
it will become a mound of ruins,
and its surrounding villages will be set on fire.
Then Israel will drive out
those who drove her out,”
says the LORD.
3“Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is destroyed!
Cry out, O inhabitants of Rabbah!
Put on sackcloth and mourn;
rush here and there inside the walls,
for Molech will go into exile,
together with his priests and officials.
4Why do you boast of your valleys,
boast of your valleys so fruitful?
O unfaithful daughter,
you trust in your riches and say,
‘Who will attack me?’
5I will bring terror on you
from all those around you,”
declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.
“Every one of you will be driven away,
and no one will gather the fugitives.
6“Yet afterward, I will restore the fortunes of the Ammonites,”
declares the LORD.
7Concerning Edom:
This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“Is there no longer wisdom in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom decayed?
8Turn and flee, hide in deep caves,
you who live in Dedan,
for I will bring disaster on Esau
at the time I punish him.
9If grape pickers came to you,
would they not leave a few grapes?
If thieves came during the night,
would they not steal only as much as they wanted?
10But I will strip Esau bare;
I will uncover his hiding places,
so that he cannot conceal himself.
His children, relatives and neighbors will perish,
and he will be no more.
11Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives.
Your widows too can trust in me.”
12This is what the LORD says: “If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, why should you go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, but must drink it. 13I swear by myself,” declares the LORD, “that Bozrah will become a ruin and an object of horror, of reproach and of cursing; and all its towns will be in ruins forever.”
14I have heard a message from the LORD:
An envoy was sent to the nations to say,
“Assemble yourselves to attack it!
Rise up for battle!”
15“Now I will make you small among the nations,
despised among men.
16The terror you inspire
and the pride of your heart have deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocks,
who occupy the heights of the hill.
Though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s,
from there I will bring you down,”
declares the LORD.
17“Edom will become an object of horror;
all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff
because of all its wounds.
18As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown,
along with their neighboring towns,”
says the LORD,
“so no one will live there;
no man will dwell in it.
19“Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets
to a rich pastureland,
I will chase Edom from its land in an instant.
Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this?
Who is like me and who can challenge me?
And what shepherd can stand against me?”
20Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Edom,
what he has purposed against those who live in Teman:
The young of the flock will be dragged away;
he will completely destroy their pasture because of them.
21At the sound of their fall the earth will tremble;
their cry will resound to the Red Sea.
22Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down,
spreading its wings over Bozrah.
In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
23Concerning Damascus:
“Hamath and Arpad are dismayed,
for they have heard bad news.
They are disheartened,
troubled like the restless sea.
24Damascus has become feeble,
she has turned to flee
and panic has gripped her;
anguish and pain have seized her,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
25Why has the city of renown not been abandoned,
the town in which I delight?
26Surely, her young men will fall in the streets;
all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,”
declares the LORD Almighty.
27“I will set fire to the walls of Damascus;
it will consume the fortresses of Ben-Hadad.”
28Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked:
This is what the LORD says:
“Arise, and attack Kedar
and destroy the people of the East.
29Their tents and their flocks will be taken;
their shelters will be carried off
with all their goods and camels.
Men will shout to them,
‘Terror on every side!’
30“Flee quickly away!
Stay in deep caves, you who live in Hazor,”
declares the LORD.
“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has plotted against you;
he has devised a plan against you.
31“Arise and attack a nation at ease,
which lives in confidence,”
declares the LORD,
“a nation that has neither gates nor bars;
its people live alone.
32Their camels will become plunder,
and their large herds will be booty.
I will scatter to the winds those who are in distant places
and will bring disaster on them from every side,”
declares the LORD.
33“Hazor will become a haunt of jackals,
a desolate place forever.
No one will live there;
no man will dwell in it.”
34This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, early in the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah:
35This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“See, I will break the bow of Elam,
the mainstay of their might.
36I will bring against Elam the four winds
from the four quarters of the heavens;
I will scatter them to the four winds,
and there will not be a nation
where Elam’s exiles do not go.
37I will shatter Elam before their foes,
before those who seek their lives;
I will bring disaster upon them,
even my fierce anger,”
declares the LORD.
“I will pursue them with the sword
until I have made an end of them.
38I will set my throne in Elam
and destroy her king and officials,”
declares the LORD.
39“Yet I will restore the fortunes of Elam
in days to come,”
declares the LORD.
Original Meaning
46:1.9 THERE ARE two prophecies against Egypt:10 46:2–12 and 46:14–26. Only the first one is dated. The fourth year of Jehoiakim was 605 B.C., the year of the fateful battle at Carchemish (in northern Syria) between the forces of Pharaoh Neco and of Nebuchadnezzar (mentioned explicitly in 46:26). The Egyptians were routed, and Babylon began the process of claiming hegemony over the states in the eastern Mediterranean. Egyptian demise is predicted as part of the judgment in the historical process but not the end of the Egyptians themselves.
46:2–12. This oracle is directed to the army of Pharaoh Neco. In 609 B.C. Pharaoh’s army had marched from Egypt toward Syria in order to join forces with the remnants of the Assyrian army and to oppose the emerging power of Babylon. At that time Josiah had attempted to head off the Egyptian army at Megiddo and was mortally wounded in the unsuccessful effort to thwart the Egyptian advance (2 Kings 23:29–30; 2 Chron. 35:20–24).
As noted above, the date of this oracle against the Egyptian army is the fourth year of Jehoiakim (605 B.C.). Jehoiakim was the Egyptian choice among Josiah’s sons to follow his father in rule. The martial language of the oracle depicts elements of the Egyptian army preparing to fight and then fleeing in terror. Furthermore, the boastful pride of the Egyptians is described in imperialistic terms (v. 8), only to be reversed by divine judgment on a day that “belongs to the LORD” (v. 10). It is a day of vengeance to be directed against the Lord’s foes, of which Egypt is one. In fact, the language of judgment on that decisive day is described in sacrificial terms.
Egypt is also described in familial terms as “Virgin Daughter” (v. 11). She who seeks a balm in Gilead will find that there is no healing for her.
