English Standard Version
Jeremiah 51:58
58"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."
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.”
- 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.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “The thick walls of Babylon will be leveled to the ground, and her massive gates will be burned. The builders from many lands have worked in vain, for their work will be destroyed by fire!”
Context of Jeremiah 51:58
56for a destroyer has come upon her, upon Babylon; her warriors are taken; their bows are broken in pieces, for the Lord is a God of recompense; he will surely repay. 57I will make drunk her officials and her wise men, her governors, her commanders, and her warriors; they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake, declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts. "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." 59The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
Read all of Jeremiah 51Jeremiah 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 51:44And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed. The nations shall no longer flow to him; the wall of Babylon has fallen.
- Jeremiah 50:15Raise a shout against her all around; she has surrendered; her bulwarks have fallen; her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done.
- Jeremiah 51:30The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting; they remain in their strongholds; their strength has failed; they have become women; her dwellings are on fire; her bars are broken.
- Isaiah 45:1Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed:
- Jeremiah 51:9We would have healed Babylon, but she was not healed. Forsake her, and let us go each to his own country, for her judgment has reached up to heaven and has been lifted up even to the skies.
- Psalms 127:1Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
- Isaiah 65:23They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them.
- Habakkuk 2:13Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts that peoples labor merely for fire, and nations weary themselves for nothing?
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
In the dictionaries
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
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Commentaries