Jeremiah employs the cryptic cipher "Lebkamai" (Hebrew atbash for "Chaldeans") to veil his prophecy against Babylon's destroyers, demonstrating sophisticated wordplay within divine judgment oracles.
Jeremiah 51
The Destroyer of Babylon
1The LORD says: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.
2I will send to Babylon strangers, who will winnow her. They will empty her land; for in the day of trouble they will be against her all around.
3Against him who bends, let the archer bend his bow, also against him who lifts himself up in his coat of mail. Don’t spare her young men! Utterly destroy all her army!
4They will fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans, and thrust through in her streets.
5For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, by the LORD of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
6“Flee out of the middle of Babylon! Everyone save his own life! Don’t be cut off in her iniquity, for it is the time of the LORD’s vengeance. He will give to her a recompense.
7Babylon has been a golden cup in the LORD’s hand, who made all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
8Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed! Wail for her! Take balm for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed.
9“We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let’s each go into his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.
10‘The LORD has produced our righteousness. Come, and let’s declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.’
11“Make the arrows sharp! Hold the shields firmly! The LORD has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because his purpose is against Babylon, to destroy it; for it is the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.
12Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon! Make the watch strong! Set the watchmen, and prepare the ambushes; for the LORD has both purposed and done that which he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13You who dwell on many waters, abundant in treasures, your end has come, the measure of your covetousness.
14The LORD of Armies has sworn by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will fill you with men, as with locusts, and they will lift up a shout against you.’
The Lord Versus Idols and Babylon
15“He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom. By his understanding he has stretched out the heavens.
16When he utters his voice, there is a roar of waters in the heavens, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and brings the wind out of his treasuries.
17“Every man has become stupid and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his image, for his molten images are falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
18They are vanity, a work of delusion. In the time of their visitation, they will perish.
19The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he formed all things, including the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of Armies is his name.
20“You are my battle ax and weapons of war. With you I will break the nations into pieces. With you I will destroy kingdoms.
21With you I will break in pieces the horse and his rider.
22With you I will break in pieces the chariot and him who rides therein. With you I will break in pieces man and woman. With you I will break in pieces the old man and the youth. With you I will break in pieces the young man and the virgin.
23With you I will break in pieces the shepherd and his flock. With you I will break in pieces the farmer and his yoke. With you I will break in pieces governors and deputies.
24“I will give to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,” says the LORD.
25“Behold, I am against you, destroying mountain,” says the LORD, “which destroys all the earth. I will stretch out my hand on you, roll you down from the rocks, and will make you a burned mountain.
26They won’t take a cornerstone from you, nor a stone for foundations; but you will be desolate forever,” says the LORD.
Summons Against Babylon
27“Set up a standard in the land! Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her! Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz! Appoint a marshal against her! Cause the horses to come up as the swarming locusts!
28Prepare against her the nations, the kings of the Medes, its governors, and all its deputies, and all the land of their dominion!
29The land trembles and is in pain; for the purposes of the LORD against Babylon stand, to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
30The mighty men of Babylon have stopped fighting, they remain in their strongholds. Their might has failed. They have become as women. Her dwelling places are set on fire. Her bars are broken.
31One runner will run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter.
32So the passages are seized. They have burned the reeds with fire. The men of war are frightened.”
33For the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden. Yet a little while, and the time of harvest comes for her.”
Israel's Complaint and God's Vengeance
34“Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me. He has crushed me. He has made me an empty vessel. He has, like a monster, swallowed me up. He has filled his mouth with my delicacies. He has cast me out.
35May the violence done to me and to my flesh be on Babylon!” the inhabitant of Zion will say; and, “May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea!” will Jerusalem say.
36Therefore the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.
37Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
38They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs.
39When they are inflamed, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says the LORD.
40“I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats.
41“How Sheshach is taken! How the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
42The sea has come up on Babylon. She is covered with the multitude of its waves.
43Her cities have become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land in which no man dwells. No son of man passes by it.
44I will execute judgment on Bel in Babylon, and I will bring out of his mouth that which he has swallowed up. The nations will not flow any more to him. Yes, the wall of Babylon will fall.
Command to Flee Babylon
45“My people, go away from the middle of her, and each of you save yourselves from the LORD’s fierce anger.
46Don’t let your heart faint. Don’t fear for the news that will be heard in the land. For news will come one year, and after that in another year news will come, and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.
