Introduction: The Continuation of the Prophecy on the Fall of Babylon
Chapter 51 of Yirmiyahu continues the preceding chapter and is devoted entirely to the destruction and downfall of Babylon. The prophecy was spoken regarding the generation that was destined to witness the end of Belshazzar's reign and the rise of Media and Persia. Yet, as is the way of the words of the prophets - a prophecy needed for future generations was recorded - and we will see later how its words resonate in our own times as well.
Pasuk 1: "Lev Kamai" - Who Are They?
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה הִנְנִי מֵעִיר עַל־בָּבֶל וְאֶל־יֹשְׁבֵי לֵב קָמָי רוּחַ מַשְׁחִית׃ - Thus said Hashem: Behold, I am stirring up a destroying wind against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Lev Kamai.
What is "Lev Kamai"? Rashi explains that these are the Kasdim (Chaldeans), and the Gemara teaches that "Lev Kamai" (לב קמי) is "Kasdim" (כשדים) in Atbash cipher. It is intriguing that specifically regarding Babylon we find the use of Atbash; likewise, later in the chapter we find the name "Sheshach" (ששך), which is "Bavel" (בבל) in Atbash. It may be that this was an accepted manner of expression in those days, which is why we find it used specifically in reference to Babylon.
When seeking the plain meaning of Scripture (peshat), the approach is to turn to the Targumim - and this is indeed Rashi's practice, for when he seeks support for the peshat he cites "and its translation [Targum]" or "and Onkelos translated," since the Targum generally follows the literal sense of the words without homiletical additions. Here too, the explanation that "Lev Kamai" is "Kasdim" sounds like derash. Targum Yonatan translates: "Behold, I am bringing against Babylon and against the inhabitants of the land of the Chaldeans, murderous nations whose hearts are haughty" - murderous peoples whose hearts are lifted up. According to this, "Lev Kamai" is an expression of arrogance: people whose hearts rise up in pride.
"A destroying wind [or spirit]" - The Holy One, blessed be He, awakens the spirit of the kings of Persia and Media, so that they will come at the end of Belshazzar's reign and destroy Babylon. The Malbim explains the distinction: sometimes a king comes merely to seize plunder, in which case there are items that hold no interest for him and he leaves them behind; but when a king comes to destroy - he destroys everything. This is the prophecy stated here: a destroying spirit, so that no remnant whatsoever will remain.
Pasuk 2: "Ve-zeruha" - To Encircle or to Scatter
וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי לְבָבֶל זָרִים וְזֵרוּהָ וִיבֹקְקוּ אֶת־אַרְצָהּ כִּי־הָיוּ עָלֶיהָ מִסָּבִיב בְּיוֹם רָעָה׃ - And I will send foreigners to Babylon and they shall winnow her, and they will empty her land; for they shall be against her on all sides on the day of calamity.
"And I will send foreigners to Babylon and they shall winnow [or encircle] her" (וְשִׁלַּחְתִּי לְבָבֶל זָרִים וְזֵרוּהָ) - this is wordplay: people from a foreign land (zarim) will come. The Malbim explains that "ve-zeruha" stems from the root of "zer" (a wreath or crown), meaning that they will encircle her like a crown. Rashi explains it as "they will scatter her," from the concept of winnowing and scattering, as in the phrase "like one who winnows with the wind assisting him." This is also related to the expression "they were not pressed out [zoru] nor bound up," referring to sprinkling medicinal powders over a wound, which is also the root of the word "mazor," meaning healing. "And they will empty her land" - Rashi comments: they will deplete her land.
The end of the verse supports the Malbim's explanation: "for they shall be against her on all sides on the day of calamity." The Rambam writes that when laying siege to a city, one should not encircle it on all four sides; rather, one side should be left open for the enemy to flee. The reason is that when the enemy sees an escape route, he does not fight to the last drop of blood; but when he has nothing to lose, he fights with all his might, and even if one ultimately prevails over him, he will inflict heavy casualties. As has been discussed at length, this is not merely a rule of warfare, but a principle for all of life: even when in conflict with someone, always leave him a way out; do not corner a person from every angle, as doing so can only cause harm. Here, however, Scripture states that they were against her all around, from every direction, with no way of escape - and therefore it is a "day of calamity," for evil will inevitably overtake them.
