Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, [till] the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; [and] he brought it to ruin.
Ver. 13. Behold the land of the Chaldeans,] q.d., The Chaldees were once no such considerable people, but lay hid under the grandeur of the Assyrian monarchy, which did set them up. Howbeit in time the Assyrians at length were devoured by the Chaldees, Nineveh by Babylon; Filia devoravit matrem, as the proverb is. And why may not the like be done to Tyre? Others make this to be the prophet's speech to the Chaldees, Behold, O land of the Chaldees! This people, of Tyre, was not, however they boast of their antiquity, till the Assyrians, those monarchs of the world, founded it, Ut esset statio carinis, to be a fit place for shipping, or for barbarians. See 2 Kings 17:24. Down with it, therefore; bring it to vastity. a
a Calvin.