46:13–26. Verse 13 is a prose introduction to the prophecy that follows. Unlike the companion oracle in 46:2–12, this prophecy is undated. Nebuchadnezzar did not invade Egypt until 570 B.C., late in his reign, but there were periodic encounters of various kinds between Egypt and Babylon throughout Jeremiah’s lifetime. Essentially the prophecy announces that Babylon will work God’s judgment on Egypt. At a basic interpretive level, such a claim is little different from those Jeremiah directed at Judah. In both instances Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar serve as the rod of historical judgment used by the Lord.
The disastrous event is a day in the future (v. 21). For some in Egypt it will be defeat and exile. As in the previous oracle, Egypt is personified as a female (“Daughter … Egypt,” v. 24),11 who will be put to shame by a people from the north. Part of the judgment to come is directed at Amon, one of the Egyptian deities (v. 25). Judgment, however, is not the end of Egypt as a nation; it will again be inhabited (v. 26).
46:27–28. Following the oracles against Egypt is a prediction of the restoration of God’s people. Those on whom God’s judgment has fallen have been disciplined justly, but in his mercy God will not make an end of them. Correspondingly, those whom God used to discipline his people (such as the Egyptians) will suffer the fate of those whose hubris, cruelty, and idolatry have kept them from acknowledging the work of God.
47:1–7. The Philistines12 lived in some of the cities on the coast of Palestine. They had been neighbors and often enemies of Judah since the days of the judges. They were immigrants to the area, having come from some of the Aegean islands and southwestern Turkey in the twelfth century B.C.
Two Philistine cities are named here: Gaza and Ashkelon. The occasion for the oracle against the Philistines possibly comes with Nebuchadnezzar’s preparations to attack Gaza (cf. v. 2, “waters … rising in the north”). No extrabiblical records survive of a Babylonian attack on Gaza, but it is completely understandable that the Babylonians either fought against Gaza and subdued it or received the city’s surrender. Gaza was a trading center and an important point of contact between Egypt, the states immediately to the north and east (e.g., Judah, Moab), and the Arab tribes from Sinai and the fringes of sedentary existence.
The assault in question could have been perpetrated by the Egyptians between 609 B.C., when Necho moved from Egypt to north Syria and 605, when the Egyptians were defeated at Carchemish. A first reading of 47:1 refers explicitly to an attack by an unnamed Pharaoh. There are two problems with this interpretation, although neither are insurmountable: (1) The Greek version of this verse omits the reference to the Pharaoh; (2) there is no record of an Egyptian attack on Gaza or Ashkelon in the period 609 and later. According to Herodotus (Histories 2.157) the Pharaoh before Necho did attack the Philistine city of Ashdod at some point before 610 B.C. At the present state of knowledge, therefore, it is difficult to place this oracle in a specific historical context, but there are several plausible options because of frequent military actions in the region.
In form and vocabulary, the oracle against the Philistines is similar to the preceding oracles against Egypt. The Philistines will be defeated on some future day (v. 4). People will mourn for Gaza and Ashkelon. God’s historical judgment is personified through a poetic address to his sword (v. 6).
48:1–25. The Moabites13 receive an extensive address in 48:1–47 that preserves a significant knowledge of geography. Over twenty different cities (settlements) are named in the poetic indictment of Judah’s eastern neighbor. Moab occupied much of the tableland east of the Dead Sea. According to Genesis 19:30–38, a drunken Lot slept with his two daughters, and as a result they bore Moab and Ben-Ammi.14 The child named Moab is the ancestor of the Moabite people. Thus the Moabites and Israelites were distant relatives. Later, David’s family was related to the Moabites through Ruth, his great-grandmother (Ruth 4:13–22). Solomon married a Moabite princess and built for her a temple to Chemosh, the chief Moabite deity, on the hill east of the temple mount in Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:7).
The repetition of a concluding prophetic formula (“declares the LORD”) in 48:25, 30, 35, 38, 43, 44, 47 suggests that more than one prophetic announcement has been collected in Jeremiah 48. Correspondingly, Isaiah 15–16 has lengthy prophecies against Moab, from which some of this material in Jeremiah has been derived and elaborated upon.
Apart from 48:1a and the last phrase of verse 25, this long section does not have introductory or concluding formulae to break up the sequence of verses. It is possible that 48:1b–25 is a single unit of speech, offering mourning language, prediction of judgment and exile, and sarcasm in poetry, all designed to humiliate Moab.
Verse 7 mentions Chemosh. One way to refer to Moab was to call them “the people of Chemosh” (Num. 21:29). He, like his people, will suffer defeat and go into exile. In the future Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, just as Israel was ashamed when trusting Bethel (v. 13). The name “Bethel” here likely refers to a deity rather than a place. He is known from Assyrian, Babylonian, and Jewish sources.15
Some of the judgment language in this section is frightful. There are references to salt (v. 9), an agent that ruins agricultural products, and to curses (v. 10) on whoever is lax in doing the Lord’s work of execution. As with Egypt and Judah, Jeremiah uses familial language for Moab as a daughter (NIV has “Daughter of Dibon”). Her cities will be ruined, and she will wail a funeral lament. Even physical mutilation is mentioned. Moab’s “horn,” a metaphor for strength, will be cut off and her arm broken.
48:26–47. These prophecies continue the depiction of Moab’s humiliation and degradation. As with the previous oracle, the language is graphic. Moab will wallow in vomit (v. 26), cries of dereliction will be heard (vv. 34, 38), fire will scorch the country (v. 45), and the children of the nation will be taken into exile (v. 46).
So moved is the prophet by the intensity of depicting Moab’s downfall that he portrays himself in mourning (vv. 31–32). The historical agent of all this destruction is not named explicitly (see comments below). Moab will be judged because “she defied the LORD” (v. 42).
The last line of these intricate poetic prophecies is one of restoration: God “will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come” (v. 47). This is the same phrase God uses elsewhere in predicting the restoration of Israel.16
49:1–6. The oracle against the Ammonites17 is much briefer than the one against Moab. According to Genesis 19:30–38, Ben-Ammi, the ancestor of the Ammonites, was the incestuous son of Lot. The country of Ammon is located immediately north of Moab and east of the Jordan River. Ammon’s chief deity was Milcom. Solomon married an Ammonite princess and built a temple for its worship on the hill east of the temple mount in Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:7). Baalis, king of Ammon at the time of Jerusalem’s fall, plotted with Ishmael to murder Gedaliah, the Judean governor appointed by the Babylonians (Jer. 40–41).