Pasuk 3: "Let the Archer Not Bend His Bow"
אֶל־יִדְרֹךְ הַדֹּרֵךְ קַשְׁתּוֹ וְאֶל־יִתְעַל בְּסִרְיֹנוֹ וְאַל־תַּחְמְלוּ אֶל־בַּחֻרֶיהָ הַחֲרִימוּ כָּל־צְבָאָהּ׃ - Against him who bends, let the archer bend his bow, and against him who exalts himself in his armor; do not spare her young men, utterly destroy all her army.
Rashi explains that this is an elliptical verse: to wherever I command, there let the archer bend his bow. The Malbim cites a textual variant, "Al yidroch hadorech kashto" (with an ayin, meaning "let not"), which is also implied by the Targum, which translates it as "al" (do not). According to this, the words refer to the Babylonians themselves: when the enemy came upon them, they did not even fight back; they did not bend their bows and did not put on their armor - "siryon" refers to the iron garment that protects against arrows.
However, according to the vocalization before us, and as explained by Rashi and the Radak, this is a command directed to the invading enemy: let the archer bend his bow - against whom? "Against him who raises himself in his armor," against the Babylonians who come with their defenses to protect themselves. Rashi explains "yit'al" as related to te'alah, which means healing or recovery in Lashon HaKodesh - he will have no healing, meaning no defense or rescue, through his armor, for he is doomed to be conquered. The Malbim and Radak explain "yit'al" as meaning exaltation: against those who pride and exalt themselves in their armor, feeling important and confident that no arrow will strike them - against them, bend your bow! And following that: "Do not spare her young men, utterly destroy all her army" - until now it spoke of armed soldiers, and now also of those who are not armed at all.
Verse 4: Slain and Pierced
וְנָפְלוּ חֲלָלִים בְּאֶרֶץ כַּשְׂדִּים וּמְדֻקָּרִים בְּחוּצוֹתֶיהָ׃ - And the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and the pierced in her streets.
"Chalalim" (slain) refers to the dead, and "medukarim" (pierced) refers to the thrusting of a sword or spear into the body, as in the phrase "and everyone who is found shall be thrust through." The Targum renders this as, "And the slain shall be cast down in the land of the Chaldeans, and those thrust through [umita'anin] in her streets." The Targum means "pierced," but today the Aramaic word mita'anin resonates with another meaning: explosive devices (mit'anim) in the markets. And don't we see this with our very own eyes? Every day or two a car bomb explodes there in Baghdad, fifty dead, forty dead, and people have stopped writing about it because it is no longer "news." Likewise, Syria no longer interests the world unless something extraordinary occurs. The prophecy was spoken to that generation, but a prophecy needed for future generations was written down, and it also reflects a reality that we see today in the land of the Chaldeans: pierced bodies in its streets.
Verse 5: "For Israel Is Not Forsaken"
כִּי לֹא־אַלְמָן יִשְׂרָאֵל וִיהוּדָה מֵאֱלֹהָיו מֵיְהוָה צְבָאוֹת כִּי אַרְצָם מָלְאָה אָשָׁם מִקְּדוֹשׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - For Israel is not widowed, nor Judah, from his God, from the Lord of Hosts; though their land was full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
This is the origin of the expression, "Lo alman Yisrael" (Israel is not widowed). The Radak explains: Israel is not like a widow whose husband has died, leaving her forsaken with no one to protect her. The Congregation of Israel is called a beloved wife, and her Husband - the Holy One, blessed be He - lives and endures forever. Even if He left her in exile, do not imagine that she was widowed from Him; rather, Hashem will return and remember them.
The Malbim explains two things here: First, Israel is not widowed from its God, and the Holy One, blessed be He, will champion their cause. Second, "For their land was filled with guilt against the Holy One of Israel": the land of the Chaldeans is full of guilt and sin from having caused anguish to the Holy One of Israel, and whatever befalls them is only a fraction of the harm they inflicted upon us. "The Holy One of Israel" refers to the sanctity of the Beit HaMikdash, and particularly to what occurred on that night - "on that very night Belshazzar was killed" - the night he brought out the vessels of the Beit HaMikdash. Behold, a land filled with guilt from the desecration of the Sanctuary of Israel.
Verse 6: "Flee from the Midst of Babylon"
נֻסוּ מִתּוֹךְ בָּבֶל וּמַלְּטוּ אִישׁ נַפְשׁוֹ אַל־תִּדַּמּוּ בַּעֲוֺנָהּ כִּי עֵת נְקָמָה הִיא לַיהוָה גְּמוּל הוּא מְשַׁלֵּם לָהּ׃ - Flee from the midst of Babylon, and let every man save his life; be not cut off in her iniquity, for it is the time of the Lord's vengeance; He will render unto her a recompense.
