Yirmeyah 50:23

23 How is the patish (hammer) of kol ha’aretz (the whole earth) shattered and broken! How is Bavel become a desolation among the Goyim!

Yirmeyah 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.

Yirmeyah 50:23 In-Context

21 Go up against Eretz Meratayim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod; lay waste and utterly destroy after them, saith Hashem, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

22 A sound of milchamah is in ha’aretz, and of shever gadol (great destruction).

23 How is the patish (hammer) of kol ha’aretz (the whole earth) shattered and broken! How is Bavel become a desolation among the Goyim!

24 I have laid a trap for thee, and thou art indeed caught, O Bavel, and thou wast not aware; thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against Hashem.

25 Hashem hath opened His armory, and hath brought forth the weapons of His indignation; for this is the work of Adonoi Hashem Tzva’os in Eretz Kasdim.