Jeremiah 50:24
in Jeremiah 50I laid a snare for you, O Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it. You were found and captured because you challenged the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against Jehovah.
KJV
I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord.
⋯
This verse in Jeremiah 50
Commentary
6 notes on this verseI have laid a snare for thee - It was not by storm that Cyrus took the city. The Euphrates ran through it; he dug a channel for the river in another direction, to divert its stream; he waited for that time in which the inhabitants had delivered themselves up to debauchery: in the dead of the night he turned off the stream, and he and his army entered by the old channel, now void of its waters. This was the snare of which the prophet here speaks. See Nerodotus, lib. i., c. 191.
This site's exposition
against the land of Merathaim
on Jeremiah 50:21-27
Merathaim and Pekod are regions of Babylonia, and Keil and Barnes note in Hebrew the names sound like the words for double rebellion and punishment. Babylon, “the hammer of the whole earth,” “lies broken and shattered.” Babylon’s soldiers are pictured as young bulls that “go down to the slaughter.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,....
Note, Those that strive against the Lord will soon find themselves over-matched. (3.) Babylon ruined Jerusalem, the holy city, and the holy house there, and must now be called to an account for that. This is the manifesto published in Zion, in the day of Babylon's visitation; it is the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
I--Thou hast to do with God, not merely with men. taken . . . not aware--HERODOTUS relates that one half of the city was taken before those in the other half were "aware" of it. Cyrus turned the waters of the Euphrates where it was defended into a different channel, and so entered the city by the dried-up channel at night, by the upper and lower gates (Da 5:30, 31).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I have laid a snare for thee - Babylon, the impregnable, was taken (according to Herodotus) by Cyrus by stratagem. Having diverted the waters of the Euphrates, he entered the city by the river channel: but see Dan 5:1 note. And thou wast not aware - Better literally, and thou didst not know it.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יָקֹ֨שְׁתִּי | yakosheti | I set a trap | H3369 → | |
| לָ֤ךְ | lakh | for <the> you | ||
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| נִלְכַּדְתְּ֙ | nilkadt | you were caught | H3920 → | 121 times |
| בָּבֶ֔ל | bavel | O Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
| וְאַ֖תְּ | veat | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָדָ֑עַתְּ | yadaat | you knew | H3045 → | 945 times |
| נִמְצֵאת֙ | nimtzet | you were found | H4672 → | 455 times |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| נִתְפַּ֔שְׂתְּ | nitpast | you were caught | H8610 → | 65 times |
| כִּ֥י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בַֽיהוָ֖ה | bayahweh | with Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הִתְגָּרִֽית׃ | hitgarit | you engaged in strife | H1624 → |
יָקֹ֨שְׁתִּיI set a trap
yakoshetiH3369 →
לָ֤ךְfor <the> you
lakh
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
נִלְכַּדְתְּ֙you were caught
nilkadtH3920 →121 times
בָּבֶ֔לO Babylon
bavelH894 →262 times
וְאַ֖תְּand you
veatH859 →1094 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָדָ֑עַתְּyou knew
yadaatH3045 →945 times
נִמְצֵאת֙you were found
nimtzetH4672 →455 times
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
נִתְפַּ֔שְׂתְּyou were caught
nitpastH8610 →65 times
כִּ֥יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
בַֽיהוָ֖הwith Yahweh
bayahwehH3068 →6520 times
הִתְגָּרִֽית׃you engaged in strife
hitgaritH1624 →
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
Job 40:2“Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who argues with God give an answer.”
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 2:16
“For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
- Isaiah 40:14
Whom did He consult to enlighten Him, and who taught Him the paths of justice? Who imparted knowledge to Him and showed Him the way of understanding?
- Romans 11:34–36
“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?”
- Job 33:13
Why do you complain to Him that He answers nothing a man asks?
- Isaiah 45:9–11
Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- 1 Corinthians 2:16
Through
Job 9:4God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?
it leads to
- Job 36:5
Indeed, God is mighty, but He despises no one; He is mighty in strength of understanding.
- Job 36:5
Through
Jeremiah 51:8Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.
it leads to
- 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!”
- Jeremiah 46:11
Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.
- Isaiah 21:9
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 on the Old Testament; 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 (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.