Jeremiah 51:7

51:7 Babylonia had been a gold cup in the Lord’s hand.

She had made the whole world drunk.

The nations had drunk from the wine of her wrath. ¹ 

So they have all gone mad. ² 

Jeremiah 51:39

51:39 When their appetites are all stirred up, ³ 

I will set out a banquet for them.

I will make them drunk

so that they will pass out, ⁴ 

they will fall asleep forever,

they will never wake up,” ⁵ 

says the Lord. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 51:57

51:57 “I will make her officials and wise men drunk,

along with her governors, leaders, ⁷  and warriors.

They will fall asleep forever and never wake up,” ⁸ 

says the King whose name is the Lord who rules over all. ⁹ 

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¹ tn The words “of her wrath” are not in the Hebrew text but are supplied in the translation to help those readers who are not familiar with the figure of the “cup of the Lord’s wrath.”

sn The figure of the cup of the Lord’s wrath invoked in Jer 25:15-29 is invoked again here and Babylon is identified as the agent through which the wrath of the Lord is visited on the other nations. See the study note on 25:15 for explanation and further references.

² tn Heb “upon the grounds of such conditions the nations have gone mad.”

³ tn Heb “When they are hot.”

⁴ tc The translation follows the suggestion of KBL 707 s.v. עָלַז and a number of modern commentaries (e.g., Bright, J. A. Thompson, and W. L. Holladay) in reading יְעֻלְּפוּ (ye’ullÿfu) for יַעֲלֹזוּ (ya’alozu) in the sense of “swoon away” or “grow faint” (see KBL 710 s.v. עָלַף Pual). That appears to be the verb that the LXX (the Greek version) was reading when they translated καρωθῶσιν (karwqwsin, “they will be stupefied”). For parallel usage KBL cites Isa 51:20. This fits the context much better than “they will exult” in the Hebrew text.

⁵ sn The central figure here is the figure of the cup of the Lord’s wrath (cf. 25:15-29, especially v. 26). Here the Babylonians have been made to drink so deeply of it that they fall into a drunken sleep from which they will never wake up (i.e., they die, death being compared to sleep [cf. Ps 13:3 (13:4 HT); 76:5 (76:6 HT); 90:5]). Compare the usage in Jer 51:57 for this same figure.

⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

⁷ sn For discussion of the terms “governors” and “leaders” see the note at Jer 51:23.

⁸ sn See the note at Jer 51:39.

⁹ tn For the title “Yahweh of armies” see the study note on Jer 2:19.