Jeremiah 51:20

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 are worthless, objects to be ridiculed. When the time comes to punish them, they will be destroyed. 19The Lord, who is the portion of the descendants of Jacob, is not like them. For he is the one who created everything, including the people of Israel whom he claims as his own. He is known as the Lord who rules over all. “Babylon, you are my war club, my weapon for battle. I used you to smash nations. I used you to destroy kingdoms. 21I used you to smash horses and their riders. I used you to smash chariots and their drivers. 22I used you to smash men and women. I used you to smash old men and young men. I used you to smash young men and young women.

Jeremiah 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 50:23Babylon hammered the whole world to pieces. But see how that ‘hammer’ has been broken and shattered! See what an object of horror Babylon has become among the nations!
• Isaiah 10:5Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger, is as good as dead, a cudgel with which I angrily punish.
• Isaiah 13:5They come from a distant land, from the horizon. It is the Lord with his instruments of judgment, coming to destroy the whole earth.
• Isaiah 14:5The Lord has broken the club of the wicked, the scepter of rulers.
• Isaiah 37:26Certainly you must have heard! Long ago I worked it out, in ancient times I planned it, and now I am bringing it to pass. The plan is this: Fortified cities will crash into heaps of ruins.
• Isaiah 41:15“Look, I am making you like a sharp threshing sledge, new and double-edged. You will thresh the mountains and crush them; you will make the hills like straw.
• Micah 4:13“Get up and thresh, Daughter Zion! For I will give you iron horns; I will give you bronze hooves, and you will crush many nations.” You will devote to the Lord the spoils you take from them, and dedicate their wealth to the sovereign Ruler of the whole earth.
• Zechariah 9:13I will bend Judah as my bow; I will load the bow with Ephraim, my arrow! I will stir up your sons, Zion, against yours, Greece, and I will make you, Zion, like a warrior’s sword.
• Matthew 22:7The king was furious! He sent his soldiers, and they put those murderers to death and set their city on fire.
• Jeremiah 25:9So I, the Lord, affirm that I will send for all the peoples of the north and my servant, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and all the nations that surround it. I will utterly destroy this land, its inhabitants, and all the nations that surround it and make them everlasting ruins. I will make them objects of horror and hissing scorn.
• Jeremiah 27:5“I made the earth and the people and animals on it by my mighty power and great strength, and I give it to whomever I see fit.

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

• Agency
• Ax
• Battle-Ax
• Persia

In the dictionaries

• Battle-Axe
• Armour
• Axe
• Battleaxe
• Device
• Empty
• Hammer
• Hold
• Mount
• Armor; Arms

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