¶Indeed, Babylon is to fall for the slain of Israel, As the slain of all the earth have also fallen for Babylon.
Parallel translations
- WEB “As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, so the slain of all the land will fall at Babylon.
- KJV As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, so at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth.
- BSB “Babylon must fall on account of the slain of Israel, just as the slain of all the earth have fallen because of Babylon.
- NKJV As Babylon has caused the slain of Israel to fall, So at Babylon the slain of all the earth shall fall.
- NLT “Just as Babylon killed the people of Israel and others throughout the world, so must her people be killed.
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
Just as Babylon caused Israel's slain to fall, so the slain of all the earth will fall at Babylon. Babylon reaps the very destruction she inflicted on others.
Overview
This verse states the principle of exact recompense: Babylon, who filled the world with the slain, will herself be filled with the slain. Her guilt extended beyond Israel to 'all the land,' so her judgment is correspondingly vast. The justice of measure-for-measure underscores God's righteous government and points to the final judgment over which Christ presides.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Jer 51:24“I will render to Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight,” says Yahweh.
- Jer 50:29“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.
- Ps 137:8–9Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, he will be happy who rewards you, as you have served us.
- Jer 51:35May 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.
- Jer 50:17–18“Israel is a hunted sheep. The lions have driven him away. First, the king of Assyria devoured him, and now at last Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.”
- Jer 50:33–34Yahweh of Armies says: “The children of Israel and the children of Judah are oppressed together. All who took them captive hold them fast. They refuse to let them go.
- Matt 7:2For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you.
- Jas 2:13For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Judg 1:7Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
- Jer 50:11“Because you are glad, because you rejoice, O you who plunder my heritage, because you are wanton as a heifer that treads out the grain, and neigh as strong horses;
- Jer 51:10–11‘Yahweh has produced our righteousness: come, and let us declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.’
- Rev 18:5–6for her sins have reached to the sky, and God has remembered her iniquities.
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 51:49 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.