John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 50:41

"Behold, a people cometh from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth." — Jeremiah 50:41 (ASV)

The Prophet again shows from where destruction was to come on the Babylonians. He does not indeed mention Cyrus, as Isaiah does (Isaiah 44:28; Isaiah 45:1), nor does he mention the Persians; but he evidently points out the Medes when he says that a people would come from the north. He adds, a great nation and many or powerful kings; and lastly, from the sides of the earth. It is indeed certain that the war was carried on under the banner and command of Cyrus and Darius.

Cyrus was the chief, but Darius, on account of his age, was deemed the king. To whom then does Jeremiah refer, when he says many kings, if we render the words? Even to the satraps or princes, of whom Darius brought a great number with him. For Cyrus came from remote mountains and from a barbarous nation, whereas the kingdom of Darius was very wide.

There is then no doubt that he brought with him many kings, who yet obeyed his authority. But we may take רבים, rebim, in the sense of being strong. However this may be, the Prophet means that the Chaldeans would have to carry on war not with one nation or one king, but with many nations and with many kings, or certainly with mighty kings.

Hence he mentions the sides of the earth. By this phrase, he reminds us that the army would come not from one country but from remote parts. And though the distance might be great, the Prophet says that they would all come together to attack the Chaldeans.

We now see that what afterwards happened is represented as in a picture, so that the event itself might confirm the Jews, not only in the truth announced by Jeremiah, but also in the whole law and worship of God. For this prophecy was confirmed for the faithful when they found that Jeremiah, a faithful interpreter of the law, had spoken in this way.

His doctrine also served another purpose: that the people might know they rebelled against God when they obstinately resisted the holy Prophet, for we know they were extremely disobedient. They were then proven, by what happened, to have been guilty of contending with God in their stubborn wickedness and contempt.

Afterwards, a sure basis for hope was given to them. For just as Jeremiah had spoken of Babylon’s destruction, so, on the other hand, he had promised a return to the Jews, and they then had reason to look for restoration when they saw fulfilled what Jeremiah had spoken.

By the word raised, he expresses something more than by the word come: he says that people would come, and adds that they would be raised up or roused. He intimates that they would not come of themselves but by the hidden influence of God, because this war was not carried on merely by men. Cyrus indeed, led by insatiable avarice and ambition, was guided by his own inclination to undertake this war. He made no end to his cruelty until he at length died miserably, for he never ceased to shed innocent blood everywhere. Yet the Lord made use of these kings and nations to destroy Babylon. They were in reality the scourges of God, and accordingly, he says that they were roused from the sides of the earth, that is, from the most distant places.