Section 209 of 22250:41–46Jeremiah

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King James VersionJeremiah 50:41–46

Behold, a people shall come from the north, and a great nation, and many kings shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, and pangs as of a woman in travail.

Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong: but I will make them suddenly run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me?

Therefore hear ye the counsel of the LORD, that he hath taken against Babylon; and his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out: surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them.

At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, and the cry is heard among the nations.

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 50:41–46

A Northern Army Makes Babylon Tremble

A noise from the north makes the king of Babylon's hands go slack

A people comes from the north; a great nation and many kings are stirred from the farthest parts of the earth. They lay hold of bow and spear; they are cruel and have no mercy. Their voice roars like the sea. The king of Babylon hears the report and his hands fall; anguish seizes him like a woman in labor.

A lion comes up from the thicket of the Jordan. Who is like the LORD? Who will summon him? The earth trembles at the sound of Babylon's capture, and a cry is heard among the nations. The poem does not identify a current military alliance, and it does not celebrate terror against populations. Cruelty in the invaders is described, not baptized. The king's labor-like fear is the end of imperial nerve, not a joke about women.

How this should shape us

Do not audition modern armies for the northern coalition. A cry among the nations is not your cue to cheer civilian panic. Let an empire lose its nerve without you learning cruelty from the poem's invaders.

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Explain Jeremiah 50:41–46 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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King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

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

Jeremiah 50:41–46, 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 50:41–46

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 50:41–46

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 50:41–46

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 50:41–46

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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.

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Exact location: Jeremiah 50:41–46, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

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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 50:41–46

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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 50:41–46

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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 50:41–46

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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 50:41–46

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