Jeremiah 50:23

23 How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and smashed! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!^[a]

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 against the land of Merathaim, and against those living in Pekod. Put them to the sword; completely destroy them- [this is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration- do everything I have commanded you.

22 The sound of war is in the land- a great destruction.

23 How the hammer of the whole earth is cut down and smashed! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!

24 Babylon, I laid a trap for you, and you were caught, but you did not even know it. You were found and captured because you fought against the Lord.

25 The Lord opened His armory and brought out His weapons of wrath, because it is a task of the Lord God of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.

Footnotes

• [a]. Jr 51:41