Rabbah is the capital city of Ammon. Its remains form part of the impressive citadel at the heart of modern day Amman, Jordan. The judgment to come on Ammon is depicted as defeat and exile. No biblical or Babylonian accounts exist to document an official defeat of Ammon (or Moab), but both states fell under the control of Babylon.18
In verses 1 and 3 the NIV refers to “Molech” as having taken possession of Gad and then being sent into exile with his priests and officials. Elsewhere in Jeremiah, Molech is the name of the deity to whom child sacrifices are offered in Judah (32:35; cf. Lev. 20:2–5; 2 Kings 23:10). The NIV translators have rendered the Hebrew term malkam (lit., “their king”) in 49:1, 3 as Molech, based on the reference to Molech as the Ammonite deity in 1 Kings 11:7 (but cf. NIV note). This seemingly logical move, however, concerns a complicated matter over which considerable uncertainty remains.
As a name, Molech is a polemical hybrid because it combines the consonants of the word king (m-l-k) with the vowels from the word “shame.” Molech and Milcom have the same consonants. In comparing the biblical references to Molech, it is not clear whether Milcom is the same deity as Molech. Jeremiah also refers to the deity of child sacrifice as Baal (Jer. 19:5). In brief, the Hebrew term malkam in 49:1, 3 can be rendered “their king,” “Milcom,” or (by inference from 1 Kings 11:7) “Molech.”19
As with Moab (with whom the Ammonites are sometimes linked), the Lord promises to restore the fortunes of Ammon.20
49:7–22. Edom21 lies south of Moab in a high and remote region of Transjordan. It too will fall in judgment. Like Ammon and Moab, the Edomites are related to God’s people—in their case, through Esau (Gen. 36). Esau is mentioned explicitly in Jeremiah 49:8, 10 as a synonym for Edom. The bitterness reflected in the relationship between Jacob and Esau was reflected later in the relationship between Judah and Edom in the days of Jeremiah and into the postexilic period. According to the lamentation of Psalm 137:7, Edom gleefully celebrated the fall of Jerusalem. A main goal of the short prophetic book of Obadiah is the announcement of judgment on Edom (cf. Mal. 1:2–5). Unlike the prophecies to Moab and Ammon, Jeremiah makes no reference to Edom’s restoration.22
The polemic against Edom begins with a reference to wisdom. Those who lived east of Palestine were celebrated as wise (cf. Job 1:3). Jeremiah’s polemic against the Edomites depicts its day of judgment as the loss or failure of its wisdom. The region of Dedan (v. 8) is in the Arabian desert, but its inhabitants were linked with Edom through trade.
Bozrah (vv. 13, 22) is the capital city of Edom. Its ruins are located near the modern Jordanian village of Buseirah. Bozrah will drink the cup of wrath.23 Edom’s strongholds on mountains and in cliffs will not save them from destruction. Verse 19 depicts God as a lion coming upon Edom. His plan is to destroy them, which will come on a day that strikes fear into the heart of a warrior.
49:23–27. Damascus24 (i.e., the capital of Aramean southern Syria) is another object of prophetic judgment. Perhaps Damascus is named among the oracles because of the Aramean raids reported in 2 Kings 24:2. Damascus suffered devastating attacks from the Assyrians in the ninth and eighth centuries because it was a persistent ringleader in the region for anti-Assyrian activities. History repeated itself when Babylon took Damascus.
Hamath and Arpad, two cities in northern Syria, are named in this oracle as regional cities who will be dismayed by the bad news of judgment to fall on the area. Damascus is personified as a weak woman with pain like that which comes with labor. The reference to Ben-Hadad (v. 27) comes in an “update” of Amos’s prophecy (Amos 1:3–4) against Damascus. Hadad is a well-known Aramean deity, and the name Ben-Hadad designates a king as the adopted “son” (ben means “son”) of the deity. Several kings from Damascus had this name/title (e.g., 2 Kings 6:24).
49:28–33. Kedar25 is a region of northern Arabia; the Kedarites are mentioned in Psalm 120:5 and Isaiah 42:11. Hazor is something of a mystery since no location with that name is known in northern Arabia.26 In any case, Kedar and Hazor most likely refer to Arab tribesmen who were attacked by the Babylonians in Nebuchadnezzar’s sixth year (winter of 599 B.C.).27 The “people of the East” are associated with Kedar. They live in tents, travel using camels, and keep sheep and goats. These peoples are known in other sources as Arabs.28
49:34–39. The prophecy against Elam29 is dated early in the reign of Zedekiah. Just why Elam is singled out is a mystery. In the Greek version of the oracles, Elam comes first. Perhaps the reason Elam is cited is that it was the object of a campaign by Nebuchadnezzar. If so, only suggestive evidence survives regarding the campaign. Elam will also be restored by God. As with other matters of grace, no merit or reason is cited for this announcement.
Bridging Contexts
With proper acknowledgment of the contingent and the particular, these oracles continue to bear witness to the outworking of God’s Word and against the corporate character traits that God disdains. They are valuable for more than simply compiling a checklist to see how and when, or if, judgment befell the nations addressed. Like all announcements of judgment, these oracles get the attention of audiences and warn them; they may serve other tasks than as simple predictors of what must unalterably come to pass.
Two assumptions of the oracles can be transferred to different times and places. (1) They assume without argument that God is the Creator of the broader historical process in which the nations find themselves. This is tantamount to the claim that God is Creator of the world, since creation in the Bible is not simply about a past act but about the ongoing interaction with God and the historical process. For example, God may employ the Egyptians for purposes unknown by them, and he may work through them to accomplish future plans.
(2) The oracles assume that there are recognized standards of conduct to which any group may be held accountable. God has the right to judge the nations, his standards are just, and he may restore the nations as part of a future in which his mercy is as surprising as his judgment.
