(25) Zimri.--The name occurs nowhere else in the Bible or out of it as the name of a country. It is possibly connected with Zimran, the eldest son of Abraham by Keturah (Genesis 25:2), and points, therefore--as does its position here--to a nomad tribe in Arabia lying between the Red Sea, Arabia, and the Persian Gulf. The name Zabram occurs in Greek geographers as that of a city on the Red Sea west of Mecca, and there was a Zimara on the Upper Euphrates. "Elam," properly applied to the region of which Susa was the capital (Daniel 8:2), was extended by the Hebrew writers to the whole of Persia. (See Notes on Genesis 10:22; Genesis 14:1-12; Isaiah 21:2.) As in the last of these references, it is coupled here with Media.

Verse 25. - Zimri. The Zimri were a people to the northeast of Assyria, against whom various Assyrian kings waged war (Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, 1878, pp. 13, 15, 34; 'Records of the Past,' 5:41). Whether they axe to be connected with the Zimran of Genesis 25:2 seems doubtful; their locality hardly suits. Elam. Elam, one of the most ancient monarchies in the world (comp. Genesis 14.), is again coupled with Media in Isaiah 21:2. It was a region on the east of the lower Tigris, bounded westward by Babylonia, northward by Assyria and Media, southward by the Persian Gulf. To say that it is put either here or anywhere else in the Old Testament for the whole of Persia seems a mistake, as the Persians were hardly known before the time of Cyrus.

25:15-29 The evil and the good events of life are often represented in Scripture as cups. Under this figure is represented the desolation then coming upon that part of the world, of which Nebuchadnezzar, who had just began to reign and act, was to be the instrument; but this destroying sword would come from the hand of God. The desolations the sword should make in all these kingdoms, are represented by the consequences of excessive drinking. This may make us loathe the sin of drunkenness, that the consequences of it are used to set forth such a woful condition. Drunkenness deprives men of the use of their reason, makes men as mad. It takes from them the valuable blessing, health; and is a sin which is its own punishment. This may also make us dread the judgments of war. It soon fills a nation with confusion. They will refuse to take the cup at thy hand. They will not believe Jeremiah; but he must tell them it is the word of the Lord of hosts, and it is in vain for them to struggle against Almighty power. And if God's judgments begin with backsliding professors, let not the wicked expect to escape.And all the kings of Zimri,.... Of Arabia Felix, so called from Zimran, a son of Abraham by Keturah, Genesis 25:2; the same whom Pliny (n) calls Zamerenes;

and all the kings of Elam; or Persia; who are prophesied against in Jeremiah 49:34;

and all the kings of the Medes; who commonly go together with the Persians.

(n) Nat. Hist. I. 6. c. 28.