What is the meaning of Jeremiah 50:43? The king of Babylon has heard the report “The king of Babylon has heard the report…” • God’s warning through Jeremiah is now a reality. The “report” is the news of invading armies God Himself has stirred up (Jeremiah 50:9; 50:41; Isaiah 13:17). • Scripture consistently shows that when God’s word of judgment reaches its appointed target, no earthly power can dismiss it (Numbers 23:19; Jeremiah 51:46). • The verse highlights personal accountability: even the mightiest ruler cannot plead ignorance when God has repeatedly broadcast His intentions (Jeremiah 25:9; Daniel 5:22-23). and his hands hang limp “…and his hands hang limp.” • Limp hands picture total loss of strength, resolve, and control (Ezekiel 7:17; Isaiah 13:7). • What Babylon once did to others—causing fear and helplessness—now falls on its own king (Habakkuk 2:8). • The phrase reminds us that human power fails whenever God removes His restraining grace (Psalm 76:5-6; Daniel 5:6). Anguish has gripped him “Anguish has gripped him…” • This is more than momentary anxiety; it is deep, soul-shaking terror (Jeremiah 49:24; Exodus 15:15-16). • The language fulfills earlier prophecies that rulers of wicked nations would experience the very distress they inflicted (Jeremiah 48:41; Obadiah 1:15). • The verse underlines the moral order God maintains: unrepentant arrogance eventually meets divine justice (Proverbs 16:5; James 4:6). pain like that of a woman in labor “…pain like that of a woman in labor.” • Labor pains are unavoidable, intense, and increasingly urgent—perfect imagery for inescapable judgment (Isaiah 13:8; 21:3; Micah 4:9-10). • Paul later uses the same picture for the suddenness of the Day of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:3), showing how God’s patterns in history foreshadow final events. • The metaphor stresses culmination: just as labor ends in birth, Babylon’s agony ends in her overthrow by the Medes and Persians (Jeremiah 51:11, 28; Daniel 5:30-31). summary Jeremiah 50:43 presents a vivid, literal snapshot of Babylon’s fall. God’s prophetic “report” reaches the proud king, draining his strength, seizing him with terror, and gripping him with labor-like pain. The verse showcases divine sovereignty over nations, the certainty of His word, and the moral certainty that prideful rebellion reaps inevitable judgment. |
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