John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 51:11
Make bright the arrows ,.... Which were covered with rust; scour them of it; anoint them with oil, as armour were wont to be; make them neat, clean, and bright, that they may pierce the deeper; hence we read of a "polished shaft", or arrow, one made bright and pure, Isaiah 49:2 ; agreeably to this some render the word "sharpen the arrows" F11 הברו החצים "acuite sagittas", V. L. Castalio; "exacuite", Montanus. ; so the Targum. The word has the signification of "choosing"; but, as... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 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... read more