Jeremiah 50:12
in Jeremiah 50your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who bore you will be disgraced. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
your mother shall be utterly put to shame; she that bare you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
KJV
Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed: behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
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This verse in Jeremiah 50
Commentary
5 notes on this verseYour mother - Speaking to the Chaldeans: Babylon, the metropolis, or mother city, shall be a wilderness, a dry land, a desert, neither fit for man nor beast.
This site's exposition
Chaldea will be plundered
on Jeremiah 50:10-20
Verse 17 sums up: “The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” Verse 20 turns to pardon, “for I will forgive the remnant I preserve,” the forgiveness promised in the new covenant of 31:34.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Your mother shall be sore confounded,....
Thus the former ages of Christians may justly be confounded and ashamed to see how unlike them the latter ages are, and how wretchedly they have degenerated; and no sin brings a surer and sorer ruin upon persons, or people, than apostasy.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Your mother - i. e., Babylon. Confounded ... ashamed. Or, ashamed ... blush. Behold ... - Translate, “Behold she is the hindermost of the nations, a desert, a thirsty land, and a waste:” - the reason why Babylon is to blush. Once the head of gold Dan 2:32, she is now the lowest of earthly powers.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בּ֤וֹשָׁה | booshah | she will be ashamed | H954 → | 127 times |
| אִמְּכֶם֙ | ʾimekhem | mother your | H517 → | 220 times |
| מְאֹ֔ד | meod | exceedingly | H3966 → | 300 times |
| חָפְרָ֖ה | chaferah | she will be abashed | H2659 → | |
| יֽוֹלַדְתְּכֶ֑ם | yoladtekhem | [the one who] gave birth you | H3205 → | 496 times |
| הִנֵּה֙ | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אַחֲרִ֣ית | ʾacharit | [the] last of | H319 → | 61 times |
| גּוֹיִ֔ם | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| מִדְבָּ֖ר | midbar | a wilderness | H4057 → | 270 times |
| צִיָּ֥ה | tziyah | a desert | H6723 → | 16 times |
| וַעֲרָבָֽה׃ | vaaravah | and a desert plain | H6160 → | 61 times |
בּ֤וֹשָׁהshe will be ashamed
booshahH954 →127 times
אִמְּכֶם֙mother your
ʾimekhemH517 →220 times
מְאֹ֔דexceedingly
meodH3966 →300 times
חָפְרָ֖הshe will be abashed
chaferahH2659 →
יֽוֹלַדְתְּכֶ֑ם[the one who] gave birth you
yoladtekhemH3205 →496 times
הִנֵּה֙there!
hinehH2009 →843 times
אַחֲרִ֣ית[the] last of
ʾacharitH319 →61 times
גּוֹיִ֔םnations
goyimH1471 →561 times
מִדְבָּ֖רa wilderness
midbarH4057 →270 times
צִיָּ֥הa desert
tziyahH6723 →16 times
וַעֲרָבָֽה׃and a desert plain
vaaravahH6160 →61 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
Revelation 17:5And on her forehead a mysterious name was written: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
it leads to
- 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 18:2
And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable…
- Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His…
- Revelation 17:7
“Why are you so amazed?” said the angel. “I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and ten horns.
- 2 Timothy 3:1–5
But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.
- Revelation 14:8
Through
Jeremiah 49:2Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites. It will become a heap of ruins, and its villages will be burned.…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:19
My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm…
- Jeremiah 4:19
Through
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.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 14:10
Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house…
- Jeremiah 50:29–35
Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has…
- 1 Kings 14:10
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); John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
