Merathaim = double rebellion. So called, here, because the empire was founded in a double rebellion. Pekod = Visitation: i.e. in judgment. destroy = devote to extermination. Hebrew. karam. The same word as Jeremiah 50:26 ; not the same as verses: Jeremiah 50:11 , Jeremiah 50:22 . read more
"Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught,... read more
Jeremiah 50:21. Go up, &c. The two places here mentioned, though unknown, are supposed to have been situate in the Babylonish dominions. The meaning of the words is, the land of the rebels—and the inhabitants of visitation: and some understand them of the Babylonians in the sense here given. These are the commands of God to Cyrus, though then unborn. Instead of after them, the Hebrew might be rendered their posterity; "Cut off from Babylon the name and remnant," as God threatens, Isaiah... read more
21. Merathaim—a symbolical name for Babylon, the doubly rebellious, namely, against God. Compare Jeremiah 50:24, "thou hast striven against the Lord"; and Jeremiah 50:24- :, "proud against the Lord." The "doubly" refers to: first, the Assyrian's oppression of Israel; next, the kindred Chaldean's oppression of Judah (compare Jeremiah 50:17-20; Jeremiah 50:33; especially Jeremiah 50:33- :). Pekod— (Jeremiah 50:33- :); a chief province of Assyria, in which Nineveh, now overthrown, once lay. But,... read more
The Lord commanded Babylon’s destroyers to go up against the land of double rebellion, the meaning of "Merathaim." Babylon was doubly rebellious (i.e., more rebellious) than other cities and nations-through its idolatry and pride. Assyria and Babylon both came from the same general area, Mesopotamia, and both nations had rebelled against Him. He gave their land the name Pekod, meaning "punishment." Divine punishment would single out Mesopotamia. The destroyer should carry out the Lord’s... read more
4. Divine vengeance on Babylon 50:21-28The following prophecies further describe the divine vengeance coming on Babylon. read more
The Fall of Babylon and the Restoration of IsraelThe prophecy concerning Babylon is ascribed to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 51:59. This, however, need not mean more than that it represents the tone of Jeremiah’s utterances as expanded by a follower, e.g. Baruch, at a later date. The reasons for doubting Jeremiah’s authorship aro: (a) he elsewhere speaks in friendly terms of the Chaldeans; here their overthrow is predicted; (b) the style and words betray another writer; (c) the knowledge displayed of... read more
(21) Go up against the land of Merathaim.—No such name is found in Babylonian inscriptions or is mentioned by historians. The most probable explanation of its use is that the prophet coined it as a descriptive word (= land of two rebellions), and then substituted it, after his manner (as with Sheshach, Jeremiah 25:6; Magor-missabib, Jeremiah 20:3), for the name Aram-Naharaim (= land of the two rivers = Mesopotamia), which was, as in Genesis 24:10; Deuteronomy 23:4; Judges 3:8; Judges 3:10, the... read more
The Way of Contrition Jeremiah 50:4-5 Our spiritual life as a life of contrition is typified for us in the return of the children of Israel to Jerusalem from their long exile in Babylon. I. Of necessity, contrition must be the first stage of spiritual life. For what is contrition? The Bible definition of contrition is, sorrow, sorrow that is in union with God. Contrition is no passing paroxysm, it is a state of abiding spiritual sorrow; we are taken by the Spirit of God into union with God,... read more
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Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 50:1-46
A message concerning Babylon (50:1-46)Finally, Jeremiah sees that the nation that God used to punish Judah will itself be punished. Bel, or Merodach (Marduk), the chief god of Babylon, will be powerless to save Babylon when the attack comes (50:1-3).Since the Judeans will by this time have humbly repented before God, the downfall of Babylon will give them the opportunity to return to the land where their ancestors once lived (4-5). (When Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC, he promptly... read more