Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version “You are my war club, my weapon for battle— with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms, New Living Translation “You are my battle-ax and sword,” says the LORD. “With you I will shatter nations and destroy many kingdoms. English Standard Version “You are my hammer and weapon of war: with you I break nations in pieces; with you I destroy kingdoms; Berean Standard Bible “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin. King James Bible Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; New King James Version “You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms; New American Standard Bible He says, “You are My war-club, My weapon of war; And with you I shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms. NASB 1995 He says, “You are My war-club, My weapon of war; And with you I shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms. NASB 1977 He says, “You are My war-club, My weapon of war; And with you I shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms. Legacy Standard Bible He says, “You are My instrument of shattering, My weapon of war; And with you I shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms. Amplified Bible “You [Cyrus of Persia, soon to conquer Babylon] are My battle-axe and weapon of war— For with you I shatter nations, With you I destroy kingdoms. Christian Standard Bible You are my war club, my weapons of war. With you I will smash nations; with you I will bring kingdoms to ruin. Holman Christian Standard Bible You are My battle club, My weapons of war. With you I will smash nations; with you I will bring kingdoms to ruin. American Standard Version Thou art my battle-axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; Aramaic Bible in Plain English Prepare for me weapons of war. I shall scatter the nations by you and I shall destroy kingdoms by you Brenton Septuagint Translation Thou scatterest for me the weapons of war: and I will scatter nations by thee, and will destroy kings by means of thee. Contemporary English Version Babylonia, you were my hammer; I used you to pound nations and break kingdoms, Douay-Rheims Bible Thou dashest together for me the weapons of war, and with thee I will dash nations together, and with thee I will destroy kingdoms: English Revised Version Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: and with thee will I break in pieces the nations; and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; GOD'S WORD® Translation "You are my war club and my weapon for battle. I will use you to crush nations. I will use you to destroy kingdoms. Good News Translation The LORD says, "Babylonia, you are my hammer, my weapon of war. I used you to crush nations and kingdoms, International Standard Version "You are my war-club and weapons of war. I'll smash nations with you and destroy kingdoms with you. JPS Tanakh 1917 Thou art My maul and weapons of war, And with thee will I shatter the nations, And with thee will I destroy kingdoms; Literal Standard Version You [are] My shatterer—weapons of war, | And I have broken in pieces nations by you, | And I have destroyed kingdoms by you, Majority Standard Bible “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin. New American Bible You are my hammer, a weapon for war; With you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms. NET Bible "Babylon, you are my war club, my weapon for battle. I used you to smash nations. I used you to destroy kingdoms. New Revised Standard Version You are my war club, my weapon of battle: with you I smash nations; with you I destroy kingdoms; New Heart English Bible "You are my battle axe and weapons of war: and with you will I break in pieces the nations; and with you will I destroy kingdoms; Webster's Bible Translation Thou art my battle-ax and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; World English Bible “You are my battle ax and weapons of war. With you I will break the nations into pieces. With you I will destroy kingdoms. Young's Literal Translation An axe art thou to me -- weapons of war, And I have broken in pieces by thee nations, And I have destroyed by thee kingdoms, Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context Babylon's Punishment20“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin. 21With you I shatter the horse and rider; with you I shatter the chariot and driver.