Jeremiah 51:3

3 Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy^[a] her army.

Jeremiah 51:3 in Other Translations

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.

3 Let not the archer bend his bow, and let him not stand up in his armor. Spare not her young men; devote to destruction all her army.

3 Don’t let the archers put on their armor or draw their bows. Don’t spare even her best soldiers! Let her army be completely destroyed.

3 Fighters will fight with everything they've got. It's no holds barred. They will spare nothing and no one. It's final and wholesale destruction - the end!

3 Don't let the archer string his bow; don't let him put on his armor. Don't spare her young men; completely destroy her entire army!

Jeremiah 51:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 51:3

Against [him that] bendeth let the archer bend his bow
These are either the words of the Lord to the Medes and Persians, to the archers among them, to bend their bows and level their arrows against the Chaldeans, who had bent their bows and shot their arrows against others; or of the Medes and Persians stirring up one another to draw their bows, and fight manfully against the enemy: and against [him that] lifteth up himself in his brigandine;
or coat of mail; that swaggers about in it, proud of it, and putting his confidence in it, as if out of all danger. The sense is, that they should direct their arrows both against those that were more lightly or more heavily armed; since by them they might do execution among the one and the other: and spare ye not her young men;
because of their youth, beauty, and strength: destroy ye utterly all her host;
her whole army, whether officers or common soldiers; or let them be accoutred in what manner they will. The Targum is,

``consume all her substance.''

Jeremiah 51:3 In-Context

1 This is what the LORD says: “See, I will stir up the spirit of a destroyer against Babylon and the people of Leb Kamai.

2 I will send foreigners to Babylon to winnow her and to devastate her land; they will oppose her on every side in the day of her disaster.

3 Let not the archer string his bow, nor let him put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; completely destroy her army.

4 They will fall down slain in Babylon,fatally wounded in her streets.

5 For Israel and Judah have not been forsaken by their God, the LORD Almighty, though their land is full of guilt before the Holy One of Israel.

Cross References

• 1. S Jeremiah 50:29
• 2. Jeremiah 46:4

Footnotes

• [a]. The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.