Bible Strands
Jeremiah 51:7
Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Jeremiah delivers this oracle to Judah and the surrounding nations during the final phase of Babylon’s dominance, immediately before announcing its sudden collapse. He speaks as Yahweh’s messenger to warn of impending judgment while describing Babylon’s divinely appointed role in it.
The words — The Hebrew כּוֹס זָהָב (kos zahav) literally means "a cup of gold," paired with מְשַׁכֶּרֶת (meshakkeret), "making drunk," to depict Babylon as a vessel of intoxication. These terms describe the nation’s function before interpreters infer that it signifies Yahweh’s sovereign control over geopolitical power.
The thread — The cup motif reappears in Revelation 14:8 and Revelation 17:2, where fallen Babylon forces the nations to drink the wine of judgment and immorality. The imagery also connects to Revelation 17:4’s depiction of a woman holding a golden cup, extending the ancient oracle into apocalyptic symbolism.
Why it lands — The text states that Yahweh held Babylon as a cup that intoxicated the earth and caused the nations to go mad. Readers must acknowledge that empires operate only under divine permission and will face corresponding reckoning, demanding vigilance rather than political alignment.
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
Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
Cross-references
- Revelation 14:8 Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
- Revelation 17:4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.
- Revelation 17:2 The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.”
- Revelation 18:3 All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.”
- Daniel 2:32 The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze,
- Isaiah 14:4 you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended!
- 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 25:14 For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.’”
- Jeremiah 50:38 A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols.
- Daniel 2:38 Wherever the sons of men or beasts of the field or birds of the air dwell, He has given them into your hand and has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.