Jeremiah 51:8
in Jeremiah 51Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
KJV
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
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This verse in Jeremiah 51
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBabylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed,.... Or "broken" (g); even into shivers, as a cup is; for when it had been used to answer the purposes designed by the Lord, he let it fall cut of his hands at once, and it was broken; or rather he dashed it in pieces, as a potter's vessel.
This site's exposition
a golden cup in the Lord's hand
on Jeremiah 51:7-10
Babylon is called a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunken, the empire itself the Lord's own instrument of judgment on the nations even while she is now the one being judged, the same paradox of an appointed rod later broken for its pride that the book has already used of Assyria. The nations who drank from her testify to her own case, we would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed, an incurable fall stated by the very peoples she intoxicated. Verse 10 turns the report toward Zion, the Lord hath brought forth our righteousness, the exiles' vindication announced before the city that will hear it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): Babylon is fallen and destroyed, is as sure to fall, to fall into destruction, as if it were fallen and destroyed already; though when Jeremiah prophesied this, and many a year after, it was in the height of its power and greatness.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The king of Babylon, who should have been observing the approaches of the enemy, was himself at such a distance from the place where the attack was made that it was a great while ere he had notice that the city was taken; so that those who were posted near the place sent one messenger, one courier, after another, with advice of it,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Destroyed - literally, broken, as was the hammer Jer 50:23. The cup, though of metal, is thrown down so violently as to be shattered by the fall. Howl for her - The persons addressed are the many inhabitants of Babylon who were dragged from their homes to people its void places, and especially the Israelites. They have dwelt there long enough to feel pity for her, when they contrast her past magnificence with her terrible fall. Compare Jer 29:7.
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed - These appear to be the words of some of the spectators of Babylon’s misery.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פִּתְאֹ֛ם | pitom | suddenly | H6597 → | 25 times |
| נָפְלָ֥ה | nafelah | it will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| בָבֶ֖ל | vavel | Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
| וַתִּשָּׁבֵ֑ר | vatishaver | and it was broken | H7665 → | 147 times |
| הֵילִ֣ילוּ | heililu | wail | H3213 → | 30 times |
| עָלֶ֗יהָ | ʾaleiha | on it | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| קְח֤וּ | kechu | get | H3947 → | 966 times |
| צֳרִי֙ | tzori | balm | H6875 → | 6 times |
| לְמַכְאוֹבָ֔הּ | lemakhovah | for pain its | H4341 → | 16 times |
| אוּלַ֖י | ʾulai | perhaps | H194 → | 45 times |
| תֵּרָפֵֽא׃ | terafe' | it will be healed | H7495 → | 67 times |
פִּתְאֹ֛םsuddenly
pitomH6597 →25 times
נָפְלָ֥הit will fall
nafelahH5307 →435 times
בָבֶ֖לBabylon
vavelH894 →262 times
וַתִּשָּׁבֵ֑רand it was broken
vatishaverH7665 →147 times
הֵילִ֣ילוּwail
heililuH3213 →30 times
עָלֶ֗יהָon it
ʾaleihaH5921 →5755 times
קְח֤וּget
kechuH3947 →966 times
צֳרִי֙balm
tzoriH6875 →6 times
לְמַכְאוֹבָ֔הּfor pain its
lemakhovahH4341 →16 times
אוּלַ֖יperhaps
ʾulaiH194 →45 times
תֵּרָפֵֽא׃it will be healed
terafe'H7495 →67 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
Revelation 14:8Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 21:9
Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 51:7–8
Babylon was a gold cup in the hand of the LORD, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad.
- Revelation 18:2–3
And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable…
- Isaiah 21:9
Through
Isaiah 21:9Look, here come the riders, horsemen in pairs.” And one answered, saying: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon! All the images of her gods lie shattered on the ground!”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:44
I will punish Bel in Babylon. I will make him spew out what he swallowed. The nations will no longer stream to him; even the wall of Babylon will fall.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 18:2
And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable…
- Revelation 14:8
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”
- Jeremiah 51:44
Through
Jeremiah 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,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 46:1
Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
- Isaiah 46:1
Through
Jeremiah 46:11Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:22
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
- Jeremiah 8:22
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, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.