Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah delivers this oracle against Babylon immediately after announcing a cry of destruction and just before describing the arrival of a foreign destroyer. The prophet speaks to Judah and the nations, marking the climax of the judgment sequence against the Chaldeans.
The words — The Hebrew root שֹׁדֵד (sho.Ded) literally means to lay waste or plunder, while קֹל (kol) denotes the audible voice or outcry that Yahweh will both silence and replace with roaring waters.
The thread — The roaring waters imagery appears in Psalms 65:7, where God stills the tumult of nations, and is distinguished from Psalms 18:4, where chaotic waters describe the psalmist's personal distress rather than divine judgment. The silence of Babylon's voice also parallels the removal of celebratory sounds in Jeremiah 25:10.
Why it lands — The text states that Yahweh will actively destroy Babylon and replace its proud proclamation with chaotic noise, requiring the reader to acknowledge that political power operates under divine sovereignty and will be forcibly dismantled when it opposes God's purposes.
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
Because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, and destroyed out of her the great voice; when her waves do roar like great waters, a noise of their voice is uttered:
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 25:10 Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
- Psalms 18:4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed 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.
- Isaiah 15:1 This is the burden against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is devastated, destroyed in a night!
- Isaiah 17:13 The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.
- Isaiah 24:8 The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent.
- Isaiah 47:5 “Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms.
- Jeremiah 50:10 Chaldea will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 51:38 They will roar together like young lions; they will growl like lion cubs.