---
title: "Bullinger"
description: "the LORD. Hebrew.  Jehovah. App-4 .  Behold. Figure of speech  Asterismos.  Me. A Massoretic note ( App-30 ) says that this is a cryptogram (Hebrew \"  Ca"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/bullingers-companion-bible-notes/jeremiah/51"
---

**the LORD.** Hebrew. *Jehovah.* App-4 .
**Behold.** Figure of speech *Asterismos.*
**Me.** A Massoretic note ( App-30 ) says that this is a cryptogram (Hebrew " *Casdim* "), meaning "the Chaldees". See note on [Jeremiah 51:41](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/41) ; [Jeremiah 25:26](../../../kjv/jeremiah/25/26) .
**destroying** = laying waste. Hebrew. *shahath.* The same word as in verses: [Jeremiah 51:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/11) , [Jeremiah 51:20](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/20) , [Jeremiah 51:25](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/25) . Not the same as in verses: [Jeremiah 51:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/3) , [Jeremiah 51:8](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/8) , [Jeremiah 51:54](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/54) , Jer 3:55 .
**wind.** Hebrew. *ruach.* App-9 .

**fanners . . . fan = winnowers . . . winnow.** Figure of speech *Polyptoton.* App-6 .

**Against him that bendeth, &c.** The *Massorah* ( App-30 ), instead of cancelling the repeated word "against . . . and against" *('el),* directs the substitution of *'al,* "not . . . and not". The verse will then read, "Let not the archer bend his bow, nor let him lift himself up in his coat of mail" (i.e. in defence of Babylon). This is so read in two early printed editions, Chaldee, Syriac, Vulgate, and Revised Version.
**brigandine** = coat of mail.
**destroy** = break down. Hebrew. *haram.* Same word as [Jeremiah 51:54](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/54) . Not the same as verses: [Jeremiah 51:1](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/1) , [Jeremiah 51:8](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/8) , [Jeremiah 51:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/11) , [Jeremiah 51:20](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/20) , [Jeremiah 51:25](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/25) , [Jeremiah 51:25](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/25) , [Jeremiah 51:54](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/54) , [Jeremiah 51:55](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/55) .

**Israel . . . Judah.** Now one People again.
**God.** Hebrew. *Elohim.* App-4 .
**the LORD of Hosts.** See note on [Jeremiah 6:6](../../../kjv/jeremiah/6/6) , and [1 Samuel 1:3](../../../kjv/1-samuel/1/3) .
**sin.** Hebrew. *chata.*
**the Holy One of Israel.** See note on [Psalms 71:22](../../../kjv/psalms/71/22) .

**every man.** Hebrew. *'ish.* App-14 .
**soul.** Hebrew. *nephesh.* App-13 .
**iniquity.** Hebrew. *'avah.* App-44 . Put by Fig, *Metonymy* (of Cause), for the judgment brought down by it. Compare [Revelation 18:4](../../../kjv/revelation/18/4) .

**made all the earth drunken.** Compare [Revelation 17:4](../../../kjv/revelation/17/4) .
**wine.** Hebrew. *yayin.* App-27 .

**is suddenly, &c.** This must refer to a future fulfilment, for the present condition came gradually, See [Isaiah 21:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/9) ; [Isaiah 47:9](../../../kjv/isaiah/47/9) , [Isaiah 47:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/47/11) . Compare [Revelation 14:8](../../../kjv/revelation/14/8) ; [Revelation 18:8](../../../kjv/revelation/18/8) , [Revelation 18:10](../../../kjv/revelation/18/10) , [Revelation 18:17](../../../kjv/revelation/18/17) , [Revelation 18:19](../../../kjv/revelation/18/19) .
**destroyed** = broken down. Hebrew. *shabar.* Not the same as in verses: [Jeremiah 51:1](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/1) , [Jeremiah 51:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/3) , [Jeremiah 51:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/11) , Jer 1:20 , Jer 1:25 , Jer 1:25 , Jer 1:55 .
**take balm** = fetch balSamaritan Pentateuch Compare [Jeremiah 8:22](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/22) ; [Jeremiah 46:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/46/11) .

