Jeremiah 51:58

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 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.”

Context of Jeremiah 51:58

56Destroying armies come against Babylon. Her mighty men are captured, and their weapons break in their hands. For the Lord is a God who gives just punishment; he always repays in full. 57I will make her officials and wise men drunk, along with her captains, officers, and warriors. They will fall asleep and never wake up again!” says the King, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 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!” 59The prophet Jeremiah gave this message to Seraiah son of Neriah and grandson of Mahseiah, a staff officer, when Seraiah went to Babylon with King Zedekiah of Judah. This was during the fourth year of Zedekiah’s reign. 60Jeremiah had recorded on a scroll all the terrible disasters that would soon come upon Babylon—all the words written here.

Jeremiah 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, the god of Babylon, and make him vomit up all he has eaten. The nations will no longer come and worship him. The wall of Babylon has fallen!
• Jeremiah 50:15Shout war cries against her from every side. Look! She surrenders! Her walls have fallen. It is the Lord’s vengeance, so take vengeance on her. Do to her as she has done to others!
• Jeremiah 51:30Her mightiest warriors no longer fight. They stay in their barracks, their courage gone. They have become like women. The invaders have burned the houses and broken down the city gates.
• Isaiah 45:1This is what the Lord says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again.
• Jeremiah 51:9We would have helped her if we could, but nothing can save her now. Let her go; abandon her. Return now to your own land. For her punishment reaches to the heavens; it is so great it cannot be measured.
• Psalms 127:1Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.
• Isaiah 65:23They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the Lord, and their children, too, will be blessed.
• Habakkuk 2:13Has not the Lord of Heaven’s Armies promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes? They work so hard, but all 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

• Babylon
• Persia
• Walls, of the Cities
• War

In the dictionaries

• Babylon
• Babylon, Babylonia, Babylonian
• Lord of Hosts
• Device
• Empty
• Hold
• Mount
• Broad
• Ezekiel
• Faint

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