Jeremiah 50:23

23 How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!

Jeremiah 50:23 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 50:23

How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken!
&c.] The Targum is,

``how is the king cut down and broken that moved the whole earth!''

The king of Babylon, or the kingdom of Babylon, which was like a hammer for its hardness and strength; and being an instrument, in the hand of God, of beating to pieces and destroying the kingdoms and nations around it; but is now destroyed itself. These are the words either of the prophet, or rather of the people of other nations, wondering how this destruction came about, and rejoicing at it; how is Babylon become a desolation among the nations!
this explains who and what is meant by the hammer of the earth, and by its being cut asunder and broken; even the utter destruction of the city and kingdom of Babylon.

Jeremiah 50:23 In-Context

21 Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the residents of Pekod. Kill them and devote them to destruction. Do all that I have commanded you,” declares the LORD.

22 “The noise of battle is in the land— the noise of great destruction.

23 How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!

24 I laid a snare for you, O Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it. You were found and captured because you challenged the LORD.

25 The LORD has opened His armory and brought out His weapons of wrath, for this is the work of the Lord GOD of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.