Jeremiah 49:39

King James Version (KJV)

But it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the Lord.

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

I will bring again the captivity of Elam - As this is to be in the latter days, probably it may mean the spiritual freedom which these people would receive under the Gospel dispensation. Under Cyrus, the Elamites, collected out of all quarters, were united with the Persians, their neighbors, and became, with them, masters of the east. See Calmet and Dahler. There are still, however, difficulties on this subject. Who the Elamites were is still a question. That which appears to be nearest the truth is, that the Elamites and Persians were two distinct people, and continued so till blended together under Cyrus. It is in this light that I have considered the subject in the preceding notes. Neighboring people are frequently confounded in history, and sometimes the name of a people is given to those who have the same character.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

Elam - Elam was subject to Babylon Daniel 8:2, and its capital Shushan a favorite residence of the Persian kings Esther 1:2. Of its subsequent fate we know little; the Elamites continued to exist, and members of their nation were present at Pentecost among those chosen to represent the Gentile world at the first preaching of the Gospel Acts 2:9.

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

The Elamites were the Persians; they acted against God's Israel, and must be reckoned with. Evil pursues sinners. God will make them know that he reigns. Yet the destruction of Elam shall not be for ever. But this promise was to have its full accomplishment in the days of the Messiah. In reading the Divine assurance of the destruction of all the enemies of the church, the believer sees that the issue of the holy war is not doubtful. It is blessed to recollect, that He who is for us, is more than all against us. And he will subdue the enemies of our souls.

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

39. Bring again. See on ch. 48:47.

1. Word that the Lord. See on ch. 46:1.

Many of the expressions of chs. 50; 51 descriptive of the desolation of literal Babylon appear again in Rev. 16 to 19 in John’s delineation of the fall of mystical Babylon (see on Isa. 47:1). A careful study of these expressions in their historical setting can prove of aid in clarifying the meaning of the same expressions in their setting in the book of Revelation. Note the following:

Jeremiah 50; 51	Revelation 16 to 19
1. “There cometh up a nation against her” (50:3). “Cause to come up against Babylon an as-sembly of great nations” (50:9; cf. v. 3).	1. “The kings of the earth . . . gather . . . to the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (16:14). “The ten horns . . . are ten kings. . . These shall hate the whore”(17:12, 16).
2. “Make her land des-olate” (50:3).	2. Make her desolate and naked (17:16).
3. “Go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans” (50:8). “My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver every man his soul” (51:45; cf. v. 6).	3. “Come out of her, my people” (18:4).
4. “Destroys of mine heritage” (50:11).	4. “I saw the women drunken with the blood of the saints” (17:6; cf. 18: 24).
5. “Not be inhabited” (50:13). “It shall be no more inhabited forever” (50: 39).	5. “The voice of harp-ers [etc.] . . . shall be heard no more at all in thee” (18:22).
6. “Every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished” (50:13). “At the noise of the tak-ing of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations” (50:46). “Howl for her” (51:8).	6. “The kings of the earth . . . shall bewail her, and lament for her” (18:9; cf. vs. 10, 11, 15-19).
7. “Her plagues” (50:13).	7. “Her plagues” (18:4).
8. “The vengeance of the Lord” (50:15). “The time of the Lord’s vengeance” (51:6).	8. “God hath avenged you on her” (18:20). “Great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” (16:19). “Strong is the Lord God who judgeth her” (18:8). “He hath judged the great whore” (19:2).
9. “As she hath done, do unto her” (50:15). “Recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her” (50:29). “Render unto her a recompence” (51:6).	9. “Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works” (18:6).
10. “I will kindle a fire in his cities” (50:32). “A burnt mountain” (51:25).	10. “Burn her with fire” (17:16). “She shall be utterly burned with fire” (18:8). “The smoke of her burning” (18:9).
11. “They [her waters] shall be dried up” (50:38). “I will dr up her sea” (51:36). “Dwellest upon many waters” (51:13).	11. “The water thereof [the great river Euphrates] was dried up” (16:12).
12. “Be not cutt off in her iniquity” (51:6).	12. “That ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (18:4).
13. “Babylon . . . made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad” (51:7).	13. “The inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication” (17:2). “All nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication” (18:3; cf. 14:8).
14. “Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed” (51:8).	14. “In one hour is thy judgment come” (18:10). “In one hour is she made desolate” (18:19).
15. “Her judgment reacheth unto heaven” (51:9).	15. “Her sins have reached unto heaven” (18:5; cf. v. 2).
16. “Abundant in treasures” (51:13).	16. “So great riches” (18:17; cf. vs. 7, 14, 15, 19).
17. “Thine end is come” (51:13). “Not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her” (51:64).	17. “Shall be found no more at all” (18:21; cf. vs. 22, 23).
18. “He [the Lord] uttereth his voice (51:14, 16).	18. “There came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done” (16:17). “God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will . . . the words of God shall be fulfilled” (17:17).
19. “The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof” (51:42). “Bind a stone to it, and cast it ino he midst of Euphrates. . . . Thus shall Babylon sink” (51:63, 64).	19. “A great millstone . . . cast . . . into the sea, . . . Thus . . . shall that great city Babylon be thrown down” (18:21).

See also on Isa. 13; 14; 47:1; Jer. 25:12; cf. Eze. 26:13.

Babylon. Jeremiah’s prophecy against Babylon is the longest (chs. 50:1-51:58) of his utterances against the foreign nations surrounding Israel. Babylon was at this time the dominant power in the Near East, and was the chief adversary of the people of Judah. The other nations had from time to time molested Judah, but Babylon conquered and destroyed her. This prophecy is evidently to be dated in the 4th year of Zedekiah (see ch. 51:59, 60), 594/593 b.c., autumn to autumn.

Some have wondered that Jeremiah, whose policy it was to urge cooperation with Babylon (ch. 27:12-18), should at such a crucial time as this deliver so strong a pronouncement against that country. The answer seems to lie in the fact that this prophecy was not given for the benefit of the Jews at Jerusalem, to whom Jeremiah directed his urgent messages of faithfulness to Babylon, but was intended, rather, for the Israelites who were exiles in Babylon (see chs. 50:4-8, 17-20; 51:60-64). If the message reached the Babylonians, it was to them a warning that Jehovah would still bring judgment and destruction upon them for their failure to cooperate fully with Heaven’s plan. To the Jewish exiles it was an assurance that God had not forgotten their plight, and that there would be a day of restoration for them.

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