Bible Strands
Jeremiah 51:12
Raise a banner against the walls of Babylon; post the guard; station the watchmen; prepare the ambush. For the LORD has both devised and accomplished what He spoke against the people of Babylon.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Jeremiah issues a military command to the coalition of nations, specifically the Medes, at the precise moment God has stirred their spirits to execute judgment on Babylon.
The words — Nes (standard) and cho.Mot (walls) anchor the imperative to signal armed mobilization directly against the fortified city.
The thread — The banner signal reappears in Isaiah 13:2 as a call to divine warfare, while Jeremiah 51:11 and Jeremiah 51:29 frame this campaign within God’s declared vengeance and the certainty of Babylon’s desolation.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge that historical judgment proceeds from divine decree, demanding recognition that God’s spoken word dictates both the preparation and the completion of Babylon’s fall.
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
Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 13:2 Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
- Jeremiah 51:11 Sharpen the arrows! Fill the quivers! The LORD has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes, because His plan is aimed at Babylon to destroy her, for it is the vengeance of the LORD—vengeance for His temple.
- Jeremiah 51:29 The earth quakes and writhes because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
- Nahum 2:1 One who scatters advances against you, O Nineveh. Guard the fortress! Watch the road! Brace yourselves! Summon all your strength!
- Joshua 8:14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, he hurried out early in the morning with the men of the city to engage them in battle at an appointed place overlooking the Arabah. But he did not know that an ambush had been set up against him behind the city.
- Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- Isaiah 8:9 Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!
- Jeremiah 46:3 “Deploy your shields, small and large; advance for battle!
- Jeremiah 50:2 “Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced, her idols are broken in pieces.’
- Jeremiah 51:27 “Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.