47Therefore behold, the days come that I will execute judgment on the engraved images of Babylon; and her whole land will be confounded. All her slain will fall in the middle of her.
48Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, will sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers will come to her from the north,” says the LORD.
49“As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so the slain of all the land will fall at Babylon.
50You who have escaped the sword, go! Don’t stand still! Remember the LORD from afar, and let Jerusalem come into your mind.”
51“We are confounded because we have heard reproach. Confusion has covered our faces, for strangers have come into the sanctuaries of the LORD’s house.”
52“Therefore behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will execute judgment on her engraved images; and through all her land the wounded will groan.
53Though Babylon should mount up to the sky, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet destroyers will come to her from me,” says the LORD.
54“The sound of a cry comes from Babylon, and of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55For the LORD lays Babylon waste, and destroys out of her the great voice! Their waves roar like many waters. The noise of their voice is uttered.
56For the destroyer has come on her, even on Babylon. Her mighty men are taken. Their bows are broken in pieces, for the LORD is a God of retribution. He will surely repay.
57I will make her princes, her wise men, her governors, her deputies, and her mighty men drunk. They will sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says the King, whose name is the LORD of Armies.
58The LORD of Armies says: “The wide walls of Babylon will be utterly overthrown. Her high gates will be burned with fire. The peoples will labor for vanity, and the nations for the fire; and they will be weary.”
Seraiah's Mission
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. Now Seraiah was chief quartermaster.
60Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon.
61Jeremiah said to Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words,
62and say, ‘LORD, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that no one will dwell in it, neither man nor animal, but that it will be desolate forever.’
63It will be, when you have finished reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the middle of the Euphrates.
64Then you shall say, ‘Thus will Babylon sink, and will not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they will be weary.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
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Theme
Jeremiah 51 delivers God's final and most comprehensive judgment oracle against Babylon, declaring its complete destruction through foreign invaders as divine vengeance for its treatment of God's people and temple. The chapter contrasts the impotence of Babylon's idols with the sovereign power of Israel's God, who created all things and will use the Medes as His instrument of judgment. God commands His people to flee Babylon before its fall, promising that Israel's righteousness will be vindicated and proclaimed in Zion.
Context
This chapter concludes the extended oracle against Babylon that began in chapter 50, serving as the climactic judgment pronouncement before the book's final historical appendix in chapter 52.
Key Themes
Outline
- 1-10 The Destroyer of Babylon God announces He will raise up destroyers against Babylon while commanding His people to flee before His vengeance falls.
- 11-19 The Lord Versus Idols and Babylon The Medes are stirred up as God's instruments while the Creator's power is contrasted with the vanity of Babylon's lifeless idols.
- 20-32 Summons Against Babylon God calls nations to battle against Babylon as His weapon of war, describing the terror and desolation that will overwhelm the land.
- 33-44 Israel's Complaint and God's Vengeance God promises to plead Israel's cause and take vengeance on Babylon, drying up its waters and making it a desolate wasteland.
- 45-58 Command to Flee Babylon A final urgent call for God's people to escape Babylon's destruction, as violence and shame will cover the mighty empire.
- 59-64 Seraiah's Mission Jeremiah gives Seraiah a scroll containing prophecies against Babylon to read and sink in the Euphrates as a symbolic act.
The Destroyer of Babylon
51:1–51:14 prophecy urgent
God raises up destroyers against Babylon while calling His people to flee from the doomed city. The passage portrays Babylon as a golden cup that made nations drunk, now facing divine judgment for its sins.
geographic
Jeremiah employs the cryptic cipher "Lebkamai" (Hebrew atbash for "Chaldeans") to veil his prophecy against Babylon's destroyers, demonstrating sophisticated wordplay within divine judgment oracles.
The Lord Versus Idols and Babylon
51:15–51:26 prophecy triumphant
God contrasts His creative power with the vanity of idols, declaring Himself as the weapon that will destroy nations and kingdoms. The passage emphasizes God's sovereignty over creation versus the futility of man-made gods.
person_contrast
Jacob appears in this cosmic creation hymn (v. 19) not as covenant patriarch but as "portion" contrasting divine sovereignty against Babylon's idolatrous powerlessness.
Summons Against Babylon
51:27–51:33 prophecy triumphant
God summons the nations and kingdoms to execute judgment against Babylon, describing the terror and defeat of Babylon's warriors. The passage depicts the complete military collapse and capture of the once-mighty city.
theme_rarity
Jeremiah uniquely combines divine "mission" language with "fear-of-god" themes as God orchestrates international armies against Babylon, transforming geopolitical warfare into sacred judgment execution.
Israel's Complaint and God's Vengeance
51:34–51:44 prophecy wrathful
Israel voices its complaint against Babylon's oppression, and God promises vengeance and judgment upon Babylon for its violence against His people.
person_contrast
Nebuchadnezzar transforms from God's instrument of judgment into the target of divine vengeance, with Israel's complaint using monster imagery ("swallowed me up") to reverse his typical role as sovereign executor.
Command to Flee Babylon
51:45–51:58 prophecy urgent
God commands His people to flee Babylon before His judgment falls, promising that heaven and earth will rejoice when Babylon is destroyed for causing Israel's downfall.
theme_rarity
Jeremiah uniquely interweaves divine guidance ("go away from the middle of her") with cosmic vengeance, as heaven and earth themselves become active participants celebrating Babylon's destruction.
Seraiah's Mission
51:59–51:64 narrative narration solemn
Jeremiah gives Seraiah a prophetic scroll to read in Babylon and cast into the Euphrates as a symbolic act representing Babylon's permanent destruction.
person_contrast
Seraiah's immediate obedience to Jeremiah's symbolic mission contrasts sharply with the persistent disobedience that characterizes most of Jeremiah's interactions with Judah's leaders throughout the book.
Insights
Jacob appears in this cosmic creation hymn (v. 19) not as covenant patriarch but as "portion" contrasting divine sovereignty against Babylon's idolatrous powerlessness.
Jeremiah uniquely combines divine "mission" language with "fear-of-god" themes as God orchestrates international armies against Babylon, transforming geopolitical warfare into sacred judgment execution.
Nebuchadnezzar transforms from God's instrument of judgment into the target of divine vengeance, with Israel's complaint using monster imagery ("swallowed me up") to reverse his typical role as sovereign executor.
Jeremiah uniquely interweaves divine guidance ("go away from the middle of her") with cosmic vengeance, as heaven and earth themselves become active participants celebrating Babylon's destruction.
Seraiah's immediate obedience to Jeremiah's symbolic mission contrasts sharply with the persistent disobedience that characterizes most of Jeremiah's interactions with Judah's leaders throughout the book.
Cross-References
Connected passages across Scripture
Jeremiah 51:3 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:4 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:6 3 references
Lexicals 3
Psalms 137:8 Lexical
Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us.
Jeremiah 50:28 Lexical
Listen to those who flee and escape out of the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, th…
Jeremiah 50:16 Lexical
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him who handles the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword,…
Jeremiah 51:7 3 references
Lexicals 3
Genesis 9:21 Lexical
He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent.
Song of Solomon 5:1 Lexical
I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with…
Jeremiah 35:5 Lexical
I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!”
Jeremiah 51:11 2 references
Jeremiah 51:15 5 references
Lexicals 5
Jeremiah 10:12 Lexical
God has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretch…
Proverbs 3:19 Lexical
By wisdom the LORD founded the earth. By understanding, he established the heavens.
Proverbs 24:3 Lexical
Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established;
Proverbs 5:1 Lexical
My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding,
Proverbs 2:2 Lexical
so as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;
Jeremiah 51:16 4 references
Lexicals 4
Jeremiah 10:13 Lexical
When he utters his voice, the waters in the heavens roar, and he causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.…
Psalms 135:7 Lexical
He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings with the rain. He brings the wind out of hi…
Daniel 10:6 Lexical
His body also was like beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches. His arms and…
Deuteronomy 28:12 Lexical
The LORD will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all th…
Jeremiah 51:17 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:18 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:19 4 references
Lexicals 4
Jeremiah 10:16 Lexical
The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. T…
Deuteronomy 18:1 Lexical
The priests and the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the…
Joshua 18:7 Lexical
However, the Levites have no portion among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and th…
Deuteronomy 32:9 Lexical
For the LORD’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
Jeremiah 51:21 2 references
Jeremiah 51:22 5 references
Lexicals 5
Psalms 148:12 Lexical
both young men and maidens, old men and children.
