Jeremiah 50:23
in Jeremiah 50How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
KJV
How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
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This verse in Jeremiah 50
Commentary
9 notes on this verseHow is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken!.... The Targum is, "how is the king cut down and broken that moved the whole earth!'' The king of Babylon, or the kingdom of Babylon, which was like a hammer for its hardness and strength; and being an instrument, in the hand of God, of beating to pieces and destroying the kingdoms and nations around it; but is now destroyed itself.
This site's exposition
against the land of Merathaim
on Jeremiah 50:21-27
Merathaim and Pekod are regions of Babylonia, and Keil and Barnes note in Hebrew the names sound like the words for double rebellion and punishment. Babylon, “the hammer of the whole earth,” “lies broken and shattered.” Babylon’s soldiers are pictured as young bulls that “go down to the slaughter.”
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Let us trample Satan under foot. Let us raise the shout of victory over him now that he is thrown and fallen. Let us exult over the crafty reptile, caught in an inextricable snare. Let us, too, say of him in the words of the prophet Jeremiah, "How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken! You are found and also caught because you have stood against the Lord." Long ago, that is, before the time of the advent of Christ the Savior of all, the universal enemy had somewhat grand and terrible notions about himself.… Therefore, as I said, human nature, as victorious in him, wins the crown. And this in ancient times the Son proclaimed, where, by one of the holy prophets, he thus addresses Satan, "Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, says the Lord, that destroys all the earth."
If you take precautions to save your daughter from the bite of a viper, why are you not equally careful to shield her from "the hammer of the whole earth"? Or to prevent her from drinking of the golden cup of Babylon? Or keep her from going out with Dinah to see the daughters of a strange land? Or save her from the tripping dance and from the trailing robe?
The Medieval Church1 voice
To the same extent that God's gift of a dowry is more generous, just so is his love more immense. For he deeply loves the one whom he espoused with his own blood. And for this, he preferred to have his body opened by wounds …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
), beating, beating down, and beating to pieces, all the nations far and near. It has done so long enough; it is time now that it be cut asunder and broken. Note, He that is the god of nations will sooner or later assert the injured rights of nations against those that unjustly and violently invade them.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The hammer - Babylon, by whose instrumentality Yahweh had crushed the nations, is now cut asunder, i. e., the head of iron or bronze is cut away from the wooden handle, and broken.
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)
proposed
hammer--that is, Babylon, so called because of its ponderous destructive power; just as "Martel," that is, "a little hammer," was the surname of a king of the Franks (Isa 14:6).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The hammer of the whole earth - Nebuchadnezzar dashed to pieces the nations against whom he warred. He was the scourge of the Lord.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֵ֤יךְ | ʾeikh | how! | H349 → | 82 times |
| נִגְדַּע֙ | nigda' | it has been cut off | H1438 → | |
| וַיִּשָּׁבֵ֔ר | vaiyishaver | and it has been broken | H7665 → | 147 times |
| פַּטִּ֖ישׁ | patish | [the] hammer of | H6360 → | |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָאָ֑רֶץ | haaretz | the earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֵ֣יךְ | ʾeikh | how! | H349 → | 82 times |
| הָיְתָ֧ה | hayetah | it has become | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| לְשַׁמָּ֛ה | leshamah | <into> a horror | H8047 → | 39 times |
| בָּבֶ֖ל | bavel | Babylon | H894 → | 262 times |
| בַּגּוֹיִֽם׃ | bagoyim | among the nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
אֵ֤יךְhow!
ʾeikhH349 →82 times
נִגְדַּע֙it has been cut off
nigda'H1438 →
וַיִּשָּׁבֵ֔רand it has been broken
vaiyishaverH7665 →147 times
פַּטִּ֖ישׁ[the] hammer of
patishH6360 →
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָאָ֑רֶץthe earth
haaretzH776 →2504 times
אֵ֣יךְhow!
ʾeikhH349 →82 times
הָיְתָ֧הit has become
hayetahH1961 →3559 times
לְשַׁמָּ֛ה<into> a horror
leshamahH8047 →39 times
בָּבֶ֖לBabylon
bavelH894 →262 times
בַּגּוֹיִֽם׃among the nations
bagoyimH1471 →561 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
4 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 18:16saying: “Woe, woe to the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls!
it leads to
- Revelation 17:4
The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. She held in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual…
- Revelation 18:19
Then they will throw dust on their heads as they weep and mourn and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, where all who had ships on the sea were enriched by her…
- Revelation 18:10–11
In fear of her torment, they will stand at a distance and cry out: “Woe, woe to the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come.”
- Luke 16:19–31
Now there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen, who lived each day in joyous splendor.
- Revelation 17:4
About Jeremiah

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
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; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 12; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, LETTER 107; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Leander of Seville, THE TRAINING OF NUNS. PROLOGUE and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
