Jeremiah 51:43
in Jeremiah 51Her cities have become a desolation, a dry and arid land, a land where no one lives, where no son of man passes through.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Her cities are become a desolation, a dry land, and a desert, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
KJV
Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby.
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This verse in Jeremiah 51
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Her cities--the cities, her dependencies. So, "Jerusalem and the cities thereof" (Jer 34:1). Or, the "cities" are the inner and outer cities, the two parts into which Babylon was divided by the Euphrates [GROTIUS].
This site's exposition
How Sheshach has been captured!
on Jeremiah 51:41-44
Sheshach is Babel written in the Atbash cipher, the alphabet reversed, as in 25:26. “The sea has come up over Babylon,” and her cities become “a land where no one lives.” The LORD will make Bel “spew out what he swallowed,” and “even the wall of Babylon will fall.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is a destruction that shall reach the gods of Babylon, the idols and images, and fall with a particular weight upon them. "In token that the whole land shall be confounded and all her slain shall fall and that throughout all the country the wounded shall groan, I will do judgment upon her graven images, "
Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A wilderness - Or, a desert of sand. A land wherein - Rather, “a land - no man shall dwell in them (i. e., its cities), and no human being shall pass through them.”
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הָי֤וּ | hayu | they will become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עָרֶ֙יהָ֙ | ʾareiha | cities its | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| לְשַׁמָּ֔ה | leshamah | <into> a waste | H8047 → | 39 times |
| אֶ֖רֶץ | ʾeretz | a land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| צִיָּ֣ה | tziyah | dry | H6723 → | 16 times |
| וַעֲרָבָ֑ה | vaaravah | and a desert plain | H6160 → | 61 times |
| אֶ֗רֶץ | ʾeretz | a land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | [where] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵשֵׁ֤ב | yeshev | he will dwell | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בָּהֵן֙ | bahen | in <the> them | ||
| כָּל־ | kol- | any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אִ֔ישׁ | ʾish | person | H376 → | 1663 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יַעֲבֹ֥ר | yaavor | he will pass | H5674 → | 556 times |
| בָּהֵ֖ן | bahen | in <the> them | ||
| בֶּן־ | ben- | a child of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| אָדָֽם׃ | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
הָי֤וּthey will become
hayuH1961 →3559 times
עָרֶ֙יהָ֙cities its
ʾareihaH5892 →1090 times
לְשַׁמָּ֔ה<into> a waste
leshamahH8047 →39 times
אֶ֖רֶץa land
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
צִיָּ֣הdry
tziyahH6723 →16 times
וַעֲרָבָ֑הand a desert plain
vaaravahH6160 →61 times
אֶ֗רֶץa land
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
לֹֽא־[where] not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יֵשֵׁ֤בhe will dwell
yeshevH3427 →1079 times
בָּהֵן֙in <the> them
bahen
כָּל־any
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אִ֔ישׁperson
ʾishH376 →1663 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
יַעֲבֹ֥רhe will pass
yaavorH5674 →556 times
בָּהֵ֖ןin <the> them
bahen
בֶּן־a child of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
אָדָֽם׃humankind
ʾadamH120 →551 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 13:20She will never be inhabited or settled from generation to generation; no nomad will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flock there.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:45
Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 14:23
“I will make her a place for owls and for swamplands; I will sweep her away with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of Hosts.
- Jeremiah 50:45
Through
Jeremiah 51:37Babylon will become a heap of rubble, a haunt for jackals, an object of horror and scorn, without inhabitant.
it leads to
- Revelation 18:21–23
Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 18:21–23
Through
Jeremiah 2:6They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:10
He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
- Deuteronomy 8:14–16
then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
- Hosea 13:4
Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt; you know no God but Me, for there is no Savior besides Me.
- Isaiah 63:11–13
Then His people remembered the days of old, the days of Moses. Where is He who brought them through the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is the One who set His…
- Deuteronomy 32:10
Through
Jeremiah 51:29The earth quakes and writhes because the LORD’s intentions against Babylon stand: to make the land of Babylon a desolation, without inhabitant.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:16
The snorting of enemy horses is heard from Dan. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city…
- Jeremiah 8:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah

This page draws on 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
