Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed! Wail for her! Take balm for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed.
Parallel Translations
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Babylon has suddenly fallen and been destroyed! Wail for her! Take balm for her pain. Perhaps she may be healed.
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Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
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Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed, wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 51:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Isaiah 21:9 Behold, here comes a troop of men, horsemen in pairs.” He answered, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the engraved images of her gods are broken to the ground.
- Jeremiah 46:11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt. You use many medicines in vain. There is no healing for you.
- Revelation 14:8 Another, a second angel, followed, saying, “Babylon the great has fallen, which has made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality.”
- Jeremiah 48:20 Moab is disappointed; for it is broken down. Wail and cry! Tell it by the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste.
- Jeremiah 50:2 “Declare among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and don’t conceal: say, ‘Babylon has been taken, Bel is disappointed, Merodach is dismayed! Her images are disappointed. Her idols are dismayed.’
- Revelation 18:2 He cried with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and she has become a habitation of demons, a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird!
- Isaiah 13:6-7 Wail, for Yahweh’s day is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be feeble, and everyone’s heart will melt.
- Isaiah 47:9 But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in their full measure, in the multitude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments.
- Jeremiah 8:22 Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then isn’t the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
- Jeremiah 30:12-15 For Yahweh says, “Your hurt is incurable. Your wound is grievous. There is no one to plead your cause, that you may be bound up. You have no healing medicines. All your lovers have forgotten you. They don’t seek you. For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins were increased. Why do you cry over your injury? Your pain is incurable. For the greatness of your iniquity, because your sins have increased, I have done these things to you.
- Jeremiah 48:31 Therefore I will wail for Moab. Yes, I will cry out for all Moab. They will mourn for the men of Kir Heres.
- Jeremiah 51:41 “How Sheshach is taken! How the praise of the whole earth seized! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!
- Ezekiel 27:30-32 and will cause their voice to be heard over you, and will cry bitterly. They will cast up dust on their heads. They will wallow in the ashes. They will make themselves bald for you, and clothe themselves with sackcloth. They will weep for you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning. In their wailing they will take up a lamentation for you, and lament over you, saying, ‘Who is there like Tyre, like her who is brought to silence in the middle of the sea?’
- Ezekiel 30:2 “Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
- Daniel 5:24 Then the part of the hand was sent from before him, and this writing was inscribed.
- Daniel 5:31 Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.
- Nahum 3:19 There is no healing your wound, for your injury is fatal. All who hear the report of you clap their hands over you; for who hasn’t felt your endless cruelty?
- Revelation 18:8-11 Therefore in one day her plagues will come: death, mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire; for the Lord God who has judged her is strong. The kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived wantonly with her will weep and wail over her, when they look at the smoke of her burning, standing far away for the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For your judgment has come in one hour.’ The merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more:
- Revelation 18:17-19 For in an hour such great riches are made desolate.’ Every ship master, and everyone who sails anywhere, and mariners, and as many as gain their living by sea, stood far away, and cried out as they looked at the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What is like the great city?’ They cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had their ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her great wealth!’ For she is made desolate in one hour.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet now declares that the fall of Babylon…
The Prophet now declares that the fall of Babylon would be sudden, that the faithful might understand that God could accomplish in one moment what he had decreed. For when the prophets spoke of God’s judgments, the people questioned among themselves, how could that be which surpassed the common ideas of men. That men, therefore, might not estimate God’s power according to their own thoughts, he introduces this word, suddenly; as though he had said, that God had no need of warlike forces; for though he makes no preparations, yet he can subvert every power that exists in the world.
He then adds, Howl for her; and this is said, because it could not be but that many nations would either bewail the ruin of so great a monarch, or be astonished at her, and thus many things would be said. He then says, that though the whole world were to howl for Babylon, it would yet fall and be suddenly broken, whenever it pleased God. And he says, by way of irony, Take balm, if peradventure it can be healed The word צרי, tsari, is, by some, rendered balsam, but it means rosin, for we know that it was deemed precious in Judea; and the Prophet no doubt accommodated what he said to what was commonly known. As then that medicament was in common use among the Jews, he now says, Take rosin As there is hardly any country which has not its peculiar remedies; so we see that Jeremiah refers not to what was usually done at Babylon, or to medicaments used by the Chaldeans, but to what was commonly used in his own country, as it appears from other places. Now rosin was a juice which flowed from trees, and it was a thick juice. The best rosin which we now use is from the terebinth; but in these parts they have what proceeds from the fir, for here the terebinth is not found. But Judea had a most valuable rosin, as we learn from many parts of Scripture. And under this one thing is included everything, Take rosin; as though he had said, “Let physicians come together (otherwise she will perish) from every place, if peradventure she can be healed.” This is said ironically, that the faithful might know that the diseases of Babylon would be incurable.
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We have said elsewhere, that Babylon was not wholly demolished when taken by Cyrus, and that the people were not then driven away. They dwelt there as usual, though made tributary, as they were afterwards, under the dominion of the Persians. Babylon was also grievously oppressed, when punished for its revolt, until what Jeremiah and others prophesied was fulfilled. Then the time of which he speaks ought not to be confined to one calamity only, which was only a prelude to others still greater. He afterwards adds, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 51:8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl…
Jer 51:8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed.
Ver. 8. Babylon is suddenly fallen.] Jer 50:2. So ruet alto a culmine Roma So Rome will be destroyed from its highest heights. {Rev 14:8; Rev 18:2; Rev 18:10}
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If so be she may be healed,] q.d., Try you may, but it is to no purpose. See Jer 46:11.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain That is, she shall suddenly fall and be destroyed;…
That is, she shall suddenly fall and be destroyed; you may try all the probable ways for her cure, but they will all be used to no purpose.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed,.... Or "broken" (g);…
Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed,.... Or "broken" (g); even into shivers, as a cup is; for when it had been used to answer the purposes designed by the Lord, he let it fall cut of his hands at once, and it was broken; or rather he dashed it in pieces, as a potter's vessel. The destruction of Babylon was brought about in a very short time, considering the strength of it; and was unexpected by the inhabitants of it, and by the nations round about; but, when it was come, it was irreparable: so the destruction of mystical Babylon will be in one hour, and it will be an utter and entire destruction, Rev 18:8;
howl for her; as the inhabitants of Babylon, and her friends and allies that loved her, did no doubt; and as the kings and merchants of the earth, and others, will howl for spiritual Babylon, Rev 18:9;
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take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed: or balsam; see Jer 46:11; which is said by way of derision and mockery, as Kimchi and Abarbinel observe; or in an ironical and sarcastic manner; suggesting, that, let what means soever be made use of, her wound was incurable, her ruin inevitable, and her case irrecoverable.
(g) "confracta est", Schmidt; "fracta est", Cocceius; "contrita est", Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 8. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed] These…
Verse 8. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed] These appear to be the words of some of the spectators of Babylon's misery.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 51:8-9. Babylon is suddenly fallen — It was…
Jer 51:8-9. Babylon is suddenly fallen — It was one of the aggravations of the punishment of Babylon, that her destruction came upon her suddenly and unexpectedly. Howl for her, &c. — So the kings, the merchants, and other factors, are described as lamenting the destruction of mystical Babylon, Rev 18:9; Rev 18:11; Rev 18:17-19. Take balm for her pain — Use your utmost endeavours, and try every thing you can to save her from destruction. This is spoken ironically, implying her ruin to be irrecoverable. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed — Some think “this is spoken in the name of God’s prophets, and the other witnesses of his truth, importing that they had sufficiently testified against her errors and idolatries, but that she was irreclaimable; and therefore that it was time for all the lovers of truth to depart out of her, lest they should be involved in her punishments.” But it is more probable that the nations which had been subject to Babylon, and were her allies, are the speakers here, declaring that they had assisted her to the utmost of their power, and had endeavoured to support her sinking cause, but all in vain, nothing which they had done or could do availing to save her from destruction. And therefore, as her case was desperate, it was time for them to shift for themselves, and to leave Babylon to its fate, since it seemed to be the decree of Heaven that it should fall. Those who have written of the downfall of Babylon relate, that when its affairs seemed to grow desperate, it was deserted by most of its allies, few or none of them persevering to lend it any assistance. Her judgment reacheth unto heaven — That is, her sin, bringing down God’s judgments; and is lifted up even to the skies — It comes to the ears of even God himself, and engages him to take account of it and punish her.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Destroyed - literally, broken, as was the hammer Jer…
Destroyed - literally, broken, as was the hammer Jer 50:23. The cup, though of metal, is thrown down so violently as to be shattered by the fall.
Howl for her - The persons addressed are the many inhabitants of Babylon who were dragged from their homes to people its void places, and especially the Israelites. They have dwelt there long enough to feel pity for her, when they contrast her past magnificence with her terrible fall. Compare Jer 29:7.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Suddenly. She has not lost many battles; but is…
Suddenly. She has not lost many battles; but is fallen at once from being the greatest city of the East.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Her friends and confederates, who behold her fall, are…
Her friends and confederates, who behold her fall, are invited to her aid. They reply, her case is incurable, and that they must leave her to her fate. (Isa 21:9; Rev 14:8; Rev 18:2, Rev 18:9).
balm-- (Jer 8:22; Jer 46:11).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. Destroyed — Literally, broken. This suggests a change…
8. Destroyed — Literally, broken. This suggests a change in the figure, or that golden means ornamented with gold, or that this golden cup, though metal, is dashed so violently as to be shattered.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. take balm] See on Jer_46:11.
8. take balm] See on Jer_46:11.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) Babylon is suddenly fallen . . .—The form…
(8) Babylon is suddenly fallen . . .—The form of announcement seems taken in part from Isa_21:9.
Take balm for her pain . . .—The words are significant. The captive people are not invited simply to raise a shout of triumph at the fall of their oppressor: they are to “take balm” (comp. the use of the same image in Jer_8:22; Jer_46:11), and try to heal her. They are still to “seek the peace of the city” (Jer_29:7), to render kindly service, to pour balm into the bleeding wounds.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Destroyed. The Hebrew, more forcibly, has "is broken." The…
Destroyed. The Hebrew, more forcibly, has "is broken." The Authorized Version wished, perhaps, to avoid the objection that a golden cup could not, properly speaking, be broken. But if we once begin to harmonize the language of Hebrew poetry, we shall have no end. It is not the cup which falls, but the state, considered as a house. (the "breach" of God"s people is constantly referred to; e.g. Psa_60:2 Isa_30:26) Howl for her . Sympathetic bystanders are dramatically appealed to. From the next verse it would seem that they are the various foreigners who, whether by choice or force, have been resident in Babylon, and who have acquired an interest in her fate. Hitzig thinks the foreign mercenaries (Jer_50:37) or allies are specially referred to. Take balm for her pain. (comp. Jer_8:22 Jer_46:11) The images of fracture and woundare combined, as in Isa_30:26.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 51:8 Jeremiah foresaw the collapse of the Babylonian Empire.…
51:8 Jeremiah foresaw the collapse of the Babylonian Empire. Although the Lord was carrying out justice, the event called for mourning.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.