Jeremiah 51:1
New International Version
This is what the LORD says: “See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai.

New Living Translation
This is what the LORD says: “I will stir up a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Babylonia.

English Standard Version
Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon, against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai,

Berean Standard Bible
This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will stir up against Babylon and against the people of Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer.

King James Bible
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;

New King James Version
Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, Against those who dwell in Leb Kamai, A destroying wind.

New American Standard Bible
This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am going to stir up The spirit of a destroyer against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai.

NASB 1995
Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai The spirit of a destroyer.

NASB 1977
Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai The spirit of a destroyer.

Legacy Standard Bible
Thus says Yahweh: “Behold, I am going to arouse against Babylon And against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai The spirit of a destroyer.

Amplified Bible
Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I am going to stir up and put into action [a fury] against Babylon And against the [rebellious] people of Leb-kamai (Chaldea) A destroying wind and hostile spirit;

Christian Standard Bible
This is what the LORD says: I am about to rouse the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and against the population of Leb-qamai.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
This is what the LORD says: I am about to stir up a destructive wind against Babylon and against the population of Leb-qamai.

American Standard Version
Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind.

Contemporary English Version
I, the LORD, am sending a wind to destroy the people of Babylonia and Babylon, its capital.

English Revised Version
Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
This is what the LORD says: I will stir up a destructive wind against Babylon and against the people who live in Leb Kamai.

Good News Translation
The LORD says, "I am bringing a destructive wind against Babylonia and its people.

International Standard Version
This is what the LORD says: "Look, I'm going to stir up a destroying wind against Babylon and the inhabitants of Leb-kamai.

Majority Standard Bible
This is what the LORD says: ?Behold, I will stir up against Babylon and against the people of Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer.

NET Bible
The LORD says, "I will cause a destructive wind to blow against Babylon and the people who inhabit Babylonia.

New Heart English Bible
Thus says the LORD: "Look, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise against me, a destroying wind;

World English Bible
Yahweh says: “Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against those who dwell in Lebkamai, a destroying wind.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Thus said YHWH: “Behold, I am stirring up against Babylon, "" And the inhabitants of Leb, My withstanders, "" A destroying wind,

Young's Literal Translation
Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am stirring up against Babylon, And the inhabitants of Leb -- My withstanders, A destroying wind,

Smith's Literal Translation
Thus said Jehovah: Behold me raising up against Babel and against those dwelling in the heart of those rising up, a destroying spirit.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will raise up as it were a pestilential wind against Babylon and against the inhabitants thereof, who have lifted up their heart against me.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will raise up, over Babylon and over its inhabitants, who have lifted up their heart against me, something like a pestilent wind.

New American Bible
Thus says the LORD: See! I rouse against Babylon, and the inhabitants of Chaldea, a destroyer wind.

New Revised Standard Version
Thus says the LORD: I am going to stir up a destructive wind against Babylon and against the inhabitants of Leb-qamai;
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
THUS says the LORD, the God of hosts: Behold, I will stir up against Babylon and against its inhabitants a man of cruel heart and like a destroying wind;

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Thus says LORD JEHOVAH God of Hosts: “Behold, I stir up against Babel and against its inhabitants a hard heart and The Destroyer Spirit
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, And against them that dwell in Leb-kamai, a destroying wind.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I stir up against Babylon, and against the Chaldeans dwelling therein, a deadly burning wind.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Judgment on Babylon
1This is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will stir up against Babylon and against the people of Leb-kamai the spirit of a destroyer. 2I will send strangers to Babylon to winnow her and empty her land; for they will come against her from every side in her day of disaster.…

Cross References
Isaiah 13:1-22
This is the burden against Babylon that Isaiah son of Amoz received: / Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles. / I have commanded My sanctified ones; I have even summoned My warriors to execute My wrath and exult in My triumph. ...

Revelation 18:1-24
After this I saw another angel descending from heaven with great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory. / And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable beast. / All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.” ...

Isaiah 47:1-15
“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.” ...

