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Jeremiah 51:31

in Jeremiah 51

One courier races to meet another, and messenger follows messenger, to announce to the king of Babylon that his city has been captured from end to end.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every quarter:

KJV

One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end,

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This verse in Jeremiah 51

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
The royal palace was a strong fortification in the heart of the city. The messengers thus met one another. At one end - Rather, from all sides, entirely, completely.

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

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The foot-posts shall meet at the court from several quarters with this intelligence to the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one end, and there is nothing to obstruct the progress of the conquerors, but they will be at the other end quickly. They are to tell him that the enemy has seized the passes (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

One post shall run to meet another - As the city was taken by surprise, in the manner already related, so now messengers, one after another, were dispatched to give the king information of what was done; viz., that the city was taken at one end. Herodotus tells us that the extreme parts of the city were taken, before those of the center knew any thing of the invasion. Herodot. lib. 1 c. 191.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • רָ֤ץa runner

    ratzH7323 →103 times

  • לִקְרַאת־to meet

    likrat-H7122 →139 times

  • רָץ֙a runner

    ratzH7323 →103 times

  • יָר֔וּץhe will run

    yarutzH7323 →103 times

  • וּמַגִּ֖ידand a messenger

    umagidH5046 →370 times

  • לִקְרַ֣אתto meet

    likratH7122 →139 times

  • מַגִּ֑ידa messenger

    magidH5046 →370 times

  • לְהַגִּיד֙to tell

    lehagidH5046 →370 times

  • לְמֶ֣לֶךְto [the] king of

    lemelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • בָּבֶ֔לBabylon

    bavelH894 →262 times

  • כִּֽי־that

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • נִלְכְּדָ֥הit has been captured

    nilkedahH3920 →121 times

  • עִיר֖וֹcity his

    iroH5892 →1090 times

  • מִקָּצֶֽה׃from [the] end

    mikatzehH7097 →97 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Psalms 127:1Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.6 worksDaniel 5:30That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain,5 works2 Chronicles 30:6So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: “Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that He may return to those of you who remain, who have escaped the grasp of the kings of Assyria.5 works2 Samuel 18:19–31Then Ahimaaz son of Zadok said, “Please let me run and tell the king the good news that the LORD has avenged him of his enemies.”4 worksJeremiah 50:43The king of Babylon has heard the report, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor.3 worksIsaiah 21:3–9Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.2 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Isaiah 47:11–13But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.2 worksEsther 8:10Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers riding on swift horses bred from the royal mares.2 worksJeremiah 50:24I 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.2 worksDaniel 5:2–5Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.2 worksEsther 8:14The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses, pressed on by the command of the king. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa.2 works1 Samuel 4:12–18That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line all the way to Shiloh, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head.2 worksJeremiah 4:20Disaster after disaster is proclaimed, for the whole land is laid waste. My tents are destroyed in an instant, my curtains in a moment.2 worksEsther 3:13–15And the letters were sent by couriers to each of the royal provinces with the order to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and children—and to plunder their possessions on a single day, the thirteenth day of Adar, the twelfth month.2 worksJob 9:25My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good.2 worksJeremiah 50:2“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.’2 worksJob 1:14a messenger came and reported to Job: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,2 worksJob 1:18While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    2 Chronicles 30:6

    So the couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his officials, which read: “Children of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, so that…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 4:1

      “If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver,

    • Esther 8:14

      The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses, pressed on by the command of the king. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa.

    • 2 Kings 15:29

      In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came and captured Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, and Galilee, including all the land of Naphtali, and he took the people…

    • 2 Kings 15:19

      Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver in order to gain his support and strengthen his own grip on the kingdom.

    • Job 9:25

      My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good.

  • Through

    Esther 8:10

    Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers riding on swift horses bred from the royal mares.

    it leads to

    • Ecclesiastes 8:4

      For the king’s word is supreme, and who can say to him, “What are you doing?”

    • Isaiah 66:20

      And they will bring all your brothers from all the nations as a gift to the LORD on horses and chariots and wagons, on mules and camels, to My holy mountain Jerusalem,” says the…

    • Jeremiah 2:23

      “How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? Look at your behavior in the valley; acknowledge what you have done. You are a swift young she-camel galloping…

Where this verse is studied

About Jeremiah

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 51 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Jeremiah 51 →