Bible Strands
Jeremiah 50:23
How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah delivers a prophetic oracle against Babylon immediately after announcing the arrival of battle and widespread destruction. The declaration addresses the surrounding nations and Israel, marking the moment Babylon's dominance ends.
The words — פַּטִּישׁ (paTish) translates literally to "hammer," and נִגְדַּע (nigDa') means "cut off" or "broken." These terms describe a nation that functioned as a tool of conquest now rendered useless.
The thread — The shattered weapon motif continues in Jeremiah 51:20, where Babylon is identified as a war club. The lament over a fallen ruler parallels Isaiah 14:4 and Isaiah 14:12, which record the cessation of oppression and the king being cut down to the ground.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that human military power is subject to sudden, irreversible reversal. It demands an assessment of political ambition against the certainty of divine intervention.
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
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 51:20 “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
- 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!
- Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
- Revelation 18:16 saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!