Lamentations 2:21 Lexical
“The youth and the old man lie on the ground in the streets. My virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. You h…
Ezekiel 9:6 Lexical
Kill utterly the old man, the young man, the virgin, little children and women; but don’t come near any man on whom is t…
Jeremiah 31:13 Lexical
Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance, the young men and the old together; for I will turn their mourning into joy,…
2 Chronicles 36:17 Lexical
Therefore he brought on them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their…
Jeremiah 51:23 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:24 3 references
Lexicals 3
Jeremiah 50:35 Lexical
“A sword is on the Chaldeans,” says the LORD, “and on the inhabitants of Babylon, on her princes, and on her wise men.
Jeremiah 32:5 Lexical
and he will bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” says the LORD, “though you fight with th…
Jeremiah 25:12 Lexical
“It will happen, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,” says the…
Jeremiah 51:25 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:26 2 references
Jeremiah 51:27 2 references
Jeremiah 51:31 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:32 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:33 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:34 3 references
Lexicals 3
2 Chronicles 36:7 Lexical
Nebuchadnezzar also carried some of the vessels of the LORD’s house to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon.
Jeremiah 28:3 Lexical
Within two full years I will bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD’s house that Nebuchadnezzar king of…
2 Chronicles 36:10 Lexical
At the return of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylon, with the valuable vessels of the LORD’s…
Jeremiah 51:36 5 references
Lexicals 5
Hosea 13:15 Lexical
Though he is fruitful among his brothers, an east wind will come, the breath of the LORD coming up from the wilderness;…
Job 14:11 Lexical
As the waters fail from the sea, and the river wastes and dries up,
Isaiah 19:5 Lexical
The waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be wasted and become dry.
Nahum 1:4 Lexical
He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel languish. The flower of Lebanon lang…
Isaiah 50:2 Lexical
Why, when I came, was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it…
Jeremiah 51:37 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:38 2 references
Jeremiah 51:40 4 references
Lexicals 4
Ezekiel 27:21 Lexical
“‘“Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your favorite dealers in lambs, rams, and goats. In these, they were your me…
Isaiah 34:6 Lexical
The LORD’s sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the ki…
Ezekiel 39:18 Lexical
You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats,…
Deuteronomy 32:14 Lexical
butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fines…
Jeremiah 51:41 2 references
Jeremiah 51:46 2 references
Jeremiah 51:47 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:51 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:54 2 references
Jeremiah 51:55 1 reference
Jeremiah 51:56 5 references
Lexicals 5
Jeremiah 48:1 Lexical
Of Moab. The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo! For it is laid waste. Kiriathaim is disappointed. It…
Psalms 137:8 Lexical
Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who repays you, as you have done to us.
Jeremiah 50:29 Lexical
“Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her all around. Let none of it es…
Jeremiah 50:2 Lexical
“Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don’t conceal; say, ‘Babylon has been taken,…
Jeremiah 32:18 Lexical
You show loving kindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them…
Jeremiah 51:58 5 references
Lexicals 5
Habakkuk 2:13 Lexical
Behold, isn’t it from the LORD of Armies that the peoples labor for the fire, and the nations weary themselves for vanit…
Nehemiah 1:3 Lexical
They said to me, “The remnant who are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach.…
Nehemiah 2:17 Lexical
Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with…
Amos 1:14 Lexical
But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it will devour its palaces, with shouting in the day of battle, with…
Jeremiah 49:27 Lexical
“I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the palaces of Ben Hadad.”
Jeremiah 51:59 5 references
Lexicals 5
Jeremiah 45:1 Lexical
The message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the mout…
Jeremiah 38:17 Lexical
Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The LORD, the God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you will go out to the king o…
Jeremiah 36:8 Lexical
Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the LORD’s wo…
Jeremiah 43:6 Lexical
the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and every person who Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had le…
Jeremiah 36:26 Lexical
The king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to arrest B…
Jeremiah 51:60 5 references
Lexicals 5
Jeremiah 36:4 Lexical
Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the LORD’s words, which h…
Jeremiah 45:1 Lexical
The message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch the son of Neriah, when he wrote these words in a book at the mout…
Jeremiah 36:32 Lexical
Then Jeremiah took another scroll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote therein from the mouth…
Jeremiah 25:13 Lexical
I will bring on that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which…
Jeremiah 29:1 Lexical
Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the…
Jeremiah 51:64 1 reference
Interlinear
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