**We.** Note this remarkable pronoun.
**every one.** Hebrew. *'Ish* . App-14 .
**is lifted up** = mounteth.

**spirit.** Hebrew. *ruach* . App-9 .
**the Medes.** In the person of Cyrus and others ( App-57 ). Here the then immediate calamity is referred to.
**vengeance** = avengement.

**make the watch, &c.** Compare [Isaiah 21:5](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/5) , [Isaiah 21:6](../../../kjv/isaiah/21/6) .

**upon many waters.** Compare [Jeremiah 51:42](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/42) , and [Jeremiah 50:38](../../../kjv/jeremiah/50/38) , also [Revelation 17:1](../../../kjv/revelation/17/1) , [Revelation 17:15](../../../kjv/revelation/17/15) .
**covetousness** = dishonest or unrighteous gain.

**by Himself** = by His soul. Hebrew. *nephesh.* App-13 . Figure of speech *Anthropopatheia.*
**caterpillers** = locusts. Compare [Joel 2:2](../../../kjv/joel/2/2) .[Nahum 3:15](../../../kjv/nahum/3/15) .
**they:** i.e. the assailants.

**made the earth, &c.** Reference to Pentateuch ([Genesis 1](../../../kjv/genesis/1) ). Compare [Jeremiah 10:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/10/12) , &c. verses: [Jeremiah 51:15-19](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/15-19) are repeated from [Jeremiah 10:12-16](../../../kjv/jeremiah/10/12-16) .

**multitude** = noise.
**lightnings, &c.** Compare [Jeremiah 10:13](../../../kjv/jeremiah/10/13) .

**is brutish by, &c.** = is become too brutish to know.
**confounded** = put to shame.
**breath.** Hebrew. *ruach.* App-9 .

**the time of their visitation.** See note on [Jeremiah 8:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/8/12) .

**The Portion of Jacob, &c.** Note the *Alternation* in [Jeremiah 51:19](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/19) , Not such as these is Jacob's Portion: ([Deuteronomy 32:9](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/32/9) . [Psalms 16:5](../../../kjv/psalms/16/5) ). For [the] Former of all things is He: And the Sceptre of his (Israel's) inheritance: The LORD of hosts is His Name ([Deuteronomy 10:9](../../../kjv/deuteronomy/10/9) ).

**My battle axe:** or, My hammer, i.e. Cyrus. Figure of speech *Anthropopatheia.*
**with thee will I break in pieces** = with thee will I beat down. Note the Figure of speech *Anaphora* , by which ten successive sentences commence with these words, This is for special emphasis.

**evil.** Hebrew. *ra'a'.* App-44 .
**saith the LORD** = [is] Jehovah's oracle.

**not take of thee . . . forever.** This again must refer to a future fulfilment. The two destructions are intertwined. Compare [Jeremiah 51:62](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/62) .
**for ever.** See App-151 .

**prepare** = set apart, or sanctify.
**Minni.** Frequently mentioned in the inscriptions, the Assyrians having been compelled to quell revolts there.
**captain** = muster-master or marshal, like the Assyrian *dupsarru,* or tablet-writer. Hebrew. *tiphsar.* Occurs only here and [Nahum 3:17](../../../kjv/nahum/3/17) .

**the** Some codices, with three early printed editions, read "and the".

**without an inhabitant.** This must be yet future.

**The mighty men.** Hebrew pi. of *gibbor.* App-14 .

**post** = runner.
**at one end.** Supply the *Ellipsis* by the word "each", instead of "one" = "at [each] end". This will accord with the history; for Herodotus says the Babylonians retired to the city, and "remained in their holds". Cyrus, having turned the waters of the Euphrates, entered the city, by the bed of the river, *at each end* (see Herod 1 191). Compare [Daniel 5:3](../../../kjv/daniel/5/3) , [Daniel 5:4](../../../kjv/daniel/5/4) , [Daniel 5:23](../../../kjv/daniel/5/23) , [Daniel 5:30](../../../kjv/daniel/5/30) . The Revised Version, "on every quarter", quite misses the point. This passage, therefore, belongs to the past fulfilment; while others still await a future fulfilment.