Prophecy in this mode plays the role of protest against institutional injustice. It is Egypt as a nation and Ammon as a collection of tribes who are judged by God. In some ways the oracles against nations are the most public form of theological discourse in the Old Testament because they use moral standards by which to evaluate public policies and state-sponsored activities on an international scale.
Restoration possible. The oracles against the nations in Jeremiah should be read in light of other prophetic oracles against nations and also in light of the missionary concern of the New Testament that the gospel be preached among all nations.30 Thus, one function of the Old Testament oracles is to indicate the “fallen” condition of institutional life and the need for both moral strictures and a mercy that leads to repentance and new life.
Even though the predominant note of the oracles in the Old Testament toward the nations is negative—that is, they have been weighed in the balance of divine justice and found wanting—it is crucial to note that the redeemed in John’s vision come from every tribe and tongue (Rev. 5:9–10; cf. Dan. 7:14). God’s sovereignty over the nations does not leave them without hope and fit only for retributive justice; in the good news of the New Testament (anticipated by the mysterious restoration passages in the oracles against the nations) the nations find healing for their sicknesses and spiritual strength to overcome the horrors of their inhumanity.
Contemporary Significance
PUBLIC MORALITY. Early in 1999 NATO forces made the decision to attack Yugoslavia because of charges that Serbian forces sponsored by Yugoslavia were involved in the “ethnic cleansing” of the Kosovo province where ethnic Albanians live. The Kosovo Albanians are predominantly Muslim in religion while the Serbs are predominately Orthodox Christians. The government rhetoric emanating from Washington was harsh on the Serbs and the Yugoslavian president, Slobodan Milosevic. We can debate the accuracy of the charges made by NATO or the Serbs, but the rhetoric is instructive in the ways in which standards of behavior are publicly and internationally judged.
A broad debate in the United States over the behavior of President Clinton centered around the issue of private versus public morality. The charges against the Serbs was that they had violated international standards of conduct and that their treatment of persons in their country could not be considered a private matter. To be sure, there are differences between the behavior of one public figure with citizens and that of an army against its own citizens, but the debate over moral standards and their application to public policies was similar.
Christians may differ over the degree to which they wanted President Clinton to answer for his indiscretions and over the way in which they wished to hold President Milosevic accountable in the international arena for actions taken against his own people. But Christians cannot give in to the argument that private indiscretions or internal oppressions are off-limits to broader scrutiny and evaluation. God is a moral Judge, and there are no “purely” private acts or internal policies that lack wider implications.
Christians in North America must face up to the fact that it is increasingly difficult (some would say philosophically and practically impossible) to have public discussions about the moral nature of public acts. It is difficult enough to have the discussion in the church! In broader society the pluralism is so vast that discussion is very, very difficult. The long tradition of oracles against the nations in the Old Testament are reminders, however, that God is not mocked. The wheels of justice employed by God may grind slowly and leave much unanswered from the limited vantage point of any generation, but a glance at the long histories of Egypt or Rome are solemn reminders that political power itself is no guarantee of right or continuing might.
For all of their particularity and stridency, the oracles against the nations are a good catalyst for the kind of discussions that Christians need to have about public values and their place in institutional life. The oracles put the emphasis on God, who evaluates rather than seeks an easy consensus on what the values are. Perhaps in North American society one cannot get consensus on the values, but this should not stop Christians from claiming that normative values exist and that they play an important role in the moral evaluation that history (and ultimately God) provides of nations. History, in this sense, is a penultimate method used by God to bring down the proud and the cruel.
Restoration. Mysterious affirmations come at the end of the oracles against Egypt, Moab, Ammon, and Elam, which proclaim restoration after their judgment. The good news is that God’s judgment is often in the service of a wider saving purpose. His church will be comprised of people from every nation. In heaven this joyful fact is part of a song sung by the redeemed (Rev. 5). Should this not also be a song of the church on earth?
After prayer and study, a local congregation in Texas has adopted a plan to engage in mission work in the former Soviet province of Kazakhstan. There are few churches in this large area, which is located to the south of Russia and east of the Caspian Sea. To put it bluntly, the history of the region has been bleak in recent centuries. Most of the inhabitants are nominally Muslim, but the practice of religion was not encouraged in the region when the former USSR controlled it and sought to exploit its resources. When one thinks of the grim history of this broad section of Asia, it is easy to shudder and to wonder about moral purpose and justice in history. Christians, however, are called to look past the failures and dashed hopes that inhabit the region; they are called on to acknowledge the mysteries of God’s judgment and rule, but most importantly, to believe that God’s glory is to be revealed among the nations.
Attempts to discern meaning and purpose in the fate of nations is a most difficult task. Read any of the oracles against the nations in Jeremiah and one is reminded instantly that injustice and cruelty are constant historical companions. But so are the words of grace and future hope. The Texas congregation that has committed itself to mission work in Kazakhstan is seeking to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and to be part of the work to which God has called all his people.
Jeremiah 50:1–51:64
1THIS IS THE WORD the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians:
2“Announce and proclaim among the nations,
lift up a banner and proclaim it;
keep nothing back, but say,
‘Babylon will be captured;
Bel will be put to shame,
Marduk filled with terror.
Her images will be put to shame
and her idols filled with terror.’
3A nation from the north will attack her
and lay waste her land.
No one will live in it;
both men and animals will flee away.
4“In those days, at that time,”
declares the LORD,
“the people of Israel and the people of Judah together
will go in tears to seek the LORD their God.
5They will ask the way to Zion
and turn their faces toward it.
They will come and bind themselves to the LORD
in an everlasting covenant
that will not be forgotten.
6“My people have been lost sheep;
their shepherds have led them astray
and caused them to roam on the mountains.
They wandered over mountain and hill
and forgot their own resting place.
7Whoever found them devoured them;
their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty,
for they sinned against the LORD, their true pasture,
the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’
8“Flee out of Babylon;
leave the land of the Babylonians,
and be like the goats that lead the flock.
9For I will stir up and bring against Babylon
an alliance of great nations from the land of the north.
They will take up their positions against her,
and from the north she will be captured.
Their arrows will be like skilled warriors
who do not return empty-handed.
10So Babylonia will be plundered;
all who plunder her will have their fill,”
declares the LORD.
