Bible Strands
Jeremiah 50:17
Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah delivers an oracle against Babylon, addressing the nation's past exile and forecasting God's coming judgment on the Babylonian king and his land. The prophecy follows calls for Israel to flee Babylon and precedes the declaration that God will punish Babylon as He previously punished Assyria.
The words — The Hebrew פְּזוּרָה (fe.zu.rah) and שֶׂה (seh) literally identify Israel as a "scattered flock." The text names the king of Assyria as the first lion that "devoured" (אָכַל) the nation and Nebuchadnezzar as the final power to "crush his bones."
The thread — This flock-and-lion motif directly parallels Jeremiah 50:6, which calls Israel lost sheep led astray by shepherds, and Jeremiah 2:15, where young lions ravage the land. The sequential conquest pattern aligns with the historical reference in 2 Kings 18:9 and the explicit judgment parallel in Jeremiah 50:18.
Why it lands — The verse states that Israel's displacement resulted from a sequence of foreign empires acting under divine allowance, and that the same God will dismantle the oppressor. It requires the reader to acknowledge historical accountability and the certainty that God judges both His people and the nations that wield power over them.
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
Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 2:15 The young lions have roared at him; they have sounded their voices. They have laid waste his land; his cities lie in ruins, without inhabitant.
- 2 Kings 18:9 In the fourth year of Hezekiah’s reign, which was the seventh year of the reign of Hoshea son of Elah over Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria marched against Samaria and besieged it.
- Jeremiah 50:6 My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, causing them to roam the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.
- Joel 3:2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land.
- John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
- 1 Peter 2:25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
- 2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people as captives to Assyria.
- 2 Kings 17:6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away the Israelites to Assyria, where he settled them in Halah, in Gozan by the Habor River, and in the cities of the Medes.
- 2 Kings 24:1 During Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded. So Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years, until he turned and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.
- 2 Chronicles 28:20 Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz but afflicted him rather than strengthening him.