Judgment on Babylon
Jer. 50:6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.
My people hath... Both Judah and Israel of Jer. 50:4 are called "My people," so one has not been cast off any more than the other. None of the tribes are fulfilling the covenants made with their fathers at this time; all are on the same footing and totally scattered among the nations alike.
My people...
עַ ם
‛am, עָ ם
‛ām
A masculine noun meaning a people, peoples, people of the land, citizens. The word is used over nineteen hundred times to indicate groups of people that can be categorized in various ways. The largest group of people is the one comprising the whole earth (see Gen. 11:1); it constituted one people (Gen. 11:6); who shared a common language (Gen. 11:6; Ezk. 3:5); a common location (see Gen. 11:2); and a common purpose and goal (see Gen. 11:4). However, the Lord scattered the group and brought about multiple languages, thereby producing many groups who would then develop into new peoples united around common languages, including common ancestors, religious beliefs, traditions, and ongoing blood relationships.
The word is used to describe various groups that developed. The people of the sons of Israel (Exo. 1:9; Ezra 9:1), was a term referring to all Israel. The people of Judah were a subgroup of Israel (2Sam. 19:40,41), as was northern Israel (2Kgs. 9:6). The people of Israel as a whole could be described in religious or moral terms as a holy, special people (Deu. 7:6; 14:2; Dan. 8:24); or the Lord's inheritance (Deu. 4:20). Above all, they were to be the Lord's people (Jdg. 5:11; 1Sam. 2:24); and the people of God (2Sam. 14:13). They were the Lord's own people because He had rescued them from slavery to Pharaoh and his gods (Exo. 6:7). But the Lord Himself characterized His people as stiff-necked (Exo. 32:9; 33:3; 34:9; Deu. 9:13). To be a member of the Lord's people was to have the Lord as one's God (Ruth1:16); if God's people rejected the Lord, they ceased to be His people. Therefore, it is clear that God's presence and ownership of His people gave them their identity (Exo. 33:13, 33:16; Hos. 1:9; cf. Deu. 32:21).
In the plural form, the word refers to many peoples or nations. Jerusalem, destroyed and lamenting, called for the people of the world to look on it and its guilt (Lam. 1:18). Israel was chosen from among all the peoples of the earth (Exo. 19:5, 19:7; Deu. 14:2). The Lord is in control of all the plans of the nations and peoples (Psm. 33:10). The word is used in parallel with gôyim. Isaac prayed for Jacob's offspring to become a community of peoples that would include the twelve tribes of Israel (Gen. 28:3).
The word described people in general-that is, nonethnic or national groups. It refers to all the people as individuals in the world (Isa. 42:5). When persons died, they were gathered to their people (Gen. 25:8, 25:17). It also referred to people from a particular city (Ruth 4:9; 2Chr. 32:18); or people from a specific land (e.g., Canaan [Zep. 1:11]). Centuries earlier, Pharaoh referred to the Hebrews living in Egypt under slavery as the people of the land (Exo. 5:5). This phrase could refer to the population at large in Solomon's time and later (2Kgs. 11:14, 11:18; 15:5); or to the population of Canaan in Abraham's time (Gen. 23:7).
The term also depicted foreign peoples and nations. The Moabites were the people of the god Chemosh (Num. 21:29). The word designated foreigners in general as strange or alien people (Exo. 21:8); the people of Egypt were considered the people of Pharaoh (Exo. 1:9, 1:22).
The word is even used to describe a gathering of ants (Pro. 30:25); or rock badgers (Pro. 30:26).
hath been...
הָיָה
hāyāh
A verb meaning to exist, to be, to become, to happen, to come to pass, to be done. It is used over 3,500 times in the Old Testament. In the simple stem, the verb often means to become, to take place, to happen. It indicates that something has occurred or come about, such as events that have turned out a certain way (1Sam. 4:16); something has happened to someone, such as Moses (Exo. 32:1, 32:23; 2Kgs. 7:20); or something has occurred just as God said it would (Gen. 1:7, 1:9). Often a special Hebrew construction using the imperfect form of the verb asserts that something came to pass (cf. Gen. 1:7, 1:9). Less often, the construction is used with the perfect form of the verb to refer to something coming to pass in the future (Isa. 7:18, 7:21; Hos. 2:16).
