Jeremiah 50:23

23 How is the hammer of the whole eretz cut apart and broken! how is Bavel become a desolation 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 Meratayim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them, says the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded you.

22 A sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction.

23 How is the hammer of the whole eretz cut apart and broken! how is Bavel become a desolation among the nations!

24 I have laid a snare for you, and you are also taken, Bavel, and you weren't aware: you are found, and also caught, because you have striven against the LORD.

25 The LORD has opened his armory, and has brought forth the weapons of his indignation; for the Lord, the LORD of Hosts, has a work [to do] in the land of the Kasdim.