36 A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror.
36 A sword against the diviners, that they may become fools! A sword against her warriors, that they may be destroyed!
36 War to the death on her boasting pretenders, fools one and all! War to the death on her soldiers, cowards to a man!
36 A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.
36 The sword will strike her wise counselors, and they will become fools. The sword will strike her mightiest warriors, and panic will seize them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 50:36
Commentary on Jeremiah 50:33-46
(Read Jeremiah 50:33-46)
It is Israel's comfort in distress, that, though they are weak, their Redeemer is strong. This may be applied to believers, who complain of the dominion of sin and corruption, and of their own weakness and manifold infirmities. Their Redeemer is able to keep what they commit to him; and sin shall not have dominion over them. He will give them that rest which remains for the people of God. Also here is Babylon's sin, and their punishment. The sins are, idolatry and persecution. He that will not save his people in their sins, never will countenance the wickedness of his open enemies. The judgments of God for these sins will lay them waste. In the judgments denounced against prosperous Babylon, and the mercies promised to afflicted Israel, we learn to choose to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.