Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 51:13

"O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, the measure of thy covetousness." — Jeremiah 51:13 (ASV)

O you that dwell upon many waters.— The words find an illustration of singular interest in an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar’s given by Oppert (Expéd. en Mésop. i. p. 231): “I made water to flow all around in this immense dyke of earth. I carried an aqueduct across these great waters that are like unto the depths of the sea.” See also Records of the Past, v. 128. The channels which were cut for the waters of the Euphrates seemed intended both for a line of defence against attack and for irrigation and navigation. To some extent Babylon, though an inland city, must have presented an appearance like that of Venice or Amsterdam.

The measure of your covetousness.— The measure is literally “an ell,” and for “covetousness” many commentators give the meaning of “that which is cut off,” a “piece” or “section.” So taken, we may translate the ell-measure of your portion, the allotted time of prosperity decreed in the Divine counsels. Others, following the Vulgate, “pedalis precisionis tuæ,” give “the ell-measure of your cutting off,” that is, the appointed time of destruction.