New King James Version
Jeremiah 51:58
58Thus 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.”
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.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)"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."
- 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
56Because the plunderer comes against her, against Babylon, And her mighty men are taken. Every one of their bows is broken; For the Lord is the God of recompense, He will surely repay. 57“And I will make drunk Her princes and wise men, Her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men. And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep And not awake,” says the King, Whose name is the Lord of hosts. 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.” 59The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah the king of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. And Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against 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 51:44I will punish Bel in Babylon, And I will bring out of his mouth what he has swallowed; And the nations shall not stream to him anymore. Yes, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
- Jeremiah 50:15Shout against her all around; She has given her hand, Her foundations have fallen, Her walls are thrown down; For it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance on her. As she has done, so do to her.
- Jeremiah 51:30The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, They have remained in their strongholds; Their might has failed, They became like women; They have burned her dwelling places, The bars of her gate are broken.
- Isaiah 45:1“Thus says the Lord to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:
- Jeremiah 51:9We would have healed Babylon, But she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go everyone to his own country; For her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies.
- Psalms 127:1Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.
- Isaiah 65:23They shall not labor in vain, Nor bring forth children for trouble; For they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, And their offspring with them.
- Habakkuk 2:13Behold, is it not of the Lord of hosts That the peoples labor to feed the fire, And nations weary themselves in vain?
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries