God’s Word Translation
Jeremiah 51:31
31Runners run to meet runners. Messengers follow messengers. They inform the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured.
Jeremiah 51:31 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,
- New International Version (NIV)One courier follows another and messenger follows messenger to announce to the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured,
- English Standard Version (ESV)One runner runs to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every side;
- New King James Version (NKJV)One runner will run to meet another, And one messenger to meet another, To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides;
Context of Jeremiah 51:31
29The earth trembles and writhes in pain. The Lord carries out his plans against Babylon to make Babylon a wasteland so that no one will live there. 30The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting. They stay in their fortified cities. Their strength has failed. They have become women. Their buildings are set on fire. The bars across their gates are broken. Runners run to meet runners. Messengers follow messengers. They inform the king of Babylon that his entire city is captured. 32The river crossings have been taken. The enemy has burned its marshes, and its soldiers are terrified. 33This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: The people of Babylon are like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. Their harvest time will come soon.
Read all of Jeremiah 51Jeremiah 51:31 word by word
רָ֤ץ לִקְרַאת־רָץ֙ יָר֔וּץ וּמַגִּ֖יד לִקְרַ֣את מַגִּ֑יד לְהַגִּיד֙ לְמֶ֣לֶךְ בָּבֶ֔ל כִּֽי־נִלְכְּדָ֥ה עִיר֖וֹ מִקָּצֶֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 51:31
- Jeremiah 4:20One disaster follows another. The whole land is ruined. My tents are suddenly destroyed. Their curtains are torn in an instant.
- Jeremiah 50:24I will set traps for you, Babylon. You will be caught, but you won’t know it. You will be found and captured because you have opposed the Lord.
- 1 Samuel 4:12A man from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the front line of the battle. He went to Shiloh that day with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.
- 2 Samuel 18:19Then Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, said, “Let me run and bring the king the good news that the Lord has freed him from his enemies.”
- 2 Chronicles 30:6Messengers took letters from the king and his officials throughout Israel and Judah. The king’s order said, “Israelites, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. Then he will return to the few of you who escaped from the power of the kings of Assyria.
- Esther 3:13Messengers were sent with official documents to all the king’s provinces. ⌞The people were ordered⌟ to wipe out, kill, and destroy all the Jews—young and old, women and children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar. Their possessions were also to be seized.
- Esther 8:10Mordecai wrote in King Xerxes’ name and sealed the official documents with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent them by messengers who rode special horses bred for speed. ⌞He wrote⌟
- Job 9:25“My days go by more quickly than a runner. They sprint away. They don’t see anything good.
- Jeremiah 50:43The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and he loses courage. Anguish will grip him as pain grips a woman in labor.
- Isaiah 21:3That is why my body is full of trembling. Pain grips me like the pain of childbirth. I’m disturbed by what I hear. I’m terrified by what I see.
- Isaiah 47:11But evil will happen to you. You won’t know how to keep it away. Disaster will strike you. You won’t be able to stop it. Destruction will overtake you suddenly. You won’t expect it.
- Daniel 5:2As they were tasting the wine, Belshazzar ordered that the gold and silver utensils which his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem be brought to him. He wanted to drink from them with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 51:31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31One post shall run to meet another - As the city was taken by surprise, in the manner already related, so now messengers, one after another, were dispatched to give the king information of what was done; viz., that the city was taken at one end. Herodotus tells us that the extreme parts of the city were taken, before those of the center knew any thing of the invasion. Herodot. lib. 1 c. 191.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31The royal palace was a strong fortification in the heart of the city. The messengers thus met one another. At one end - Rather, from all sides, entirely, completely.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31The king was Nabonidus. At that time, he was in Borsippa, north of Babylon. His son, Belshazzar, was the regent in Babylon. See Daniel 5:1–30.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3131. (See on Jr 50:24). One post--One courier after another shall announce the capture of the city. The couriers despatched from the walls, where Cyrus enters, shall "meet" those sent by the king. Their confused running to and fro would result from the sudden panic at the entrance of Cyrus into the city, which he had so long besieged ineffectually; the Babylonians had laughed at his attempts and were feasting at the time without fear. taken at one…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 51:31
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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