Chapter 50 – FAMILIA MUNDIAL
1 [1-51, 58] a collection of miscellaneous prophecies against Babylon which now stands as the introduction to the story in ⇒ Jeremiah 51:59-64. The Greek text of ⇒ Jeremiah 50:1 omits through the prophet Jeremiah, and it is in fact likely that these oracles are not Jeremiah’s, but were composed by other inspired writers after the fall of Jerusalem, who may have used some of Jeremiah’s texts. Babylon fell to the Persians in 538 B.C.
2 [2] Bel: originally the name of the god of Nippur in Mesopotamia, then identified with Merodach (Marduk), chief god of Babylon.
3 [15] Her walls are torn down: the prophet is not predicting the details of Babylon’s downfall, but describing such a downfall in conventional language. Actually, Babylon was surrendered peaceably, without destruction.
4 [21] Merathaim, «twice bitter,» and Pekod, «punishment,» are here symbolic terms for Babylonia, though probably they suggest also the names of regions in that country.