Jeremiah 51:53

Authorized King James Version (1611)

Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, [yet] from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּֽי־תַעֲלֶ֤ה בָבֶל֙ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְכִ֥י תְבַצֵּ֖ר מְר֣וֹם עֻזָּ֑הּ מֵאִתִּ֗י יָבֹ֧אוּ שֹׁדְדִ֛ים לָ֖הּ נְאֻם־יְהוָֽה׃ ס

Transliteration

kî-taʿăleh bāḇel haššāmayim wəḵî təḇaṣṣēr mərom ʿuzzāh mēʾittî yāḇōʾû šōdədîm lāh nəʾum-YHWH

Grammar Details

• *kî*: conjunction - though/although/if
• *taʿăleh*: Qal imperfect 3rd person feminine singular - she ascends/goes up
• *bāḇel*: proper noun - Babylon
• *haššāmayim*: definite article + masculine dual/plural noun - the heavens
• *wəḵî*: conjunction + conjunction - and though/and if
• *təḇaṣṣēr*: Piel imperfect 3rd person feminine singular - fortifies/strengthens
• *mərom*: masculine singular construct - height/high place of
• *ʿuzzāh*: masculine singular noun + 3rd person feminine singular suffix - her strength
• *mēʾittî*: preposition + preposition + 1st person singular suffix - from me
• *yāḇōʾû*: Qal imperfect 3rd person masculine plural - they shall come
• *šōdədîm*: Qal participle masculine plural - destroyers/plunderers
• *lāh*: preposition + 3rd person feminine singular suffix - to/for her
• *nəʾum*: construct state - declaration of
• *YHWH*: divine name

Word Meanings

• *taʿăleh*: ascends/goes up/climbs
• *təḇaṣṣēr*: fortifies/makes inaccessible/strengthens
• *mərom*: height/high place/elevation
• *ʿuzzāh*: strength/might/power
• *šōdədîm*: destroyers/plunderers/devastators

Referenced Verses

• Jer 49:16 : 16 Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, [and] the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD.
• Gen 11:4 : 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
• Ps 139:8-9 : 8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou [art] there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou [art there]. 9 [If] I take the wings of the morning, [and] dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
• Jer 51:25 : 25 Behold, I [am] against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
• Jer 51:48 : 48 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that [is] therein, shall sing for Babylon: for the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, saith the LORD.
• Jer 51:58 : 58 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
• Ezek 31:9-9 : 9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that [were] in the garden of God, envied him. 10 ¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; 11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
• Dan 4:30 : 30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?
• Amos 9:4 : 4 And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
• Obad 1:3-4 : 3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation [is] high; that saith in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? 4 Though thou exalt [thyself] as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.
• Isa 10:6-7 : 6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but [it is] in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.
• Isa 13:2-5 : 2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, [even] them that rejoice in my highness. 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, [even] the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land.
• Isa 13:17 : 17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and [as for] gold, they shall not delight in it.
• Isa 14:12-15 : 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
• Isa 41:25 : 25 I have raised up [one] from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as [upon] morter, and as the potter treadeth clay.
• Isa 45:1-5 : 1 ¶ Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call [thee] by thy name, [am] the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. 5 ¶ I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
• Isa 47:5 : 5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms.
• Isa 47:7 : 7 ¶ And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: [so] that thou didst not lay these [things] to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.
• Jer 50:9-9 : 9 ¶ For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows [shall be] as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. 10 And Chaldea shall be a spoil: all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the LORD.
• Jer 50:21 : 21 ¶ Go up against the land of Merathaim, [even] against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.
• Jer 50:25 : 25 The LORD hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation: for this [is] the work of the Lord GOD of hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
• Jer 50:31-34 : 31 Behold, I [am] against thee, [O thou] most proud, saith the Lord GOD of hosts: for thy day is come, the time [that] I will visit thee. 32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him. 33 ¶ Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah [were] oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. 34 Their Redeemer [is] strong; the LORD of hosts [is] his name: he shall throughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.
• Jer 50:45 : 45 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.
• Jer 51:1-4 : 1 ¶ Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; 2 And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. 3 Against [him that] bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against [him that] lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. 4 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and [they that are] thrust through in her streets.
• Jer 51:11 : 11 Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the LORD hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device [is] against Babylon, to destroy it; because it [is] the vengeance of the LORD, the vengeance of his temple.