What is the meaning of Jeremiah 50:12?

Your mother will be greatly ashamed

– In the immediate context, “mother” points to Babylon itself—the imperial center that had given birth to countless subject peoples (Jeremiah 50:1).

– Shame describes the public humiliation Babylon would feel when the LORD handed her over to the Medes and Persians (Jeremiah 51:11; Isaiah 47:1–3).

– Other nations that trusted Babylon’s power would witness her downfall and recoil (Revelation 18:9–10).

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She who bore you will be disgraced

– The phrase reinforces the personal, familial imagery. Babylon, once proud “mother,” will be treated with contempt (Nahum 3:5–7).

– Disgrace is a moral verdict: God exposes idolatry, cruelty, and pride (Jeremiah 50:31–32).

– The fall reminds us that whatever a nation births—culture, economy, military might—cannot shield it from divine justice (Proverbs 16:18).

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Behold, she will be the least of the nations

• Babylon had been “a golden cup in the LORD’s hand” (Jeremiah 51:7) but would slide from first to last.

• God reverses human rankings (1 Samuel 2:7–8; Luke 1:52).

• History confirms the prophecy: after Cyrus, Babylon never regained superpower status, fulfilling Isaiah 13:19–22 and leaving only a minor province.

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A wilderness, a dry land, and a desert

– Triple imagery drives home irreversible ruin (Jeremiah 50:39).

– Wilderness: uninhabited; Dry land: unproductive; Desert: harsh and lifeless (Jeremiah 51:43).

– By the New Testament era, Babylon’s site fulfilled this picture—echoed in Revelation 18:2, where desert creatures haunt the ruins of the final “Babylon.”

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summary

Jeremiah 50:12 paints Babylon’s complete reversal: from honored mother to shamed outcast, from head of nations to forgotten wasteland. The verse assures us that God’s justice is certain, far-reaching, and literal. Prideful powers fall, but His word stands.