Jeremiah 50:38

American Standard Version (1901)

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

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

חֹ֥רֶב אֶל־מֵימֶ֖יהָ וְיָבֵ֑שׁוּ כִּ֣י אֶ֤רֶץ פְּסִלִים֙ הִ֔יא וּבָאֵימִ֖ים יִתְהֹלָֽלוּ׃

Transliteration

ḥōreb against-mêmeyhā and-yābēšû, for ʾereṣ pĕsîlîm hîʾ, and-in-ʾêmîm yithōlālû.

Grammar Details

• *ḥōreb*: masculine singular noun - drought/dryness
• *ʾel*: preposition - against/to
• *mêmeyhā*: masculine plural noun with 3rd feminine singular suffix - her waters
• *wĕ*: conjunction - and
• *yābēšû*: Qal perfect, 3rd plural - they will dry up
• *kî*: conjunction - for/because
• *ʾereṣ*: feminine singular noun, construct - land of
• *pĕsîlîm*: masculine plural noun - idols/carved images
• *hîʾ*: 3rd feminine singular pronoun - she/it
• *û*: conjunction - and
• *bāʾêmîm*: preposition + masculine plural noun - in terrors/horrible things
• *yithōlālû*: Hitpael imperfect, 3rd plural - they boast/act madly

Word Meanings

• *ḥōreb*: drought/dryness (similar to *ḥereb*, sword, with different vocalization)
• *mêmeyhā*: her waters/waterways
• *yābēšû*: will dry up/be dried up/become dry
• *pĕsîlîm*: idols/carved images/graven images
• *ʾêmîm*: terrors/horrible things/fearful things
• *yithōlālû*: boast/act madly/are mad about/glory in

Referenced Verses

• Jer 50:2 : 2 Declare ye among the nations and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed; her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.
• Isa 44:27 : 27 that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers;
• Rev 16:12 : 12 And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, the [river] Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way might by made ready for the kings that [come] from the sunrising.
• Jer 51:47 : 47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will execute judgment upon the graven images of Babylon; and her whole land shall be confounded; and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
• Jer 51:52 : 52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will execute judgment upon her graven images; and through all her land the wounded shall groan.
• Dan 3:1-9 : 1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. 2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 3 Then the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. 4 Then the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, 5 that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up; 6 and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 7 Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. 8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and brought accusation against the Jews. 9 They answered and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, O king, live for ever. 10 Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image; 11 and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. 12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in [his] rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Then they brought these men before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar answered and said unto them, Is it of purpose, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, that ye serve not my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? 15 Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, [well] : but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands? 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer thee in this matter. 17 If it be [so], our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. 19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: [therefore] he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heated. 20 And he commanded certain mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, [and] to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. 21 Then these men were bound in their hosen, their tunics, and their mantles, and their [other] garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste: he spake and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. 25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of the gods. 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace: he spake and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the Most High God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came forth out of the midst of the fire. 27 And the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed, neither were their hosen changed, nor had the smell of fire passed on them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 29 Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god that is able to deliver after this sort. 30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the province of Babylon.
• Dan 5:4 : 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
• Hab 2:18-19 : 18 What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he that fashioneth its form trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? 19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall this teach? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
• Acts 17:16 : 16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols.
• Jer 50:12 : 12 your mother shall be utterly put to shame; she that bare you shall be confounded: behold, she shall be the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
• Jer 51:7 : 7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
• Jer 51:32-36 : 32 and the passages are seized, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted. 33 For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing-floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her. 34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, he hath crushed me, he hath made me an empty vessel, he hath, like a monster, swallowed [ me up, he hath filled his maw with my delicacies; he hath cast me out. 35 The violence done to me and to my flesh be upon Babylon, shall the inhabitant of Zion say; and, My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, shall Jerusalem say. 36 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take vengeance for thee; and I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.
• Jer 51:44 : 44 And I will execute judgment upon Bel in Babylon, and I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he hath swallowed up; and the nations shall not flow any more unto him: yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall.
• Rev 17:5 : 5 and upon her forehead a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
• Rev 17:15-16 : 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. 16 And the ten horns which thou sawest, and the beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her utterly with fire.
• Isa 46:1-7 : 1 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle: the things that ye carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary [beast] . 2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity. 3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne [by me] from their birth, that have been carried from the womb; 4 and even to old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs will I carry [you] ; I have made, and I will bear; yea, I will carry, and will deliver. 5 To whom will ye like me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like? 6 Such as lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god; they fall down, yea, they worship. 7 They bear it upon the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it standeth, from its place shall it not remove: yea, one may cry unto it, yet can it not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.
• Isa 44:25 : 25 that frustrateth the signs of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;