Jeremiah 27:8

8 But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this king, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, then I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, says the Lord, until I have completed its destruction by his hand.

Jeremiah 27:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 27:8

And it shall come to pass, [that] the nation and kingdom which
will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon
Will not, upon his approaching to them, invading and besieging them, submit and become tributary to him, as is more fully expressed in the next clause: and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon;
or voluntarily become subject to him, and pay a tax he shall impose upon them. This refers to, and explains the symbol of, Jeremiah's making and wearing yokes, ( Jeremiah 27:2 ) ; that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with
the famine, and with the pestilence;
with one judgment after another; some will perish by the sword of the enemy, sallying out upon them, or endeavouring to make their escape; others by famine their provisions being spent through the length of the siege; and others by pestilence, or the plague, by the immediate hand of God: until I have consumed them by his hand;
Nebuchadnezzar's; by means of him; by his sword, and strait besieging them; or, "into his hand"; and so the Targum,

``until I have delivered them into his hand;''

having consumed multitudes by the sword, famine, and pestilence, will deliver the rest into his hands to be carried captive by him.

Jeremiah 27:8 In-Context

6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, my servant, and I have given him even the wild animals of the field to serve him.

7 All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings shall make him their slave.

8 But if any nation or kingdom will not serve this king, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, then I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence, says the Lord, until I have completed its destruction by his hand.

9 You, therefore, must not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, "You shall not serve the king of Babylon."

10 For they are prophesying a lie to you, with the result that you will be removed far from your land; I will drive you out, and you will perish.

Footnotes

• [a]. Heb [their]