11“Because you rejoice and are glad,
you who pillage my inheritance,
because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain
and neigh like stallions,
12your mother will be greatly ashamed;
she who gave you birth will be disgraced.
She will be the least of the nations—
a wilderness, a dry land, a desert.
13Because of the LORD’s anger she will not be inhabited
but will be completely desolate.
All who pass Babylon will be horrified and scoff
because of all her wounds.
14“Take up your positions around Babylon,
all you who draw the bow.
Shoot at her! Spare no arrows,
for she has sinned against the LORD.
15Shout against her on every side!
She surrenders, her towers fall,
her walls are torn down.
Since this is the vengeance of the LORD,
take vengeance on her;
do to her as she has done to others.
16Cut off from Babylon the sower,
and the reaper with his sickle at harvest.
Because of the sword of the oppressor
let everyone return to his own people,
let everyone flee to his own land.
17“Israel is a scattered flock
that lions have chased away.
The first to devour him
was the king of Assyria;
the last to crush his bones
was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
18Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“I will punish the king of Babylon and his land
as I punished the king of Assyria.
19But I will bring Israel back to his own pasture
and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
his appetite will be satisfied
on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20In those days, at that time,”
declares the LORD,
“search will be made for Israel’s guilt,
but there will be none,
and for the sins of Judah,
but none will be found,
for I will forgive the remnant I spare.
21“Attack the land of Merathaim
and those who live in Pekod.
Pursue, kill and completely destroy them,”
declares the LORD.
“Do everything I have commanded you.
22The noise of battle is in the land,
the noise of great destruction!
23How broken and shattered
is the hammer of the whole earth!
How desolate is Babylon
among the nations!
24I set a trap for you, O Babylon,
and you were caught before you knew it;
because you opposed the LORD.
25The LORD has opened his arsenal
and brought out the weapons of his wrath,
for the Sovereign LORD Almighty has work to do
in the land of the Babylonians.
26Come against her from afar.
Break open her granaries;
pile her up like heaps of grain.
Completely destroy her
and leave her no remnant.
27Kill all her young bulls;
let them go down to the slaughter!
Woe to them! For their day has come,
the time for them to be punished.
28Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon
declaring in Zion
how the LORD our God has taken vengeance,
vengeance for his temple.
29“Summon archers against Babylon,
all those who draw the bow.
Encamp all around her;
let no one escape.
Repay her for her deeds;
do to her as she has done.
For she has defied the LORD,
the Holy One of Israel.
30Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets;
all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,”
declares the LORD.
31“See, I am against you, O arrogant one,”
declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty,
“for your day has come,
the time for you to be punished.
32The arrogant one will stumble and fall
and no one will help her up;
I will kindle a fire in her towns
that will consume all who are around her.”
33This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“The people of Israel are oppressed,
and the people of Judah as well.
All their captors hold them fast,
refusing to let them go.
34Yet their Redeemer is strong;
the LORD Almighty is his name.
He will vigorously defend their cause
so that he may bring rest to their land,
but unrest to those who live in Babylon.
35“A sword against the Babylonians!”
declares the LORD—
“against those who live in Babylon
and against her officials and wise men!
36A sword against her false prophets!
They will become fools.
A sword against her warriors!
They will be filled with terror.
37A sword against her horses and chariots
and all the foreigners in her ranks!
They will become women.
A sword against her treasures!
They will be plundered.
38A drought on her waters!
They will dry up.
For it is a land of idols,
idols that will go mad with terror.
39“So desert creatures and hyenas will live there,
and there the owl will dwell.
It will never again be inhabited
or lived in from generation to generation.
40As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah
along with their neighboring towns,”
declares the LORD,
“so no one will live there;
no man will dwell in it.
41“Look! An army is coming from the north;
a great nation and many kings
are being stirred up from the ends of the earth.
42They are armed with bows and spears;
they are cruel and without mercy.
They sound like the roaring sea
as they ride on their horses;
they come like men in battle formation
to attack you, O Daughter of Babylon.
43The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,
and his hands hang limp.
Anguish has gripped him,
pain like that of a woman in labor.
44Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets
to a rich pastureland,
I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant.
Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this?
Who is like me and who can challenge me?
And what shepherd can stand against me?”
45Therefore, hear what the LORD has planned against Babylon,
what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians:
The young of the flock will be dragged away;
he will completely destroy their pasture because of them.
46At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble;
its cry will resound among the nations.
51:1This is what the LORD says:
“See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai.
2I will send foreigners to Babylon
to winnow her and to devastate her land;
they will oppose her on every side
in the day of her disaster.
3Let not the archer string his bow,
nor let him put on his armor.
Do not spare her young men;
completely destroy her army.
4They will fall down slain in Babylon,
fatally wounded in her streets.
5For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
by their God, the LORD Almighty,
though their land is full of guilt
before the Holy One of Israel.
6“Flee from Babylon!
Run for your lives!
Do not be destroyed because of her sins.
It is time for the LORD’s vengeance;
he will pay her what she deserves.
7Babylon was a gold cup in the LORD’s hand;
she made the whole earth drunk.
The nations drank her wine;
therefore they have now gone mad.
8Babylon will suddenly fall and be broken.
Wail over her!
Get balm for her pain;
perhaps she can be healed.
9“‘We would have healed Babylon,
but she cannot be healed;
let us leave her and each go to his own land,
for her judgment reaches to the skies,
it rises as high as the clouds.’
10“‘The LORD has vindicated us;
come, let us tell in Zion
what the LORD our God has done.’
11“Sharpen the arrows,
take up the shields!
The LORD has stirred up the kings of the Medes,
because his purpose is to destroy Babylon.
The LORD will take vengeance,
vengeance for his temple.
12Lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon!
Reinforce the guard,
station the watchmen,
prepare an ambush!
The LORD will carry out his purpose,
his decree against the people of Babylon.
13You who live by many waters
and are rich in treasures,
your end has come,
the time for you to be cut off.
14The LORD Almighty has sworn by himself:
I will surely fill you with men, as with a swarm of locusts,
and they will shout in triumph over you.
15“He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
16When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
17“Every man is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
His images are a fraud;
they have no breath in them.
