Tyndale Open Study NotesJeremiah 51

The Lord chose Persia, led by Cyrus, to destroy Babylon in 539 BC.

• God acted as a commander and instructed the destroyer to eliminate the Babylonians.

• devote...to destruction: See Leviticus 27:28–29; 1 Samuel 15:3.

Even though the Israelites had sinned against the Holy One, he remained their God and planned to save them.

The Israelites were urged to leave Babylon at the right time to avoid the Lord's punishment against Babylon (compare Jeremiah 50:8).

• Babylon was like a gold cup, a symbol of great power and wealth. The Lord used it to rule every nation in the ancient Near East.

• The nations drank her wine: All those nations suffered greatly under Babylon’s control.

Jeremiah predicted the fall of the Babylonian Empire. Even though the Lord was delivering justice, people needed to mourn the event.

Nothing could save Babylon; her punishment was immense. After Babylon fell, the exiles would return home. There, they could share stories of God's wonderful acts for them.

The kings of the Medes included Cyrus. He marched against Babylon and overthrew it in 539 BC.

God, as the Creator and preserver of everything, controls the storm with its thunder, rain, lightning, and wind, not Baal. The Lord can use these forces whenever He wants.

This song of praise highlights the Lord's uniqueness and greatness. It compares the true God with the emptiness of idols.

You: The Lord chose and empowered King Cyrus of Persia to destroy the Babylonian Empire.

• Ararat was a mountainous region north of Babylon.

• Ashkenaz was Noah’s great-grandson through Japheth and Gomer (Genesis 10:2–3). His descendants likely lived in Ararat, as did the people of Minni, who are otherwise unknown.

The fall of Babylon occurred just as the Lord had planned. The Babylonian soldiers lost their will to fight, and the Persian invaders quickly entered the city.

The king was Nabonidus. At that time, he was in Borsippa, north of Babylon. His son, Belshazzar, was the regent in Babylon. See Daniel 5:1–30.

The city's wealth was like wheat on a threshing floor. Looting Babylon was like gathering a harvest.

May the violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon: See “Prayers for Vengeance” Theme Note.

I will plead your case: In response to the people's request (Jeremiah 51:35), the Lord will bring Babylon to justice for its cruel sins.

The looting and damage to the city's structures would make visitors feel contempt instead of awe.

The Lord announced he would use wine to change the lion, which once terrorized and destroyed nations (Jeremiah 5:6; 25:38; 49:19), into a lamb that is easy to control. Wine as a tool of wrath was usually symbolic (Jeremiah 25:15–29), but here it was real (see Daniel 5).

The sea represents the armies that attacked Babylon. The crashing waves symbolize the assault on the city.

The defeat of Babylon's main god, Bel, was a huge disaster for the city. People would take away the idol's rich decorations, revealing its supposed power as a big lie.

The Lord cared about the spiritual and physical health of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. Their political situation was dangerous. The Lord promised a future where the exiles would be saved from shame and return joyfully to their own land.

As the Lord described the terrors of his angry judgment against Babylon, he directed his people to their homeland to assure them of their safety.

violence: As an enemy army approached Babylon, the city's leaders blamed each other. Intense infighting was tearing Babylon apart.

The Lord's punishment of Babylon would make the heavens and earth rejoice because it shows God's justice.

Babylon would face a punishment as harsh as the cruelty it inflicted on the Israelites and other nations.

The exiled people felt deep shame and disgrace for their past sins. The Babylonians defiled the Lord's Temple when they destroyed it in 586 BC.

Therefore: The Lord agreed that their past was shameful, but he gave them hope for the future when Babylon's power would be broken.

Babylon's walls could not save it. The city would definitely be looted because the Lord had declared their punishment.

When Babylon fell, the noise of battle was overwhelming. People screamed and yelled, soldiers shouted battle cries, and boulders crashed as walls fell.

• The destruction of Babylon was not an accident. The Lord controlled it and would make it happen.

• The sound (Jeremiah 51:54) would turn into the silence of death. The invading army would kill or capture the Babylonian soldiers, and the people would flee into the countryside.

Belshazzar, the city's ruler, and his officers had a feast where they drank too much; it ended in their deaths (Daniel 5).

Just as Babylon destroyed Jerusalem, this great kingdom would also be destroyed. This passage contains a message sent to Babylon seven years before Jerusalem fell.

King Zedekiah traveled to Babylon to build trust with Nebuchadnezzar. During this visit, Zedekiah likely swore an oath of loyalty to the Babylonian king (2 Chronicles 36:13).

Casting (throwing) the scroll into the Euphrates River symbolized the permanent destruction of Babylon.