The verb is used to describe something that comes into being or arises. For instance, a great cry arose in Egypt when the firstborn were killed in the tenth plague (Exo. 12:30; cf. Gen. 9:16; Mic. 7:4); and when God commanded light to appear, and it did (Gen. 1:3). It is used to join the subject and verb as in Gen. 1:2 where the earth was desolate and void, or to say Adam and Eve were naked (Gen. 2:25). With certain prepositions, it can mean to follow or to be in favor of someone (Psm. 124:1-2). The verb is used with a variety of other words, normally prepositions, to express subtle differences in meaning, such as to be located somewhere (Exo. 1:5); to serve or function as something (e.g., gods [Exo. 20:3]); to become something or as something, as when a person becomes a living being (Gen. 2:7); to be with or by someone (Deu. 22:2); to be or come on someone or something (e.g., the fear of humans on the beasts [Gen. 9:2]); to express the idea of better than or a comparison (Ezk. 15:2), as in the idea of too small (Exo. 12:4).
lost...
אָבַד
’aḇaḏ
A verb meaning to perish, to be lost, to wander, or, in a causative sense, to destroy, to reduce to some degree of disorder. It is used to signify God's destruction of evil, both threatened (Lev. 26:38) and realized (Num. 17:12,27); Israel's destruction of the Canaanites and their altars (Num. 33:52; Deu. 12:2-3); the perishing of natural life (Psm. 49:10,11]; 102:26,27; Ecc. 7:15); the perishing of abstract qualities such as wisdom and hope (Isa. 29:14; Lam. 3:18); and an item or animal being lost (Deu. 22:3; Ecc. 3:6).
sheep...
צאֹן
ṣō’n
A common noun referring to a flock, sheep. It is used literally most often to refer to small cattle, that is, goats and/or sheep (Gen. 4:2, 4:4; 30:31-32; 1Sam. 25:2). The phrase benê ṣō’n refers to individual sheep or goats (Psm. 114:4). The flock was important for food (Amos 6:4); clothing materials (Gen. 31:19); drink, milk (Deu. 32:14); especially sacrificial victims (Gen. 4:4; Lev. 1:2, 1:10); and as a major part of a person's wealth (Gen. 12:16; 13:5). It is used figuratively often of children, of persons, multitudes of people, of Israel as sheep especially (Num. 27:17; 1Kgs. 22:17; Job 21:11); of Israel wandering as sheep in sin (2Sam. 24:17; Isa. 53:6; Ezk. 24:5; 34:2-3, etc.; Zec. 9:16; 10:2; 11:4; 13:7); of Israel as sheep led by the Lord (Psm. 77:20,21; 78:52); of a scattered, destroyed Babylon as confused sheep (Isa. 13:14; Jer. 50:45). Edom is pictured as a flock (Jer. 49:20).
their shepherds...
רָעָה
rā‛āh
I. A verb meaning to feed, to tend; to be a shepherd. It means in general to care for, to protect, to graze, to feed flocks and herds (Gen. 30:31, 30:36; 37:2; Exo. 3:1; 1Sam. 17:15). In its participial form rō‛eh, it can mean shepherd (Gen. 4:2); sheepherders (Gen. 29:9). Shepherds pasture, lead the sheep, flocks to eat (Job 24:2). It is used figuratively of God as the Shepherd of Jacob and his people (Gen. 48:15; Isa. 40:11; Hos. 4:16). The king of Israel was to shepherd the people for God (2Sam. 5:2; 7:7; Jer. 3:15). The masculine participle refers to the leaders of God's people (Jer. 2:8; 22:22; Ezk. 34:2-3, 34:8, 34:10). God is pictured as the one who shepherds an individual soul, a person (Psm. 49:14,15). It is used figuratively to describe the lips of the wise as shepherding the people (Pro. 10:21). It is used figuratively of the land of Israel, the pastures of the shepherds mourn or dry up (Amos 1:2). It indicates the grazing, feeding of animals, flocks, herds, cattle (Gen. 41:2). Fools feed on folly, not wisdom (Pro. 15:14).
