Jeremiah 51:18
in Jeremiah 51They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They are vanity, a work of delusion: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
KJV
They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
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This verse in Jeremiah 51
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Repeated from Jer 10:12-16; except that "Israel" is not in the Hebrew of Jer 51:19, which ought, therefore, to be translated, "He is the Former of all things, and (therefore) of the rod of His inheritance" (that is, of the nation peculiarly His own).
This site's exposition
The LORD made the earth by His power
on Jeremiah 51:15-19
This hymn repeats 10:12-16 almost word for word. It sets the Maker against idols: “his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.” Verse 19 closes, “The Portion of Jacob is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The idols are falsehood, they are vanity, they are the work of errors; when they come to be visited (to be examined and enquired into) they perish, that is, their reputation sinks and they appear to be nothing; and those that make them are like unto them.
They are vanity, the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. See Gill on Jer 10:15.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הֶ֣בֶל | hevel | [are] futility | H1892 → | 73 times |
| הֵ֔מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| מַעֲשֵׂ֖ה | maaseh | a work of | H4639 → | 236 times |
| תַּעְתֻּעִ֑ים | ta'tuim | mockery | H8595 → | |
| בְּעֵ֥ת | beet | at [the] time of | H6256 → | 296 times |
| פְּקֻדָּתָ֖ם | pekudatam | punishment their | H6486 → | 32 times |
| יֹאבֵֽדוּ׃ | yovedu | they will perish | H6 → | 184 times |
הֶ֣בֶל[are] futility
hevelH1892 →73 times
הֵ֔מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
מַעֲשֵׂ֖הa work of
maasehH4639 →236 times
תַּעְתֻּעִ֑יםmockery
ta'tuimH8595 →
בְּעֵ֥תat [the] time of
beetH6256 →296 times
פְּקֻדָּתָ֖םpunishment their
pekudatamH6486 →32 times
יֹאבֵֽדוּ׃they will perish
yoveduH6 →184 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
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 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.
- 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 21:9
Through
Jonah 2:8Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion.
it leads to
- Psalms 31:6
I hate those who cling to worthless idols, but in the LORD I trust.
- Jeremiah 2:13
“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
- 2 Kings 17:15
They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and themselves became worthless, going after the surrounding…
- 1 Samuel 12:21
Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty.
- Jeremiah 10:8
But they are altogether senseless and foolish, instructed by worthless idols made of wood!
- Psalms 31:6
Through
Isaiah 46:1Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols weigh down beasts and cattle. The images you carry are burdensome, a load to the weary animal.
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.
- Jeremiah 51:44
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Jeremiah
This page draws on 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.