Jeremiah 25 11

Jeremiah 25:11 kjv

And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Jeremiah 25:11 nkjv

And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Jeremiah 25:11 niv

This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Jeremiah 25:11 esv

This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Jeremiah 25:11 nlt

This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.

Jeremiah 25 verses

Jeremiah 25 11 Meaning

This verse declares that after seventy years of servitude, Babylon will face judgment, and the nations that formerly served it will also be punished. It marks a specific timeframe for the fall of Babylon and a consequence for its oppressive actions against other peoples. The destruction of Babylon serves as a prelude to God's justice for all the nations.

Jeremiah 25 11 Context

Jeremiah 25 prophesies the Babylonian exile and its duration, along with God's subsequent judgment on Babylon. This chapter serves as a comprehensive pronouncement against Judah and all the surrounding nations, detailing their impending punishment due to idolatry and wickedness. It emphasizes God's sovereignty over all nations and His faithfulness to His covenant promises to Israel. The prophecy extends beyond Babylon to include all nations that participated in the oppression of God's people and the rejection of His word.

Jeremiah 25 11 Word Analysis

• "and" (וְ - we): A conjunctive particle, linking clauses and ideas.
• "it shall come to pass" (וְהָיָה - v'hayah): Signifies a future event, emphasizing certainty.
• "when" (כִּי - ki): Indicates a conditional or temporal relationship.
• "seventy years" (שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה - shiv'im shanah): A significant prophetic period, representing a time of exile and servitude before restoration, signifying completeness of judgment.
• "are completed" (תְּמְלֹאת - temlo't): To be filled up, fulfilled, completed.
• "shall I punish" (וּפָקַדְתִּי - u'fakad'ti): To visit, muster, punish. This verb implies divine oversight and bringing to account.
• "Babylon" (בָּבֶל - Bavel): Refers to the mighty Mesopotamian empire, notorious for its luxury, idolatry, and cruelty towards conquered peoples, especially Judah.
• "the king" (מֶלֶךְ - melekh): Refers to the ruler of Babylon.
• "of Chaldea" (כַּשְׂדִּים - Kasdim): Designates the specific ethnic and geographical origin of the Babylonian rulers.
• "and" (וְ - we): Another conjunctive particle.
• "that nation" (הַגּוֹי - ha'goy): Refers to Babylon itself.
• "in their iniquity" (בְּעֲוֹנָם - b'avonam): In their guilt, sin, or wrongdoing.
• "declares" (נְאֻם - ne'um): A formula of divine utterance, marking the authority of the words spoken.
• "the LORD" (יְהוָה - YHWH): The covenant name of God.
• "even Babylon" (אֶת־בָּבֶל - et-Bavel): Emphasizes Babylon as the specific object of punishment.
• "even the land of the Chaldeans" (וְאֶת־אֶרֶץ־כַּשְׂדִּים - v'et-eretz-Kasdim): Also highlights the land of the Chaldeans as subject to judgment.
• "for their iniquity" (עֲוֹנָם - avonam): Reiteration of their guilt, emphasizing the reason for divine judgment.

Words-group by words-group analysis:

• "when seventy years are completed": This phrase anchors the prophecy to a specific, measurable period, reflecting the understanding from other prophetic passages (Jer 29:10, Dan 9:2, 2 Chr 36:21).
• "shall I punish Babylon the king of the Chaldeans": The divine "I" (YHWH) takes direct action against Babylon, identified by its kingdom and its ruling class, for its sins.
• "for their iniquity... even the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity": The repetition of "iniquity" underscores the deliberate nature of Babylon's sins and the certainty of their reckoning. It emphasizes that not only the leaders but the entire nation and its territory would face judgment.

Jeremiah 25 11 Bonus Section

The "seventy years" mentioned here is crucial. While Babylon fell to the Persians in 539 BC, and Judah was released by Cyrus’s decree in 538 BC (Ezr 1:1), the seventy-year exile from Jerusalem’s complete destruction under Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled by the return of the Jews after this period. The prophetic calculation begins with events like the Babylonian exile initiated around 605 BC. Jeremiah’s prophecy in chapter 25 served as a cornerstone for understanding the timeline of God’s dealings with Israel during the period of Gentile kingdoms ruling over them. Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9 shows his understanding of these seventy years as a period of desolation for Jerusalem. The fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians, as depicted by Belshazzar's demise (Dan 5), was a key event in the historical unfolding of this prophecy.

Jeremiah 25 11 Commentary

Jeremiah 25:11 outlines a precise divine judgment. It foretells that after a seventy-year period of servitude and oppression (which began with Babylon's conquest of Judah), Babylon itself would be held accountable for its sins. This seventy-year mark is not just for the exile of Judah but also for the punitive period that Babylon, as an imperial power, would itself endure. God's judgment extends to the entire nation and land of the Chaldeans because of their deep-seated iniquity, which included their mistreatment of Israel and their general wicked practices. This signifies God’s justice for all oppressors, illustrating that no nation is immune from His judgment, especially when they sin against His chosen people and His divine plan. The fall of Babylon would mark the end of a specific era of Gentile dominance and pave the way for the restoration of His people, demonstrating God's ultimate control over history.