God’s Word Translation
Jeremiah 51:20
20“You are my war club and my weapon for battle. I will use you to crush nations. I will use you to destroy kingdoms.
Jeremiah 51:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms;
- New International Version (NIV)“You are my war club, my weapon for battle— with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms,
- English Standard Version (ESV)"You are my hammer and weapon of war: with you I break nations in pieces; with you I destroy kingdoms;
- New King James Version (NKJV)“You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms;
Context of Jeremiah 51:20
18They can’t breathe. They are worthless jokes. When they are punished, they will disappear. 19Jacob’s God isn’t like them. He made everything, and Israel is the tribe that belongs to him. His name is the Lord of Armies. “You are my war club and my weapon for battle. I will use you to crush nations. I will use you to destroy kingdoms. 21I will use you to crush horses and their riders. I will use you to crush chariots and their drivers. 22I will use you to crush men and women. I will use you to crush the old and the young. I will use you to crush young men and women.
Read all of Jeremiah 51Jeremiah 51:20 word by word
מַפֵּץ־אַתָּ֣ה לִ֔י כְּלֵ֖י מִלְחָמָ֑ה וְנִפַּצְתִּ֤י בְךָ֙ גּוֹיִ֔ם וְהִשְׁחַתִּ֥י בְךָ֖ מַמְלָכֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- my battle axeמַפֵּץmappêts · war-clubH4661
- weaponsכְּלִיkelîy · article/utensilH3627
- of warמִלְחָמָהmilchâmâh · battleH4421
- for with thee will I break in piecesנָפַץnâphats · to shatterH5310
- the nationsגּוֹיgôy gôy · nationH1471
- and with thee will I destroyשָׁחַתshâchath · to ruinH7843
- kingdomsמַמְלָכָהmamlâkâh · kingdomH4467
Cross-references for Jeremiah 51:20
- Jeremiah 50:23The hammer of the whole earth is broken and shattered. See how desolate Babylon is of all the nations!
- Isaiah 10:5“How horrible it will be for Assyria! It is the rod of my anger. My fury is the staff in the Assyrians’ hands.
- Isaiah 13:5His army is coming from a distant land, from the ends of heaven. The Lord is coming with the weapons of his fury to destroy the whole world.
- Isaiah 14:5The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers.
- Isaiah 37:26“ ‘Haven’t you heard? I did this long ago. I planned it in the distant past. Now I make it happen so that you will turn fortified cities into piles of rubble.
- Isaiah 41:15“I am going to make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp, double-edged teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them to dust. You will turn the hills into straw.
- Micah 4:13Get up and thresh, people of Zion. I will make your horns as hard as iron and your hoofs as hard as bronze. You will smash many nations into small pieces. You will claim their loot for the Lord, their wealth for the Lord of the whole earth.
- Zechariah 9:13I will bend Judah as my bow and draw my bow with Ephraim ⌞as its arrow⌟. I will stir up your people, Zion, against your people, Greece, and I will use you like a warrior’s sword.
- Matthew 22:7“The king became angry. He sent his soldiers, killed those murderers, and burned their city.
- Jeremiah 25:9so I’m going to send for all the families from the north. I will also send for my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, declares the Lord. I will bring the families from the north to attack this land, its people, and all these surrounding nations. I’m going to destroy them and turn them into something terrible, something ridiculed, and something permanently ruined.
- Jeremiah 27:5‘I used my great strength and my powerful arm to make the earth along with the people and the animals on it. I give it to anyone I please.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 51:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Thou art my battle axe - I believe Nebuchadnezzar is meant, who is called, Jeremiah 50:23, the hammer of the whole earth. Others think the words are spoken of Cyrus. All the verbs are in the past tense: "With thee have I broken in pieces," etc., etc.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Or, Thou art my maul, weapons of war etc. The maul or mace Proverbs 25:18 only differs from the hammer Jeremiah 50:23 in being used for warlike purposes. Omit the “will” in “will I break.” The crushing of the nations was going on at the time when the prophet wrote. Most commentators consider that Babylon was the mace of God.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20You: The Lord chose and empowered King Cyrus of Persia to destroy the Babylonian Empire.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. (See on Jr 50:23). "Break in pieces" refers to the "hammer" there (compare Na 2:1, Margin). The club also was often used by ancient warriors.Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 51:20
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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