John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 51:52

"Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will execute judgment upon her graven images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan." — Jeremiah 51:52 (ASV)

The Prophet's design, as I have reminded you, is to uplift the minds of the godly so that they might not succumb under their trials, seeing that they were exposed to shame and were destitute of all honors. He then says that the time would come when God would take vengeance on the idols of Babylon.

And so God claims for Himself that power which then seemed to have almost disappeared. For with the temple overthrown, the Babylonians seemed, in a way, to triumph over Him, as God’s power in the temple was overcome. Then, as its ruin, as we have said, seemed to have extinguished God’s power, the Prophet applies a remedy, saying that though the temple was overthrown, God still remained perfect and His power unchangeable. But among other things, he bids the faithful to wait patiently, for he invites their attention to the hope of what was still hidden.

We now see how these things agree, and why the Prophet uses the particle 'therefore,' לכן, laken: Therefore, behold, the days are coming, that is, though you are confounded, God will still give you a reason for glorying, so that you shall again joyfully sing His praises. But he says, the days will come; by these words he reminds us that we are to cherish the hope of the promises until God completes His work. And so he corrected that ardor by which we are seized in the midst of our afflictions, for we wish to fly immediately to God.

The Prophet, then, here exhorts the faithful to maintain courage until the time fixed by God. And so he refers them to God’s providence, lest they assume too much in wishing Him to act as their own minds lead them. Come then shall the days when I shall visit the graven images of Babylon; and groan—or 'cry,' and so on; for the word אנק, anak, means to cry. Some render it this way: 'groan shall the wounded;' and they render the last word 'wounded,' because they think it improper to say that the slain cry or groan. But the Prophet means that the cry in that slaughter would be great; that is, while the Babylonians were slain, a great howling would be everywhere.