… Cross References Isaiah 8:9 Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered! Isaiah 10:5 Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. Isaiah 10:15 Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood! Isaiah 41:15 Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. Isaiah 41:16 You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 45:1 This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut: Jeremiah 50:23 How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations! Treasury of Scripture You are my battle ax and weapons of war: for with you will I break in pieces the nations, and with you will I destroy kingdoms; art Jeremiah 50:23 How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations! Isaiah 10:5,15 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation… Isaiah 13:5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. with thee. Jeremiah 25:9,11 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations… Jeremiah 27:5-7 I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me… Jump to Previous Axe Battle Battle-Axe Break Broken Club Destroy Destroyed Fighting Hammer Instrument Kingdoms Maul Nations Pieces Shatter War Weapon WeaponsJump to Next Axe Battle Battle-Axe Break Broken Club Destroy Destroyed Fighting Hammer Instrument Kingdoms Maul Nations Pieces Shatter War Weapon WeaponsJeremiah 51 1. The severe judgment of God against Babylon, in revenge of Israel59. Jeremiah delivers the book of this prophecy to Seraiah, to be cast into Euphrates, 64. in token of the perpetual sinking of Babylon (20) Thou art my battle ax . . .--Better, my mace. The axe is not found on Assyrian monuments as a weapon of war till a comparatively late period. It is a question who is thus addressed--Babylon, or Cyrus as the destroyer of Babylon, or Israel. On the whole, the second seems the more probable answer. The "hammer of the whole earth" is broken by a mightier weapon than itself. (See Note on Jeremiah 50:23.) With thee will I break in pieces . . .--The tense, in this and in the following, should be the present. The force of the verb is multiplied by the emphatic iteration. All obstacles are to be crushed in the victorious march of the conqueror. Verses 20-26. - Israel is now to be Jehovah's hammer, striking down everything, even the Chaldean colossus. But though Babylon may be as great and as destructive as a volcanic mountain, it shall soon be quite burnt out. Verse 20. - My battle axe; or, my mace. The mace (for a picture of which, see Rawlinson, 'Ancient Monarchies,' 1:459) was a weapon constantly employed by the Assyrians and presumably by the Babylonian kings. The battle axe was much less frequently used. But who is addressed by this terrible title? The commentators are divided, some inclining to Babylon,(1) because Babylon was the last person addressed (see ver. 14), and (2) because a similar title was given to Babylon in Jeremiah 50:23: others to Israel, on the ground that the tenses are the same throughout the passage (vers. 20-24). The latter view is probably the best. How could Babylon be said to shatter her own "governors" and "viceroys" (for the prophet deliberately chooses the Babylonian official names)? The argument from the context is not very weighty; for it is clear that the connection of the parts of this prophecy is very loose. We may assume, then, that ver. 20 begins a fresh paragraph, standing quite apart from that which precedes. The objection of Graf and Keil, is that Israel could not himself be styled a "mace," it being Israel's destiny to be delivered by others. But is not a very similar statement made of Israel in Isaiah 41:15; Psalm 149:7-9? (Kuenen offers a third explanation - Cyrus.) The nations... kingdoms. First the great social organisms are mentioned; next comes the military power; next the population, according to sex, age, and class. Hebrew “Youאַתָּ֣ה (’at·tāh) Pronoun - second person masculine singular Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you are My war club, מַפֵּץ־ (map·pêṣ-) Noun - masculine singular Strong's 4661: A smiter, a war club My weapon כְּלֵ֖י (kə·lê) Noun - masculine plural construct Strong's 3627: Something prepared, any apparatus for battle. מִלְחָמָ֑ה (mil·ḥā·māh) Noun - feminine singular Strong's 4421: A battle, war With you I shatter וְנִפַּצְתִּ֤י (wə·nip·paṣ·tî) Conjunctive waw | Verb - Piel - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular Strong's 5310: To dash to pieces, scatter nations; גּוֹיִ֔ם (gō·w·yim) Noun - masculine plural Strong's 1471: A foreign nation, a Gentile, a troop of animals, a flight of locusts with you I bring kingdoms מַמְלָכֽוֹת׃ (mam·lā·ḵō·wṯ) Noun - feminine plural Strong's 4467: Kingdom, sovereignty, dominion, reign to ruin. וְהִשְׁחַתִּ֥י (wə·hiš·ḥat·tî) Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Conjunctive perfect - first person common singular Strong's 7843: Perhaps to go to ruin Links Jeremiah 51:20 NIVJeremiah 51:20 NLT Jeremiah 51:20 ESV Jeremiah 51:20 NASB Jeremiah 51:20 KJV Jeremiah 51:20 BibleApps.com Jeremiah 51:20 Biblia Paralela Jeremiah 51:20 Chinese Bible Jeremiah 51:20 French Bible Jeremiah 51:20 Catholic Bible OT Prophets: Jeremiah 51:20 You are my battle axe and weapons (Jer.) |
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