Jeremiah 50:1-46
This is the word that the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans: / “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, her idols are broken in pieces.’ / For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee.” ...

Revelation 17:1-18
Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. / The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and those who dwell on the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her immorality.” / And the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, where I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. ...

Isaiah 14:4-23
you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended! / The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers. / It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution. ...

Habakkuk 2:6-20
Will not all of these take up a taunt against him, speaking with mockery and derision: ‘Woe to him who amasses what is not his and makes himself rich with many loans! How long will this go on?’ / Will not your creditors suddenly arise and those who disturb you awaken? Then you will become their prey. / Because you have plundered many nations, the remnant of the people will plunder you—because of your bloodshed against man and your violence against the land, the city, and all their dwellers. ...

Revelation 14:8
Then a second angel followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, who has made all the nations drink the wine of the passion of her immorality.”

Isaiah 21:1-10
This is the burden against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the Negev, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. / A dire vision is declared to me: “The traitor still betrays, and the destroyer still destroys. Go up, O Elam! Lay siege, O Media! I will put an end to all her groaning.” / Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see. ...

Daniel 5:1-31
Later, King Belshazzar held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles, and he drank wine with them. / Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. / Thus they brought in the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king drank from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines. ...

Revelation 16:19
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.

Isaiah 48:14
Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD’s chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

Jeremiah 25:12-14
But when seventy years are complete, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their guilt, declares the LORD, and I will make it an everlasting desolation. / I will bring upon that land all the words I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations. / For many nations and great kings will enslave them, and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.’”

Revelation 19:1-3
After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God! / For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand.” / And a second time they called out: “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises forever and ever.”

Isaiah 45:1-2
This is what the LORD says to Cyrus His anointed, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him, to disarm kings, to open the doors before him, so that the gates will not be shut: / “I will go before you and level the mountains; I will break down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.


Treasury of Scripture

Thus said the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the middle of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;

I will

Jeremiah 50:9,14-16,21
For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain…

Isaiah 13:3-5
I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness…

Amos 3:6
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

midst [heb] heart

Jeremiah 50:24,29,33
I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD…

Zechariah 2:8
For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.

Acts 9:4
And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

a destroying wind

Jeremiah 4:11,12
At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, …

Jeremiah 49:36
And upon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven, and will scatter them toward all those winds; and there shall be no nation whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come.

2 Kings 19:7
Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.

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Jeremiah 51
1. The severe judgment of God against Babylon, in revenge of Israel
59. Jeremiah delivers the book of this prophecy to Seraiah, to be cast into Euphrates,
64. in token of the perpetual sinking of Babylon














This is what the LORD says
This phrase introduces a divine oracle, emphasizing the authority and sovereignty of God. In Hebrew, "LORD" is "YHWH," the covenant name of God, signifying His eternal presence and faithfulness. This introduction assures the reader that the message is not from a human source but from God Himself, underscoring the seriousness and certainty of the prophecy.

Behold
The Hebrew word "hinneh" is used here, which serves as a call to attention. It is an invitation to the audience to focus on the forthcoming message. This word often precedes significant divine actions or revelations, indicating that what follows is of great importance and demands careful consideration.

I will stir up
The phrase suggests divine initiation and control over historical events. The Hebrew root "ur" means to awaken or incite. This indicates that God is actively orchestrating the events that will unfold, demonstrating His power over nations and history. It reassures believers of God's active role in the world, even amidst chaos.

the spirit of a destroyer
The "spirit" here can be understood as a driving force or influence. The Hebrew word "ruach" can mean wind, breath, or spirit, indicating an unseen but powerful force. The "destroyer" refers to an agent of God's judgment. Historically, this is often associated with the Medes and Persians, who conquered Babylon. This phrase highlights God's use of nations as instruments of His justice.

against Babylon
Babylon, in the historical context, was a powerful empire known for its wealth and idolatry. It symbolizes human pride and opposition to God. The mention of Babylon serves as a reminder of the consequences of turning away from God. Archaeological findings have confirmed Babylon's grandeur, yet its fall illustrates the transient nature of earthly power compared to God's eternal kingdom.

and against the people of Leb-kamai
"Leb-kamai" is a cryptic name for Chaldea, using a form of Hebrew atbash cipher, where letters are substituted for others. This cryptic reference may indicate the hidden or mysterious nature of God's plans, which are revealed in His timing. It also serves to emphasize the totality of the judgment, extending beyond the city to its people, underscoring the comprehensive nature of divine justice.