Rashi explains that the address here is directed to the Jewish people: after Babylon has been struck, leave the exile. In contrast, the Malbim, as well as the Radak, maintain that the address is to other nations and to the merchants residing in Babylon: if you do not want to perish in the city's iniquity and have evil overtake you as well, flee from there. "Be not cut off" - do not be destroyed in her iniquity. "For it is the time of the Lord's vengeance" on the one hand, "He will render unto her a recompense" on the other - according to their deeds; just as they acted and did evil, so shall they receive.
Pasuk 7: "Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord"
כּוֹס־זָהָב בָּבֶל בְּיַד־יְהוָה מְשַׁכֶּרֶת כָּל־הָאָרֶץ מִיֵּינָהּ שָׁתוּ גוֹיִם עַל־כֵּן יִתְהֹלְלוּ גוֹיִם׃ - Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, making all the earth drunk; nations drank of her wine, therefore the nations are mad.
The Radak explains that "gold" refers to the wine, serving as an idiom just as people commonly describe something superb as "pure gold": How is this ice cream? Pure gold. How is this young man? Pure gold. We likewise find oil compared to gold - "who empty the golden oil out of themselves" - and even a strong wind - "Out of the north comes golden splendor," which refers to the north wind. We learn from this that something of supreme quality is compared to gold. Accordingly, the king of Babylon was an emissary in the hand of the Lord to destroy the nations, and he fulfilled his mission, as stated explicitly in the prophecy: "Take this cup of the wine of fury at My hand, and cause all the nations to drink it," and here, "nations drank of her wine." "Making all the earth drunk" - all the nations destined for judgment drank from this cup, and the Holy One, blessed be He, gave them all to drink through Babylon. "The nations are mad" - from the language of folly and madness, meaning they became like madmen; he rattled the kingdoms.
The Metzudat David explains differently: "a golden cup" does not describe Babylon's mission, but rather her status prior to retribution being exacted from her - Babylon was like a cup of wine, pure and clear as gold, a superpower that no one could harm, "making all the earth drunk," possessing the power to destroy the nations like a drunkard and nullify all kingdoms. Yet all of this was only until now, for from this point onward the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to exact retribution from that very golden cup.
The Malbim explains that "gold" does not refer to the wine as the Radak and Metzudat David suggest, but to the cup itself, which also aligns with grammar and the plain meaning of the verses: a cup made of gold. In substance, he follows the approach of the Radak: Babylon was hitherto like a cup of gold because she fulfilled God's command. Naturally, this is no praise for them, as they did not do so willingly or out of a desire to fulfill God's will; the Holy One, blessed be He, used them as an instrument, as Scripture says, "Woe Asshur, the rod of My anger." And as a rod, they performed flawlessly, fulfilling their role and intoxicating the entire earth in accordance with God's will to exact retribution from the nations at that time.
Pasuk 8: "Babylon is suddenly fallen"
פִּתְאֹם נָפְלָה בָבֶל וַתִּשָּׁבֵר הֵילִילוּ עָלֶיהָ קְחוּ צֳרִי לְמַכְאוֹבָהּ אוּלַי תֵּרָפֵא׃ - Babylon is suddenly fallen and shattered; wail for her! Take balm for her pain, perhaps she may be healed.
The downfall of Babylon is sudden. If Babylon is a cup in the hand of the Lord, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is so to speak holding the cup, the moment He releases His grasp, the cup suddenly falls and shatters. "Wail for her" comes from the word for lamentation: the Malbim explains that at first the nations still held her in high regard and sought shelter in her shadow, and when they witnessed her downfall, they wept and wailed. For Babylon's fall precipitated a collapse among them as well, a familiar reality: when a superpower falls, all the surrounding nations suffer damage - they have investments there, they rely on its support, and the like. Furthermore, "Take balm for her pain" - they would fetch balm, various remedies, to heal Babylon, "perhaps she may be healed" and we will be able to continue taking shelter in her shadow.
One should not be confused: there were nations that suffered harshly under Babylon - regarding them it was said, "the nations are mad," for they were like drunkards on account of her wars and devastation; whereas here the reference is to the nations that found shelter in her shadow, and they are the ones seeking remedies to deliver her from the plight into which she has fallen.