II. A verb meaning to associate with, to be a companion, to be a friend. It indicates a relationship of friendship between persons (Jdg. 14:20); or to live in an area and develop associations with the people of the land (Psm. 37:3). It indicates a person who regularly associates with a group of persons, a companion, an associate, a friend, sharing common ideas and activities (Pro. 13:20; 22:24; 28:7; 29:3).
have caused them to go astray...
תָּעָה
tā‛āh
A verb meaning to err, to wander, and to go astray. The meaning of this Hebrew word primarily rests in the notion of wandering about (Exo. 23:4; Job 38:41). Figuratively, it is used in reference to one who is intoxicated (Isa. 28:7). Most often, however, it refers to erring or being misled in a moral or religious sense (Isa. 53:6; Ezk. 44:10; 2x; Hos. 4:12).
they have turned them away...
שׁוּב
šûḇ
A verb meaning to turn, to return, to go back, to do again, to change, to withdraw, to bring back, to reestablish, to be returned, to bring back, to take, to restore, to recompense, to answer, to hinder. The verb is used over one thousand times and has various shades of meaning in its four stems. In the simple stem, it is used to describe divine and human reactions, attitudes, and feelings. The verb describes the possibility that Israel might change (turn) their minds and return to Egypt (Exo. 13:17). Josiah the king turned back to the Lord with all his heart, soul, and strength (2Kgs. 23:25; Jer. 34:15). Nevertheless, the Lord did not turn from the anger He held toward Judah (2Kgs. 23:26; Jer. 4:28). Job pleaded with his miserable comforters to relent (i.e., turn away) from him (Job 6:29). God's people will return (repent) and seek Him in the last days (Deu. 30:2; Isa. 59:20; Hos. 3:5) instead of turning away from Him as they are now; to return to Egypt (Isa. 6:10; Hos. 11:5). God's call was persistently for His people to return to Him (1Kgs. 8:33; Jer. 4:1). Any nation can repent and turn to God for forgiveness (Jer. 18:8).
The word is used metaphorically to describe things returning: God's Word will not be revoked (returned) once it has been uttered (Isa. 45:23; 55:11); Jacob stayed with Laban until Esau's anger cooled off (turned back) (Gen. 27:44-45); blood guilt could return on one's own head (1Kgs. 2:33; Psm. 7:16,17). This word also describes the sword of Saul that did not return without success from the battlefield (2Sam. 1:22).
The verb also indicates to returning to or to change into. For example, human beings return to the dust of the earth (Gen. 3:19; Ecc. 12:7); but a person cannot naturally return to life (2Sam. 12:23); unless God's Spirit brings it about (1Kgs. 13:6). A land of great natural fertility can be reduced (turned into) to a farmer's cropland (Isa. 29:17).
In its simplest sense, the word means to return, to restore, to go back. Abraham's descendants in their fourth generation would return to Canaan (Gen. 15:16); God returned to visit His people (Gen. 8:9; 18:10). It is also used to describe turning chariots about when needed (1Kgs. 22:33; Mic. 2:8).
This verb is used with other verbs of motion, all in their infinitive or participial forms, to describe a back and forth motion; the ravens Noah sent out went back and forth (Gen. 8:7). Used with another verb in general, šûḇis either not translated or means to do again whatever action is indicated by the other verb, such as when Isaac dug again the wells his father had previously dug (Gen. 26:18). A similar meaning is to take back or recapture when this verb is used with the Hebrew verb lāqaḥ, meaning to take or to receive (2Kgs. 13:25; Mic. 7:19). Finally, if this verb is used with a following infinitive of another verb, it means to do over and over or more and more; Israel angered the Lord more and more than they had already angered Him by performing pagan rituals (Ezk. 8:17).
on the mountains...
הַר
har
A masculine noun indicating a hill, hill country, mountain, mountain range. With a following modifying word, it may mean a mountain range, such as the mountains or hill country of Gilead (Gen. 31:21; cf. Deu. 1:7; Jos. 17:15; Jdg. 12:15) or denote individual mountains or Mount Ebal (Deu. 11:29). It indicates a particular mountain from the context without naming it (Gen. 22:2). Combined with the word for God, ’elohı̄ym, preceding, it points out the mountain of God (Exo. 4:27; 18:5; 24:13; Psm. 68:15,16) or mountain of the Lord used with yhwh (Num. 10:33). These mountains and hills were sacred places for the gods of the pagan peoples of Canaan (Deu. 12:2), also called gods of the mountains (1Kgs. 20:23). It refers to the har-mō’ēḏ or the mountain of assembly, a dwelling place of the gods (Isa. 14:13). The word is used in a figurative sense often: the Lord weighs the mountains in His hand (Isa. 40:12) and can lay them waste as a sign of His judgments (Isa. 42:15). God causes His people to thresh the mountains as a sign of their defeating their foes (Isa. 41:15). God calls the mountains as His witnesses (Mic. 6:2) and speaks to them (Ezk. 36:1, 36:4, 36:8). They are expected to praise the Lord (Psm. 148:9), and they leap in praise (Psm. 114:4, 114:6). The mountains symbolize strength (Isa. 2:14); great age, antiquity, and stability (Pro. 8:25), yet the Lord's love is even more enduring (Isa. 54:10).
they have gone...
הָלַךּ
hālaḵ
A verb meaning to go, to come, to walk. This common word carries with it the basic idea of movement: the flowing of a river (Gen. 2:14); the descending of floods (Gen. 8:3); the crawling of beasts (Lev. 11:27); the slithering of snakes (Lev. 11:42); the blowing of the wind (Ecc. 1:6); the tossing of the sea (Jon. 1:13). Since it is usually a person who is moving, it is frequently translated "walk" (Gen. 48:15; 2Sam. 15:30). Like a similar verb dāraḵ, meaning to tread, this word is also used metaphorically to speak of the pathways (i.e., behavior) of one's life. A son could walk in (i.e., follow after) the ways of his father (2Chr. 17:3) or not (1Sam. 8:3). Israel was commanded to walk in the ways of the Lord (Deu. 28:9), but they often walked after other gods (2Kgs. 13:11).
from mountain...
מִן
min, מִנִּי
minniy, מִנֵּי
minnēy
A preposition used to indicate from, out of, away from; more than: after, since; immediately; because of, since, so that; without; direction as southward, etc.). Its spelling varies according to its location and usage. Its basic meaning is from, away from, out of. Its basic meanings only can be noted here, but its exact meaning is easily discerned from its context: (1) With verbs, it expresses separation spatially or figuratively (Exo. 19:14; Deu. 22:8; Jos. 10:7). It can be used with a verb not indicating separation, e.g., to stay away from strife (Pro. 20:3; Isa. 14:19). (2) With the basic sense of out of, from (Gen. 3:22-24; 4:10; 34:26; Exo. 2:10; 8:9,5; Jdg. 15:7; Psm. 40:2,3), it often indicates what something is made of or formed from (Gen. 2:19; Hos. 13:2). With a pronominal suffix meaning from it, it means of one piece with it (Exo. 25:19, 25:31). It indicates a cause for something, on account of, because (Exo. 2:23; 6:9; 1Kgs. 14:4; Pro. 20:4; Isa. 53:5). (3) It is used to mean something is a part of something else, a part or share of it (Gen. 6:19; 7:8; 39:11; Num. 16:2). It indicates some of in an indefinite sense (Exo. 16:27; Lev. 25:49; Psm. 137:3). When repeated it means some . . . others or its equivalent expression (1Chr. 9:28-29). (4) It is used to mark time: from, since (Deu. 9:24), from a certain day or time (Lev. 22:27; Num. 15:23; 1Sam. 18:9). It is used in phrases to mean from ancient times, antiquity (Hab. 1:12); from of old (Isa. 42:14). It indicates right after a certain time (Gen. 38:24; Jos. 23:1; Ezk. 38:8). (5) Paired with ‛aḏ it usually means from . . . even to, as far as (Gen. 10:19; 15:18; Exo. 11:7; Jer. 51:62). In a figurative sense, this same construction can mean e.g., from young . . . to old, both inclusive (Gen. 19:4; 1Sam. 5:9; Jer. 6:13). (6) It may further indicate than, in comparisons (Lev. 21:10; Jdg. 14:18). (7) Prefixed to an infinitive, it is often translated as from (Gen. 16:2); a few times as on account of or because (Deu. 7:7-8); or temporally as since or after (Num. 24:23; Isa. 44:7). (8) It is often attached to other words in compounds and is sometimes used in front of infinitives of verbs: e.g., with ‛āḇaḏ meaning from serving (Exo. 14:5); with bāla‛ meaning from destroying (Lam. 2:8). (9) It is used in front of a verb form once as a conjunction indicating a negative purpose, "that . . . not" (Deu. 33:11). Other uses almost always fall under one of the above categories.
