Jeremiah 25:16

16 And they will drink, and they will stagger, and they will act like madmen because of the {presence} of the sword that I [am] sending among them."

Jeremiah 25:16 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 25:16

And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad
The judgments foretold shall come upon them, whether they will or not; which will have such effects upon them, as intoxicating liquor has on drunken persons; make them shake and tremble, and reel to and fro, and toss and tumble about, and behave like madmen: because of the sword that I will send among them;
this explains what is meant by the wine cup of fury, the sword of a foreign enemy that shall enter among them and destroy; and which would make them tremble, and be at their wits' end, like drunken and mad men.

Jeremiah 25:16 In-Context

14 For many nations and great kings will let them work, even them, and I will repay them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.'"

15 For thus said Yahweh, the God of Israel, to me, "Take this cup of the wine [of] wrath from my hand, and you must give it [to] all the nations to whom I [am] sending you to drink.

16 And they will drink, and they will stagger, and they will act like madmen because of the {presence} of the sword that I [am] sending among them."

17 So I took the cup from the hand of Yahweh and I gave [it] [to] all the nations to whom Yahweh sent me to drink:

18 Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, and its kings, [and] its officials, to make them a site of ruins, a horror, an [object of] hissing, and a curse, as [it is] this day;

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "face"