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51:44 I will punish Bel in Babylon, and make him disgorge what he has swallowed. The nations shall no longer stream to him; the wall of Babylon has fallen. 45 Come out of her, my people! Save your lives, each of you, from the fierce anger of the LORD! 46 Do not be fainthearted or fearful at the rumors heard in the land—one year one rumor comes, the next year another, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. 47 Assuredly, the days are coming when I will punish the images of Babylon; her whole land shall be put to shame, and all her slain shall fall in her midst. 48 Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall shout for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north, says the LORD. 49 Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel, as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon. The MT poetic plus 51:44b-49a (marked in bold) accents both the hope of the new exodus and the justice brought against Babylon according to the empires own tyranny. The insert beginning in verse 44 seems to be explaining what Bel swallowed. If this is viewed in context, then Bel is Nebuchadnezzar the “sea monster” (tannin) who swallowed the inhabitants of Zion (51:34) and expelled them in 51:44a. The potential similarities with the story of the prophet Jonah are intriguing. Copyright © 2010 ScriptureWorkshop.com |