Bible Strands
Jeremiah 50:27
Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet Jeremiah pronounces a judgment oracle against Babylon, addressing the coalition of nations summoned to execute the sentence. This declaration occurs within a broader prophetic campaign announcing the empire's imminent collapse.
The words — The Hebrew חִרְבוּ (ḥirḇû) issues the command "kill" or "destroy," joined by כָּל (kāl) for "all" to emphasize total elimination. The phrase יֵרְדוּ לַטָּבַח (yērēḏû laṭṭāḇaḥ) literally means "let them go down to slaughter," establishing the inescapable certainty of the execution.
The thread — The slaughter of young bulls mirrors Isaiah 34:7, where wild oxen and young bulls fall as the land becomes drenched in blood. It also aligns with Jeremiah 46:21, which compares Babylon's mercenaries to fattened calves that will ultimately turn back and flee.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that divine punishment arrives at a fixed moment, leaving no opportunity for delay or escape. It demands a clear-eyed assessment of consequences rather than comfort or delay.
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
Slay all her bullocks; let them go down to the slaughter: woe unto them! for their day is come, the time of their visitation.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 34:7 And the wild oxen will fall with them, the young bulls with the strong ones. Their land will be drenched with blood, and their soil will be soaked with fat.
- Jeremiah 46:21 Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them—the time of their punishment.
- Psalms 22:12 Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
- Psalms 37:13 but the Lord laughs, seeing that their day is coming.
- Jeremiah 48:44 “Whoever flees the panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For I will bring upon Moab the year of their punishment,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 27:7 All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
- Jeremiah 50:11 “Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph—you who plunder My inheritance—because you frolic like a heifer treading grain and neigh like stallions,
- Jeremiah 50:31 “Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts, “for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.
- Lamentations 1:21 People have heard my groaning, but there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that You have caused it. May You bring the day You have announced, so that they may become like me.
- Ezekiel 7:5 This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Disaster! An unprecedented disaster—behold, it is coming!