Pasuk 9: "We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed"
רִפִּאנוּ אֶת־בָּבֶל וְלֹא נִרְפָּתָה עִזְבוּהָ וְנֵלֵךְ אִישׁ לְאַרְצוֹ כִּי־נָגַע אֶל־הַשָּׁמַיִם מִשְׁפָּטָהּ וְנִשָּׂא עַד־שְׁחָקִים׃ - We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed; forsake her, and let us go each to his own land, for her judgment reaches unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
After the nations sought a cure for Babylon, they say to one another: We tried to find remedies for her, but she was not healed; there is no way for us to help her. And therefore, even those allies of Babylon, who derived benefit from her and wanted to assist her, abandon her: "Abandon her, and let each of us go to his own land" - there is no point in trying to cure her.
"For her judgment reaches to the heavens" - her downfall reaches to the very heavens: even the alignments of the stars and constellations, in which they were expert astrologers, point to her downfall. "And is lifted up to the skies (shechakim)" - the skies are loftier and higher than the heavens (shamayim). When speaking of the constellations, one speaks of lower influences, but when speaking of the shechakim, one speaks of Divine Providence, of the supreme spiritual power descending and exerting influence downward. That is to say: her downfall has been decreed both from the perspective of natural celestial order and from the perspective of Supreme Providence to bring down Babylon. Under such circumstances, there is no longer any room to attempt her cure.
It is fascinating that history repeats itself: the modern coalition that tried to rehabilitate Babylon [Iraq] and help it later witnessed how Iraq and all its factions turned sword against brother, with no hope of establishing peace there, and certainly not through democratic means - contrary to the delusions of Europeans and Westerners who think one can conduct affairs democratically with the Arabs. They fail to understand that Arabs understand only one thing: power and force. Whoever tried otherwise suffered defeat. People thought: we will take a Middle Eastern country, develop it, turn it into a tourist destination that brings in money and benefits the inhabitants - and suddenly it turns out their mindset works completely differently. The mind of an Ishmaelite is not the mind of a European; one must switch gears and realize that one communicates with them on a different frequency. Then one understands that there is a Heavenly decree here: "Her judgment reaches to the heavens and is lifted up to the skies," "O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, happy is he who repays you" - and we see this fulfilled in our own generations.
Verse 10: "Hashem has brought forth our righteousness"
הוֹצִיא יְהוָה אֶת־צִדְקֹתֵינוּ בֹּאוּ וּנְסַפְּרָה בְצִיּוֹן אֶת־מַעֲשֵׂה יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ׃ - "Hashem has brought forth our righteousness; come and let us declare in Zion the work of Hashem our God."
The People of Israel will say: Behold, Hashem has now brought our vindication to light and championed our cause. And this refers to that very generation, for the downfall of Babylon came with the fall of Belshazzar. And why "let us declare in Zion"? Because afterward we received permission to ascend and rebuild the House of Hashem, and this served as the catalyst to go and build the Second Temple. They came to recount in Zion how Hashem took pity and showed mercy to us, struck Babylon with a mortal blow, and placed us in the hands of Darius and Cyrus, who were kings of kindness toward us.
Verse 11: "Hashem has aroused the spirit of the kings of Media"
הָבֵרוּ הַחִצִּים מִלְאוּ הַשְּׁלָטִים הֵעִיר יְהוָה אֶת־רוּחַ מַלְכֵי מָדַי כִּי־עַל־בָּבֶל מְזִמָּתוֹ לְהַשְׁחִיתָהּ כִּי־נִקְמַת יְהוָה הִיא נִקְמַת הֵיכָלוֹ׃ - "Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers! Hashem has aroused the spirit of the kings of Media, for His plot is against Babylon to destroy it, for it is the vengeance of Hashem, the vengeance of His Sanctuary."
First, regarding the punctuation: it should be read as "for it is the vengeance of Hashem - the vengeance of His Sanctuary," because the cantillation mark zakef is on the word hi ("it is"), which is where the pause occurs.
"Sharpen (haveru) the arrows" - from the term chetz barur (a polished arrow), meaning to polish, select, and brighten, which means to prepare the arrows; as Targum Yonatan renders: shaninu, sharpen the arrows. These words are addressed to the enemies coming to wage war against her. "Fill the shelatim" - what are the shelatim? Rashi explains that they are quivers for arrows. Radak explains that they are shields, as in the phrase "the shields of the mighty" (shiltei hagiborim) - the shields of the warriors prepared for battle. The Malbim offers a compromise: the shelatim were a type of large shield (tzinah) that also contained a compartment to hold arrows. This very distinction marks the difference between a standard shield (magen) and a shelet: a magen had no compartment for arrows, whereas a shelet had a place for arrows.
