Jeremiah 50:38 meaning summary explained with word-by-word analysis enriched with context, commentary and Cross References from KJV, NIV, ESV and NLT.
Jeremiah 50:38 kjv
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.
Jeremiah 50:38 nkjv
A drought is against her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is the land of carved images, And they are insane with their idols.
Jeremiah 50:38 niv
A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.
Jeremiah 50:38 esv
A drought against her waters, that they may be dried up! For it is a land of images, and they are mad over idols.
Jeremiah 50:38 nlt
A drought will strike her water supply,
causing it to dry up.
And why? Because the whole land is filled with idols,
and the people are madly in love with them.
Jeremiah 50 38 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Isa 13:19-20 | Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms… will be like Sodom and Gomorrah… not be inhabited. | Prophecy of Babylon's utter desolation. |
| Isa 44:27 | who says to the deep, ‘Be dry; I will dry up your rivers.' | God's power to dry up waters, linking to Cyrus' conquest strategy. |
| Isa 19:5-6 | The waters of the Nile will be dried up… all who fish the Nile will lament. | Drying up of rivers as divine judgment on Egypt. |
| Jer 51:7 | Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand, making all the earth drunk. | Babylon's spiritual intoxication and madness that spread. |
| Jer 51:17-18 | Every man is stupid, without knowledge… their carved images are a fraud. | Idolatry described as foolishness, their gods as vanity. |
| Jer 51:36 | Therefore thus says the Lord: "Behold, I will plead your cause... I will dry up her sea and make her fountain dry." | God explicitly states He will dry up Babylon's waters. |
| Exod 14:21 | Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind. | God's control over waters to execute His purposes and deliver His people. |
| Psa 115:4-8 | Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands… those who make them become like them. | Critique of the futility and senselessness of idols. |
| Isa 44:9-20 | All who fashion idols are nothing, and their treasured things do not profit... He feeds on ashes. | Detailed polemic against idol worship, exposing its emptiness. |
| Hab 2:18-19 | What profit is an idol... to a god of silence? Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, "Wake up!". | Condemnation of idols as deaf and dumb, offering no help. |
| Psa 24:1-2 | The earth is the Lord's… for he has founded it upon the seas. | God's sovereignty over creation, including the waters. |
| Eph 4:17-19 | They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. | Spiritual foolishness resulting from turning away from God, akin to idolaters. |
| Rom 1:21-23 | Though they knew God, they did not honor him… exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images. | The foolishness and perversion of turning from God to idolatry. |
| Rom 1:28 | God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. | Consequence of rejecting God, leading to spiritual degradation, paralleling Babylon's "madness." |
| Rev 16:12 | The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. | Apocalyptic echo of the Euphrates drying up as divine judgment. |
| Rev 17:15 | The waters that you saw, where the prostitute is seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. | Symbolic interpretation of "waters" as populations, applying to spiritual Babylon. |
| Dan 5:1-4 | Belshazzar... praised the gods of gold and silver… they drank wine and praised the gods. | Historical account of Belshazzar's idolatrous feast just before Babylon's fall. |
| Hos 13:3 | they are like mist that vanishes, like smoke streaming from a window. | Ephemeral nature of power when not based on God. |
| Jer 50:12 | Your mother shall be deeply shamed; she who bore you shall be disgraced. | Overall judgment on Babylon is a source of shame and ruin. |
| Lev 26:3-5 | If you walk in my statutes… I will give you your rains in their season. | Blessings linked to obedience, conversely curse on disobedience. |
| Deut 28:23-24 | Your heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth under you shall be iron. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust. | Drought as a specific curse for disobedience and idolatry. |
Jeremiah 50 verses
Jeremiah 50 38 meaning
Jeremiah 50:38 prophesies a specific judgment against ancient Babylon: her vital water sources will experience a "drought" and consequently "be dried up." This severe ecological and defensive devastation is directly attributed to Babylon's profound and fervent idolatry, as she is characterized as "a land of carved images," and her people are depicted as "mad over idols," exhibiting a senseless devotion to false gods. The verse illustrates divine retribution, linking the natural drying up of critical resources to spiritual rebellion against the one true God.
Jeremiah 50 38 Context
Jeremiah 50:38 is part of an extensive oracle against Babylon (Jeremiah 50-51), a significant portion of Jeremiah's prophecies dedicated to foretelling the destruction of the very nation that had carried Judah into exile. Historically, Babylon, under the Neo-Babylonian Empire, was an imperial superpower that had sacked Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple, and exiled the Judeans. This oracle provides hope to the exiles, assuring them that God, who used Babylon as His instrument of judgment, would in turn judge Babylon for its pride, extreme cruelty, and idolatry that exceeded God's purposes. The original audience—the Judean exiles—would have been astonished by prophecies against such an unassailable empire, finding comfort and affirmation of God's sovereignty. Babylon, located on the Euphrates River and crisscrossed by an advanced system of canals, marshlands, and a deep moat, was strategically formidable. Its elaborate water system was not just for agriculture and transport but also crucial for its defenses. Therefore, the prophecy of its waters drying up was a direct attack on its very lifelines and perceived impregnability. Furthermore, Babylon was renowned for its polytheistic worship, with hundreds of temples and idols dedicated to a vast pantheon of gods, prominently including Marduk, its chief deity. This prophecy serves as a direct polemic against Babylon's false sense of security, showing that neither its powerful waters nor its myriad idols could protect it from the true God's judgment.
