Jeremiah 50:36
New International Version
A sword against her false prophets! They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror.

New Living Translation
The sword will strike her wise counselors, and they will become fools. The sword will strike her mightiest warriors, and panic will seize them.

English Standard Version
A sword against the diviners, that they may become fools! A sword against her warriors, that they may be destroyed!

Berean Standard Bible
A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.

King James Bible
A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.

New King James Version
A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.

New American Standard Bible
“A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools! A sword against her warriors, and they will be shattered!

NASB 1995
“A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools! A sword against her mighty men, and they will be shattered!

NASB 1977
“A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools! A sword against her mighty men, and they will be shattered!

Legacy Standard Bible
A sword against the oracle priests, and they will become fools! A sword against her mighty men, and they will be shattered!

Amplified Bible
“A sword against the oracle priests (the babbling liars), and they will become fools! A sword against her mighty warriors, and they will be shattered and destroyed!

Christian Standard Bible
A sword is against the diviners, and they will act foolishly. A sword is against her heroic warriors, and they will be terrified.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
A sword is against the diviners, and they will act foolishly. A sword is against her heroic warriors, and they will be terrified.

American Standard Version
A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.

Contemporary English Version
This war will prove that your prophets are liars and fools. And it will frighten your warriors.

English Revised Version
A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
A sword will kill the false prophets. They will become fools. A sword will kill their soldiers and defeat them.

Good News Translation
Death to its lying prophets--what fools they are! Death to its soldiers--how terrified they are!

International Standard Version
A sword against the diviners. They'll be made fools. A sword against her warriors. They'll be shattered.

Majority Standard Bible
A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.

NET Bible
Destructive forces will come against her false prophets; they will be shown to be fools! Destructive forces will come against her soldiers; they will be filled with terror!

New Heart English Bible
A sword is on the boasters, and they shall become fools; a sword is on her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.

Webster's Bible Translation
A sword is upon the liars; and they shall be sottish: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.

World English Bible
A sword is on the boasters, and they will become fools. A sword is on her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
A sword [is] on the princes, "" And they have become foolish; A sword [is] on her mighty ones, "" And they have been broken down;

Young's Literal Translation
A sword is on the princes, And they have become foolish; A sword is on her mighty ones, And they have been broken down;

Smith's Literal Translation
A sword against the liars; and they were foolish: a sword against her strong ones, and they were broken.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
A sword upon her diviners, and they shall be foolish: a sword upon her valiant ones, and they shall be dismayed.

Catholic Public Domain Version
A sword is for her diviners, who will be fooled. A sword is for her strong ones, who will be afraid.

New American Bible
A sword upon the soothsayers, and they become fools! A sword upon the warriors, and they tremble;

New Revised Standard Version
A sword against the diviners, so that they may become fools! A sword against her warriors, so that they may be destroyed!
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
A sword is upon her soothsayers, and they shall be dismayed; a sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be defeated.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
A sword on her Soothsayers and her mighty men shall be stricken with a sword, and they shall be defeated
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
A sword is upon the boasters, and they shall become fools; A sword is upon her mighty men, and they shall be dismayed.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
a sword upon her warriors, and they shall be weakened: a sword upon their horses, and upon their chariots:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Destruction of Babylon
35A sword is against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against those who live in Babylon, and against her officials and wise men. 36A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror. 37A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.…

Cross References
Isaiah 47:10-11
You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ / But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.

Isaiah 44:25
who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,

Isaiah 29:14
Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”

Isaiah 19:11-14
The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”? / Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt. / The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray. ...

1 Corinthians 1:19-20
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” / Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

Job 5:12-13
He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success. / He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.

Isaiah 44:24-25
Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth, / who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,

Isaiah 8:19-22
When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? / To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn. / They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God. ...

1 Corinthians 3:19-20
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” / And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

Isaiah 47:13-15
You are wearied by your many counselors; let them come forward now and save you—your astrologers who observe the stars, who monthly predict your fate. / Surely they are like stubble; the fire will burn them up. They cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. There will be no coals to warm them or fire to sit beside. / This is what they are to you—those with whom you have labored and traded from youth—each one strays in his own direction; not one of them can save you.

Isaiah 19:3
Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.

Isaiah 44:18-20
They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand. / And no one considers in his heart, no one has the knowledge or insight to say, “I burned half of it in the fire, and I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” / He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder, / and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. / For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, ...