Radak cites in the name of his father that haveru is like ha'aviru, from the root ever - wing, as in "Who will give me wings (ever) like a dove" and "great-winged" (aroch ha'ever). The meaning is: they would attach feathers to both sides of the arrow's tail, which gave the arrow its broad shape at the end and ensured it would fly straight without veering off course. That is to say: place an ever, a feather, on the arrows to steady their flight. The Malbim follows that same connection to "wings like a dove," but explains it differently: we are not telling them to attach wings to the end of the arrow, but rather telling the arrows themselves to spread their wings - take wing and fly into the shelatim, into the quivers and their holding compartments. As a metaphor to expedite the battle preparations, the prophet addresses the arrows: fly into the implements of war and fill the quivers in anticipation of the battle.
"Hashem has aroused the spirit of the kings of Media" - Hashem put an awakening in their hearts to march against Babylon. And why? "For His plot is against Babylon to destroy it" - because Hashem has a plotted design to destroy Babylon, He therefore stirred their spirit. And in this destruction there are two aspects: "the vengeance of Hashem" and "the vengeance of His Sanctuary." There was disgrace and desecration of God's Name in what they did to the People of Israel, and there was also the destruction of His Sanctuary. When Hashem allows the nations to oppress Israel His Name is desecrated, and when He executes judgment upon the nations His Name is sanctified - and now Hashem takes His vengeance, and this vengeance is the vengeance of His Sanctuary.
How Did Hashem Actually "Stir Up Their Spirit"?
The Malbim notes a wonderful point here in passing. After all, this is how Daniel interpreted the writing that appeared on the wall for Belshazzar - "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" - that Hashem has numbered your kingdom and brought it to an end, dividing it. The Malbim suggests that it is very likely this news reached the ears of the kings of Media, and as a result they arose and set out to conquer Babylon. For Scripture states, "On that very night Belshazzar was slain" - he was killed that very night, which indicates that they had someone present at the banquet who rushed to inform them.
According to this, we gain two insights. First, an explanation of "Hashem stirred up the spirit of the kings of Media": this does not merely mean He "placed it in their hearts" in the ordinary, abstract sense, but rather the Holy One, Blessed be He, performed an open sign and wonder on the palace wall to arouse them. Second, this resolves the puzzle of what purpose the writing on the wall served - after all, Belshazzar was killed that very night, so of what use was this knowledge to him? It is true that there are many sources (and Rav Ovadia wrote an essay demonstrating this from numerous places) showing that the Holy One, Blessed be He, finds purpose in a gentile recognizing God even a moment before his death: the Egyptians drowning in the Yam Suf knew a moment before drowning that this was from Hashem, and likewise the royal officer who saw the salvation with his own eyes just before he died, among many other examples - that there is value in a person attaining such perception even a moment before death. Yet according to the Malbim, the matter is even more wondrous: the message was not primarily intended for Belshazzar, but rather to stir up the spirit of the kings of Media, who heard of that miraculous wonder written on the wall by a heavenly hand, and understood it as an instruction for them to rise up and conquer Babylon. And this is "Hashem stirred up the spirit of the kings of Media."
In Summary:
In the opening verses of chapter 51, Yirmiyahu describes the complete downfall of Babylon: a "destroying wind" that leaves no remnant, an enemy surrounding it on all sides without an escape route, and warriors who cannot bend their bows and are not saved by their armor. In contrast, Israel finds comfort: "For Israel is not widowed" - the Husband of the Congregation of Israel lives and endures and will plead her cause, while the land of the Chaldeans is full of guilt for having oppressed the Holy One of Israel and desecrated the vessels of His Temple. Babylon, which was a "golden cup in Hashem's hand," the rod and instrument of His wrath to make the nations drink, suddenly slips from the hand and shatters; the nations that sheltered in its shadow wail and seek balm for it, and ultimately admit: "We tried to heal Babylon, but she was not healed," for it was decreed upon her from heaven and from the skies. Then Israel declares: "Hashem has brought forth our righteousness; come and let us recount in Zion" - for from Babylon's fall came the permission to ascend and rebuild the Second Temple. And in conclusion, we learned from the Malbim how Hashem actually "stirred up the spirit of the kings of Media": that miraculous writing on the wall of Belshazzar's palace, which Daniel interpreted, was what reached their ears and moved them to set out and destroy Babylon - the vengeance of Hashem and the vengeance of His Temple.