Jeremiah 50:18

Jer 50:18 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria.

Ver. 18. As I have punished the king of Assyria.] And accordingly so he did; for as Sennacherib first lost his army, and then his life, and then soon after that monarchy was dissolved; so after that Belshazzar was slain, the empire was translated unto the Persians.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jer 50:18. Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon, and his land — God may justly punish those who do the things that he hath commanded them to do, if they do them not in that manner in which he directs, or, if what they do be not done in obedience to his command, but for the satisfaction of their own lusts: which was the case, as with the king of Assyria, Isa 10:5-7, so also with the king of Babylon; as I have punished the king of Assyria — Some refer this to the punishment of the Assyrians, in the destruction of Sennacherib and his army, in the time of Hezekiah; but the prophet seems rather to speak of a destruction of Assyria which followed the carrying of the ten tribes into captivity, and therefore may most probably be understood of the destruction of Nineveh, the chief seat of the Assyrian empire, by Nebuchadnezzar, and Assuerus or Astyages, as it is related in Tobit, chap. Jer 14:15. At the taking of this great city, foretold by Jonah, Nahum, and Zephaniah, Chynadanus, the last king of the Assyrian race, was killed; and the seat and title of the empire removed to Babylon, which was no longer called the Assyrian, but the Babylonian monarchy. See Dr. Prideaux, pages 47, 48.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

50:18-19 Therefore: This word introduces two divine decrees. The first decree condemned Babylon to complete annihilation, like the punishment the Lord gave Assyria (Nah 3). Assyria fell in 612 BC; Babylon fell in 539 BC. • I will bring Israel home: The second divine decree promises restoration for Israel, specifically the people of the northern tribes, whose land was defined by the indicated landmarks. • Carmel is a mountain range close to the Mediterranean Sea in the northwestern corner of Israel. • Bashan was a region in the highlands rising east of the Sea of Galilee. • The tribe of Ephraim occupied the hill country in the central part of Israel west of the Jordan River. • Gilead was a highland area that rose on the east side of the Jordan River, opposite Ephraim.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

punish . . . king of Babylon--Nabonidus, or Labynitus.

as . . . punished . . . Assyrian--Sennacherib and other kings [GROTIUS] (Kg2 19:37).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 18. As I have punished the king of Assyria.] The Assyrians were overthrown by the Medes and the Chaldeans. The king is here taken for all their kings, generals, c., Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, &c. To them succeeded the Chaldean or Babylonish kings. Nebuchadnezzar came against Judea several times and at last took the city and burnt it, profaned and demolished the temple, wasted the land, and carried the princes and people into captivity.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

What I have said may hence with more certainty be inferred — that the similitude which God employed was intended for this end, that having assumed the person of one in sorrow, he might represent as it were to their eyes his sympathy, he then shows that he would be the avenger of the cruelty which the Chaldeans had practiced, as he had already been the avenger of all the evils which the Assyrians had done to his people.

We must bear in mind the time — for the meaning of this passage depends on history. The Assyrians were stronger than the Chaldeans when they harassed the kingdom of Israel: for we know that in the time of Hezekiah the king of Babylon sent to him to seek his favor, and to allure him to a confederacy. While then the monarchy of Assyria was formidable, the Assyrians were very hostile to the Israelites and also to the Jews: what followed? Nineveh was overthrown, and Babylon succeeded in its place; and so they who had ruled were constrained to bear the yoke, and thus Babylon made the Assyrians captive to itself. God now refers to this judgment, which was known to all. The Assyrians themselves did not indeed think that the God of Israel was the avenger of his people, but yet it was so. Hence God here declares that he had already given a manifest proof of the solicitude which he had for the welfare of his people: as then he had punished Assyria, so he declares that he would take vengeance on the Babylonians. And thus, by an example, he confirms what might have appeared incredible. For who could have thought that that monarchy could so suddenly fall? And yet it happened beyond what any could have anticipated. God here repeats what had taken place, that the faithful might feel assured that the judgment which the Assyrians had experienced, awaited the Babylonians. This is the plain meaning of the Prophet. It follows, —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(18) As I have punished the king of Assyria.—Nineveh had fallen before Cyaxares and Nabopolassar, and Babylon was in like manner to fall before Cyrus. The one judgment was the pledge and earnest of the other.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,.... Because of this cruel treatment of his people, whose God he was; and being the Lord of hosts, and able to avenge himself on their enemies, he threatens as follows:

behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land; not Nebuchadnezzar, but a successor of his, Belshazzar, who was slain the night Babylon was taken:

as I have punished the king of Assyria; not Shalmaneser, that carried the tribes captive; but a successor of his, Chynilidanus, the last king of Assyria; who was killed when Nineveh was taken, the metropolis of Assyria, and which was done before this prophecy was delivered. These two kings may figuratively design the Turk and Pope, who will both be destroyed at, or just before, the conversion of the Jews, and their return to their own land; which is prophesied of in Jer 50:19.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Assyria. This monarchy was subdued by Nabopolasser.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

God may justly punish those who do the things which he hath commanded them to do, if they do it not in that manner which. he directeth, or if what they do be not done in obedience to his command, but in satisfaction to their own lusts, which was the case of the Assyrians, Isa 10:7.

As I have punished the king of Assyria: some refer this to the punishment of the Assyrians in the destruction of Sennacherib and his army in the time of Hezekiah, but the prophet seemeth here to speak of a destruction of Assyria which followed after his devouring of the ten tribes, from whence we may conclude that Assyria was destroyed before the time of this revelation.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

18. I will punish… Babylon — Assyria has already been destroyed, and a like destruction shall come upon Babylon. Nothing could be in itself more incredible than that Nineveh should be overthrown; but now that this had actually taken place, it adds force and probability to the threatened overthrow of Babylon.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.