John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 51:64

"and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah." — Jeremiah 51:64 (ASV)

And you shall say
Not only use the above sign and ceremony, but explain the meaning of it to those of his friends who might accompany him; and what he said was in the name of the Lord, as the form and manner in which the following words are delivered show: thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will
bring upon her;

as this book, with the stone bound to it, does, and shall no more rise than that can; the evil of punishment brought on Babylon will sink her to such a degree, that she will never be able to bear up under it; but be so depressed by it as never to rise to her former state and grandeur any more:

and they shall be weary;
the inhabitants of it, and have no strength to resist their enemies; or, rather, shall be so weak as not to be able to stand up under the weight and pressure upon them, but shall sink under it; or shall weary themselves in vain to preserve their city from ruin, or restore it when ruined; see (Jeremiah 51:58);

thus far are the words of Jeremiah;
that is, concerning the destruction of Babylon, as is said concerning Moab, (Jeremiah 48:47); What Maimonides ^F13 says is not true: that though Jeremiah lived some time after, he ceased to prophesy; or that, when he had finished his prophecy concerning Babylon, he prophesied no more; for it is certain that many of his prophecies were delivered out after the date of this, though this is recorded last:

or the sense may be, thus far are the prophetic words of Jeremiah; and so the Targum, ``hitherto is the prophecy of the words of Jeremiah;''

What follows in the next chapter is historical. There is no necessity to conclude from hence that it was written by any other hand; either, as many have thought, by Ezra; or by the men of the great synagogue, as Abarbinel.

---

FOOTNOTES:

• F13: Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 45. Vid. Kimchi in loc.