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38 They shall roar together like lions: they shall 20yell as lions' whelps.

39 In their heat I will make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the LORD.

40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he goats.

41 How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!

42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.

43 Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.

44 And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up: and the nations shall not flow together any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.

45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.

46 And lest your heart faint, and ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the land; a rumour shall both come one year, and after that in another year shall come a rumour, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.

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47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.

48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.

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49 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.

50 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still remember the LORD afar off, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.

51 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: shame hath covered our faces for strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the LORD's house.

52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her

20 Or, shake themselves. 23 Or, the country.

graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan.

53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, and great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans:

55 Because the LORD hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:

56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is broken: for the LORD God of recompences shall surely requite.

57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the king, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

58 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; **The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be

weary.

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59 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And this Seraiali was a "quiet prince.

60 So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against Babylon.

61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words;

62 Then shalt thou say, O LORD, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

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63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of Euphrates:

64 And thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

21 Heb. visit upon. 22 Or, both Babylon is to fall, O ye slain of Israel, and with Babylon, &e. 24 Or, The walls of broad Babylon. 25 Or, made naked. 20 Or, on the behalf of. 27 Or, prince of Menucha, or, chief chamberlain.

28 Heb. desolations.

Verse 13. Thou that dwellest upon many waters.'-The great river Euphrates, the neighbouring lakes and marshes, with the numerous canals of communication and irrigation, give a striking propriety to this allusion to its 'many waters.'

25. Make thee a burnt mountain.'—See the conclusion of the statement concerning the Mujelibe, under Gen. xi. 4. 30. The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight,' etc.-When the king of Babylon heard of the approach of the army of Cyrus, he marched out to meet and give him battle; but was defeated with little difficulty, and retreated to Babylon. From that time the Babylonians 'forbore to fight,' and remained in their strong city during the two years in which it was besieged by the Persians. Relying upon the high and thick walls, and having stored up provisions for many years, besides what might be produced within the walls of the town itself, they seem to have waited the result with little apprehension.

-They have burned her dwelling places.'-In the short speech which Cyrus is reported by Xenophon to have addressed to his troops before they entered the bed of the Euphrates, he alludes to their principal danger, which appears to have been regarded with apprehension, of being assaulted by missiles from the house-tops as they passed through the streets. He said that, if the inhabitants retired to the house-tops, the best course would be to assail their doors by setting them on fire. He observed that the porches were very combustible, being made of palm-wood and coated with bitumen; and, as the army was supplied with torches and tow in abundance, it would be easy to set the houses in flames; so that the inhabitants must either run from them or be consumed in them. This plan was probably carried into effect, and to this the prophet may seem to refer.

31. One post shall run to meet another....to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end.'—' From end to end, is Blayney's translation. The prediction clearly means that couriers should run from different parts, and so fall in with one another, all of them bringing intelligence to the king, that the city was taken at the point from which they started. This is to be explained by a reference to the vast extent of the city, which Herodotus (who was a great traveller) says exceeded that of any city he had ever seen (Clio, 180). In another place (191) he states that he was informed by some of the inhabitants, that, owing to the great extent of Babylon, those who dwelt in the outskirts were taken prisoners by the Persians, before the people in the centre of the town knew that the place was taken.

36. I will dry up her sea.'-The Euphrates must be meant by the sea,' that title being frequently applied in Scripture to large rivers, such as the Nile and Euphrates. We are doubtless to understand this as one of several allusions to the remarkable stratagem by which the city was at last taken by the Persians, after they had vainly wasted two years in the siege. To understand this, however, it should be premised that the Euphrates ran through the middle of the city, and that not only was the city walled all round towards the open country, but also along each side of the river. Cyrus was informed that a great annual festival was to be kept in the town, when the inhabitants were accustomed to spend the night in all manner of debauchery and drunkenness (see verses 39, 57, and ch. l. 24), and he thought this a favourable opportunity to surprise them. He therefore made a distribution of the whole army, placing one part above the city where the river entered, and another below, where it came forth; giving directions that, as soon as the river should appear fordable, they were to enter its bed at both ends. Towards evening he opened the great dam of the trenches communicating with the lake, by which means the stream was diverted from its proper course, and the channel soon became fordable. The Persians then entered by the bed of the river, the water being little more than knee-deep, and took the city by surprise. This is the account of Herodotus (Clio, 191): that of Xenophon

(Cyrop. vii. 5) is somewhat different, but agrees in every essential point. Herodotus adds that, if the Babylonians had been before apprised of the intention of Cyrus, or if they had learned at the moment what he was doing, they might not only have saved themselves, but might have made the stratagem of the Persians recoil upon their own heads; for, had they closed the gates towards the river, and ascended the walls which ran along it, the besiegers would have been taken as in a net. But the Persians came upon them quite unexpectedly, and from a quarter whence no danger was apprehended. All this was as the prophets had foretold long before Cyrus was born. They had said that the city should be taken unexpectedly, on a night of festivity; that the inhabitants should be then drunk or asleep (verse 57); that the gates should not be shut (Isa. xlv. 1); and that at the same time the stream of the great river should be exhausted. How convincing is all this! Many other most exact agreements might be pointed out; but, as our limits do not permit this, we may recommend it to our readers, as a most interesting study, to compare the details of the prophecies concerning the taking of Babylon with the narratives of the event which are given by Xenophon and Herodotus.

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39. Drunken,' etc.-We have just explained that there was a festival on the night when the city was taken. The speech of Cyrus shews that his anticipations corresponded with the prophetic predictions. He reminded his soldiers that the people against whom they now acted were the same whom they had formerly defeated, when they were sober, armed, and in battle array; and how much more easy a victory might now be expected, at a time when many of them were asleep, many drunk, and all in confusion.

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42. The sea is come,' etc.-We are again to understand the Euphrates. This is true now, as we have shewn in the note on Isa. xiv. 23. In connection with this subject, our present engraving of the Mujelibe will be considered of peculiar interest, as it shews how the river comes up on Babylon, and overflows it so extensively as to form large pools of water' even around that distant heap of ruin. The Birs Nemrud is shewn under the same circumstances in the cut given in Gen. x.

58. The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken.' -These walls were so broad that, according to the ancient historians, six chariots could be driven on them abreast, or a chariot with four horses might pass and turn upon them. They existed as walls for above a thousand years after this prophecy was delivered; and long after the sentence of extermination had been pronounced upon them. They were still numbered among the seven wonders of the world. But now they have utterly disappeared, according to this prediction-strong as they were, vast as was the mass of materials which they contained, no trace of them can now be discovered. All accounts agree,' says Mr. Rich, in the height of the walls, which was fifty cubits, having been reduced to these dimensions, from the prodigious height of three hundred and fifty feet, by Darius Hystaspes after the rebellion of the town, in order to render it less defensible. I have not been fortunate enough to discover the least trace of any part of the ruins at Hillah, which is rather an unaccountable circumstance, considering that they survived the final ruin of the town, long after they had served as an enclosure for a park; in which comparatively perfect state St. Jerome informs us they remained in his time.' Calmet and other older interpreters suppose that the prophecy was accomplished by the act of Darius, to which Rich refersand that, no doubt, would have been sufficient to bear out the text; but we now see how far more complete and literal the accomplishment has been. There is every reason to think, not only from the testimony of Rich, but of many other travellers, that the walls are virtually extinct. Captain Frederick, of whose journey it was the principal object to search for remains of the wall and ditch by which this great city was enclosed, states that 'neither of these have been seen by any modern traveller. All my inquiries among the Arabs,' he adds, 'on this

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subject, completely failed in producing the smallest effect. Within the space of twenty-one miles in length along the banks of the Euphrates, and twelve miles across it in breadth, I was unable to perceive anything that could admit of my imagining that either a wall or a ditch had existed within this extensive area. If any remains do exist of the walls, they must have been of greater circumference than is allowed by modern geographers. I may possibly have been deceived; but I spared no pains to prevent it. I never was employed in riding and walking less than eight hours for six successive days, and upwards of twelve on the seventh.'

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broken.' It is not after this to be expected that the utmost research will be rewarded with the discovery of more than a few detached fragments of this ancient work. Buckingham, who, in his Travels in Mesopotamia, has a chapter of sixty pages, entitled 'Search after the Walls of Babylon,' was, after a long and fruitless search, only enabled to discover, on the castern boundary of the ruins, on the summit of an oval mound from seventy to eighty feet in height, and from three to four hundred feet in circumference, A mass of solid wall about thirty feet in length by twelve to fifteen in thickness, yet evidently once of much greater dimensions each way, the work being in its present state broken and incomplete in every part.' This is the only even hypothetical claim that has been made to the discovery of any portion of the wall, and it appears to us entirely improbable that this piece of wall upon the top of a detached oval mound could ever have formed part of the broad walls of Babylon.'

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of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round about.

5 So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah.

6 And in the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there was no bread for the people

of the land.

7 Then the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chaldeans were by the city round about:) and they went by the way of the plain.

8 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and all his army was scattered from him.

the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.

18 The caldrons also, and the "shovels, and the snuffers, and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass wherewith they ministered, took they away.

19 And the basons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; that which was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away.

20 The two pillars, one sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, which king Solomon had made in the house of the LORD: "the brass of all these vessels was without weight.

9 Then they took the king, and carried 21 And concerning the pillars, the height him up unto the king of Babylon to Riblah of one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a in the land of Hamath; where he gave judg-fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and ment upon him. the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow.

10 And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah.

11 Then he 'put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in 'chains, and carried him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.

12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which 'served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,

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13 And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:

14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.

15 Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of the people, and the residue of the people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the multitude.

16 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for vinedressers and for husbandmen.

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22 And a chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one chapiter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar also and the pomegranates were like unto these.

23 And there were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the pomegranates upon the network were an hundred round about.

24 And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the "door:

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25 He took also out of the city an eunuch, which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of them that were near the king's person, which were found in the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and threescore men of the people of the land, that were found in the midst of the city.

26 So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard took them, and brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah.

27 And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Iamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.

6 Heb. house of the wards.
9 Heb. stood before.
13 Or, censers.
17 Heb. threshold.

Heb. chief of the executioners, or, slaughtermen. And so vers. 14, &c. 11 Or, instruments to remove the ashes.

15 | Kings 7. 15. 2 Kings 25. 17. 2 Chron. 3. 15.

12 Or, basins.

16 Heb. thread.

19 Or, scribe of the captain of the host.

7 Or, chief marshal.

10 Chap. 27. 19. 14 Heb. their brass.

18 Heb. saw the face of the king.

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king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison,

32 And spake kindly unto him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,

33 And changed his prison garments: and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of his life.

34 And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, "every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.

22 Heb. the matter of the day in his day.

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