Jeremiah 50:27

Jer 50:27 Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.

Ver. 27. Slay all her bullocks.] Heb., Sword them, sheath your swords in their sides. See Jer 50:24.

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.

Her princes and mighty men.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

bullocks--that is, princes and strong warriors (Jer 46:21; Psa 22:12; Isa 34:7).

go down to . . . slaughter--The slaughterhouses lay low beside the river; therefore it is said, "go down"; appropriate to Babylon on the Euphrates, the avenue through which the slaughterers entered the city.

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 27. Slay all her bullocks] Princes, magistrates, &c., &c.

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

He goes on with the same subject; he bids the Persians and the Medes to slay every strong man in Chaldea; for by bullocks he no doubt means by a metaphor all those who excelled in strength, or in power, or in wealth. The sum of what he says is, that the vengeance of which he now speaks, would not only be against the common people, but also against the highest and the choicest among them. He includes then the nobles as well as all the men of war; for he refers not only to strength of body, but also to power and authority.

Slay, then, he says, all her bullocks, that is, whatever is most valued in Chaldea: that was to perish when the day of vengeance came. He afterwards says, let them descend to the slaughter We must ever bear in mind what I have said, that the Prophet gave orders as though he had the Medes and the Persians under his own hand and authority, because the whole world is subject to God’s word. He says, Woe to them! for their day is come, and the time of their visitation This was added, because the faithful might have disputed with themselves and said, “How can it be that Babylon should perish so quickly?” For God seemed to have favored that monarchy for a long time, as though he intended to protect it perpetually. Hence the Prophet speaks here of the time of visitation, so that the faithful might not doubt respecting this prophecy, because God had not as yet put forth his band. He then reminded them that God has his fixed times, and that he does not every day visit nations, that is, that he does not execute his judgments every moment, but at the time which he has appointed. Whenever, then, the ungodly securely exult and triumph, let us ever remember this truth, that the time is not yet come for God to execute his judgment; how so? because there is a fixed time of visitation, and that is dependent on God’s will. Let us then learn to bear patiently all our trials until it shall please God to show that he is the judge of the world. 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.

(27) Slay all her bullocks.—The words are probably to be taken figuratively of the captains and men of war of Babylon, as in Psa_22:12; Isa_34:7; Jer_48:15 (see Note), and Jer_51:40.

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

27. her bullocks] her choice youths, the flower of her army. Cp. for the figure Isa_34:7. For the expression “go down to the slaughter” cp. Jer_48:15, and for “the time of their visitation” Jer_46:21.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Slay all her bullocks,.... Or, "all her mighty ones", as the Targum and Vulgate Latin version; her princes and great men, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel; compared to bullocks for their strength, fatness, and fierceness; see Psa 22:12; this may well be applied to the slaughter of kings, captains, and mighty men, at the battle of Armageddon, Rev 19:18;

let them go down to the slaughter; to the place slaughter, as oxen do, insensible, and whether they will or not:

woe unto them, for their day is come, the time of their visitation; the time of their destruction, of visiting or punishing them for their sins, appointed by the Lord, which they could not pass; and so a woeful and dreadful time to them.

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

Her bullocks - Her strong youths.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

By

bullocks in this place interpreters generally understand the great and rich men of Babylon.

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

27. Bullocks — Her warlike young men, the flower of her population.

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

In this verse we are told that the kherem, i.e. the Divine ban, falls upon the entire male population, as in the holy wars of Joshua. (Jos_6:21 Jos_11:11, Jos_11:20) All her bullocks. As in Jer_51:40 Isa_34:6, the doomed people is likened to sacrificial victims. (Jer_46:10) The same fact is described without figure in Jer_48:15. Go down to the slaughter; i.e. be forced down to the slaughtering trough.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Bullocks - The great and rich men of Babylon.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Yahweh continues telling how to destroy the people of Babylon and Chaldea.

Kill all her bulls. Send them down to the place of slaughter

Possible meaning of "bulls" is 1) soldiers or 2) strong young men. Killing them is spoken of as taking them to a place of slaughter. (See: Metaphor)

Kill all her bulls

Yahweh speaks this to the enemies of Babylon. This can be made clear. AT: "You enemies of Babylon, kill all her bulls" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

her bulls

The word "her" refers to Babylon.

them ... their

The word "them" and "their" refer to the people of Babylon.

their day has come—the time for their punishment

The phrases "their day" and "the time" mean the same thing and can be combined. AT: "the time for their punishment has come" (See: Doublet)

There is the sound of those fleeing

"Listen and you will hear those who are fleeing"

those ... those ... These

The words "those" and "These" refer to the survivors from Babylon who will tell others about Yahweh's vengeance.

the vengeance of Yahweh our God for Zion, and vengeance for his temple

The abstract noun "vengeance" can be stated as an action. AT: "Yahweh our God has taken revenge for what they did to Zion and to his temple in Jerusalem" (See: Abstract Nouns)

translationWords

cow

send

slaughter

woe

punish

report

avenge

Zion

temple

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

all her bulls Her princes. So is the custom of the prophets to compare the princes to mighty bulls and to he-goats.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.