Bible Strands
Jeremiah 51:14
The LORD of Hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you up with men as with locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD of Hosts addresses Babylon, the city dwelling by many waters rich in treasures, declaring the imminent arrival of its destruction. This pronouncement occurs within a broader oracle of judgment following the declaration that the thread of its life has been cut.
The words — נִשְׁבַּע (nishba') means "he swears," and מִלֵּאתִיךְ (millētîḵ) translates literally as "I will fill you." These terms anchor the declaration in a binding divine oath and the specific imagery of overwhelming invasion.
The thread — The motif of divine self-swearing appears in Jeremiah 49:13 regarding Bozrah, while the locust imagery parallels Joel 2:25. The call to surround a city and celebrate its fall echoes Jeremiah 50:15.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human wealth and strategic geography cannot withstand a sovereign decree. It requires the reader to acknowledge the certainty of the stated judgment without minimizing its severity.
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
The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 49:13 For by Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be in ruins forever.”
- Jeremiah 50:15 Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take out your vengeance upon her; as she has done, do the same to her.
- Joel 2:25 I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.
- Amos 6:8 The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”
- Judges 6:5 For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.
- Jeremiah 46:23 They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD, dense though it may be, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted.
- 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.
- Joel 1:4 What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
- Joel 2:3 Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.
- Nahum 3:15 There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and consume you like a young locust. Make yourself many like the young locust; make yourself many like the swarming locust!