Jeremiah 51:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 51:7
Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
a cup (as a container) · noun, common feminine singular construct
LORD’s
יְהוָ֔הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
hand
בְּיַדbe.yad-
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
earth
הָאָ֑רֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
drunken
מְשַׁכֶּ֖רֶתme.sha.Ke.ret
H7937
to become tipsy · verb, piel active participle, feminine singular absolute
nations
גוֹיִ֔םgo.Yim
H1471
a foreign nation · noun, common masculine plural absolute
drunken
שָׁת֣וּsha.Tu
H8354
to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person common plural
wine
מִיֵּינָהּ֙mi.yei.Nah
H3196
wine (as fermented) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
nations
גוֹיִֽםgo.Yim
H1471
a foreign nation · noun, common masculine plural absolute
mad
יִתְהֹלְל֥וּyit.ho.le.Lu
H1984
to be clear (orig. of sound · verb, hithpael imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Revelation 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of t…
Revelation 17:4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand…
Revelation 17:2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her forn…
Revelation 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and…
Daniel 2:32 This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
Isaiah 14:4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
Jeremiah 25:9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bri…
Jeremiah 25:14-27 For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 51:1-58
The particulars of this copious prophecy are dispersed and interwoven, and the same things left and returned to so often that it could not well be divided into parts, but we must endeavor to collect them under their proper heads. Let us then observe here,
I. An acknowledgment of the great pomp and power that Babylon had been in and the use that God in his providence had made of it (Jer 51:7): Babylon hath been a golden cup, a rich and glorious empire, a golden city (Isa 14:4), a head of gold (Dan 2:38), filled with all good things, as a cup with wine. Nay, she had been a golden cup in the Lord's hand; he had in a particular manner filled and favoured her with blessings; he had made the earth…
Babylon is compared to a cup, because she was the vessel in the hand of God, to make drunken with His vengeance the other peoples (Jer 13:12; Jer 25:15-16). Compare as to spiritual Babylon, Rev 14:8; Rev 17:4. The cup is termed "golden," to express the splendor and opulence of Babylon; whence also in the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2:38) the head representing Babylon is of gold (compare Isa 14:4).
John Gill on Jeremiah 51:7
Babylon hath been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord,.... Either so called from the liquor in it, being of a yellow colour, or pure as gold, as the Jewish commentators generally; or from the matter of it, being made of gold, denoting the grandeur, splendour, and riches of the Babylonian empire; which, for the same reason, is called the head of gold, Daniel 2:38; this was in the hand of the Lord, under his direction, and at his dispose; an instrument he make use of to dispense the cup of his wrath and vengeance to other nations, or to inflict punishment on them for their sins; see Jeremiah 25:15; or else the sense is, that, by the permission of God, Babylon had by various specious pretences…
Church people are truly rustic and simple people, but all the heretics are Aristotelian and Platonic. Briefly, that you may know that gold is the usual simile for worldly eloquence, that the heretic's tongue, for example, is as brilliant as gold, hear the words of the prophet: "Babylon was a golden cup in the hand of the Lord." Note how he describes the Babylon of confusion. This world, therefore, is that golden cup. All nations drink from that cup of gold.
Indeed, since the sum total of all God's bounty and the soul of all virtues are given with this ineffable gift, all other gifts are granted us to enable the yearning of the faithful soul to strive effectively after perfect charity. As this is not only from God but is God, it makes steadfast, persevering and unconquerable all those whom it floods with its delight. But people who do not know the sweetness of these waters and still drink of the torrents of this world, people who even after touching with the lips and tasting of the fountain of life still like to get drunk with the golden cup of Babylon, are completely deceived by their own judgment and fall through their own fault. If they persist in this slothfulness, they themselves throw off what they had received. For without charity it is easy to lose all gifts, which same gifts are useless without charity.
"Strangers with the inhabitants of Tyre." Where we have alienigenae [foreigners], the Hebrew text has Philistim, which is interpreted, a cup of poison, for heretics are all drunk from the cup of Babylon, of which Jeremiah says, "The golden cup of Babylon that made the whole earth drunk." Note: "the golden cup of Babylon." Babylon connotes confusion: "a cup truly golden," the teachings of philosophers and the eloquence of orators. Who, indeed, has not been misled by the philosophers? Who has not been seduced by the orators of this world? Theirs is a golden cup, the splendor of eloquence on the outside but within full of poison that they could never conceal except under the gleam of gold. You taste the sweetness of their eloquence, to be sure, and do not suspect the fatal poison. "Strangers with the inhabitants of Tyre." Tyre stands for "narrowness." Truly, there is no room there, not the wide open heart of Christ, as the apostle says to the Corinthians: "In us there is no lack of room for you, but in your heart there is no room for us."
Dictionary and topics
Babylon — The Greek form of BABEL; Semitic form Babilu, meaning “The Gate of God.” In the Assyrian tablets it means “The city of the dispersion of the tribes.” The monumental list of its kings reaches back to…
Cup — A wine-cup (Gen. 40:11, 21), various forms of which are found on Assyrian and Egyptian monuments. All Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold (1 Kings 10: 21). The cups mentioned in the New Testament…
Governor — (1.) Heb. nagid, a prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (2 Chr. 28:7; comp. 1 Kings 4:6), chief of the temple (1 Chr. 9:11; Jer. 20:1), the leader of…
Prophecy — Or prediction, was one of the functions of the prophet. It has been defined as a “miracle of knowledge, a declaration or description or representation of something future, beyond the power of human…
Alliance And Society With The Enemies Of God · Evil consequences of — Evil consequences of
Babylon · As a power was: An instrument of God’s vengeance on other nations — As a power was: An instrument of God’s vengeance on other nations
Drunkenness · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Jeremiah 51:7
7. Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
7. Calix aureus Babylon in manu Jehovae, inebrians totam terram; e vino ejus biberunt gentes, propterea insanierunt gentes.
Here again he anticipates an objection which might have been made; for we know that the kingdoms of the world neither rise nor stand, except through the will of God; as, then, the Prophet threatens destruction to Babylon, this objection was ready at hand. "How comes it, then, that this city, which thou sayest is accursed, has hitherto so greatly flourished? for who hath honored Babylon with so great…
Because of the righteousness of Israel, Babylon is to be irretrievably destroyed. Jer 51:5. "For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of Jahveh of hosts; but their land is full of guilt because of the Holy One of Israel. Jer 51:6. Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save ye every one his life: do not perish for her iniquity; because it is a time of vengeance for Jahveh; He renders to her what she has committed. Jer 51:7. Babylon [was] a golden cup in the hand of Jahveh, that intoxicated all the earth. Nations have drunk of her wine, therefore nations are mad. Jer 51:8. Babylon has fallen suddenly and been broken: howl over her: take balsam for her pain; perhaps she may be healed.…
Babylon had been a gold cup, a vessel of unusual power and wealth that the Lord had used for a time to rule every nation in the ancient Near East. • The nations drank Babylon’s wine: All those nations had suffered greatly under Babylon’s heavy hand.
Rashi on Jeremiah 51:7
a golden cup Until now, Babylon was [a golden cup] in the Lord’s hand with which to intoxicate the whole earth with the wine of wrath.
therefore, nations are mad They have become drunk and have become mad.
