Jeremiah 50:7

All who found them devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jeremiah pronounces judgment on Judah’s enemies, describing how nations who found them devoured them while claiming moral immunity. The oracle addresses the geopolitical reality of Babylon’s rise and the false justification used by conquerors.

The words — אֲכָל֔וּם ('a.kha.Lu/m) = they devoured them and נֶאְשָֽׁם (ne'.Sham) = we are guilty. These terms frame the conquerors’ act of destruction alongside their self-justifying declaration.

The thread — The devouring motif recurs in "Jeremiah 2:3" where Israel’s destruction brings guilt upon the oppressor, while the title "hope of their fathers" echoes the covenantal address in "Jeremiah 14:8".

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human power claims moral innocence only when it misidentifies its victim’s relationship to God. It asks the reader to reject any theology that justifies oppression as divine punishment.

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

כָּל־kol-all מוֹצְאֵיהֶ֣םmotz.'ei./Hem[those who] found/ them אֲכָל֔וּם'a.kha.Lu/mthey devoured/ them וְצָרֵיהֶ֥םve./tza.rei./Hemand/ opponents/ their אָמְר֖וּ'a.me.Ruthey said לֹ֣אlo'not נֶאְשָׁ֑םne'.Shamwe are guilty תַּ֗חַתTa.chatbecause אֲשֶׁ֨ר'a.Sherthat חָטְא֤וּcha.te.'Uthey have sinned לַֽיהוָה֙la./Yah.wehto/ Yahweh נְוֵה־ne.veh-[the] habitation of צֶ֔דֶקTze.dekrighteousness וּמִקְוֵ֥הu./mik.Vehand/ [the] hope of אֲבֽוֹתֵיהֶ֖ם'a.vo.tei./Hemancestors/ their יְהוָֽה׃ סYah.wehYahweh

King James Version

All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 2:3 Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of His harvest. All who devoured her were found guilty; disaster came upon them,’” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 14:8 O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays but a night?
Jeremiah 31:23 This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “When I restore them from captivity, they will once again speak this word in the land of Judah and in its cities: ‘May the LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling place, O holy mountain.’
Jeremiah 40:2 The captain of the guard found Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God decreed this disaster on this place,
Zechariah 11:5 whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them.
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.”
Psalms 22:4 In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them.
Psalms 79:7 for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.
Psalms 90:1 A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, You have been our dwelling place through all generations.
Psalms 91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.