All the escape routes are blocked. The marshes have been set aflame, and the army is in a panic.
Parallel translations
- WEB So the passages are seized. They have burned the reeds with fire. The men of war are frightened.”
- KJV And that the passages are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.
- BSB The fords have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers are terrified.”
- NKJV The passages are blocked, The reeds they have burned with fire, And the men of war are terrified.
- NASB The river crossing places have been seized, And they have burned the marshes with fire, And the men of war are terrified.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The river crossings are seized, the marshes burned, and the soldiers are terrified. Every escape route is cut off and the defenders are gripped by panic.
Overview
Seizing the fords and burning the reedy marshes blocks both retreat and ambush, completing the encirclement of the city. The terror of the men of war reinforces the collapse of Babylon's defenses. The thoroughness of the trap shows that there is no escape from a judgment God has ordained, and that safety is found only by fleeing to Him while there is time.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Isa 44:27who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,’ and ‘I will dry up your rivers;’
- Jer 51:30The 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.
- Jer 50:37–38A sword is on their horses, on their chariots, and on all the mixed people who are in the middle of her; and they will become as women. A sword is on her treasures, and they will be robbed.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 51:32 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.