1God's judgments upon Babylon, for her unmercifulness and pride shall be irresistible. 12All her sorceries will not avail her.
1COME1 down, and 2sita in the dust, 3O virgin 4daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: 5there is no throne, 6O daughter of the Chaldeans: for 7thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
1 Namely, from your royal seat; as if he said: Your royal state, your pomp, your glory shall soon be taken away from you.
2 Or, set thyself in the dust, as they are wont to do who mourn and grieve for some great evil or mischief which has befallen them. See Job 2:8, 13.
a Isa. 26:5.
3 Thus the prophet calls the kingdom of the Babylonians, which then flourished exceedingly, and while hitherto it had not been conquered by any enemies, of which it was exceeding proud, being a type of the Babel of the New Testament or of the kingdom of antichrist.
4 That is, ye people of Babel. See 2 Kings 19 on verse 21.
5 Or, where is no seat, namely, no royal seat or throne.
6 That is, Babylon, which is inhabited by the Chaldeans.
7 The meaning is: Your pleasure, wantonness and excess shall soon be at an end, and be turned into a miserable condition. Hebr. thou shalt not add, that they shall call thee.
28Take the millstones, and grind meal: 9uncover thy locks, make bare 10the leg, 11uncover the thigh, 12pass over the rivers.
8 That is, put the hand to the hand-mill. With these words the Lord threatens and foretells the Babylonians that they would be bondmen and bondwomen unto the Persians, being compelled to do the hard labor of grinding corn with hand-mills. See Exod. 11:5; Judges 16:21.
9 Namely, as women used to do, who, as a sign of grief tore the hair of their head and let it hang down over the face. Or, make bare thine hair, namely, as bondwomen do.
10 Or, the ankles. The slaves, servants and maids were used to go on barefoot.
11 That is, tuck up yourselves high.
12 Namely, the rivers of Persia; a threat that they would be carried away captive.
3Thyb13nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: 14I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee 15as a man.
b Isa. 3:17; Nahum 3:5.
13 Or, shame. Hebr. nakedness.
14 That is, I, the Lord, will execute vengeance upon thee, thou daughter of Babel, because thou hast been so unmerciful towards My people, verse 6.
15 But as God. The meaning is: I will show My power upon thee, so that thou shalt utterly perish and be destroyed. Or, I will assault thee, not as a man, but as a lion or bear, or some other cruel devouring creature; so that from the greatness or grievousness of the punishments, which I shall bring upon you, it may easily be gathered that it is more than a human strength which conquers and subdues you.
4As for 16our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.
16 Or, Our redeemer’s name is LORD of hosts, etc.
517Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for 18thou shalt no more be called, The 19lady of kingdoms.
17 Hide yourself, as desolate men, who can expect help and comfort nowhere. Or, be put in oblivion, as a thing of no value.
18 This has been fulfilled when Cyrus brought the Babylonian monarchy unto the Persians.
19 Or, queen, regent, sovereign, princess, supreme commander or governess. See the annotation at Jer. 13 on verse 18.
6¶I was wroth with my people, 20I have polluted 21mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; 22upon the ancient 23hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.
20 I permitted them to be destroyed and wasted, counting them no otherwise than profane, polluted or an unhallowed thing, giving them over unto profane nations.
21 That is, My people of Israel.
22 The elderly people were wont sometimes to be pitied and spared by their very enemies themselves, but this mercy was not to be found with the Babylonians.
23 That is, thou hast grievously afflicted and oppressed them, and dealt cruelly with them.
7¶And 24thou saidst, I shall be a 25ladyc for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, 26neither didst remember the latter end of it.
24 Namely, in your heart, that is, you thought, as verse 10.
25 See verse 5.
c Rev. 18:7.
26 Namely, what the end would be, after I would have chastised My people in My just judgment. Hebr. of the last.
8Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, 27that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, 28I am, and none else beside me; 29I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I 30know the loss of children:
27 See the annotation at Prov. 1 on verse 33.
28 Or, I am he, and is there anymore besides me? or, I am he, yea I alone.
29 That is, I shall not be bereaved of the king, who is as mine husband, nor of my citizens or subjects, which are as my children. The meaning is: I shall always continue in the royal dignity, it shall be never taken away from me.
30 Or, experience.
9But thesed two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their 31perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and 32for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
d Isa. 51:19.
31 Hebr. in or according to their perfection.
32 Or, by reason of the multitude of thy enchantments.
10¶For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. 33Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath 34perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.
33 That is, your sorcery and astrology, whereon the Chaldeans relied themselves greatly, as if it had been the greatest wisdom. See Dan. 2:2; 5:7.
34 Namely, from the right way, from doing anything that is good.
11¶Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know 35from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; 36thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.
35 That is, its origin, rise, beginning. Thus he derides the Babylonians who gave heed to the course of heaven, that is, to the rising and setting of the stars, to prognosticate something from it.
36 That is, out of which you shall not know how to rid and rescue and to deliver yourself. Or, thou shalt not be able to mitigate it.
12Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, 37wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; 38if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
37 Other, wherewith or with which thou hast wearied thyself, etc.
38 This is spoken in a mocking way to discover the vain hope of the Babylonians.
13Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the 39astrologers, the stargazers, 40the monthly prognosticators,e stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.
39 Making men believe, that by looking on the stars, they are able to foretell things to come.
40 Or, prognosticate monthly or according to the months. Hebr. give to understand.
e forecasters
14Behold, 41they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver 42themselves 43from the power 44of the flame: 45there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.
41 Hebr. they were; signifying the certainty of this prophecy.
42 Hebr. their soul, as Isa. 46:2. And if they are not able to deliver themselves, much less will they be able to deliver others from the miseries that shall come upon Babylon.
43 Hebr. from the hand.
44 That is, of the hostile attack and invasion of their enemies, the Persians and the Medes.
45 The meaning is: the flame, mentioned in the previous words, shall surely consume and destroy them, being no fire to warm at, but to consume and devour. Or, as others: As stubble gives no lasting heat nor warmth, so neither is there any help or lasting comfort to be sought or found by sorcery or stargazing. Other, it shall not be a coal unto their meat, that is, to dress their meat therewith.
15Thus shall they be unto thee 46with whom thou hast laboured, even 47thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one 48to his quarter; none shall save thee.
46 That is, with whom you have toiled and taken great pains such a long while, asking them about things to come, that you are grown weary of them at last; he means the stargazers.
47 With whom you deal and trade daily; meaning the astrologers.
48 Or, in his step, in his walk.