“How Babylon is fallen— great Babylon, praised throughout the earth! Now she has become an object of horror among the nations.
Parallel translations
- WEB “How Sheshach is taken! and the praise of the whole earth seized! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
- KJV How is Sheshach taken! and how is the praise of the whole earth surprised! how is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations!
- BSB How Sheshach has been captured! The praise of all the earth has been seized. What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
- NKJV “Oh, how Sheshach is taken! Oh, how the praise of the whole earth is seized! How Babylon has become desolate among the nations!
- NASB ¶“How Sheshak has been captured, And the praise of the whole earth has been seized! How Babylon has become an object of horror among the nations!
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 prophet marvels that 'Sheshach,' the praise of the whole earth, is captured and has become a horror among the nations. The city all admired has fallen into ruin.
Overview
'Sheshach' is another atbash cipher for Babylon, the city renowned worldwide for splendor. The astonished exclamation underscores how unthinkable yet certain her fall is. That the most praised of cities becomes an object of horror teaches that worldly acclaim is fleeting, and lasting glory belongs only to God and His Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Jer 25:26and all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another; and all the kingdoms of the world, which are on the surface of the earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.
- Isa 13:19Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride, will be like when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Jer 49:25How is the city of praise not forsaken, the city of my joy?
- Jer 50:23How the hammer of the whole earth is cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
- Dan 4:22it is you, O king, that are grown and become strong; for your greatness is grown, and reaches to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
- Dan 2:38and wherever the children of men dwell, the animals of the field and the birds of the sky has he given into your hand, and has made you to rule over them all: you are the head of gold.
- Dan 4:30The king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?
- Isa 14:4that you will take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, “How the oppressor has ceased! The golden city has ceased!”
- Dan 5:1–5Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
- Jer 50:46At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles; and the cry is heard among the nations.
- Jer 51:37Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.
- Deut 28:37You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away.
- Rev 18:10–19standing far away for the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For your judgment has come in one hour.’
- Ezek 27:35All the inhabitants of the islands are astonished at you, and their kings are horribly afraid; they are troubled in their face.
- 2 Chr 7:21This house, which is so high, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished, and shall say, ‘Why has Yahweh done this to this land and to this house?’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 51:41 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.