Jeremiah 51:11

Jeremiah 51:11 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple.
• New International Version (NIV)“Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields! The Lord has stirred up the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is to destroy Babylon. The Lord will take vengeance, vengeance for his temple.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"Sharpen the arrows! Take up the shields! The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, for that is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for his temple.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Make the arrows bright! Gather the shields! The Lord has raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes. For His plan is against Babylon to destroy it, Because it is the vengeance of the Lord, The vengeance for His temple.

Context of Jeremiah 51:11

9The foreign people in Babylon say, “We tried to make its wounds better, but it was not possible to do it. Now we must leave it. We must each go back to our own country. Its punishment will have no end. It will reach as high as the sky!” 10The people from Judah who are in Babylon say, “The Lord has shown that we are his people. Now we must go to Jerusalem. We must tell people in Zion about how the Lord our God has helped us.” ’ ‘Make your arrows sharp! Prepare your weapons! The Lord has caused Media's kings to prepare for war. He will use them to destroy Babylon. The Lord will punish the people of Babylonia because they destroyed his temple. 12Wave a flag and prepare to attack Babylon's city walls! Bring plenty of guards to watch all around the city. Put soldiers to catch anyone who tries to escape. Yes, the Lord will now do everything that he has decided. He will punish Babylon's people, as he said he would do. 13You people of Babylon, who live beside many rivers, it is now time for you to die. You have become rich with many valuable things, but now your lives will finish.’

Jeremiah 51:11 word by word

הָבֵ֣רוּ הַחִצִּים֮ מִלְא֣וּ הַשְּׁלָטִים֒ הֵעִ֣יר יְהוָ֗ה אֶת־ר֙וּחַ֙ מַלְכֵ֣י מָדַ֔י כִּֽי־עַל־בָּבֶ֥ל מְזִמָּת֖וֹ לְהַשְׁחִיתָ֑הּ כִּֽי־נִקְמַ֤ת יְהוָה֙ הִ֔יא נִקְמַ֖ת הֵיכָלֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Make brightבָּרַרbârar · to purifyH1305
• the arrowsחֵץchêts · arrowH2671
• gatherמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
• the shieldsשֶׁ֫לֶטsheleţ · shieldH7982
• the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• hath raised upעוּר‛ûr · to rouseH5782
• the spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
• of the kingsמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• of the Medesמָדַיmâday · MedeH4074
• for his deviceמְזִמָּהmezimmâh · plotH4209
• against Babylonבָּבֶ֫ל, בָּבֶלbâbel · BabylonH894
• to destroyשָׁחַתshâchath · to ruinH7843
• the vengeanceנְקָמָהneqâmâh · vengeanceH5360
• of his templeהֵיכָלhêykâl · templeH1964

Cross-references for Jeremiah 51:11

• Jeremiah 46:4Prepare your horses and sit on them. Put on your helmets and be ready to fight. Make your spears sharp. Put on your armour!’
• Jeremiah 50:9I will call a group of strong nations from the north. They will join together to fight against Babylon. They will get ready to attack. They will come from the north and they will take power over Babylon. Their arrows will be like brave soldiers. They will kill everyone that they want to kill.
• Isaiah 21:5Look! They are preparing a feast. They put down carpets for people to sit on. They are eating and they are drinking. Officers, stand up! Make your shields ready for battle!
• Jeremiah 51:27‘Call the nations to come and fight a battle against Babylonia. Wave a flag and make a noise with trumpets, so that these kingdoms prepare their armies to attack: Ararat, Minni and Ashkenaz. Choose a captain to lead them into battle. Send an army of soldiers on horses to attack, like a large crowd of locusts.
• 1 Kings 11:14The Lord brought an enemy to attack Solomon. He was Hadad who came from Edom. Hadad belonged to the king of Edom's family.
• 1 Chronicles 5:26So the God of Israel caused King Pul of Assyria to attack their land. That king is also called King Tiglath-Pileser. He won the fight against the people of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. He took them away as his prisoners to Halah, to Habor, to Hara and to the Gozan river. They are still living there, even today.
• 2 Chronicles 36:22In the first year that Cyrus, king of Persia, was ruling Babylon, the Lord put a thought in his mind. King Cyrus decided to send a message to everybody who lived in his kingdom. His message would cause what God had already spoken to his prophet Jeremiah to become true. The message was written down and people took it all over Cyrus's kingdom. It said:
• Ezra 1:1In the first year that Cyrus, king of Persia, was ruling Babylon, the Lord put a thought in his mind. King Cyrus decided to send a message to everybody who lived in his kingdom. His message would cause what God had already spoken to his prophet Jeremiah to become true. The message was written down and people took it all over Cyrus's kingdom. It said:
• Isaiah 10:26Yes, the Lord Almighty will punish the Assyrians, like someone who uses a whip to beat them. That is how he destroyed the Midianites at the Rock of Oreb. He will hold his stick over the sea. He will lift it up as he did in Egypt.
• Isaiah 13:17Look! I will cause the Medes to come and attack Babylon. Their army has no interest in silver or gold, so nobody can pay them to stop.
• Isaiah 13:18Their arrows will kill Babylon's young men. They will not let babies or children go free.
• Isaiah 21:2The Lord showed me a vision of terrible things. ‘People are deceiving one another! People are destroying one another! Elam, go to attack Babylon! People from Media, attack all round the city! I will stop all the tears that Babylon's armies have caused.’
• Isaiah 41:25I have woken up a ruler, who is coming with his army from the north. He comes from a land in the east, where the sun rises, and he will use my name to call to me. He will walk over rulers of other nations as if they are mud. He will push them down with his feet, like a potter who prepares his clay.
• Isaiah 45:1The Lord says this to Cyrus, the king that he has chosen to serve him: ‘I hold your right hand. I give you power over other nations, to take away the weapons of their kings. I will open the gates of cities in front of you, and they will stay open.
• Isaiah 46:11Now I will call somebody to come from the east. He will come down quickly, like an eagle that catches small birds to eat. He will come from a country that is far away. He will do for me what I want to do. Yes, I will surely do what I have decided to do. I have given the command, and I will cause it to happen.
• Revelation 17:16The wild animal and the ten horns that you saw will hate the prostitute. Those rulers will destroy her. They will remove all her clothes. They will eat the meat on her body. Then they will burn her with fire.

Commentaries on Jeremiah 51:11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 11Make bright the arrows - This is the prophet's address to Babylon. The Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes - Of Cyaxares king of Media, called Darius the Mede in Scripture; and of Cyrus king of Persia, presumptive heir of the throne of Cyaxares, his uncle. Cambyses, his father, sent him, Cyrus, with 30, 000 men to assist his uncle Cyaxares, against Neriglissar king of Babylon, and by these was Babylon overthrown.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11Make bright - Rather, Sharpen. The Medes Genesis 10:2 were a branch of the great Aryan family, who as conquerors had seized upon the vast regions extending from the Caspian Sea to the eastern borders of Mesopotamia, but without being able to dispossess the Turanian tribes who had previously dwelt there. They were divided into numerous clans, each with its own local chief, the leaders of the larger sections being those who are here called kings.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11-12The kings of the Medes included Cyrus. He marched against Babylon and overthrew it in 539 BC.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1111. Make bright--literally, "pure." Polish and sharpen. gather--literally, "fill"; that is, gather in full number, so that none be wanting. So, "gave in full tale" (1Sa 18:27). Gesenius, not so well, translates, "Fill with your bodies the shields" (compare So 4:4). He means to tell the Babylonians, Make what preparations you will, all will be in vain (compare Jr 46:3-6). kings of ... Medes--He names the Medes rather than the Persians, because Darius, or…Read the comment

Topics related to Jeremiah 51:11

• Persia

In the dictionaries

• Babylon
• Medes
• Babylon, Babylonia, Babylonian
• Mede, Medes, Media
• Device
• Empty
• Hold
• Media
• Mount
• Ezekiel

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