Jeremiah 51:20
in Jeremiah 51“You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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;
KJV
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;
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This verse in Jeremiah 51
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThou art my battle axe - I believe Nebuchadnezzar is meant, who is called, Jer 50:23, the hammer of the whole earth. Others think the words are spoken of Cyrus. All the verbs are in the past tense: “With thee have I broken in pieces,” etc., etc.
This site's exposition
You are My war club, My weapon for battle
on Jeremiah 51:20-23
“You are My war club, My weapon for battle,” and Barnes and Keil give two readings: Babylon or the Medes named in verse 11. “With you I shatter” comes nine times, through nations, kingdoms, horse and rider, and governors. Whoever the club is, the LORD is the one who shatters.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The forces of Babylon were God's weapons of war, tools in his hand, with which he broke in pieces, and knocked down, nations and kingdoms, -- horses and chariots, which are so much the strength of kingdoms (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Or, Thou art my maul, weapons of war etc. The maul or mace Pro 25:18 only differs from the hammer Jer 50:23 in being used for warlike purposes. Omit the “will” in “will I break.” The crushing of the nations was going on at the time when the prophet wrote. Most commentators consider that Babylon was the mace of God.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַפֵּץ־ | mapetz- | [are] a war-club | H4661 → | |
| אַתָּ֣ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| לִ֔י | li | of me | ||
| כְּלֵ֖י | kelei | weapons of | H3627 → | 325 times |
| מִלְחָמָ֑ה | milchamah | war | H4421 → | 320 times |
| וְנִפַּצְתִּ֤י | venipatzti | and I smash | H5310 → | 22 times |
| בְךָ֙ | vekha | by <the> you | ||
| גּוֹיִ֔ם | goyim | nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
| וְהִשְׁחַתִּ֥י | vehishchati | and I destroy | H7843 → | 146 times |
| בְךָ֖ | vekha | by <the> you | ||
| מַמְלָכֽוֹת׃ | mamlakhot | kingdoms | H4467 → | 117 times |
מַפֵּץ־[are] a war-club
mapetz-H4661 →
אַתָּ֣הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
לִ֔יof me
li
כְּלֵ֖יweapons of
keleiH3627 →325 times
מִלְחָמָ֑הwar
milchamahH4421 →320 times
וְנִפַּצְתִּ֤יand I smash
venipatztiH5310 →22 times
בְךָ֙by <the> you
vekha
גּוֹיִ֔םnations
goyimH1471 →561 times
וְהִשְׁחַתִּ֥יand I destroy
vehishchatiH7843 →146 times
בְךָ֖by <the> you
vekha
מַמְלָכֽוֹת׃kingdoms
mamlakhotH4467 →117 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
Isaiah 37:26Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.
it leads to
- Acts 4:27–28
In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.
- Acts 2:23
He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.
- Isaiah 46:10–11
I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- 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…
- 1 Peter 2:8
and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.
- Acts 4:27–28
Through
Micah 4:13Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron and hooves of bronze to break to pieces many peoples. Then you will devote their gain to the LORD,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 41:15–16
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.
- Daniel 2:44
In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms…
- Isaiah 23:18
Yet her profits and wages will be set apart to the LORD; they will not be stored or saved, for her profit will go to those who live before the LORD, for abundant food…
- Isaiah 41:15–16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.