Jeremiah 51:62

and say, ‘O LORD, You have promised to cut off this place so that no one will remain—neither man nor beast. Indeed, it will be desolate forever.’

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jeremiah instructs Seraiah to speak these words after reading the scroll of judgment aloud in Babylon, immediately before tying a stone to the scroll and casting it into the Euphrates.

The words — The Hebrew דִבַּרְתָּ (di.Bar.ta) translates literally as "you have spoken," paired with לְ/הַכְרִית֔/וֹ (le./hakh.ri.T/o) meaning "to cut off" the specified place.

The thread — The declaration of permanent desolation aligns with the judgment motifs in Jeremiah 50:3, Jeremiah 50:13, and Isaiah 13:19 regarding Babylon’s total overthrow and uninhabited state.

Why it lands — The text prescribes a physical act to confirm a verbal promise, requiring the reader to observe that prophetic declarations of judgment are sealed through deliberate obedience rather than mere recitation.

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

וְאָמַרְתָּ֗ve./'a.mar.Taand/ you will say יְהוָה֙Yah.wehO Yahweh אַתָּ֨ה'a.Tahyou דִבַּ֜רְתָּdi.Bar.tayou have spoken אֶל־'el-concerning הַמָּק֤וֹםha./ma.Komthe/ place הַזֶּה֙ha./Zeh<the>/ this לְהַכְרִית֔וֹle./hakh.ri.T/oto/ cut off/ it לְבִלְתִּ֤יle./vil.Tito/ not הֱיֽוֹת־he.yot-to beבּוֹ֙b/oin <the>/ itיוֹשֵׁ֔בyo.Shevan inhabitant לְמֵאָדָ֖םle./me./'a.Dam<to>/ from/ humankind וְעַד־ve./'ad-and/ unto בְּהֵמָ֑הbe.he.Mahanimal כִּֽי־ki-for שִׁמְמ֥וֹתshi.Motdesolations of עוֹלָ֖םo.Lamperpetuity תִּֽהְיֶֽה׃Tih.Yehit will be

King James Version

Then shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 50:3 For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee.”
Jeremiah 50:13 Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds.
Isaiah 13:19 And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Isaiah 14:22 “I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of Hosts. “I will cut off from Babylon her name and her remnant, her offspring and her posterity,” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 50:39 So the desert creatures and hyenas will live there and ostriches will dwell there. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.
Ezekiel 35:9 I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
Revelation 18:20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
Jeremiah 25:12 But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation.
Jeremiah 51:25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn you into a charred mountain.