The Fall of the Gods and Their City: So Yahweh has declared Babylon’s destiny to fall to Cyrus. Now, before the prophet’s eyes, the Babylonian gods make the reverse of the journey that the vessels from the Jerusalem temple had made (ch. 46), and the prophet bids the city itself accept the humiliation of its defeat and the end of its exercise of power in the middle east (ch. 47). One might infer that the situation has moved on and that the city has now actually fallen, but as the chapters continue to unfold this does not seem to be the case. Portraying events as if they are happening and addressing the city as if it has fallen are yet other ways of asserting the certainty of these events and thus seeking to persuade the Judean community to believe in them and live by them.

46:1–7 Bel and Neb…