经文研读
Jeremiah 50:27 — Babylon's Bullocks Led to Slaughter
Jeremiah 50:27 summons the execution of Babylon's mighty ones and announces that the appointed time of her punishment has arrived.
经文
- 27.要 殺 他 的 一 切 牛 犢 ， 使 他 們 下 去 遭 遇 殺 戮 。 他 們 有 禍 了 ， 因 為 追 討 他 們 的 日 子 已 經 來 到 。Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
这段经文的意思
The verse opens with an imperative: "Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter." The term "bullocks" designates the strong, mature males of the herd, and within this judgment oracle against Babylon it points to the city's powerful inhabitants — her warriors, leaders, and defenders. The image of leading animals down to the slaughter conveys inevitability: they are not driven into battle but driven to death, as though the city's might has been reduced to cattle awaiting the knife.
The cry "woe unto them!" intensifies the oracle into a lament over the doomed. The reason given is temporal, not merely moral: "their day is come, the time of their visitation." The language of the "day" and the "visitation" (Hebrew peqah) is forensic — it signals the moment when a long-suspended sentence is finally carried out. Babylon's judgment is portrayed not as an arbitrary outburst but as the execution of an appointed deadline.
Because Babylon is depicted as a herd being led to slaughter, the verse also implies totality. Just as no bullock is spared when the herd is culled, so no mighty one in Babylon will escape. The terseness of the command — slay, send down, declare woe — mirrors the rapidity with which the announced "day" is said to overtake the city.
背景
Verses 24-26 set the stage: Babylon is caught in a snare (v. 24), Jehovah opens His armory against the Chaldeans (v. 25), and invaders are told to come from the border, open her storehouses, and destroy her utterly (v. 26). Verse 27 sits at the center of this call to arms, providing the rationale — the appointed time has come — that justifies the destruction commanded in the surrounding verses.
Verse 31 echoes the same temporal language almost word for word: "Behold, I am against thee, O thou proud one… for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee." This repetition of "day" and "visitation" within the same chapter ties verse 27 to the broader oracle against the "proud one," identifying Babylon's sin as pride against Jehovah and framing her fall as the long-anticipated execution of sentence. The chapter as a whole presents Babylon's overthrow as the liberation of Israel and Judah, whose "Redeemer is strong" (v. 34).
常见问题
Why are Babylon's defenders called "bullocks"?
The term pictures Babylon's mighty men as strong, mature animals of the herd. Because bullocks are prime cattle, the image conveys that none of Babylon's powerful — her warriors and leaders — will be spared when the herd is led down to slaughter.
What does "the time of their visitation" mean?
The word denotes a formal accounting — the appointed moment when a long-deferred sentence is finally carried out. In Jeremiah 50:27 it signals that Babylon's period of impunity is over and the judgment announced against her is now being executed.
How does verse 27 fit into the chapter's structure?
Verse 27 sits between the call to invade (vv. 24-26) and the report of fugitives declaring vengeance in Zion (v. 28). It supplies the temporal justification — the appointed day has come — that authorizes the destruction commanded on every side and that is echoed again in verse 31.