Jeremiah 51:30
in Jeremiah 51The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight, they remain in their strongholds; their might hath failed; they are become as women: her dwelling-places are set on fire; her bars are broken.
KJV
The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
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This verse in Jeremiah 51
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe mighty men - have forborne to fight - They were panic-struck when they found the Medes and Persians within their walls, and at once saw that resistance was useless.
This site's exposition
The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting
on Jeremiah 51:30-33
Couriers run to tell the king “that his city has been captured from end to end.” Herodotus reports that the city was so large its center did not know its outskirts had fallen. Verse 33 closes with the threshing floor: “In just a little while her harvest time will come.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The mighty men of Babylon have forborne to fight,....
God having taken away their strength and spirit, so that they have remained in their holds, not daring so much as to peep forth, the might both of their hearts and of their hands fails; they become as timorous as women, so that the enemy has, without any resistance, burnt her dwelling-places and broken her bars. It is to the same purport with
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
forborne to fight--for the city was not taken by force of arms, but by stratagem, according to the counsel given to Cyrus by two eunuchs of Belshazzar who deserted. remained in . . . holds--not daring to go forth to fight; many, with Nabonidus, withdrew to the fortified city Borsippa.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Have forborn to fight - Or, have ceased to fight: in despair when they saw that the conflict was hopeless. Holds - The word properly means an acropolis, and so any inaccessible place of refuge. They have burned - i. e., the enemy have burned. Bars - i. e., fortifications (compare Amo 1:5).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חָדְלוּ֩ | chadelu | they will cease | H2308 → | 58 times |
| גִבּוֹרֵ֨י | giborei | [the] warriors of | H1368 → | 158 times |
| בָבֶ֜ל | vavel | Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
| לְהִלָּחֵ֗ם | lehilachem | to fight | H3898 → | 177 times |
| יָֽשְׁבוּ֙ | yashevu | they will remain | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בַּמְּצָד֔וֹת | bametzadot | in the strongholds | H4679 → | |
| נָשְׁתָ֥ה | nashetah | it will be dry | H5405 → | |
| גְבוּרָתָ֖ם | gevuratam | strength their | H1369 → | 61 times |
| הָי֣וּ | hayu | they will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְנָשִׁ֑ים | lenashim | <into> women | H802 → | 781 times |
| הִצִּ֥יתוּ | hitzitu | they will be set on fire | H3341 → | 29 times |
| מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יהָ | mishkenoteiha | dwellings its | H4908 → | 139 times |
| נִשְׁבְּר֥וּ | nishberu | they will be broken | H7665 → | 147 times |
| בְרִיחֶֽיהָ׃ | vericheiha | bars its | H1280 → |
חָדְלוּ֩they will cease
chadeluH2308 →58 times
גִבּוֹרֵ֨י[the] warriors of
giboreiH1368 →158 times
בָבֶ֜לBabylon
vavelH894 →262 times
לְהִלָּחֵ֗םto fight
lehilachemH3898 →177 times
יָֽשְׁבוּ֙they will remain
yashevuH3427 →1079 times
בַּמְּצָד֔וֹתin the strongholds
bametzadotH4679 →
נָשְׁתָ֥הit will be dry
nashetahH5405 →
גְבוּרָתָ֖םstrength their
gevuratamH1369 →61 times
הָי֣וּthey will become
hayuH1961 →3559 times
לְנָשִׁ֑ים<into> women
lenashimH802 →781 times
הִצִּ֥יתוּthey will be set on fire
hitzituH3341 →29 times
מִשְׁכְּנֹתֶ֖יהָdwellings its
mishkenoteihaH4908 →139 times
נִשְׁבְּר֥וּthey will be broken
nishberuH7665 →147 times
בְרִיחֶֽיהָ׃bars its
vericheihaH1280 →
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
Nahum 3:13Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:37
A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 19:16
In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them.
- Jeremiah 50:37
Through
Lamentations 2:9Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 7:26
Disaster upon disaster will come, and rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction from the priests will perish, as will counsel from the elders.
- Hosea 3:4
For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or idol.
- Micah 3:6–7
Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them.
- Nehemiah 1:3
And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.”
- 2 Chronicles 15:3
For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a priest to instruct them, and without the law.
- Ezekiel 7:26
Through
Isaiah 19:16In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them.
it leads to
- Nahum 3:13
Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars.
- Nahum 3:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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.