In a passage of deep irony in Jeremiah 50:41–43, the prophet repeats words he used in Jeremiah 6:22–24 as he speaks of an enemy that comes from the north. In Jeremiah 6:1–30 the enemy from the north is Babylon and it is Zedekiah, the king of Judah, who is left helpless because of fear. Now the tables have turned. It is the king of Babylon who is left paralyzed by fear as a new enemy rises from the north. As in many of Jeremiah’s messages of judgment against Judah, the enemy is not named here. This highlights the fact that it is the Lord who is the real enemy. The human enemy will be identified in the next chapter of Jeremiah’s oracle against Babylon.
41 “Behold, a people comes from the north; a mighty nation and many kings are stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.