Jeremiah 51:23

Jer 51:23 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his flock; and with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and his yoke of oxen; and with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.

Ver. 23. The shepherd and his flock, the husbandman and his yoke, &c.] This particular enumeration is very emphatic. {so Jer 50:35; Jer 50:37-38}

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.

(23) With thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers.—The exhausting of all sorts and conditions of men culminates in the ruling caste. The Hebrew word for “captain” (Pekha) is interesting as connected with the Arabic, with which we are now familiar in the form Pacha (Fürst, Lex.).

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

23. governors [mg. lieutenants] and deputies] Cp. Jer_51:28; Jer_51:57; also Eze_23:6; Eze_23:12-23. The names in the original are not Heb. but Assyrian, and are often found in inscriptions in that language. The former is applied to Tattenai (Ezr_5:6), Nehemiah (Neh_5:14), and Zerubbabel (Hag_1:1).

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.

Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth,.... Babylon is called a mountain, though situated in a plain, because of its high walls, lofty towers, and hanging gardens, which made it look at a distance like a high mountain, as Lebanon, and others: or because it was a strong fortified city; so the Targum renders it, O destroying city: or because of its power and grandeur as a monarchy, it being usual to compare monarchies to mountains; see Isa 2:2; here called a "destroying" one for a reason given, because it destroyed all the earth, all the nations and kingdoms of it: the same character is given of mystical Babylon and its inhabitants, Rev 11:18,

and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee: in a way of vindictive wrath, pouring it out upon her, and inflicting his judgments on her; laying hold on and seizing her in a furious manner, as a man does his enemy, when he has found him:

and roll them down from the rocks; towers and fortresses in Babylon, which looked like rocks, but should be now demolished:

and will make thee a burnt mountain: reduced to cinders and ashes by the conflagration of it: or, "a burning mountain": like Etna and Vesuvius; we never read of the burning of literal Babylon, but we do of mystical Babylon: see Rev 18:8; and with this compare Rev 8:8. The Targum renders it, a burnt city.

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

Captains ... rulers - Jer 51:28. Pashas and Sagans. The prophet dwells at length upon Babylon’s destructiveness.

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

The sense of all three verse is the same, viz. that God had made use of, and was still making use of the Babylonians to waste and impoverish much people, wasting their goods, routing their armies, killing all sorts of their inhabitants.

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

Captains; rather, governors. It is the Hebraized form (pekhah) of the official name of an Assyrian or Babylonian governor (Pahhat). rulers; rather, viceroys; Hebrew, segamin (plural). The singular, sagan, is Hebraized from the Assyrian sakun, Babylonian sagun.

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

Break in pieces - The sense of all these three verses is the same; that God had made use, and was still making use of the Babylonians to destroy many nations, to spoil much people, wasting their goods, routing their armies, killing all sorts of their inhabitants.

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