Section 208 of 22250:33–40Jeremiah

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King James VersionJeremiah 50:33–40

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go.

Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the LORD, and upon the inhabitants of Babylon, and upon her princes, and upon her wise men.

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

A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.

A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.

Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation.

As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the LORD; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Jeremiah 50:33–40

The Strong Redeemer Pleads the Captives' Cause

A redeemer takes up the captives' case while Babylon is unmade in images

Israel and Judah are oppressed together; all who took them captive hold them fast and refuse to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth and unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon. A sword is called against Chaldeans, officials, wise men, diviners, warriors, horses, chariots, mixed peoples, treasuries, waters, and the drought of her sea.

She shall become a heap, a haunt of jackals, a horror, without inhabitant, like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them. Divine advocacy for captives is the moral center. It does not make retaliatory cruelty just, and it does not dehumanize modern Iraqis or anyone living where Babylon stood. Rest for the earth is not a warrant to empty a land of people you have decided are jackals.

How this should shape us

Take the strong Redeemer's side by pleading for people held fast, not by dreaming of a city without inhabitants. Do not pour Sodom language on Iraq or on any neighborhood. Rest that costs other civilians their lives is not the rest this plea is for.

Teach it back

Explain Jeremiah 50:33–40 in your own words. Name its place in Jeremiah, one source-controlled observation, one uncertainty, one enduring truth, and one harmful use the passage does not authorize.

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The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

Where do responsible readings differ?

Best judgment: Divine advocacy does not make retaliatory cruelty just or dehumanize modern Iraqis and other residents of ancient Babylonian lands.

How certain? strong

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.

Jeremiah 50:33–40, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.

Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 50:33–40

NET Bible: Jeremiah with Translator, Textual, and Study Notes

Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.

Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 50:33–40

Jeremiah: Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Themes, and Bible in the World

Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.

Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline and Themes: oracles against nations, Babylon, and historical appendix; applied to Jeremiah 50:33–40

Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Jeremiah Parts 1-3 Study Guides

Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.

Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 3 study guide, pp. 1-6: Jeremiah 36, Baruch, scroll rewriting, composition, and final form; applied to Jeremiah 50:33–40

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.

Exact location: Jeremiah 50:33–40, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text and morphology

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah

Open Scriptures

Open Scriptures, release 2.2; fixed commit

Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.

Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 50:33–40

Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗

translation and translator notes

NET Bible: Jeremiah with Translator, Textual, and Study Notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press; official eBible PDF distribution, NET Bible Second Edition; official PDF accessed 2026

Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.

Exact location: Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 50:33–40

Open the official NET Jeremiah PDF ↗

modern scholarly book course

Jeremiah: Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Themes, and Bible in the World

Terence E. Fretheim and Michael Chan

Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current public course accessed 2026

Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.

Exact location: Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline and Themes: oracles against nations, Babylon, and historical appendix; applied to Jeremiah 50:33–40

Open the Enter the Bible Jeremiah course ↗

open university study guide series

Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Jeremiah Parts 1-3 Study Guides

Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub

Yale Bible Study, 2024

Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.

Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 3 study guide, pp. 1-6: Jeremiah 36, Baruch, scroll rewriting, composition, and final form; applied to Jeremiah 50:33–40

Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