18They are worthless, the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
19He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including the tribe of his inheritance—
the LORD Almighty is his name.
20“You are my war club,
my weapon for battle—
with you I shatter nations,
with you I destroy kingdoms,
21with you I shatter horse and rider,
with you I shatter chariot and driver,
22with you I shatter man and woman,
with you I shatter old man and youth,
with you I shatter young man and maiden,
23with you I shatter shepherd and flock,
with you I shatter farmer and oxen,
with you I shatter governors and officials.
24“Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the LORD.
25“I am against you, O destroying mountain,
you who destroy the whole earth,”
declares the LORD.
“I will stretch out my hand against you,
roll you off the cliffs,
and make you a burned-out mountain.
26No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone,
nor any stone for a foundation,
for you will be desolate forever,”
declares the LORD.
27“Lift up a banner in the land!
Blow the trumpet among the nations!
Prepare the nations for battle against her;
summon against her these kingdoms:
Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz.
Appoint a commander against her;
send up horses like a swarm of locusts.
28Prepare the nations for battle against her—
the kings of the Medes,
their governors and all their officials,
and all the countries they rule.
29The land trembles and writhes,
for the LORD’s purposes against Babylon stand—
to lay waste the land of Babylon
so that no one will live there.
30Babylon’s warriors have stopped fighting;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Her dwellings are set on fire;
the bars of her gates are broken.
31One courier follows another
and messenger follows messenger
to announce to the king of Babylon
that his entire city is captured,
32the river crossings seized,
the marshes set on fire,
and the soldiers terrified.”
33This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
at the time it is trampled;
the time to harvest her will soon come.”
34“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us,
he has thrown us into confusion,
he has made us an empty jar.
Like a serpent he has swallowed us
and filled his stomach with our delicacies,
and then has spewed us out.
35May the violence done to our flesh be upon Babylon,”
say the inhabitants of Zion.
“May our blood be on those who live in Babylonia,”
says Jerusalem.
36Therefore, this is what the LORD says:
“See, I will defend your cause
and avenge you;
I will dry up her sea
and make her springs dry.
37Babylon will be a heap of ruins,
a haunt of jackals,
an object of horror and scorn,
a place where no one lives.
38Her people all roar like young lions,
they growl like lion cubs.
39But while they are aroused,
I will set out a feast for them
and make them drunk,
so that they shout with laughter—
then sleep forever and not awake,”
declares the LORD.
40“I will bring them down
like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and goats.
41“How Sheshach will be captured,
the boast of the whole earth seized!
What a horror Babylon will be
among the nations!
42The sea will rise over Babylon;
its roaring waves will cover her.
43Her towns will be desolate,
a dry and desert land,
a land where no one lives,
through which no man travels.
44I will punish Bel in Babylon
and make him spew out what he has swallowed.
The nations will no longer stream to him.
And the wall of Babylon will fall.
45“Come out of her, my people!
Run for your lives!
Run from the fierce anger of the LORD.
46Do not lose heart or be afraid
when rumors are heard in the land;
one rumor comes this year, another the next,
rumors of violence in the land
and of ruler against ruler.
47For the time will surely come
when I will punish the idols of Babylon;
her whole land will be disgraced
and her slain will all lie fallen within her.
48Then heaven and earth and all that is in them
will shout for joy over Babylon,
for out of the north
destroyers will attack her,”
declares the LORD.
49“Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
just as the slain in all the earth
have fallen because of Babylon.
50You who have escaped the sword,
leave and do not linger!
Remember the LORD in a distant land,
and think on Jerusalem.”
51“We are disgraced,
for we have been insulted
and shame covers our faces,
because foreigners have entered
the holy places of the LORD’s house.”
52“But days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will punish her idols,
and throughout her land
the wounded will groan.
53Even if Babylon reaches the sky
and fortifies her lofty stronghold,
I will send destroyers against her,”
declares the LORD.
54“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
the sound of great destruction
from the land of the Babylonians.
55The LORD will destroy Babylon;
he will silence her noisy din.
Waves of enemies will rage like great waters;
the roar of their voices will resound.
56A destroyer will come against Babylon;
her warriors will be captured,
and their bows will be broken.
For the LORD is a God of retribution;
he will repay in full.
57I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep forever and not awake,”
declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
58This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“Babylon’s thick wall will be leveled
and her high gates set on fire;
the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing,
the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”
59This is the message Jeremiah gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. 60Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62Then say, ‘O LORD, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither man nor animal will live in it; it will be desolate forever.’ 63When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. 64Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will fall.’”
The words of Jeremiah end here.
Original Meaning
THESE TWO CHAPTERS are a collection of poetic oracles interspersed with brief prose units of speech. They concern Babylon and God’s just judgment on that nation for its arrogance and its oppression of others.31 They are not an original unity, but the material is brought together as testimony to the role that Babylon had played and would play in the divine economy. These chapters complete the collection of oracles about the nations begun in chapter 46.
These are not the only texts in Jeremiah to take up the topic of Babylon. Indeed, the impact of Babylon lies behind every line of the book as it now exists. In terms of historical context, the Babylonian threat has been a primary concern of Judah’s government since the defeat of Egypt at the battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C. In 597 the Babylonian army surrounded Jerusalem and received a surrender from young king Jehoiachin. There were many contacts between Judah and Babylon between 597 and the second siege and tragic destruction of Jerusalem in 588–586. Explicit references to Babylon and to Nebuchadnezzar occur in chapters 21, 24–25, 27–29, 32, 34–35, 37–44. The Babylonian defeat of Judah and the fall of Jerusalem are what shape this book.
The theme of the oracles in chapters 50–51 is the downfall of Babylon, sometimes depicted as already accomplished and sometimes represented as a future event. In this they differ from most of the other references to Babylon in Jeremiah, which assume that Babylonian supremacy has been divinely given and exercised in judgment against Judah and Jerusalem.32 The city of Babylon fell in October 539 B.C. to invaders led by Cyrus the Great.
