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 50:27
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.
John Gill on Jeremiah 50:27
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 Psalm 22:12; this may well be applied to the slaughter of kings, captains, and mighty men, at the battle of Armageddon, Revelation 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 dreadf…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Calvin on Jeremiah 50:27
Jeremiah 50:27
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.
27. Occidite omnes juvencos ejus; descendant ad mactationem: vae illis! quia venit dies eorum, tempus visitationis eorum.
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…
