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Jeremiah 51:14

in Jeremiah 51

The LORD of Hosts has sworn by Himself: “Surely I will fill you up with men as with locusts, and they will shout in triumph over you.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Jehovah of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with the canker-worm; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

KJV

The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee.

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This verse in Jeremiah 51

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

I will fill thee with men - By means of these very waters through the channel of thy boasted river, thou shalt be filled with men, suddenly appearing as an army of locusts; and, without being expected, shall lift up a terrific cry, as soon as they have risen from the channel of the river.

This site's exposition

the spirit of the kings of the Medes

on Jeremiah 51:11-14

The agent is now named rather than left as a nation out of the north, the kings of the Medes, the coalition history remembers as the force that answered to Cyrus and ended the empire in 539 BC. Babylon's own preparations, watch strong, watchmen set, ambushes laid, are recorded only to show them useless against what the Lord himself hath devised and done. The measure of thy covetousness (v13) reaches back to the many waters, the canals and river that made Babylon rich and are named again as the very thing that will let her enemies in.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

12-16 ), which was there intended for the conviction of the Babylonian idolaters and the confirmation of God's Israel in the faith and worship of the God of Israel; and it is here repeated to show that God will convince those by his judgments who would not be convinced by his word that he is God over all.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens

The Lord hath sworn by himself, saying,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

by himself--literally, "by His soul" (2Sa 15:21; Heb 6:13). fill . . . with caterpillars--locusts (Na 3:15). Numerous as are the citizens of Babylon, the invaders shall be more numerous.

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

Rather, “Surely I have filled thee with men as with locusts, and they shall sing over thee the vintage-song.” The vintage-shout suggests the idea of trampling Babylon under foot, as the vintagers trample the grapes; a metaphor of the divine wrath.

The words behind it

12 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.

  • נִשְׁבַּ֛עhe swears

    nishba'H7650 →186 times

  • יְהוָ֥הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • צְבָא֖וֹתof hosts

    tzevaotH6635 →485 times

  • בְּנַפְשׁ֑וֹby self his

    benafshoH5315 →754 times

  • כִּ֣יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אִם־except

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • מִלֵּאתִ֤יךְI will fill you

    miletikhH4390 →249 times

  • אָדָם֙person[s]

    ʾadamH120 →551 times

  • כַּיֶּ֔לֶקlike <the> locust

    kaiyelekH3218 →

  • וְעָנ֥וּand they will sing

    veanuH6030 →331 times

  • עָלַ֖יִךְto you

    ʾalayikhH5921 →5755 times

  • הֵידָֽד׃ סa shout

    heidadH1959 →7 times

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

Related verses

14 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.

Amos 6:8The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself—the LORD, the God of Hosts, has declared: “I abhor Jacob’s pride and detest his citadels, so I will deliver up the city and everything in it.”7 worksGenesis 22:16saying, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,6 worksJoel 1:4What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.5 worksJoel 2:25I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.3 worksJeremiah 49:13For by Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be in ruins forever.”3 worksJeremiah 50:15Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take out your vengeance upon her; as she has done, do the same to her.3 works
The other 8 cross-references, with their words ▾
Jeremiah 51:27“Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.3 worksHebrews 6:13When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,2 worksNahum 3:15–17There the fire will devour you; the sword will cut you down and consume you like a young locust. Make yourself many like the young locust; make yourself many like the swarming locust!2 worksJudges 6:5For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.2 worksJoel 2:3–4Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.2 worksJeremiah 46:23They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD, dense though it may be, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted.2 worksEzekiel 21:22In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall.2 worksExodus 32:17When Joshua heard the sound of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “The sound of war is in the camp.”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

    Joel 2:25

    I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.

    it leads to

    • Zechariah 10:6

      I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them, and they will be as though I had not rejected them.…

    • Joel 1:4–7

      What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.

    • Joel 2:2–11

      a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be…

  • Through

    Hebrews 6:13

    When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,

    it leads to

    • Genesis 22:15–18

      And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time,

    • Isaiah 45:23

      By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 105:9–10

      the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.

    • Luke 1:73

      the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

    • Micah 7:20

      You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.

About Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Jeremiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 51 →

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; 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.

Read on in Jeremiah 51 →