Jeremias 25:26
And all the kings of the north far and near, every one against his brother: and all the kingdoms of the earth, which are upon the face thereof: and the king of Sesac shall drink after them.
The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- cunctis quoque regibus aquilonis, de prope et de longe, unicuique contra fratrem suum : et omnibus regnis terræ quæ super faciem ejus sunt : et rex Sesach bibet post eos.
- Septuagint (Swete) shown from Jeremias 32:12
- καὶ πάντας βασιλεῖς ἀπὸ ἀπηλιώτου τοὺς πόρρω καὶ τοὺς ἐγγύς, ἕκαστον πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάσας βασιλείας τὰς ἐπὶ προσώπου τῆς γῆς.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וְאֵ֣ת כָּל מַלְכֵ֣י הַצָּפ֗וֹן הַקְּרֹבִ֤ים וְהָֽרְחֹקִים֙ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל אָחִ֔יו וְאֵת֙ כָּל הַמַּמְלְכ֣וֹת הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל פְּנֵ֣י הָאֲדָמָ֑ה וּמֶ֥לֶךְ שֵׁשַׁ֖ךְ יִשְׁתֶּ֥ה אַחֲרֵיהֶֽם
Haydock's commentary
On verses 25 to 26
Zambri, sprung from Cethura, and dwelling in Arabia, (Calmet) or Persia, (St. Jerome) where Pliny ([Natural History?] vi. 28.) places the Zamarenians.
Elam. Persians, (Haydock) by the sword of Alexander [the Great?], (St. Jerome) or Cyrus subdued those who were subject to the Medes, and united the two nations.
North. Armenia, &c., subdued by Cyrus and by Alexander.
Brother. When Cyrus stood up for the Persians. All shall drink, as at a feast, (Calmet) of this bitter wine.
Face, and forming the empire of Babylon. (Haydock)
Sesac. That is Babel, or Babylon; which after bringing all these people under her yoke, should quickly fall and be destroyed herself. (Challoner)
The Chaldeans are not expressed, to avoid their resentment. The sh in sheshac, is at the same distance from the end as b in Babel is from the beginning of the alphabet. See St. Jerome. (Haydock) (2 Timothy iv. 17.)
Yet they are not elsewhere spared, chap. xlix., &c. Sesac was probably the idol, "anais or the moon." (Calmet)
The Sacean feasts were very dissolute, like the saturnalia at Rome. (Dio. Chrys.[St. Chrysostom?] iv.; Strabo xi.) (Calmet)
Cyrus took Babylon after he had conquered the rest of Asia, and then seizing Nabonides at Borsippe, which was sacred to Anais, "the moon," (Calmet) or Diana, (Strabo xv.) suffered him to die in peace. (Berosus in Josephus, contra Apion 1.)
Thus fell the king of Sesac, an idol worshipped both at Borsippe and at Babylon.
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
Aphrahat Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations, Of Persecution
6. Consider and observe, my hearer, that if God had given a hope to Sodom and to her fellows, He would not have overthrown them with fire and brimstone, the sign of the last day of the world, but would have delivered them over to one of the kingdoms to be chastised. As it is written that when Jeremiah caused the nations and kingdoms to drink the cup of wrath, he said concerning each one of the cities, that after they shall drink the cup, I will turn back the captivity of Elam, of Tyre, of Zidon, of the children of Ammon, and of Moab , and of Edom . Concerning each one of these kingdoms he said: In the last days I well turn back her captivity. Now we see that Tyre was inhabited, and was opulent after she had wandered seventy years , and after she had received the reward of her harlotries and after she had committed fornication with all kingdoms. …