Jer 50:26, 39, Rev 18:2 | JFB | STEP | 26. from the utmost border —namely, of the earth. Or, from all sides [LUDOVICUS DE DIEU ]. storehouses —or, "her houses filled with men and goods" [MICHAELIS ]. When Cyrus took it, the provisions found there were enough to have lasted for many years. as heaps —make of the once glorious city heaps of ruins. Vast mounds of rubbish now mark the site of ancient Babylon. "Tread her as heaps of corn which are wont to be trodden down in the threshing-floor" [GROTIUS ].

Jeremiah 50:26

26. from the utmost border—namely, of the earth. Or, from all sides [LUDOVICUS DE DIEU].

storehouses—or, "her houses filled with men and goods" [MICHAELIS]. When Cyrus took it, the provisions found there were enough to have lasted for many years.

as heaps—make of the once glorious city heaps of ruins. Vast mounds of rubbish now mark the site of ancient Babylon. "Tread her as heaps of corn which are wont to be trodden down in the threshing-floor" [GROTIUS].

Jeremiah 50:39

39. wild beasts of the desert—wild cats, remarkable for their howl [BOCHART].

wild beasts of the islands—jackals (See on Isa 13:21).

owls—rather, "female ostriches"; they delight in solitary places. Literally, "daughters of crying." Compare as to spiritual Babylon, Re 18:2.

no more inhabited for ever—The accumulation of phrases is to express the final and utter extinction of Babylon; fulfilled not immediately, but by degrees; Cyrus took away its supremacy. Darius Hystaspes deprived it, when it had rebelled, of its fortifications. Seleucus Nicanor removed its citizens and wealth to Seleucia, which he founded in the neighborhood; and the Parthians removed all that was left to Ctesiphon. Nothing but its walls was left under the Roman emperor Adrian.

Revelation of John 18:2

2. mightily . . . strong—not supported by manuscripts. But A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic read, "with (literally, 'in') a mighty voice."

is fallen, is fallen—so A, Vulgate, Syriac, and ANDREAS. But B and Coptic omit the second "is fallen" (Isa 21:9; Jer 51:8). This phrase is here prophetical of her fall, still future, as Re 18:4 proves.

devils—Greek, "demons."

the hold—a keep or prison.