John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 51:41

"How is Sheshach taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!" — Jeremiah 51:41 (ASV)

Here the wonder expressed by the Prophet served to confirm what he had said, for he thus dispelled those things that usually disturbed the minds of the godly, preventing them from giving full credit to his predictions.

Indeed, there is no doubt that the godly considered many things when they heard Jeremiah speaking this way about the destruction of Babylon. The thought always occurred to them, “How can this be?” Therefore, Jeremiah anticipated such thoughts and presented himself as one filled with wonder: How is Sheshach taken? As if he had said, “Though the whole world may be astonished at the destruction of Babylon, yet what I predict is certain; and those who do not now admit the truth of what I say, as well as posterity, will find this to be so.”

But here he calls Babylon Sheshach, as in Jeremiah 25. Some think that there it is the proper name of a man, and others regard it as the name of a celebrated city in Chaldea. But we see that what they assert is groundless, for this passage ends all controversy, because in the first clause he mentions Sheshach, and in the second, Babylon. That passage in Jeremiah 25 also cannot refer to anything other than Babylon, for the Prophet said:

Drink shall all nations of God’s cup of fury,
and after them the king of Sheshach (Jeremiah 25:26).

That is, when God has chastised all nations, at last the king of Babylon will have his turn. But in this passage, the Prophet clearly shows that Sheshach can be nothing other than Babylon. Indeed, the name is formed by inverting the alphabet. This is not a new idea, for they had this “retrograding” alphabet in the time of Jerome. They put ת, tau (the last letter), in place of א, aleph (the first); then ש, shin, for ב, beth. This is how they formed Sheshach. The ש, shin, is found twice in the word: the next-to-last letter of the alphabet (ש, shin) is substituted for the second letter (ב, beth); and כ, kaph, is substituted for ל, lamed, according to the order of this “retrograde” alphabet. There is no good reason for what some say—that the Prophet spoke so obscurely for the sake of the Jews because the prophecy was disliked and might have created dangers for them. For why did he mention Sheshach and then Babylon in the same verse?

Many understand this passage enigmatically; but there is no doubt that that alphabet was then, as we have stated, in common use, just as we have ciphers (as they call them) today. Meanwhile, although the Prophet was not timid and encouraged his own people to be confident, it still pleased God that this prophecy should be hidden in a way, but not that it should lack evidence of its certainty. For we will see in the second-to-last verse of this chapter that he commanded the scroll to be thrown into the Euphrates, until the event itself revealed the power of God, which for a long time remained, as it were, buried, until the time of visitation of which he had spoken.

Prayer:

Grant, Almighty God, that since you are pleased today to receive us as your people, we may enjoy the same favor to the end and be sheltered under your wings; and though we deserve to be completely cast away, yet, if you chastise us for a time, deal with us with moderate severity, and chastise us in judgment and not with extreme rigor; and then, after darkness, let your serene face appear, until we at last enjoy that full light to which you invite us daily through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.