**passages** = fords.
**stopped** = seized.
**men.** Hebrew, plural of *'enosh.*

**the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel.** See note on [Jeremiah 7:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/7/3) .

**me.** Here, and in [Jeremiah 51:35](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/35) , the Hebrew text reads "us"; but the margin, and some codices, with two early printed editions, read "me", which is followed by the Authorized Version.

**inhabitant** = inhabitress.
**upon.** Hebrew text reads "against", but a special various reading called Sevir ( App-34 ) has "upon", with some codices, one early printed edition, Aramaean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate, which are followed by Authorized Version.

**dry up.** Referring to the act of Cyrus (by Gobryas). Compare [Jeremiah 51:31](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/31) , above.
**sea** = the river Euphrates. So called from its breadth.

**dragons** = jackals.
**without an inhabitant.** This carries us on to the future again. Compare [1 Peter 5:13](../../../kjv/1-peter/5/13) .

**yell:** or, shake themselves.

**feasts** = banquets.

**Sheshach.** See note on [Jeremiah 25:26](../../../kjv/jeremiah/25/26) .

**no man dwelleth.** Still future.
**man.** Hebrew. *'adam.* App-14 .

**the wall of Babylon.** Now recently laid bare by excavations.

**do judgment upon** = visit upon.

**the heaven . . . shall sing.** Figure of speech *Poeanismos* and *Prosopopoeia.*
**all that is therein.** Compare [Revelation 19:1-3](../../../kjv/revelation/19/1-3) .

**all the earth.** Compare [Isaiah 14:16](../../../kjv/isaiah/14/16) , [Isaiah 14:17](../../../kjv/isaiah/14/17) .

**the LORD.** Hebrew. *Jehovah.* (with *'eth).* App-4 .

**mount up, &c.** Compare [Isaiah 14:12-15](../../../kjv/isaiah/14/12-15) .

**destroyed** = caused to perish. Hebrew. *'abar.* Not the same as in verses: [Jeremiah 51:1](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/1) , [Jeremiah 51:3](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/3) , [Jeremiah 51:8](../../../kjv/jeremiah/51/8) , [Jeremiah 1:11](../../../kjv/jeremiah/1/11) , Jer 1:20 , Jer 1:25 , Jer 1:54 .

**GOD.** Hebrew El. App-4 . The Hebrew reads "El of recompences, Jehovah".

**walls.** Some codices, with two early printed editions, Septuagint, and Vulgate, read "wall".
**people** = peoples.
**be weary** = faint.

**The Fifty-First Prophecy of Jeremiah** (see book comments for Jeremiah).
**Seraiah.** The brother of Baruch([Jeremiah 32:12](../../../kjv/jeremiah/32/12) . Compare [Jeremiah 45:1](../../../kjv/jeremiah/45/1) ).
**when he went, &c.** Probably to renew his oath of allegiance. Compare [Jeremiah 27:1](../../../kjv/jeremiah/27/1) ; [Jeremiah 28:1](../../../kjv/jeremiah/28/1) .
**quiet prince.** Probably chief chamberlain. Revised Version margin, "quartermaster. "Hebrew = quiet resting-place ([Isaiah 32:18](../../../kjv/isaiah/32/18) ). Probably his office was to prepare the night's camping place during the journey to Babylon.

**wrote in a book** = wrote in one scroll.
**evil** = calamity. Hebrew. *ra'a* . App-44 .

**and shalt see, &c.** = then shalt thou look out and read.

**desolate for ever** = age-abiding desolations, show-ing that this prophecy must wait a future fulfilment.

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