Jeremiah 25:14
in Jeremiah 25For 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.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For many nations and great kings shall make bondmen of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.
KJV
For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.
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This verse in Jeremiah 25
Commentary
9 notes on this verse(Verse 14) Because many nations and great kings have served them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their hands. This is not found in the Septuagint. However, it signifies that Jeremiah prophesied not only against Babylon, but against the other nations that were in the Babylonian army and fought against the people of the Lord.
This site's exposition
But when seventy years are complete
on Jeremiah 25:12-14
The seventy years that measure Judah's servitude measure Babylon's reprieve: “when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation.” Verse 14 repays Babylon in kind, since “many nations and great kings will enslave them.”
This site's exposition
many nations and great kings will enslave them
Babylon made the nations serve, and in turn it will serve them. Jerome notes that the verse is missing from the Greek Bible. He reads it as judgment on Babylon and on the other nations that fought in its army against the people of the Lord.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also,....
Under the similitude of a cup going round, which all the company must drink of, is here represented the universal desolation that was now coming upon that part of the world which Nebuchadrezzar, who just now began to reign and act, was to be the instrument of, and which should at length recoil upon his own country.
I rather incline to the former, because then these nations began to serve the king of Babylon, and because usually God has taken the earliest time from which to reckon the accomplishment of a promise of mercy, as will appear in computing the 400 years' servitude in Egypt.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
MAURER translates, "shall impose servitude on them, even them." recompense them--namely, the Chaldees and other nations against whom Jeremiah had prophesied (Jer 25:13), as having oppressed the Jews. their deeds--rather, "deed," namely, their bad treatment of the Jews (Jer 50:29;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Many nations and great kings - The Medes and the Persians, under Cyrus; and several princes, his vassals or allies.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Shall serve themselves of them also - i. e., shall impose forced labor upon the Chaldaeans, and reduce them also to servitude.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
For.. will enslave them Like ‘For.. shall enslave them,’ i.e., shall enslave the people of Babylon.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| עָֽבְדוּ־ | ʾavedu- | they will work | H5647 → | 288 times |
| בָ֤ם | vam | by <the> them | ||
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| הֵ֙מָּה֙ | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| גּוֹיִ֣ם | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| רַבִּ֔ים | rabim | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| וּמְלָכִ֖ים | umelakhim | and kings | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| גְּדוֹלִ֑ים | gedolim | great | H1419 → | 526 times |
| וְשִׁלַּמְתִּ֥י | veshilamti | and I will repay | H7999 → | 116 times |
| לָהֶ֛ם | lahem | to <the> them | ||
| כְּפָעֳלָ֖ם | kefoolam | according to deed[s] their | H6467 → | 37 times |
| וּכְמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה | ukhemaaseh | and according to [the] work of | H4639 → | 236 times |
| יְדֵיהֶֽם׃ ס | yedeihem | hands their | H3027 → | 1618 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
עָֽבְדוּ־they will work
ʾavedu-H5647 →288 times
בָ֤םby <the> them
vam
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
הֵ֙מָּה֙they
hemahH1992 →553 times
גּוֹיִ֣םnations
goyimH1471 →561 times
רַבִּ֔יםmany
rabimH7227 →454 times
וּמְלָכִ֖יםand kings
umelakhimH4428 →2525 times
גְּדוֹלִ֑יםgreat
gedolimH1419 →526 times
וְשִׁלַּמְתִּ֥יand I will repay
veshilamtiH7999 →116 times
לָהֶ֛םto <the> them
lahem
כְּפָעֳלָ֖םaccording to deed[s] their
kefoolamH6467 →37 times
וּכְמַעֲשֵׂ֥הand according to [the] work of
ukhemaasehH4639 →236 times
יְדֵיהֶֽם׃ סhands their
yedeihemH3027 →1618 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 50:41Behold, an army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are stirred up from the ends of the earth.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:27–28
“Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 51:27–28
Through
Jeremiah 51:6Flee from Babylon! Escape with your lives! Do not be destroyed in her punishment. For this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He will pay her what she deserves.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:8
Flee from the midst of Babylon; depart from the land of the Chaldeans; be like the he-goats that lead the flock.
- Jeremiah 50:15
Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD,…
- Jeremiah 50:28
Listen to the fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon, declaring in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance for His temple.
- Jeremiah 51:45
Come out of her, My people! Save your lives, each of you, from the fierce anger of the LORD.
- Numbers 16:26
And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”
- Jeremiah 50:8
Through
Jeremiah 27:7All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 52:31
On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the first year of the reign of Evil-merodach king of Babylon, he pardoned…
- Jeremiah 52:31
Through
Isaiah 66:6Hear the uproar from the city; listen to the voice from the temple! It is the voice of the LORD, repaying His enemies what they deserve!
it leads to
- Joel 3:7–16
Behold, I will rouse them from the places to which you sold them; I will return your recompense upon your heads.
- Joel 3:7–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.