Jeremiah 50:32
And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up: and I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.
Original Language Analysis
Cross References
Historical Context
Though Cyrus's conquest was relatively peaceful, subsequent fires did consume Babylon. Xerxes I burned Babylon after revolts in 484 BC. Alexander the Great found the city partially ruined by 331 BC. The Parthians and Sassanians ruled over a steadily declining Babylon. Medieval travelers found only ruins. The 'fire' of judgment consumed Babylon progressively but completely. Today, the site lies desolate in Iraq, with Saddam Hussein's attempted reconstruction in the 1980s-90s never succeeding. The proud city has no 'raiser' to restore it.
Questions for Reflection
- How does the certainty that 'none shall raise him up' demonstrate the finality of God's judgments?
- What does the spreading fire 'round about him' teach about how sin and its consequences affect surrounding areas and peoples?
- What hope does this verse offer to those oppressed by the proud, and what warning to the arrogant?
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Analysis & Commentary
And the most proud shall stumble and fall—zdon (זָדוֹן, the pride, arrogance) personified will kashal (כָּשַׁל, stumble, totter) and naphal (נָפַל, fall, collapse). Pride goes before destruction (Proverbs 16:18). And none shall raise him up—no ally, no god, no power can restore what God casts down. Babylon had numerous vassal nations and alleged divine patrons, yet none could prevent or reverse its fall.
And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him—fire symbolizes complete, purifying judgment. The Hebrew ba'ar (בָּעַר, kindle, burn) and akal (אָכַל, devour, consume) suggest unstoppable destruction spreading from Babylon proper to surrounding regions. This echoes Amos's judgment oracles where fire consumes palaces (Amos 1:4, 7, 10, 12, 14). The fire represents both literal destruction and God's consuming wrath.