Isaiah 47:1-3
“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of the Chaldeans! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate. / Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil; strip off your skirt, bare your thigh, and wade through the streams. / Your nakedness will be uncovered and your shame will be exposed. I will take vengeance; I will spare no one.”

Isaiah 47:5-7
“Sit in silence and go into darkness, O Daughter of the Chaldeans. For you will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms. / 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. / You said, ‘I will be queen forever.’ You did not take these things to heart or consider their outcome.


Treasury of Scripture

A sword is on the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is on her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed.

upon the liars.

Jeremiah 48:30
I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.

Isaiah 43:14
Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships.

Isaiah 44:25
That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;

dote

2 Samuel 15:31
And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.

2 Samuel 17:14
And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

2 Chronicles 25:16
And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king's counsel? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the prophet forbare, and said, I know that God hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my counsel.

Jump to Previous
Boasters Broken Destroyed Dismayed Diviners False. Filled Foolish Fools Liars Mighty Ones Oracle Pride Priests Princes Prophets Shattered Sottish Sword Terror War Warriors
Jump to Next
Boasters Broken Destroyed Dismayed Diviners False. Filled Foolish Fools Liars Mighty Ones Oracle Pride Priests Princes Prophets Shattered Sottish Sword Terror War Warriors
Jeremiah 50
1. The judgment of Babylon and the redemption of Israel














A sword against the diviners, and they will become fools!
A sword
The imagery of a sword in biblical literature often symbolizes judgment, warfare, or divine intervention. In the Hebrew context, the word "sword" (חֶרֶב, chereb) is frequently used to denote a tool of God's judgment against nations or individuals who have turned away from His commandments. Here, it signifies the impending judgment and destruction that God is pronouncing against Babylon. The sword is not just a physical weapon but a representation of God's righteous wrath and justice being executed.

against the diviners
Diviners in ancient times were individuals who claimed to possess the ability to predict the future or discern the will of the gods through various means, such as interpreting omens or casting lots. In the Hebrew Bible, divination is consistently condemned as it represents a reliance on false spiritual practices rather than on the one true God. The Hebrew word for diviners (קֹסְמִים, qosemim) indicates those who practice forbidden arts. This phrase highlights God's disdain for such practices and His intention to dismantle the false security and guidance they provide.

and they will become fools
The transformation of diviners into fools underscores the futility and deception inherent in their practices. The Hebrew word for fools (אֱוִילִים, evilim) conveys a sense of moral and spiritual deficiency. In the biblical context, foolishness is often associated with a lack of understanding or rejection of God's wisdom. This phrase serves as a powerful reminder that those who rely on falsehoods and reject divine truth will ultimately be exposed and humiliated. It is a call to seek wisdom and guidance from God alone, who is the source of all truth and understanding.

(36) A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote.--The Hebrew word for "liars"--literally, boastings--implies the falsehood of folly rather than of purpose. Better, perhaps, the prating fools. The marginal readings "chief stays" and "bars" rest on no adequate authority. Here the word applies to the diviners and magicians (comp. Isaiah 44:25).



Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
A sword
חֶ֥רֶב (ḥe·reḇ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2719: Drought, a cutting instrument, as a, knife, sword

[is] against
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

her diviners,
הַבַּדִּ֖ים (hab·bad·dîm)
Article | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 907: A brag, lie, a liar

and they will become fools.
וְנֹאָ֑לוּ (wə·nō·’ā·lū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 2973: To be slack, to be foolish

A sword
חֶ֥רֶב (ḥe·reḇ)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 2719: Drought, a cutting instrument, as a, knife, sword

is against
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

her warriors,
גִּבּוֹרֶ֖יהָ (gib·bō·w·re·hā)
Adjective - masculine plural construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 1368: Powerful, warrior, tyrant

and they will be filled with terror.
וָחָֽתּוּ׃ (wā·ḥāt·tū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 2865: To prostrate, to break down, either, by violence, by confusion and fear


Links
Jeremiah 50:36 NIV
Jeremiah 50:36 NLT
Jeremiah 50:36 ESV
Jeremiah 50:36 NASB
Jeremiah 50:36 KJV

Jeremiah 50:36 BibleApps.com
Jeremiah 50:36 Biblia Paralela
Jeremiah 50:36 Chinese Bible
Jeremiah 50:36 French Bible
Jeremiah 50:36 Catholic Bible

OT Prophets: Jeremiah 50:36 A sword is on the boasters (Jer.)
Jeremiah 50:35
Top of Page
Top of Page