John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 51:43

"Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby." — Jeremiah 51:43 (ASV)

He repeats what he had previously said, but we have previously reminded you why he speaks at such length on a subject that is not obscure in itself. For he might have expressed in a few words all that he had said in the last chapter and also in this; but it was difficult to convince people of what he taught—it was therefore necessary to dwell at length on the subject.

He says now that the cities of Babylon, that is, of that monarchy, would become a desolation. He seems to have until now directed his threats against the city itself; but now he declares that God’s vengeance would extend to all the cities under the power of the Chaldean nation.

And he speaks at length about their desolation, for he says that it would be a land of desert, a land of drought, or of filthiness, so that no one would dwell in it.

And though the prophet uses the singular form in the words, Pass through it shall no man, dwell in it shall no man, he is nonetheless referring to the cities. Indeed, while he speaks of the whole land, he does so in a way that properly refers to the cities. It is as if he had said that the destruction would be so great that, however far and wide the Babylonian monarchy extended, all its cities would be cut off.