Against her let the archer bend his bow, And lift himself up against her in his armor. Do not spare her young men; Utterly destroy all her army.
Parallel translations
- WEB Against 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!
- KJV Against him that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against him that lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host.
- BSB Do not let the archer bend his bow or put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; devote all her army to destruction!
- NASB “Let not him who bends his bow bend it, Nor let him rise up in his coat of armor. Do not spare her young men; Devote all her army to destruction.
- NLT Don’t let the archers put on their armor or draw their bows. Don’t spare even her best soldiers! Let her army be completely destroyed.
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 Lord commands the attackers to spare neither Babylon's archers nor her armored soldiers but to utterly destroy her whole army. Babylon's military strength offers no escape from judgment.
Overview
The call to 'utterly destroy' (the language of devoted destruction) marks Babylon's army as set apart for total judgment. Her finest defenses, archers and mail-clad warriors, will not save her. This underscores that human armor is no defense against God's verdict, and only refuge in the Lord, fully revealed in Christ, brings true safety.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jer 50:14Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she has sinned against Yahweh.
- Jer 46:4Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand up with your helmets. Polish the spears, put on the coats of mail.
- Jer 50:21“Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and utterly destroy after them,” says Yahweh, “and do according to all that I have commanded you.
- Isa 13:10–18For the stars of the sky and its constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not cause its light to shine.
- Jer 50:27Kill all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation.
- Jer 50:41–42“Behold, a people comes from the north; and a great nation and many kings shall be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth.
- Jer 9:21For death has come up into our windows. It has entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from outside, and the young men from the streets.
- Jer 50:29–30“Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her all around. Let none of it escape. Recompense her according to her work. According to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy One of Israel.
- Deut 32:25Outside the sword will bereave, and in the rooms, terror; on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the gray-haired man.
- Jas 2:13For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Ps 137:9Happy shall he be, who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.
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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 51:3 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.