Bible Strands
Jeremiah 50:13
Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet delivers this oracle against Babylon, pronouncing judgment immediately after describing her shame and before the call to military siege. The text addresses the nation of Babylon as a desolate entity destined for permanent abandonment.
The words — The phrase מִקֶּצֶף יְהוָה (miqqeṣep YHWH) literally translates to "from the wrath of Yahweh," anchoring the coming desolation to divine judgment. The verb תֵשֵׁב (tēšēḇ) means "it will remain" or "dwell," negated here to emphasize permanent abandonment.
The thread — The motif of passersby hissing at wounds appears in Jeremiah 49:17 regarding Edom and Jeremiah 18:16 concerning a cursed land. Job 27:23 similarly describes a figure being hissed out of his place by his own hands.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition that political and military collapse follows directly from divine judgment rather than mere human strategy. It requires the reader to observe how historical ruin is framed as a direct consequence of opposing God's authority.
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
Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 18:16 They have made their land a desolation, a perpetual object of scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and shake their heads.
- Jeremiah 49:17 “Edom will become an object of horror. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
- Job 27:23 It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.
- Isaiah 14:4 you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!
- Jeremiah 19:8 I will make this city a desolation and an object of scorn. All who pass by will be appalled and will scoff at all her wounds.
- Jeremiah 25:12 But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.
- Jeremiah 51:37 Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.
- Lamentations 2:15 All who pass by clap their hands at you in scorn. They hiss and shake their heads at the Daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
- Habakkuk 2:6 Will not all of these take up a taunt against him, speaking with mockery and derision: ‘Woe to him who amasses what is not his and makes himself rich with many loans! How long will this go on?’
- Zephaniah 2:15 This carefree city that dwells securely, that thinks to herself: “I am it, and there is none besides me,” what a ruin she has become, a resting place for beasts. Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.