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Jeremiah 50:42

in Jeremiah 50

They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Babylon.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

They lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

KJV

They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

This verse in Jeremiah 50

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
They shall hold the bow and the lance,.... Or "spear". The Targum interprets it, "shields"; as many in Cyrus's army had (t); the one an offensive, the other a defensive weapon; or, if bow and lance, the one is used at a distance, the other when near.

This site's exposition

Behold, an army is coming from the north

on Jeremiah 50:41-46

Verses 41 to 43 repeat almost word for word the invasion of 6:22-24. The words once aimed at the Daughter of Zion now fall on “O Daughter of Babylon.” The king of Babylon hears the report, “and his hands hang limp,” as the people of Jerusalem did in 6:24.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

God can find out such as shall be for terror and destruction to those that are for terror and destruction to others; and those who have dealt cruelly, and have shown no mercy, may expect to be cruelly dealt with, and to find no mercy.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The very language used to describe the calamities which Babylon inflicted on Zion is that here employed to describe Babylon's own calamity inflicted by the Medes.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

cruel--the character of the Persians, and even of Cyrus, notwithstanding his wish to be thought magnanimous (Isa 13:18). like a man--So orderly and united is their "array," that the whole army moves to battle as one man [GROTIUS].

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

The words behind it

19 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.

  • קֶ֣שֶׁתbow

    keshetH7198 →76 times

  • וְכִידֹ֞ןand javelin

    vekhidonH3591 →

  • יַחֲזִ֗יקוּthey will take hold of

    yachazikuH2388 →291 times

  • אַכְזָרִ֥י[will be] cruel

    ʾakhzariH394 →8 times

  • הֵ֙מָּה֙they

    hemahH1992 →553 times

  • וְלֹ֣אand not

    velo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יְרַחֵ֔מוּthey will have mercy

    yerachemuH7355 →47 times

  • קוֹלָם֙sound their

    kolamH6963 →506 times

  • כַּיָּ֣ם[will be] like the sea

    kaiyamH3220 →396 times

  • יֶהֱמֶ֔ה[which] it roars

    yehemehH1993 →34 times

  • וְעַל־and on

    veal-H5921 →5755 times

  • סוּסִ֖יםhorses

    susimH5483 →140 times

  • יִרְכָּ֑בוּthey will ride

    yirkavuH7392 →78 times

  • עָר֗וּךְarranged

    ʾarukhH6186 →74 times

  • כְּאִישׁ֙like a man

    keishH376 →1663 times

  • לַמִּלְחָמָ֔הfor <the> battle

    lamilchamahH4421 →320 times

  • עָלַ֖יִךְon you

    ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times

  • בַּת־O daughter of

    bat-H1323 →588 times

  • בָּבֶֽל׃Babylon

    bavelH894 →262 times

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

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

    Isaiah 47:6

    I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 28:9

      But a prophet of the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet the army that returned to Samaria. “Look,” he said to them, “because of His wrath against Judah, the…

    • Zechariah 1:15

      but I am fiercely angry with the nations that are at ease. For I was a little angry, but they have added to the calamity.’

    • Deuteronomy 28:50

      a ruthless nation with no respect for the old and no pity for the young.

    • Obadiah 1:10

      Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever.

    • James 2:13

      For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

  • Through

    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…

    it leads to

    • Judges 5:22

      Then the hooves of horses thundered—the mad galloping of his stallions.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

  • Through

    Isaiah 5:30

    In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 8:22

      Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.

    • Joel 2:10

      Before them the earth quakes; the heavens tremble. The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars lose their brightness.

About Jeremiah

This page draws on 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.