Jeremiah 50:2
in Jeremiah 50“Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced, her idols are broken in pieces.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Declare ye among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.
KJV
Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 50
Commentary
6 notes on this verseDeclare ye among the nations - God’s determination relative to this empire. Set up a standard - Show the people where they are to assemble. Say, Babylon is taken - It is a thing so firmly determined, that it is as good as already done. Bel - The tutelar deity of Babylon is confounded, because it cannot save its own city. Merodach - Another of their idols, is broken to pieces; it was not able to save itself, much less the whole empire. Her idols are confounded - It is a reproach to have acknowledged them.
This site's exposition
concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans
on Jeremiah 50:1-3
“Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered,” as Isaiah 46:1 also names Bel and Nebo. Verse 3 names “a nation from the north,” the direction from which Babylon came against Judah in 1:14 and 4:6. The land is left so empty that “both man and beast will flee.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
. let it be published to the nations as a piece of news, true news, and great news, and news they are all concerned in; let them hang out the flag, as is usual on days of triumph, to give notice of it; let all the world take notice of it: Babylon is taken.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Declare ye among the nations,.... The taking of Babylon; a piece of news, in which the nations of the world had a concern, as well as the Jews, being brought under the Babylonish yoke, from which they would now be freed; and therefore such a declaration must be very acceptable and joyful to them.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Bel--the tutelary god of Babylon; the same idol as the Phœnician Baal, that is, lord, the sun (Isa 46:1). confounded--because unable to defend the city under their protection.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-curly-quotes
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Confounded ... confounded - ashamed ... ashamed. Merodach - This deity, in the inscriptions Marduk, was the tutelary god of Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar, who called his son Evil-Merodach, appears to have been especially devoted to his service. He was really identical with Bel, and his equivalent among the planets was Jupiter: and as such he was styled “King of heaven and earth.”
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַגִּ֨ידוּ | hagidu | declare | H5046 → | 370 times |
| בַגּוֹיִ֤ם | vagoyim | among the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| וְהַשְׁמִ֙יעוּ֙ | vehashmiu | and make a proclamation | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| וּֽשְׂאוּ־ | useu- | and lift up | H5375 → | 656 times |
| נֵ֔ס | nes | a standard | H5251 → | 21 times |
| הַשְׁמִ֖יעוּ | hashmiu | make a proclamation | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תְּכַחֵ֑דוּ | tekhachedu | you hide [it] | H3582 → | 32 times |
| אִמְרוּ֩ | ʾimru | say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נִלְכְּדָ֨ה | nilkedah | it will be captured | H3920 → | 121 times |
| בָבֶ֜ל | vavel | Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
| הֹבִ֥ישׁ | hovish | it will be put to shame | H954 → | 127 times |
| בֵּל֙ | bel | Bel | H1078 → | |
| חַ֣ת | chat | it will be shattered | H2865 → | 52 times |
| מְרֹדָ֔ךְ | merodakh | Marduk | H4781 → | |
| הֹבִ֣ישׁוּ | hovishu | they will be put to shame | H954 → | 127 times |
| עֲצַבֶּ֔יהָ | ʾatzabeiha | images its | H6091 → | |
| חַ֖תּוּ | chatu | they will be shattered | H2865 → | 52 times |
| גִּלּוּלֶֽיהָ׃ | giluleiha | idols its | H1544 → |
הַגִּ֨ידוּdeclare
hagiduH5046 →370 times
בַגּוֹיִ֤םamong the nations
vagoyimH1471 →561 times
וְהַשְׁמִ֙יעוּ֙and make a proclamation
vehashmiuH8085 →1159 times
וּֽשְׂאוּ־and lift up
useu-H5375 →656 times
נֵ֔סa standard
nesH5251 →21 times
הַשְׁמִ֖יעוּmake a proclamation
hashmiuH8085 →1159 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תְּכַחֵ֑דוּyou hide [it]
tekhacheduH3582 →32 times
אִמְרוּ֩say
ʾimruH559 →5305 times
נִלְכְּדָ֨הit will be captured
nilkedahH3920 →121 times
בָבֶ֜לBabylon
vavelH894 →262 times
הֹבִ֥ישׁit will be put to shame
hovishH954 →127 times
בֵּל֙Bel
belH1078 →
חַ֣תit will be shattered
chatH2865 →52 times
מְרֹדָ֔ךְMarduk
merodakhH4781 →
הֹבִ֣ישׁוּthey will be put to shame
hovishuH954 →127 times
עֲצַבֶּ֔יהָimages its
ʾatzabeihaH6091 →
חַ֖תּוּthey will be shattered
chatuH2865 →52 times
גִּלּוּלֶֽיהָ׃idols its
giluleihaH1544 →
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
Isaiah 46:1Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:44
I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 21:9
Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 51:47
Therefore, behold, the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 51:44
Through
Jeremiah 51:47Therefore, behold, the days are coming when I will punish the idols of Babylon. Her entire land will suffer shame, and all her slain will lie fallen within her.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:52
“Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish her idols, and throughout her land the wounded will groan.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 51:52
Through
Isaiah 21:9Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
it leads to
- 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…
- Jeremiah 51:8
Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.
- Revelation 18:2
Through
Jeremiah 51:44I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:58
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Babylon’s thick walls will be leveled, and her high gates consumed by fire. So the labor of the people will be for nothing; the nations will…
- Jeremiah 51:34
“Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies…
- Jeremiah 51:58
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.