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51. Message About Babylon1 This is what the LORD says:
“See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer
6 “Flee from Babylon!
9 “‘We would have healed Babylon,
10 “‘The LORD has vindicated us;
11 “Sharpen the arrows,
15 “He made the earth by his power;
17 “Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
20 “You are my war club,
24 “Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia Or Chaldea; also in verse 35 for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the LORD.
25 “I am against you, you destroying mountain,
27 “Lift up a banner in the land!
33 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says:
“Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor
34 “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured us,
36 Therefore this is what the LORD says:
“See, I will defend your cause
41 “How Sheshak
Sheshak is a cryptogram for Babylon. will be captured,
45 “Come out of her, my people!
49 “Babylon must fall because of Israel’s slain,
51 “We are disgraced,
52 “But days are coming,” declares the LORD,
54 “The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
58 This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“Babylon’s thick wall will be leveled
59 This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. 60 Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. 61 He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. 62 Then say, ‘LORD, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. 64 Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.’” The words of Jeremiah end here. THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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He afterwards adds, And when thou hast made an end of reading, thou shalt tie a stone to it and cast it into the Euphrates, and shalt say, Thus sink shall Babylon Here is added an external symbol to confirm the faith of Seraiah. We must yet bear in mind, that this was not said to Seraiah for his own sake alone, but that the people might also know, that the king’s messenger, who had been sent for the sake of conciliating, was also the messenger of God and of the Prophet, who might have otherwise been despised by the people. When, therefore, the faithful knew this, they were in no ordinary way confirmed in the truth of the prophecy. Jeremiah, then, not only consulted the benefit of Seraiah alone, but that of all the godly; for though this was unknown for a long time, yet the messenger afterwards acknowledged that this command had been given him by Jeremiah, and that he took the book and cast it into the Euphrates. This, then, was given as a confirmation to all the godly. As to the symbols by which God sealed the prophecies in former times, we have spoken elsewhere; I therefore pass them by slightly now: only we ought to bear in mind this one thing, that these signs were only temporary sacraments; for ordinary sacraments are permanent, as the holy supper and baptism. But the sign mentioned here was temporary, and referred, as they say, to a special action: it yet had the force and
character of a sacrament, as to its use, the confirmation of this prophecy. Seraiah was then bidden to tie a stone to the book, and then to cast it into the Euphrates: why so? that the volume might not swim on the surface of the water, but be sunk down to the bottom; and the
application follows, Thou shalt say, etc. We see that words ought ever to be connected with signs. We hence conclude how fatuous the Papists are, who practice many ceremonies, but without knowledge. They are, indeed, dead and empty things, whatever signs men may devise for themselves, except God’s word be added. Thou
shalt then say, Thus sink shall Babylon, and shall not rise from the evil which I shall bring upon her In short, Seraiah was commanded, as the Prophet’s messenger, to predict by himself concerning the fall of Babylon; but it was for the sake of all the godly, who were afterwards taught what had been
done.
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Calvin takes no notice here of the verb which closes this sentence, ויעפו; but in his version he renders it, “and they shall fly,” or they shall be wearied. Critics know not what to make of it: it is omitted in the Sept., and rendered by the Vulg., “and it shall be dissolved;” by the Syr., “but they shall be thrown down;” and by the Targ., “and they shall fail.” It is left out in no MS. Blayney, following the Sept., omits it. The best explanation is given by Junius
and Tremelius, “though they may weary themselves,” that is, the citizens of Babylon: their attempt to rise and resist their enemies would be ineffectual, however much they might toil in the effort.
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