Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 50:21-32
Here, 1. The forces are mustered and commissioned to destroy Babylon, and every thing is got ready for a descent upon that potent kingdom: Go up against that land by Merathaim, the country of the Mardi, that lay part in Assyria and part in Armenia; and go among the inhabitants of Pekod, another country (mentioned Eze 23:23) which Cyrus took in his way to Babylon. The forces of Cyrus are called to go up against Babylon (Jer 50:21), to come against her from the utmost border. Let all come together, for there will be both work and pay enough for them all, Jer 50:26. Distance of place must not be their hindrance from engaging in this work. The archers particularly must be called together against…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on Jeremiah 50:21
Merathaim--a symbolical name for Babylon, the doubly rebellious, namely, against God. Compare Jer 50:24, "thou hast striven against the Lord"; and Jer 50:29, "proud against the Lord." The "doubly" refers to: first, the Assyrian's oppression of Israel; next, the kindred Chaldean's oppression of Judah (compare Jer 50:17-20, Jer 50:33; especially Jer 50:18).
Pekod-- (Eze 23:23); a chief province of Assyria, in which Nineveh, now overthrown, once lay. But, as in Merathaim, the allusion is to the meaning of Pekod, namely, "visitation"; the inhabitants whose time of deserved visitation in punishment is come; not, however, without reference to the now Babylonian province, Pekod. The visitation on…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on Jeremiah 50:22
A sound of battle is in the land,.... In the land of the Chaldeans, as it is expressed in the Septuagint and Arabic versions; the noise of warriors, the clashing of arms, and sound of trumpets, both of the enemy entered into the land, and of the Chaldeans arming themselves in their own defence:
and of great destruction; in the same land; or in Babylon, as Abarbinel supplies it; this is the consequent of the former.
John Calvin on Jeremiah 50:22