Jeremiah 27:8

8 Forsooth the folk and realm that serveth not Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and whoever boweth not his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I shall visit on that folk in sword, and hunger, and pestilence, saith the Lord, till I waste them in his hand. (But the nation, or the kingdom, that serveth not Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and whoever boweth not his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I shall punish that nation with the sword, and hunger, and pestilence, saith the Lord, until I destroy them by his hand, or by his power.)

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 And now therefore I gave all these lands in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, my servant, the king of Babylon; furthermore and I gave to him the beasts of the field, that they serve him. (And so now I have given all of these lands into the hands, or into the power, of my servant Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon; and I have even given him the beasts of the field, so that they would serve him.)
7 And all folks shall serve him, and his son, and the son of his son, till the time of his land and of him come; and many folks and great kings shall serve him. (And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and the son of his son, until the time of the end for his own land come; yea, many nations and great kings shall serve him.)
8 Forsooth the folk and realm that serveth not Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and whoever boweth not his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I shall visit on that folk in sword, and hunger, and pestilence, saith the Lord, till I waste them in his hand. (But the nation, or the kingdom, that serveth not Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and whoever boweth not his neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I shall punish that nation with the sword, and hunger, and pestilence, saith the Lord, until I destroy them by his hand, or by his power.)
9 Therefore do not ye hear your prophets, and false diviners, and dreamers, and diviners by (the) chittering and flying of birds, and witches, that say to you, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon;
10 for they prophesy a leasing to you, that they make you far from your land, and cast out you, and ye perish. (for they prophesy a lie to you, so that they make you far from your land, and cast you out, and ye perish.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.