33 Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Oppressed are the sons of Israel, And the sons of Judah together, And all their captors have kept hold on them, They have refused to send them away. 34 Their Redeemer 'is' strong, Jehovah of Hosts 'is' His name, He doth thoroughly plead their cause, So as to cause the land to rest, And He hath given trouble to the inhabitants of Babylon. 35 A sword 'is' for the Chaldeans, An affirmation of Jehovah, And it 'is' on the inhabitants of Babylon, And on her heads, and on her wise men; 36 A sword 'is' on the princes, And they have become foolish; A sword 'is' on her mighty ones, And they have been broken down; 37 A sword 'is' on his horses and on his chariot, And on all the rabble who 'are' in her midst, And they have become women; A sword 'is' on her treasuries, And they have been spoiled; 38 A sword 'is' on her waters, and they have been dried up, For it 'is' a land of graven images, And in idols they do boast themselves. 39 Therefore dwell do Ziim with Iim, Yea, dwelt in her have daughters of the ostrich, And it is not inhabited any more for ever, Nor dwelt in unto all generations. 40 As overthrown by God with Sodom, And with Gomorrah, and with its neighbours, An affirmation of Jehovah, none doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man. 41 Lo, a people hath come from the north, Even a great nation, And many kings are stirred up from the sides of the earth. 42 Bow and halbert they seize, Cruel 'are' they, and they have no mercy, Their voice as a sea soundeth, and on horses they ride, Set in array as a man for battle, Against thee, O daughter of Babylon. 43 Heard hath the king of Babylon their report, And feeble have been his hands, Distress hath seized him; pain as a travailing woman. 44 Lo, as a lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause them to run from off her. And who is chosen? on her I lay a charge, For who 'is' like Me? And who doth convene Me? And who 'is' this shepherd who standeth before Me? 45 Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He counselled concerning Babylon, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the land of the Chaldeans; Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Doth He not make desolate over them the habitation? 46 From the voice: Captured was Babylon, Hath the earth been shaken, And a cry among nations hath been heard!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 50:33-46
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.