As I was reading Jeremiah 51 today, I noticed something in the footnotes that I’ve never seen elsewhere in the Bible. Here’s the verse I read.
“How Sheshak will be captured, the boast of the whole earth seized! How desolate Babylon will be among the nations!” (emphasis added)
Jeremiah 51:41 (NIV)
Sheshak is another name for Babylon, but it’s more than that. It’s a cryptogram that uses the Atbash cipher. When the cipher is applied, the revealed word is “Babylon.” Since I usually read footnotes, this stood out because it was the second instance I had seen in today’s reading of a cipher being used. The other occurrence was this verse from Jeremiah 51.
This is what the Lord says: “See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai (emphasis added).”
Jeremiah 51:1 (NIV)
“Leb Kamai” decoded becomes “Babylonia.” Since I don’t recall ever seeing a cipher used in the Bible, I looked into why Jeremiah might have used a cryptographic code to “disguise” words that he uses elsewhere in the text with no disguise. Apparently, no one knows.
Some say that Sheshak refers to “shishaki,” one of the moon gods of the Babylonians. Others say it wasn’t in the original text since it’s not in the Septuagint and claim it was added later by someone wanting to protect Jeremiah from the wrath of the Babylonians. However, that theory doesn’t make sense. The message in Jeremiah 51, as evidenced by these verses, was sent to Babylon to be read aloud.
He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.'”
Jeremiah 51:61-62 (NIV)
In this message to the Jews in exile, Jeremiah directly names Babylon, so disguising two references to Babylon in code to protect him doesn’t make sense. Jeremiah also uses the word, “Babylon” 43 times in Jeremiah 51 to describe, well, Babylon. Another issue is that the term “Sheshak” was a common word to describe Babylon by the Jews and would have been known by those hearing it. Whatever the original reason, I thought it was something interesting to share.
I did, however, apply 2 Timothy 3:16 to these verses.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
When I asked the Lord what he was telling me through these verses, he said to me that we might not always know why something was put into the Bible or what it means, but we can always trust that it served the intended purpose. In other words, “Trust me, and don’t worry about it.”
Thanks for stopping by!
Four-Calendar Café 
This was an interesting rabbit trail and one I had not heard of. We know that the Lord’s word always accomplishes its purpose. Although we have no means of knowing at this point, one possibility could have been that these verses were meant as an encryption “key” to those who read the text in Hebrew, perhaps allowing them to encode or decode other writings or messages. I’m sure there are other possibilities as well. Wherever the Lord’s people have suffered persecution there has been (and still exists) the need to conceal some things for the safety of His people.
Consider the following verses:
Mar 14:13 And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him,
Mar 14:14 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’
Mar 14:15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”
It was observed by Richard Wurmbrand, who spent many years working in the underground church in Romania, that these jars of water were typically carried by women, so there would have been little chance of identifying the wrong person. He believed that this was an instance where the Lord had made prior arrangements and arranged a subtle signal to avoid having to publish the name of their host or have his disciples, who were known to many, inquiring publicly as to the location of the man’s residence. Each party had a means to validate the other’s identity. The man with the jar established his identity via the jar and in turn the disciples were given the “pass phrase” that they were to recite to the master of the house to prove their identity to him. Of course, this is conjecture, but not unreasonable and more plausible than the other alternatives in my opinion.
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“these verses were meant as an encryption “key” to those who read the text in Hebrew, perhaps allowing them to encode or decode other writings or messages.”
I hadn’t thought about this, but it makes sense.
I’m familiar with those verses from Mark and the idea that water jars were mostly carried by women. I hadn’t considered a lack of identification beyond pointing out that the man was a follower of Jesus.
I’m vaguely familiar with things like Ichthys (fish symbol) but haven’t delved much into these areas before.
Thanks for stopping by and for your thought-provoking comment!
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