Bible Strands
Jeremiah 52:27
There at Riblah in the land of Hamath, the king of Babylon struck them down and put them to death. So Judah was taken into exile, away from its own land.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative recounts the Babylonian king’s execution of Judah’s captured leaders at Riblah in Hamath, immediately after Nebuzaradan delivered them there. This moment marks the definitive end of Judah’s political autonomy and the beginning of its forced displacement.
The words — וַ/יַּכֶּ֣ה (va/i.ya.Keh) translates literally as “and he struck down,” while וַ/יְמִתֵ֛/ם (va/y.mi.Te/m) means “and he put them to death.” These consecutive verbs emphasize the finality of the royal sentence.
The thread — The desolation of Judah echoes Isaiah 6:11; Isaiah 27:10; and Isaiah 32:13, which repeatedly depict cities lying ruined, deserted, or overrun with thorns. These passages share a consistent motif of land abandoned as a direct result of covenant judgment.
Why it lands — The text records a historical execution and exile to demonstrate the concrete fulfillment of prophetic warning. The reader must acknowledge that covenant rebellion produces irreversible political and territorial consequences.
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
And the king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried away captive out of his own land.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 6:11 Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
- Isaiah 27:10 For the fortified city lies deserted—a homestead abandoned, a wilderness forsaken. There the calves graze, and there they lie down; they strip its branches bare.
- Isaiah 32:13 and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this city of revelry.
- 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.
- Ezekiel 8:11 Before them stood seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had a censer in his hand, and a fragrant cloud of incense was rising.
- Ezekiel 33:28 I will make the land a desolate waste, and the pride of her strength will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate, so that no one will pass through.
- Micah 4:10 Writhe in agony, O Daughter of Zion, like a woman in labor. For now you will leave the city and camp in the open fields. You will go to Babylon; there you will be rescued; there the LORD will redeem you from the hand of your enemies!
- Leviticus 26:33 But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.
- Numbers 34:8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath, then extend to Zedad,
- Deuteronomy 4:26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.