In a remarkable turnaround, chapters 50–51 portray Babylon’s fall in language similar to that used elsewhere in Jeremiah to portray Judah’s fall to Babylon. Hostile forces will be arrayed against Babylon, and there will be no deliverance from them. Thus, some scholars have wondered how the prophet, who so assiduously announced Babylonian supremacy, could have made such a complete turnaround. Indeed, a close reading of modern commentaries shows that some authors think these oracles against Babylon come from the prophet’s editors rather than the prophet himself.33
But there is no compelling reason why Jeremiah, who announced the defeat of Judah at the hands of Babylon, could not also have announced the defeat of tyrant Babylon. The two claims are not inconsistent with each other, and there is no objection on the basis of the content of the chapters to assigning the oracles a place in Jeremiah’s own lifetime. As noted above, they probably did originate over a period of time—probably they were put together by the prophet’s editors—but the theology that undergirds the oracles is vintage Jeremiah. God used Babylon to judge Judah. But Babylon had exercised its role with extreme arrogance and cruelty and had done so in mocking defiance of Jeremiah’s claim that it served the Lord, the God of Israel.
Chapter 50 intersperses the doom oracles against Babylon with briefer affirmations of Judah’s deliverance (e.g., 50:4–5). The prophecy to strike Babylon is part of the Lord’s plan and purpose (51:45). Even as Judah ultimately will be delivered, a foe from the north will wreak havoc on Babylon (50:3, 41). This is a classic reversal motif—previously Jeremiah had spoken of the foe from the north who would threaten Judah (1:13–14; 5:15–17; 6:22). The sword will flash against Babylon (50:35–37) and all her inhabitants.34 Babylon, which was a tool in the hands of the Lord, exercised an arrogance that provoked him to judgment (50:14–15, 29–31).
One of the ways in which the judgment is depicted is sarcasm. Babylon is lampooned as a rebellious city (Merathaim, 50:21) and as punishment (Pekod, 50:21). Both names are puns on aspects of Babylonian geography or tribesmen.35 Another way is the symbolism of battle forces arrayed against the city (50:14, 35). Babylon will be destroyed because of idolatry (50:2).
50:1–10. The fall of Babylon is to be proclaimed among the nations. Perhaps this is because Babylon had subjugated a number of them, and there will be rejoicing in more than one corner of the former empire. Another reason perhaps is the public declaration of the Lord’s sovereignty by announcing the fact in public and in advance.
As in the prophecies in the book of the covenant (chs. 30–31), remnants from Israel and Judah will seek the Lord and a way back to Zion. They are currently like lost sheep, but they will return to their true Shepherd, “the hope of their fathers.” The prophet urges them to flee out of Babylon (cf. 51:6). This is not contradictory to the advice given in 29:4–9, that the exiles should build houses in Babylon and pray for the welfare of the city. That same chapter indicated a coming time when God will restore his people. The defeat of Babylon will indicate that restoration is on the horizon.
50:11–17. Babylon’s joy in pillaging Judah (God’s “inheritance”) will be turned to great shame. Babylon is personified here as the mother of the Babylonian people. Portraying cities as female persons is common in the Old Testament, but this imagery will be taken up in the New Testament, where Babylon is portrayed as a great prostitute (Rev. 17–18).
50:18–32. Imperialistic Babylon is compared to Assyria, the earlier conqueror of Israel and much of the Near East. As with Assyria, so with Babylon—God will judge the oppressor. Twice the language of judgment against Babylon uses the verb ḥrm (“to devote to ritual destruction”).36 Vengeance on God’s part is another motive for judgment (v. 28; cf. 51:11).
50:33–46. God is strong, not just as Judge of iniquity, but as the Redeemer of his people. Verse 34 celebrates God as the One who vindicates his people’s cause.37
The overthrow of Babylon is compared to that of Sodom and Gomorrah. Again the prophet uses the language of military attack and siege to describe the coming fall of Babylon. Verse 44 alludes to either a people or an individual who will do God’s bidding and take Babylon. Possibly this refers to the Medes and Persians or even to Cyrus himself (cf. Isa. 45:1), but one cannot be sure. As Jeremiah 50:9; 51:27–28 indicate, God has summoned several groups against Babylon. These claims elaborate on the theme that a foe from the north will attack Babylon.
51:1–23. Chapter 51 continues the contrast between the coming deliverance of Judean exiles and the judgment to befall Babylon. Much of the imagery of judgment on Babylon and redemption for Israel is repeated from or similar to that in chapter 50. One of the poetic symbols Jeremiah uses is that of the “cup,” a vessel that indicates the future when its contents are consumed. In 51:7 Babylon itself is depicted as a cup from which Judah and the nations drank, but now it is ready to be smashed.38
Verses 15–19 celebrate the creative power and wisdom of God. The sentiments expressed here are similar to those in chapter 10, where again the character of the true God is set in the context of the foolishness and idolatry of the nations. In contrast to human idol-makers, God is “the Maker of all things.”
51:24–58. These verses portray four of Babylon’s neighbors as threats.39 The Medes are mentioned twice (51:11, 28). They were a people to the north and east of Babylon who were incorporated into the Persian state created by Cyrus the Great. Ararat, Minni, and the Ashkenaz (51:27–28) were also peoples from the north and northeast of Babylon. Along with the Medes and the Persians, they may reflect collectively the “foe from the north” who will strike Babylon.
In 51:34–40 personified Jerusalem speaks, and the Lord replies that judgment will come on Babylon. In this context she (Jerusalem) speaks of the torment she has received from Babylon. Her first-person speech is similar to that found in the book of Lamentations.
The gods of Babylon are also judged in the fall of the city. Specifically mentioned is Bel (v. 44; cf. Isa. 46:1–2). The imagery of judgment against Babylon alludes to the tower of Babylon (Babel) in Genesis 11:1–9. God will send destroyers against Babylon, even if the city reaches the sky (Jer. 51:53).
51:59–64. The chapter concludes with a prose account of Seraiah, brother of Baruch, who traveled to Babylon in Zedekiah’s fourth year (594/593). Apparently he was sent to Babylon on diplomatic business; Seraiah was from a family of scribes and was capable of writing and interpreting documents.40 While in Babylon he performed a symbolic act to depict the judgment that would ultimately befall Babylon. Just as the written scroll sank when Seraiah threw it into the river, so will Babylon sink and rise no more.
The last line of the chapter states that “the words of Jeremiah end here.” Readers do well to recall the way in which Jeremiah’s work began. He was called to be a prophet to the nations. The literary arrangement of his words concludes with an extended prophecy against Babylon, the great imperial power of the day. But note how Jeremiah’s words in collected form have lasted much longer than the great political and military foe of his day.
Bridging Contexts
JUDGING THE OPPRESSOR. Chapters 50–51 deal with God’s judgment on Babylon, a judgment that came on the city in 539 B.C., when Cyrus the Great and his forces occupied the city and put the Babylonian Empire out of business. The influence of this word of judgment continued as the prophetic texts bore witness to the contrast between the ongoing life of the Judean exiles and the continuing decline of the once-proud city. Ultimately the city itself would be abandoned, giving additional confirmation of the prophetic depiction of its demise. Thus, at one level, chapters 50–51 are not only about announcing God’s judgment but also serve as witness to the truthfulness of the claim that God has judged the oppressor in the historical process. Modern application of these sentiments may begin by asking: Which current political entities offend the justice and moral order of God, and which afflict God’s people who live among them?
Babylon as a symbol. Chapters 50–51 also serve as reminders that Jeremiah represented a dual theme with regard to Babylon. According to chapter 25, already in the time of Jehoiakim, when Babylon first loomed on the horizon as political master, the prophet announced not only that Babylon would be the agent of God’s judgment but that it would also be the recipient of God’s judgment. Thus, on another level, these chapters are part of that broader scriptural teaching concerning the ubiquity of sin and of fallen human nature. Babylon becomes a symbol—that is, both a historical illustration and a reminder—of the self-destructive consequences of arrogance, pride in wealth, oppression, and idolatry. They are destructive because they offend the moral order created by God and because they are ruinous to public, institutional life.
One will find additional confirmation of this in the book of Daniel, where Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon are one example of a type of oppressive government that arises periodically. Both Jeremiah and Daniel affirm that God has granted all of them historical supremacy for a time, yet they are—and their type always will be—subject to his judgment for their failures. Nahum similarly affirms God’s judgment on Assyria as a great judicial act that frees Judah and others from the oppressive yoke of the tyrant.
Babylon, the evil and arrogant female, is a scriptural symbol that lives on in the inspired imagination of John, prophetic seer of the book of Revelation (Rev. 17–18). He uses the imagery of Babylon as a prostitute, oppressing the world over and drunk with the blood of the saints, as a means to describe the lethal power of imperial Rome. Here is an example of earlier biblical texts being interpreted and reapplied. The older prophetic word lives on in a new key, as again the greatest political and military power of the era persecutes God’s people. Furthermore, John’s apocalyptic depiction points Christians toward the future. Before the current age runs its course, there may be other arrogant powers that seek to dominate their neighbors. Readers are invited to see a pattern at work in the ebb and flow of the broad historical process.
Contemporary Significance
MORAL RESPONSIBILITY. GOD’S judgment of Babylon is but a past act unless it is put in the broader contexts of God’s historical purposes and the continuing validity of belief in a moral order through which he holds nations and institutions responsible for their actions. It is important to note that God’s judgment is not simply a righteous reaction to arrogance and oppression; at the same time it is also zeal to defend his own. Notice how many times the deliverance of Israel and Judah is mentioned in these two chapters. Judgment comes in the historical process not only from God, the righteous Judge, but from God the zealous Defender of his people. This is a confession of faith that Christians are called to make in spite of the “messiness” and ambiguity of history.
Forms of deliverance. It is a sad fact that at the beginning of the twenty-first century Christians are being persecuted for their faith in several places around the world. When members of the church universal pray for the safety and deliverance of persecuted brothers and sisters, they do well to remember what forms deliverance takes in the historical process. Deliverance and freedom for God’s people may well come through difficult and violent historical circumstances.
It is sobering to think of the military and political struggles in the last few years and their effects. The year 1989 brought the collapse of the Berlin Wall. December of that same year saw the Romanian dictator felled. The so-called “Gulf War” in 1991 may have prevented a wider conflagration from breaking out.
In 1999 there was much debate in the Western world about ways to react to the lethal and oppressive policies of Slobodan Milosevic, president of Yugoslavia and the architect of a brutal campaign by Serbians against the largely Muslim province of Kosovo. A primary debating point concerned the legitimacy of Western intervention in what seemed to be internal strife. One may debate the various reasons why Western forces ultimately began an air campaign against the Serbian forces, but one of them was the belief that universal standards of justice and decency had been violated by the Serbian aggression. Some persons argued, correctly it seems, that similar patterns of horrific ethnic persecution had happened recently in Rwanda between Hutu and Tutsi tribes, but no one had taken any action. It is this sense of a moral standard to which all can be held that partially underlies the claims of Jeremiah 50–51.
In pondering the judgments of history, perhaps no region is more strife-ridden and more difficult to understand than the Middle East. While Israelis and Arabs debate and fight—which they seem to do at the same time—there is the ongoing exodus of Arab Christians from the region. Understandably, Christians in other parts of the world lament the fact that brothers and sisters from the land of the Messiah are fleeing in such numbers that if current projections continue, in fifty years virtually all churches in Israel and Jordan will be museums.
Yes, the fleeing of Arab Christians is a tragedy. It may also be one of the ways in which God saves his people from a more terrible historical fate looming on the horizon. Hindsight often improves judgment, even for the church. Christians may find much about judgment in Jeremiah 50–51, but it is the hidden work of God to which we should also be drawn.
In all these questions about the judgment of oppressing nations, the Christian church finds itself caught up in debates about morality and the just exercise of force. These debates are good when they remind Christians that God is not mocked and that no nation or ethnic group will have the final say on Judgment Day. They can mislead if they allow people to think that it is only the “other side” that is wrong and sinful in God’s assessment.
No group comes out unscathed in the book of Jeremiah. There is plenty of folly and failure to go around, whether in Judah or in Babylon. God’s promise to rescue his people comes not because they are morally perfect, but because of the grace of his promise to them. His standards of judgment are a stark reminder of how much grace is needed for the rescue of the saints in any generation.