to...
אֵל
’ēl, אֶל
’el
A preposition meaning to, into, concerning. It has the basic meaning of toward. It is used in all kinds of situations indicating direction (Gen. 2:19; 16:11; 18:7; Lev. 1:16). It is used metaphorically to refer to speaking to someone (Gen. 8:15) or sexual intercourse (Gen. 16:2; Num. 25:1). It indicates direction when things face each other (Num. 12:8). Its use in the idiom hinneni ’ēl indicates motion toward (Gen. 4:8). Other meanings according to context are: as far as (Jer. 51:9); into (Jon. 1:5); to sit at (Gen. 24:11; 1Kgs. 13:20). Used figuratively, it can mean with regard to something (2Sam. 1:24). When used with other prepositions, it indicates direction or location according to the preposition it is being combined with (Jos. 15:13; 17:4; 1Kgs. 8:6; 2Kgs. 9:18).
It is used in place of or interchangeably for the preposition ‛al and takes on the meaning of upon, on (Jos. 5:14; Jdg. 6:37).
hill...
גִּבְעָה
giḇ‛āh
A feminine noun denoting a hill. It often simply refers to a hill, not a mountain (Exo. 17:9-10; 2Sam. 2:25) but often with negative implications that Israel used these natural locations as illicit places of worship of foreign gods (1Kgs. 14:23; 2Kgs. 17:10; Jer. 2:20). It often stands poetically in a parallel relationship with Hebrew hār, mountain, and means the same thing (Deu. 33:15; Psm. 72:3; 114:4, 114:6; Isa. 2:2, 2:14; 30:17, 30:25; Joel 3:18; 4:18). It is combined with a following word to designate a specific hill: teacher's hill; hill of Moreh (Jdg. 7:1); hill of foreskins, Gibeath Haaraloth (Jos. 5:3); hill of God (1Sam. 10:5; NIV, Gibeah of God). It designates in general the hills where Jerusalem is located (Zep. 1:10).
they have forgotten...
שָׁכַח
šāḵaḥ
A verb meaning to forget. It indicates that something has been lost to memory, or a period of time has softened the memory of it: hatred (Gen. 27:45); forgetting a person or an event (Gen. 40:23); forgetting the days of much food, abundance (Gen. 41:30). It is an especially important word with respect to God and His people: God never forgets them (Isa. 49:15); they are not to forget their God, His covenant, and His deeds (Deu. 4:9, 4:23, 4:31; 6:12; 8:11; 9:7; 25:19; 32:18). But God does not pass over, wink at, or forget the wickedness of His people (Lam. 5:20; Amos 8:7). Those who forget God wither away (Job 8:13), as well as all the nations who forget Him. The helpless must not be left alone (Psm. 10:12). God's Law must not be forgotten (Psm. 119:61, 119:83, 119:93). Wisdom's teachings are not to be forgotten (Pro. 3:1; 4:5).
their restingplace...
רֵבֶץ
rēḇeṣ
A masculine noun referring to a resting place, a dwelling place. Figuratively, it depicts a resting place, a place of security for the righteous person (Pro. 24:15). In a more literal sense, it indicates a safe resting place where danger is removed (Isa. 35:7); a pleasant place to live, a home (Isa. 65:10; Jer. 50:6).
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