Bible Strands
Jeremiah 49:18
As Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown along with their neighbors,” says the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD delivers a prophecy against Edom, positioned between declarations of Edom’s future desolation and the coming divine judgment that will drive its people from the land.
The words — The Hebrew מַהְפֵּכָת (mahpekhah) literally means “overthrow,” and יֵשֵׁב (yeshev) translates to “he will dwell.” These terms anchor the verse’s declaration of permanent, uninhabitable ruin.
The thread — The imagery of total desolation echoes Genesis 19:24, where the LORD rains sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, and Deuteronomy 29:23, which describes soil rendered a burning waste of sulfur and salt. The identical phrase “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there” reappears in Jeremiah 49:33 regarding Hazor.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine judgment leaves no permanent human habitation in the targeted land. It establishes a direct comparison between Edom’s coming ruin and the irreversible destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 29:23 All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
- Jeremiah 49:33 “Hazor will become a haunt for jackals, a desolation forever. No one will dwell there; no man will abide there.”
- Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Job 18:15 Fire resides in his tent; burning sulfur rains down on his dwelling.
- Jeremiah 50:40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighbors,” declares the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.
- Amos 4:11 “Some of you I overthrew as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand snatched from a blaze, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.
- Zephaniah 2:9 Therefore, as surely as I live,” declares the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, “surely Moab will be like Sodom and the Ammonites like Gomorrah—a place of weeds and salt pits, a perpetual wasteland. The remnant of My people will plunder them; the remainder of My nation will dispossess them.”
- Psalms 11:6 On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Isaiah 13:19 And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 34:10 It will not be quenched—day or night. Its smoke will ascend forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will ever again pass through it.