Jeremiah 50:21

“Go up against the land of Merathaim, etc.] Thought to be the country of the Mardi, which lay part of it in Assyria, and part of it in Armenia; expressed in the dual number, because one part of it lay on one side the Tigris, and the other on the other side. Cyrus, with his army of Medes and Persians, is here called upon; who, according to Herodotus, passed through Assyria to Babylon: and so it may be agreeably rendered, “go by the land of Merathaim”; or the country of the Mardi. Many interpreters take it for an appellative, and not the proper name of a country. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, “the land of rulers”; and the Targum, “the land of the rebellious people;” and so Kimchif982:…”

“Merathaim--a symbolical name for Babylon, the doubly rebellious, namely, against God. Compare Jer 50:24, "thou hast striven against the Lord"; and Jer 50:29, "proud against the Lord." The "doubly" refers to: first, the Assyrian's oppression of Israel; next, the kindred Chaldean's oppression of Judah (compare Jer 50:17-20, Jer 50:33; especially Jer 50:18). Pekod-- (Eze 23:23); a chief province of Assyria, in which Nineveh, now overthrown, once lay. But, as in Merathaim, the allusion is to the meaning of Pekod, namely, "visitation"; the inhabitants whose time of deserved visitation in punishment is come; not, however, without reference to the now Babylonian province, Pekod. The visitation on…”

“The land of Merathaim - of double rebellion. Like Mitsraim, i. e., the two Egypts, Aram-Naharaim, i. e., Syria of the two rivers, or Mesopotamia, it is a dual. It may have been a real name; or - the dual ending being intensive - it may mean the land of very great rebelliousness. Pekod - Possibly a Babylonian town. Waste - Rather, slay, Jeremiah 50:27. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Merathaim - The names of some places which Cyrus took in his way to Babylon. Jeremiah 50:22”

“50:21 The judgments against Babylon continue. The divine Judge is also portrayed as the divine commander of the armies. The Persians were the Lord’s warriors against Babylon, just as Babylon had been his warriors against Judah (25:9). • Merathaim (literally double rebellion) refers to the southern part of the Tigris and Euphrates river valley. Pekod (literally punishment) designates a people living on the eastern side of the same valley. These people were Babylonian. • completely destroy: See Lev 27:28-29; Josh 6:21; 1 Sam 15:3.”

“up: Jer 50:3, Jer 50:9, Jer 50:15 Merathaim: or, the rebels Pekod: or, visitation, Eze 23:23 and do: Jer 34:22, Jer 48:10; Num 31:14-18; Sa1 15:3, Sa1 15:11-24; Sa2 16:11; Kg2 18:25; Ch2 36:23; Isa 10:6, Isa 44:28, Isa 48:14 Jeremiah 50:22”

“The pride and power of Babylon are broken, as a punishment for the sacrilege he committed at the temple of the Lord. Jer 50:21. "Against the land, - Double-rebellion, - go up against it, and against the inhabitants of visitation; lay waste and devote to destruction after them, saith Jahveh, and do according to all that I have commanded thee. Jer 50:22. A sound of war \[is\] in the land, and great destruction. Jer 50:23. How the hammer of the whole earth is cut and broken! how Babylon has become a desolation among the nations! Jer 50:24. I laid snares for thee, yea, and thou hast been taken, O Babylon; but thou didst not know: thou wast found, and also seized, because thou didst strive…”