Jeremiah 51:58

Jeremiah 51:58 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Thus saith the Lord of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
• New International Version (NIV)This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Babylon’s thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)"Thus says the Lord of hosts: The broad wall of Babylon shall be leveled to the ground, and her high gates shall be burned with fire. The peoples labor for nothing, and the nations weary themselves only for fire."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Thus says the Lord of hosts: “The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, And her high gates shall be burned with fire; The people will labor in vain, And the nations, because of the fire; And they shall be weary.”

Context of Jeremiah 51:58

56For the destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon; And her mighty warriors will be captured, Their bows are shattered; For the Lord is a God of [just] restitution; He will fully repay. 57“I will make her princes and her wise men drunk, Her governors and her commanders and her mighty warriors; They will sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,” Says the King—the Lord of hosts is His name. Thus says the Lord of hosts, “The broad wall of Babylon will be completely overthrown and the foundations razed And her high gates will be set on fire; The peoples will labor in vain, And the nations become exhausted [only] for fire [that will destroy their work].” 59The message which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Now this Seraiah was chief chamberlain or quartermaster [and brother of Baruch]. 60So Jeremiah wrote in a single scroll all the disaster which would come on Babylon, [that is] all these words which have been written concerning Babylon.

Jeremiah 51:58 word by word

כֹּֽה־אָמַ֞ר יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֗וֹת חֹ֠מוֹת בָּבֶ֤ל הָֽרְחָבָה֙ עַרְעֵ֣ר תִּתְעַרְעָ֔ר וּשְׁעָרֶ֥יהָ הַגְּבֹהִ֖ים בָּאֵ֣שׁ יִצַּ֑תּוּ וְיִֽגְע֨וּ עַמִּ֧ים בְּדֵי־רִ֛יק וּלְאֻמִּ֥ים בְּדֵי־אֵ֖שׁ וְיָעֵֽפוּ׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Thus saithאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• of hostsצָבָאtsâbâ' tsebâ'âh · HostsH6635
• The broadרָחָבrâchâb · broad: wideH7342
• wallsחוֹמָהchômâh · wallH2346
• of Babylonבָּבֶ֫ל, בָּבֶלbâbel · BabylonH894
• shall be utterlyעָרַר‛ârar · to stripH6209
• and her highגָּבֹהַּgâbôhha gâbôhha · highH1364
• gatesשַׁ֫עַרsha‛ar · gateH8179
• shall be burnedיָצַתyâtsath · to kindleH3341
• with fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
• and the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• shall labourיָגֵעַyâga‛ · be weary/toilH3021
• in vainרִיקrîyq · vainH7385
• and the folkלְאֹםle'ôm le'ôm · peopleH3816
• inדַּיday · sufficiencyH1767
• and they shall be wearyיָעֵףyâ‛aph · to faintH3286

Cross-references for Jeremiah 51:58

• Jeremiah 51:44I will punish and judge Bel [the handmade god] in Babylon And take out of his mouth what he has swallowed up [the stolen sacred articles and the captives of Judah and elsewhere]. The nations will no longer flow to him. Yes, the wall of Babylon has fallen down!
• Jeremiah 50:15Raise the battle cry against her on every side! She has given her hand [in agreement] and has surrendered; her pillars have fallen, Her walls have been torn down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord: Take vengeance on her; As she has done [to others], do to her.
• Jeremiah 51:30The mighty warriors of Babylon have ceased to fight; They remain in their strongholds. Their strength and power have failed; They are becoming [weak and helpless] like women. Their dwelling places are set on fire; The bars on her gates are broken.
• Isaiah 45:1This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus [king of Persia], Whose right hand I have held To subdue nations before him, And I will ungird the loins of kings [disarming them]; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
• Jeremiah 51:9We would have healed Babylon, but she was not to be healed. Abandon her and let each [captive] return to his own country, For her guilt and judgment have reached to heaven And are lifted up to the very skies.
• Psalms 127:1Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.
• Isaiah 65:23They will not labor in vain, Or bear children for disaster; For they are the descendants of those blessed by the Lord, And their offspring with them.
• Habakkuk 2:13Is it not indeed from the Lord of hosts That peoples labor [only] for the fire [that will destroy their work], And nations grow weary for nothing [that is, things which have no lasting value]?

Commentaries on Jeremiah 51:58

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 58The broad walls of Babylon - Herodotus, who saw these walls, says, "The city was a regular square, each side of which was one hand red and twenty stadia, the circumference four hundred and eighty stadia. It was surrounded by a wall fifty cubits broad, and two hundred cubits high; and each side had twenty-five brazen gates." - Herod. lib. 1 c. 178. Had not Cyrus resorted to stratagem, humanly speaking, he could not have taken this city. For the destruction…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 58The broad walls - Herodotus makes the breadth of the walls 85 English feet. Broken - See the margin. i. e., the ground beneath them shall be laid bare by their demolition. The people - Or, peoples. Jeremiah concludes his prophecy with a quotation from Habakkuk; applying the words to the stupendous works intended to make Babylon an eternal city, but which were to end in such early and utter disappointment.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 5858. broad walls--eighty-seven feet broad [Rosenmuller]; fifty cubits [Grotius]. A chariot of four horses abreast could meet another on it without collision. The walls were two hundred cubits high, and four hundred and eighty-five stadia, or sixty miles in extent. gates--one hundred in number, of brass; twenty-five on each of the four sides, the city being square; between the gates were two hundred and fifty towers. Berosus says triple walls encompassed…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 51:58

• Babylon
• Persia
• Walls, of the Cities
• War

In the dictionaries

• Babylon
• Babylon, Babylonia, Babylonian
• Lord of Hosts
• Device
• Empty
• Hold
• Mount
• Broad
• Ezekiel
• Faint

Commentaries on Jeremiah 51

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings