English Standard Version
Jeremiah 50:3
3"For out of the north a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; both man and beast shall flee away.
Jeremiah 50:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
- New International Version (NIV)A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both people and animals will flee away.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For out of the north a nation comes up against her, Which shall make her land desolate, And no one shall dwell therein. They shall move, they shall depart, Both man and beast.
- New Living Translation (NLT)For a nation will attack her from the north and bring such destruction that no one will live there again. Everything will be gone; both people and animals will flee.
Context of Jeremiah 50:3
1The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon, concerning the land of the Chaldeans, by Jeremiah the prophet: 2"Declare among the nations and proclaim, set up a banner and proclaim, conceal it not, and say: 'Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.' "For out of the north a nation has come up against her, which shall make her land a desolation, and none shall dwell in it; both man and beast shall flee away. 4"In those days and in that time, declares the Lord, the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God. 5They shall ask the way to Zion, with faces turned toward it, saying, 'Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.'
Read all of Jeremiah 50Jeremiah 50:3 word by word
כִּ֣י עָלָה֩ עָלֶ֨יהָ גּ֜וֹי מִצָּפ֗וֹן הֽוּא־יָשִׁ֤ית אֶת־אַרְצָהּ֙ לְשַׁמָּ֔ה וְלֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֥ה יוֹשֵׁ֖ב בָּ֑הּ מֵאָדָ֥ם וְעַד־בְּהֵמָ֖ה נָ֥דוּ הָלָֽכוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For out of the northצָפוֹןtsâphôn tsâphôn · northH6828
- there cometh upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
- a nationגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
- against her, which shall makeשִׁיתshîyth · to set: makeH7896
- her landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
- desolateשַׁמָּהshammâh · horror: destroyedH8047
- and none shall dwellיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- therein: they shall removeנוּדnûd · to wanderH5110
- they shall departהָלַךְhâlak · to go: wentH1980
- both manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120
- and beastבְּהֵמָהbehêmâh · animalH929
Cross-references for Jeremiah 50:3
- Jeremiah 50:9For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed.
- Jeremiah 51:11"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.
- Isaiah 13:5They come from a distant land, from the end of the heavens, the Lord and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
- Jeremiah 50:12your mother shall be utterly shamed, and she who bore you shall be disgraced. Behold, she shall be the last of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
- Jeremiah 51:8Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken; wail for her! Take balm for her pain; perhaps she may be healed.
- Isaiah 13:6Wail, for the day of the Lord is near; as destruction from the Almighty it will come!
- Isaiah 14:22"I will rise up against them," declares the Lord of hosts, "and will cut off from Babylon name and remnant, descendants and posterity," declares the Lord.
- Revelation 18:21Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more;
- Jeremiah 7:20Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched."
- Jeremiah 21:6And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence.
- Genesis 6:7So the Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them."
- Exodus 12:12For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.
- Zephaniah 1:3"I will sweep away man and beast; I will sweep away the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, and the rubble with the wicked. I will cut off mankind from the face of the earth," declares the Lord.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 50:3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Out of the north there cometh up a nation - The Medes, who formed the chief part of the army of Cyrus, lay to the north or north-east of Babylon. Shall make her land desolate - This war, and the consequent taking of the city, began those disasters that brought Babylon in process of time to complete desolation; so that now it is not known where it stood, the whole country being a total solitude.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Out of the north - Media lay to the northwest of Babylon. This constant use of the north, the quarter where the sun never shines, and therefore the region of darkness, is symbolic of the region from where danger ever comes. They shall remove - Translate it (as in Jeremiah 9:10): “from man even to cattle they are fled, they are gone.”Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3The nation from the north was Persia, led by Cyrus in 539 BC. Persia was east of Babylon. It first attacked Babylonia in the north and then moved south. The attack destroyed the powerful Babylonian Empire.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. a nation--the Medes, north of Babylon (Jr 51:48). The devastation of Babylon here foretold includes not only that by Cyrus, but also that more utter one by Darius, who took Babylon by artifice when it had revolted from Persia, and mercilessly slaughtered the inhabitants, hanging four thousand of the nobles; also the final desertion of Babylon, owing to Seleucia having been built close by under Seleucus Nicanor.Read the comment
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 50
- 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries