Jeremiah 50 40

Jeremiah 50:40 kjv

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.

Jeremiah 50:40 nkjv

As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah And their neighbors," says the LORD, "So no one shall reside there, Nor son of man dwell in it.

Jeremiah 50:40 niv

As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns," declares the LORD, "so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.

Jeremiah 50:40 esv

As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring cities, declares the LORD, so no man shall dwell there, and no son of man shall sojourn in her.

Jeremiah 50:40 nlt

I will destroy it as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighboring towns," says the LORD.
"No one will live there;
no one will inhabit it.

Jeremiah 50 verses

Jeremiah 50 40 meaning

This verse declares a comprehensive and irreversible desolation upon Babylon, drawing a direct parallel to the catastrophic divine judgment that obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah. It foretells a future where Babylon will become so utterly ruined that it will be entirely uninhabitable, not merely emptied of its citizens, but abandoned even by temporary dwellers or passing travelers, signifying a permanent state of forsakenness.

Jeremiah 50 40 Context

Jeremiah chapter 50, alongside chapter 51, delivers a significant and lengthy prophetic oracle against Babylon, the superpower that had conquered Judah and taken its people into exile. This entire section foretells Babylon's complete downfall and destruction. The judgment is rooted in Babylon's arrogance, its pervasive idolatry, and primarily, its cruel and excessive treatment of God's chosen people, Israel. By declaring Babylon's end, the prophecy offered immense hope and vindication to the exiled Judeans, assuring them that despite their current suffering, their oppressor would not escape divine justice and that God would ultimately restore His people. Verse 40 specifically uses the most profound example of historical divine judgment—Sodom and Gomorrah—to emphasize the absolute and irreversible nature of Babylon's impending ruin, assuring the exiles of God's faithful justice and a coming reversal of their circumstances.

Jeremiah 50 40 Word analysis

• "As when": Hebrew ka'asher (כאשר). This phrase establishes a powerful simile, indicating that the future destruction of Babylon will be identical in its totality and finality to the well-known past event. It signals a comparison not just of extent, but of type and origin—divine judgment.

• "God": Hebrew Elohim (אלהים). This is the generic but powerful name for God, emphasizing Him as the transcendent, supreme power behind the judgment. It underscores that this is a sovereign act of creation's Lord, not merely a human conflict.

• "overthrew": Hebrew haphak (הפך). Literally means "to turn over, overturn, subvert." This is the precise verb used in Genesis 19 for the destruction of Sodom. It denotes a violent, comprehensive upheaval that utterly reverses the existing state, leading to complete devastation and rendering the land unrecoverable.

• "Sodom and Gomorrah": These two cities, notoriously described in Gen 19, are the biblical paradigm for irreversible divine judgment against extreme human wickedness. Their names evoke an image of utter ruin, fire, brimstone, and complete erasure from the land.

• "and their neighbor cities": The account in Genesis mentions the destruction of the "whole plain," which implicitly included other cities like Admah and Zeboiim (Deut 29:23). This detail emphasizes the wide scope and scale of the original judgment, underscoring that Babylon's downfall will also be vast, not just affecting a single spot.

• "says the LORD": Hebrew neum Yahweh (נאם־יהוה). This is a quintessential prophetic formula, explicitly validating the statement as a direct declaration from Yahweh, the covenant God of Israel. It emphasizes the divine authority, certainty, and faithfulness of the prophecy, leaving no room for doubt about its fulfillment.

• "so": This conjunction draws the direct conclusion from the opening comparison. Just as that, so this will happen, sealing the inevitability of Babylon's fate mirroring Sodom's.

• "no one shall live there": Hebrew lo'-yesheb (לא־ישב). The verb yesheb means "to sit, dwell, settle permanently." This asserts an absolute prohibition or cessation of long-term human habitation. It means no permanent residents will be found in Babylon.

• "nor shall any son of man": Hebrew uben-'adam (ובן־אדם). "Son of man" is a common Hebrew idiom for human beings. This universal phrase ensures the comprehensiveness of the prohibition. It specifies not just "no residents" but no human being whatsoever.

• "dwell in it": Hebrew yagur (גור). This verb means "to sojourn, abide temporarily, live as an alien." In conjunction with yesheb (to live permanently), yagur powerfully signifies that not only will no one settle in Babylon, but not even a transient, a nomad, or a casual traveler will tarry there. The combined force ensures total and absolute abandonment—no long-term inhabitant and no short-term visitor.

• Words-group by words-group analysis:

  • "As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah... so no one shall live there...": This extended simile forms the core of the verse, using a historical cataclysm as a prophetic blueprint. It projects the definitive, God-initiated destruction of the past onto the future of Babylon, assuring that its demise will be an act of complete divine judgment resulting in absolute abandonment.
  • "God overthrew... says the LORD": This powerful pairing of divine names and roles (Elohim for the act, Yahweh for the declaration) doubles down on the theological assertion that this prophecy is not human speculation but a sovereign decree, highlighting God's active involvement in world affairs and His commitment to justice.
  • "no one shall live there, nor shall any son of man dwell in it": This emphatic double negation concerning human presence, using two distinct verbs for dwelling (yesheb for permanent settlement, yagur for temporary sojourning) and a universal term for humanity ("son of man"), leaves no ambiguity about the total and permanent desolation of Babylon. It describes an uninhabitable wasteland, devoid of all human presence.

Jeremiah 50 40 Bonus section

The specific details in this prophecy, particularly the idea that "no one shall live there," resonate with ancient Near Eastern curses and treaties where utter desolation and depopulation were extreme forms of judgment, effectively cursing the land and severing it from human connection. Such a curse not only condemns a city but renders its territory uninhabitable, disrupting economic activity and all social order. This also links to the concept of the 'desertification' of nations, often depicted in prophetic literature as a consequence of divine judgment (e.g., land turning into a wilderness for wild beasts), removing the order of human society and returning it to a state resembling primordial chaos. The gradual yet persistent depopulation of Babylon over centuries, where it evolved from a grand city into a ruin, and ultimately to an archaeological site within a relatively barren region, offers a protracted yet powerful fulfillment of this potent curse.

Jeremiah 50 40 Commentary

Jeremiah 50:40 is a pronouncement of irreversible doom for Babylon, couched in one of the Bible's most stark comparisons of divine judgment. By invoking the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, God declares that Babylon's fall will be a divine act, not merely a shift in political power. This implies not only a comprehensive overthrow but also a lasting state of desolation, serving as an enduring testament to divine wrath against pride and oppression, especially against His people. The twofold denial of inhabitation ("no one shall live... nor shall any son of man dwell") poetically yet precisely guarantees Babylon's ultimate abandonment, rendering it forever unfit for any form of human settlement or passage. This provided a crucial message of hope to the exiled Israelites: their formidable oppressor would ultimately face God's justice and vanish from the human stage as an active entity. Historically, while Babylon did not vanish overnight as Sodom did, its decline was indeed irreversible, slowly fading into uninhabited ruins, especially after the Seleucid era, fulfilling the spirit of the prophecy over time. This also echoes into the eschatological "Babylon" of Revelation, symbolizing the final and absolute judgment of any earthly system opposed to God.