Bible Strands
Jeremiah 51:42
The sea has come up over Babylon; she is covered in turbulent waves.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah delivers this oracle against Babylon immediately after declaring its capture and the seizure of its global reputation. The prophecy marks the transition from the empire's former pride to its sudden desolation.
The words — The Hebrew נִכְסָֽתָה (nikhsatâh) literally means "it will be covered," paired with עָלָ֥ה (‘ālâ), "it will go up," describing the rising waters. These verbs establish the physical image of a flood overwhelming the city before any symbolic application.
The thread — The rising waters motif parallels the Euphrates flood used as a divine instrument in Isaiah 8:7 and the overwhelming torrents in Psalms 18:4. The abrupt collapse of power also aligns with the sudden cutoff of authority described in Daniel 9:26.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that human praise and political structures are subject to sudden, irreversible judgment. It demands a sober assessment of earthly power that cannot withstand 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
The sea is come up upon Babylon: she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 8:7 the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
- Daniel 9:26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
- Psalms 18:4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
- Psalms 18:16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
- Psalms 42:7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.
- Psalms 65:7 You stilled the roaring of the seas, the pounding of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.
- Psalms 93:3 The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
- Jeremiah 51:55 For the LORD will destroy Babylon; He will silence her mighty voice. The waves will roar like great waters; the tumult of their voices will resound.
- Ezekiel 27:26 Your oarsmen have brought you onto the high seas, but the east wind will shatter you in the heart of the sea.
- Luke 21:25 There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves.