Logos Bible Study

Jeremiah 50:2–4

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50:2“Announce3 the news among the nations! Proclaim it!

Signal for people to pay attention!4

Declare the news! Do not hide it! Say:

‘Babylon will be captured.

Bel5 will be put to shame.

Marduk will be dismayed.

Babylon’s idols will be put to shame.

Her disgusting images6 will be dismayed.7

50:3For a nation from the north8 will attack Babylon.

It will lay her land waste.

People and animals will flee out of it.

No one will inhabit it.’

50:4“When that time comes,” says the Lord,9

“the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together.

They will come back with tears of repentance

as they seek the Lord their God.10

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Footnotes

  1. 3 The verbs are masculine plural. Jeremiah is calling on other unnamed messengers to spread the news.
  2. 4 Heb “Raise a signal flag.”
  3. 5 Bel was originally the name or title applied to the Sumerian storm god. During the height of Babylon’s power it became a title that was applied to Marduk who was Babylon’s chief deity. As a title it means “Lord.” Here it is a poetical parallel reference to Marduk mentioned in the next line.
  4. 6 The Hebrew word used here (גִּלּוּלִים, gillulim) is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. 183 גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as “worthless things” (אַלִילִים, ’alilim), “vanities,” or “empty winds” (הֲבָלִים, havalim).
  5. 7 The verbs here are all in the tense that views the actions as though they were already done (the Hebrew prophetic perfect). The verbs in the next verse are a mixture of prophetic perfects and imperfects which announce future actions. This refers to the fact that the idols that the Babylonians worshiped will not be able to protect them, but will instead be carried off into exile with the Babylonians themselves (cf. Isa 46:1–2).
  6. 8 A nation from the north refers to Medo-Persia which at the time of the conquest of Babylon in 539 b.c. had conquered all the nations to the north, the northwest, and the northeast of Babylon forming a vast empire to the north and east of Babylon. Contingents of these many nations were included in her army and reference is made to them in 50:9 and 51:27–28. There is also some irony involved here because the “enemy from the north” referred to so often in Jeremiah (cf. 1:14; 4:6; 6:1) has been identified with Babylon (cf. 25:9). Here in a kind of talionic justice Judah’s nemesis from the north will be attacked and devastated by an enemy from the north.
  7. 9 Heb “oracle of the Lord.”
  8. 10 Heb “and the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together. They shall go, weeping as they go, and they will seek the Lord their God.” The concept of “seeking” the Lord often has to do with seeking the Lord in worship (by sacrifice [Hos 5:6; 2 Chr 11:16]; prayer [Zech 8:21, 22; 2 Sam 12:16; Isa 65:1; 2 Chr 15:4]). In Hos 7:10 it is in parallel with returning to the Lord. In Ps 69:6 it is in parallel with hoping in or trusting in the Lord. Perhaps the most helpful parallels here, however, are Hos 3:5 (in comparison with Jer 30:9) and 2 Chr 15:15 where it is in the context of a covenant commitment to be loyal to the Lord which is similar to the context here (see the next verse). The translation is admittedly paraphrastic but “seeking the Lord” does not mean here looking for God as though he were merely a person to be found.

The NET Bible First Edition, Copyright 1996-2005 by Biblical Studies Press

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“Declare among the nations and proclaim,

set up a banner and proclaim,

conceal it not, and say:

‘Babylon is taken,

Bel is put to shame,

Merodach is dismayed.

Her images are put to shame,

her idols are dismayed.’

“For out of the north a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; both man and beast shall flee away.

“In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God.

Copyright 2001 Crossway Bibles

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Announce and proclaim among the nations,

lift up a banner and proclaim it;

keep nothing back, but say,

‘Babylon will be captured;

Bel will be put to shame,

Marduk filled with terror.

Her images will be put to shame

and her idols filled with terror.’

A nation from the north will attack her

and lay waste her land.

No one will live in it;

both people and animals will flee away.

“In those days, at that time,”

declares the Lord,

“the people of Israel and the people of Judah together

will go in tears to seek the Lord their God.

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 Biblica, Inc.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Announce to the nations;

proclaim and raise up a signal flag;

proclaim, and hide nothing.

Say, “Babylon is captured;

Bel is put to shame;

Marduk is terrified.”

Her idols are put to shame;

her false gods, devastated.

For a nation from the north will attack her;

it will make her land desolate.

No one will be living in it—

both people and animals will escape.

In those days and at that time—

this is the Lord’s declaration—

the Israelites and Judeans will come together,

weeping as they come,

and will seek the Lord their God.

Copyright 2017 Holman Bible Publishers

NLTNew Living Translation

This is what the Lord says:

“Tell the whole world,

and keep nothing back.

Raise a signal flag

to tell everyone that Babylon will fall!

Her images and idols will be shattered.

Her gods Bel and Marduk will be utterly disgraced.

For a nation will attack her from the north

and bring such destruction that no one will live there again.

Everything will be gone;

both people and animals will flee.

“In those coming days,”

says the Lord,

“the people of Israel will return home

together with the people of Judah.

They will come weeping

and seeking the Lord their God.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“Declare among the nations and proclaim,

and lift up a banner.

Proclaim, you must not conceal it.

Say, ‘Babylon is captured,

Bel is ashamed,

Merodach is filled with terror,

her idols are ashamed,

her idols are filled with terror.

For a nation will come up against her from the north.

It will make her land as a horror,

and an inhabitant will not be in her.

From humans to animals they all will wander off.

They will go away.

In those days and in that time,’ ” declares Yahweh,

“the people of Israel will come,

they and the people of Judah together.

Weeping as they go, they will go,

and Yahweh their God they will seek.

Copyright 2012 Lexham Press

KJV 1900King James Version

Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard;

Publish, and conceal not:

Say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces;

Her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.

For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her,

Which shall make her land desolate,

And none shall dwell therein:

They shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.

In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord,

The children of Israel shall come,

They and the children of Judah together,

Going and weeping: they shall go,

And seek the Lord their God.

Public Domain