LI.

(1) I will raise up . . . a destroying wind.--Literally, the wind of a destroyer. In Haggai 1:14; Ezra 1:1; Ezra 1:5; 1Chronicles 5:26 the phrase is used for "stirring up the spirit" of a man, and that may be its meaning here. The context, however, suggests, in the "fanners" of the next verse, the literal meaning of "wind," and it is quite possible that the phrase may have been used by Jeremiah in this sense, and afterwards acquired a figurative meaning. It does not appear in any earlier book of the Old Testament.

Against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me.--Literally, in the heart of my adversaries. In the judgment of most commentators the Hebrew words Leb-kamai, which answer to the last ten words of the English, furnish another example of the Atbash or cypher-writing of which we have seen an instance in the Sheshach of Jeremiah 25:26. Interpreted by that cypher Leb-kamai becomes Chasdim or Chaldaeans. Obviously the significance of the cypher-words gives force to its employment here, and presents a parallel to the use of the names Merathaim and Pekod in Jeremiah 50:21. Some commentators, indeed, rest in that significance without recognising the hidden meaning of the Atbash. The LXX. and Syriac versions translate "against the Chaldaeans," as recognising the use of the cypher. Both this and Sheshach had probably become familiar in the correspondence between the exiles and those of their countrymen who remained in Judaea, and so both would understand them when used by Jeremiah. . . .

Verse 1. - Against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me. The Hebrew has leb-kamai, which is Kasdim, or Chaldea, written in the cypher called Athbash (see on Jeremiah 25:26); just as Sheshach in ver. 41 is equivalent to Babel. The question arises whether the prophet himself is responsible for this covert way of writing, or a scribe in later times (so Ewald). In favour of the former view it may be urged that Babylon and Chaldea receive symbolic names (though not in Athbash) in the connected chapter (Jeremiah 50:21, 31, 32); in favour of the latter, that the Septuagint has Ξαλδαίους in ver. 1, and does not express Sheshach in ver. 41, also that the clause to which Sheshach belongs in Jeremiah 25:26 is of very dubious genuineness. A destroying wind; rather, the spirit (ruakh) of a destroyer (or perhaps, of destruction). The verb rendered in this verse "raise up," when used in connection with ruakh, always means "to excite the spirit of any one" (ver. 11; Haggai 1:14; 1 Chronicles 5:26).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
This is what
כֹּ֚ה (kōh)
Adverb
Strong's 3541: Like this, thus, here, now

the LORD
יְהוָ֔ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

says:
אָמַ֣ר (’ā·mar)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Behold,
הִנְנִי֙ (hin·nî)
Interjection | first person common singular
Strong's 2005: Lo! behold!

I will stir up
מֵעִ֣יר (mê·‘îr)
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 5782: To rouse oneself, awake

against
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

Babylon
בָּבֶ֔ל (bā·ḇel)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 894: Babylon -- an eastern Mediterranean empire and its capital city

and against
וְאֶל־ (wə·’el-)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the people
יֹשְׁבֵ֖י (yō·šə·ḇê)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural construct
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

of Leb-kamai
לֵ֣ב (lêḇ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 3820: The heart, the feelings, the will, the intellect, centre

the spirit
ר֖וּחַ (rū·aḥ)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 7307: Wind, breath, exhalation, life, anger, unsubstantiality, a region of the sky, spirit

of a destroyer.
מַשְׁחִֽית׃ (maš·ḥîṯ)
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 7843: Perhaps to go to ruin


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 51:1 Thus says Yahweh: Behold I will raise (Jer.)
Jeremiah 50:46
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