John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 51

Thus says the Lord, behold, I will raise up against Babylon ,
&c.] This is not a new prophecy, but a continuation of the former, and an enlargement of it. The Babylonians being the last and most notorious enemies of the Jews, their destruction is the longer dwelt upon; and as they were against the Lord's people the Lord was against them, and threatens to raise up instruments of his vengeance against them: and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against
me ;
that dwell in Babylon, the metropolis of the Chaldeans, the seat and centre of the enemies of God and his people. It is a periphrasis of the Chaldeans; and, so the Targum renders it,

``against the inhabitants of the land of the Chaldeans;'' and so the Septuagint version, against the Chaldeans; and Jarchi and Kimchi observe that according to "athbash", a rule of interpretation with the Jews, the letters in "leb kame", rendered "the midst of them that rise up against me", answer to "Cashdim" or the Chaldeans; however they are no doubt designed; for they rose up against God, by setting up idols of their own; and against his people, by taking and carrying them captive:

and now the Lord says he would raise up against them a destroying wind ;
a northern one, the army of the Modes and Persians, which should sweep away all before it. The Targum is, ``people that are slayers; whose hearts are lifted up, and are beautiful in stature, and their spirit destroying.''

And I will send unto Babylon farmers, that shall fan her, and
shall empty her land
Or, "strangers that shall fan her" ^F3 ; meaning the Medes and Persians, who should be like astrong wind upon the mountains, where corn, having been threshed, was fanned, and the chaff carried away bythe wind; and such would the Chaldeans be in the hand of the Persians, scattered and dispersed among thenations as chaff with the wind, and their cities be emptied of inhabitants, and of their wealth and riches.

The Targum is,``I will send against Babylon spoilers, that shall spoil and exhaust the land:''

for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about ;
in the time of the siege they shall surround her on all sides, so that none might escape; as Babylon had beena fanner of the Lord's people, now she should be fanned herself, and stripped of all she had; see (Jeremiah 15:7) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F3: (Myrz) "alienos", Cocceius; some in Vatablus;so Kimchi, Ben Melech, Abendana.

Against [him that] bends let the archer bend his bow
These are either the words of the Lord to the Medes and Persians, to the archers among them, to bend their bows and level their arrows against the Chaldeans, who had bent their bows and shot their arrows against others; or of the Medes and Persians stirring up one another to draw their bows, and fight manfully against the enemy.

and against [him that] lifts up himself in his brigandine ;
or coat of mail; that swaggers about in it, proud of it, and putting his confidence in it, as if out of all danger. The sense is, that they should direct their arrows both against those that were more lightly or more heavily armed; since by them they might do execution among the one and the other.

and spare you not her young men ;
because of their youth, beauty, and strength.

destroy you utterly all her host ;
her whole army, whether officers or common soldiers; or let them be accoutred in what manner they will.

The Targum is, ``consume all her substance.''

Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans By the sword, or by the arrows and darts of the Medes and Persians: and [they that are] thrust through in her streets ; either by the one or by the other, especially the latter, since they only are mentioned; (See Gill on Jeremiah 50:30).

For Israel [has] not [been] forsaken, nor Judah of his God ,
of the Lord of hosts
That is, not totally and finally; for though they might seem to be forsaken, when carried captive by their enemies, yet they were not in such sense as a woman is deprived of her husband when dead, and she is become a widow, as the word ^F4 used may signify; or when divorced from him; or as children are deprived of their parents, and become orphans; but so it was not with Israel; for though they were under the frowns of Providence, and the resentment of God they had sinned against, yet the relation between them still subsisted; he was their covenant God and Father, their husband and protector, and who would vindicate them, and avenge them on their enemies: though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel ;
which was the reason why they were carried captive, and so seemed to be forsaken of God; or though their land was filled with punishment, with devastation and destruction, yet nevertheless God would appear for them, and restore that and them unto it;

or rather this is to be understood of the land of the Chaldeans, as it is by Jarchi and Kimchi; and be rendered, "for their land is filled with [punishment] for sin, from", or "by", or "because of the Holy One of Israel" ^F5 ; by which it appears, that the people of God were not forsaken by him, and were not without a patron and defender of them; since it was a plain case that the land of the Chaldeans was filled with the punishment of the sword and other calamities by the Holy One of Israel, because of the sins they had committed against him, and the injuries they had done to his people. So the Targum, ``for their land is filled with, (punishment for) the sins of murder, by the word of the Holy One of Israel.''

FOOTNOTES:

• F4: (Nmla) "viduus, [sive] viduatus", Vatablus, Calvin, Montanus; "ut vidua", Pagninus; "orbus", Schmidt.
• F5: (Mva halm Mura yk) "quia terra illorum repleta est delicto, [sive] reatu, [vel] poena", Grotius; so some in Gataker. (larvy vwdqm) "a Sancto Israelis", Montanus, Schmidt; "propter Sanctum Israelis", Vatablus, Calvin, Cocceius; so Ben Melech.