Jeremiah 50 38 Word analysis
- A drought (חֹרֶב, ḥōrev): The Masoretic Text reads `חֶרֶב` (ḥerev), meaning "sword," but many scholars and ancient versions (Septuagint) understand it as `חֹרֶב` (ḥōrev), meaning "drought" or "dryness." The subsequent phrase "and they shall be dried up" strongly supports "drought" as the intended meaning, representing a natural or supernaturally induced desiccation. This signifies a fundamental collapse of sustenance and defense for Babylon, whose wealth and security were intricately tied to its waters.
- is upon her waters (עַל מַיִמֶיהָ, ʿal mayimeihā): "Waters" (מַיִם, mayim) refers not just to the Euphrates River but also to Babylon's extensive canal systems, moats, and artificial lakes crucial for irrigation, trade, and fortifications. These waters were Babylon's lifeblood; their drying up signals total vulnerability and loss of resources.
- and they shall be dried up (וְיָבֵשׁוּ, vəyāvēshū): From the root יָבֵשׁ (yāvēsh), "to be dry, wither." This verb emphasizes the certainty and completeness of the desiccation. It foretells a catastrophic environmental change, indicating that Babylon's very foundations would be undermined, leaving it exposed and lifeless, unable to sustain its population or repel invaders.
- for it is a land of carved images (כִּי אֶרֶץ פְּסִילִים הִיא, kî ’eret͡z pəsīlı̄m hī): This phrase provides the reason for the impending judgment. "Carved images" (פְּסִילִים, pəsīlı̄m) refers specifically to idols made by human hands, sculpted from wood, stone, or metal. Babylon was infamous for its polytheism and monumental idols, demonstrating a blatant rejection of Yahweh, the one true God. This statement is a direct theological challenge, identifying idolatry as the core spiritual transgression warranting such severe divine intervention.
- and they are mad over idols (וּבַאֵימִים יִתְהֹלָלוּ, ûḇa’ēmı̄m yithōlālû): The verb יִתְהֹלָלוּ (yithōlālû) implies acting like a madman, making oneself foolish, or being frenzied. It captures the irrational, fervent, and senseless devotion of the Babylonians to their idols. This "madness" underscores the depth of their spiritual blindness and delusion, portraying their idolatry not merely as a mistaken belief but as a passionate, self-destructive obsession that incurs God's righteous wrath. This portrayal elevates the charge beyond simple error to active spiritual rebellion and perversion.
- A drought... dried up: This grouping connects the physical judgment (drought) to its visible outcome (waters dried up). It vividly describes the devastating impact on a city built around water, signifying a total breakdown of its natural resources and defense mechanisms.
- land of carved images, and they are mad over idols: This powerfully links the cause of the judgment (pervasive idolatry) with its fervent expression (mad devotion). It characterizes Babylon as defined by its false worship and the intense spiritual folly that consumes its people, highlighting the moral bankruptcy that provokes divine justice.
Jeremiah 50 38 Bonus section
The fulfillment of the prophecy regarding Babylon's waters is famously linked to Cyrus the Great's conquest in 539 BCE. Historical accounts, notably by Herodotus and Xenophon, describe how Cyrus's forces diverted the Euphrates River, allowing his army to march through the dried riverbed and enter the city through its unguarded water gates. This strategic maneuver rendered Babylon's formidable water defenses useless, offering a tangible fulfillment of the prophecy that her "waters shall be dried up." The 'drought' then could be interpreted as a divinely orchestrated absence of water or its removal through human agency directed by God, achieving the same destructive effect on the city's perceived invulnerability. Furthermore, this verse establishes a precedent for understanding future prophecies. The "drying up of the great river Euphrates" in Revelation 16:12 echoes this historical event and its prophetic language, suggesting a similar act of divine judgment against a future "Babylon" (symbolic of godless worldly power), preparing the way for further acts of God's redemptive plan. The divine reasoning for Babylon's fall—her widespread idolatry—serves as a timeless warning that nations, like individuals, are held accountable by God for their spiritual allegiance and moral choices.
Jeremiah 50 38 Commentary
Jeremiah 50:38 concisely delivers a powerful two-fold prophecy: physical destruction rooted in spiritual rebellion. The drying of Babylon's crucial waters signifies more than just an environmental disaster; it represents a dismantling of its strategic security and economic foundation, revealing God's absolute sovereignty over creation and nations. For a city that relied on its extensive waterways for defense and prosperity, this was a prophecy of total vulnerability. The cause is unequivocally declared: Babylon's rampant and passionate idolatry. The phrase "mad over idols" portrays a society deeply entrenched in spiritual delusion, prioritizing human-made objects over the Creator. This intense, senseless devotion warranted an equally profound divine response. God's judgment is portrayed as just retribution, directly countering Babylon's trust in false gods and physical might by attacking their very symbols of strength and sustenance. The drying up of waters by God (reminiscent of the Red Sea and other miracles) serves as a potent reminder that human empires, despite their perceived invincibility, are ultimately subject to the will of the true sovereign Lord.