Jeremiah 51:25
in Jeremiah 51“Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth, declares the LORD. I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs and turn you into a charred mountain.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith Jehovah, which destroyest all the earth; and I will stretch out my hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
KJV
Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
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This verse in Jeremiah 51
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHe calls Babylon a mountain because of the preeminence of its power. He calls it corrupt because of its ungodliness and wickedness.
This site's exposition
for all the evil they have done in Zion
on Jeremiah 51:24-29
“Before your very eyes I will repay Babylon.” Babylon, the “destroying mountain,” will become “a charred mountain,” and “No one shall retrieve from you a cornerstone or a foundation stone.” The nations summoned, “Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz,” are Armenia, the Manneans, and the Scythians, with “the kings of the Medes.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
): Behold, I am against thee; and those cannot stand long whom God is against. He will stretch out his hand upon it, a hand which no creature can bear the weight of nor withstand the force of. It is his purpose, which shall be performed, that Babylon must be a desolation,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
) Babylon has been a destroying mountain, very lofty and bulky as a mountain, and destroying all the earth, as the stones that are tumbled from high mountains spoil the grounds about them; but now it shall itself be rolled down from its rocks, which were as the foundations on which it stood.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Mountain - Babylon was very high for its power, and greatness, and had very high walls and towers, that it looked at a distance like an high rocky mountain.
Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the Lord, which destroyest all the earth,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
O destroying mountain - A volcano which by its flames and hot lava-streams “destroys the whole land.” A burnt mountain - A burned-out mountain, of which the crater alone remains. Such was Babylon. Its destructive energy under Nebuchadnezzar was like the first outbreak of volcanic fires; its rapid collapse under his successors was as the same volcano when its flames have burned out, and its crater is falling in upon itself.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Such was the appearance of Babylon after its destruction, and as the pumice stones of the volcano are left in their place, being unfit for building, so Babylon should never rise from its ruins.
O destroying mountain - An epithet which he applies to the Babylonish government; it is like a burning mountain, which, by vomiting continual streams of burning lava inundates and destroys all towns, villages fields, etc., in its vicinity. And roll thee down from the rocks - I will tumble thee from the rocky base on which thou restest. The combustible matter in thy bowels being exhausted, thou shalt appear as an extinguished crater; and the stony mutter which thou castest out shall not be of sufficient substance to make a foundation stone for solidity, or a corner stone for beauty, Jer 51:26. Under this beautiful and most expressive metaphor, the prophet shows the nature of the Babylonish government; setting the nations on fire, deluging and destroying them by its troops, till at last, exhausted, it tumbles down, is extinguished, and leaves nothing as a basis to erect a new form of government on; but is altogether useless, like the cooled lava, which is, properly speaking, fit for no human purpose.
The words behind it
20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִנְנִ֨י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| אֵלֶ֜יךָ | ʾeleikha | [am] against you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַ֤ר | har | O mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| הַמַּשְׁחִית֙ | hamashchit | <the> destruction | H4889 → | |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הַמַּשְׁחִ֖ית | hamashchit | who destroys | H7843 → | 146 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָ֑רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְנָטִ֨יתִי | venatiti | and I will stretch out | H5186 → | 214 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יָדִ֜י | yadi | hand my | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| עָלֶ֗יךָ | ʾaleikha | on you | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| וְגִלְגַּלְתִּ֙יךָ֙ | vegilgaltikha | and I will roll you | H1556 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הַסְּלָעִ֔ים | haselaim | the crags | H5553 → | 58 times |
| וּנְתַתִּ֖יךָ | unetatikha | and I will make you | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְהַ֥ר | lehar | into a mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| שְׂרֵפָֽה׃ | serefah | burning | H8316 → |
הִנְנִ֨יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
אֵלֶ֜יךָ[am] against you
ʾeleikhaH413 →5510 times
הַ֤רO mountain of
harH2022 →546 times
הַמַּשְׁחִית֙<the> destruction
hamashchitH4889 →
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הַמַּשְׁחִ֖יתwho destroys
hamashchitH7843 →146 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָאָ֑רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
וְנָטִ֨יתִיand I will stretch out
venatitiH5186 →214 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יָדִ֜יhand my
yadiH3027 →1618 times
עָלֶ֗יךָon you
ʾaleikhaH5921 →5755 times
וְגִלְגַּלְתִּ֙יךָ֙and I will roll you
vegilgaltikhaH1556 →
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הַסְּלָעִ֔יםthe crags
haselaimH5553 →58 times
וּנְתַתִּ֖יךָand I will make you
unetatikhaH5414 →2011 times
לְהַ֥רinto a mountain of
leharH2022 →546 times
שְׂרֵפָֽה׃burning
serefahH8316 →
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
Zechariah 4:7What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. Then he will bring forth the capstone accompanied by shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
it leads to
- Zechariah 4:9
“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you.
- Micah 4:1
In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to…
- Psalms 118:22
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
- Psalms 114:4
the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.
- Zechariah 4:9
Through
Jeremiah 51:58This 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…
it leads to
- Habakkuk 2:13
Is it not indeed from the LORD of Hosts that the labor of the people only feeds the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?
- Jeremiah 51:64
Then you are to say, ‘In the same way Babylon will sink and never rise again, because of the disaster I will bring upon her. And her people will grow weary.’” Here end the…
- Habakkuk 2:13
Through
Revelation 8:8Then the second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned to blood,
it leads to
- Exodus 7:17–21
This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will…
- Exodus 7:17–21
Through
Jeremiah 51:53Even if Babylon ascends to the heavens and fortifies her lofty stronghold, the destroyers I send will come against her,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Genesis 11:4
“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of…
- Genesis 11:4
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 10:51.