What is the meaning of Jeremiah 51:22? Man and woman “With you I shatter man and woman” (Jeremiah 51:22) • The Lord speaks to His chosen “war club” (51:20), an instrument He will wield against Babylon’s foes. • The phrase underscores the total reach of divine judgment: no household will escape (compare Exodus 11:5, where every Egyptian home faced the death of the firstborn). • God’s justice is impartial. Genesis 1:27 affirms that both male and female bear His image; here both experience the consequences of national sin. • Revelation 18:4-8 echoes this scale when end-time Babylon’s collapse touches “all who shared her luxury.” The old man and the youth “With you I shatter the old man and the youth” • Age does not shield from accountability. Psalm 148:12-13 calls both “young men and maidens, old men and children” to praise; refusal brings judgment just as widely (Isaiah 13:11-16). • For Israel, the warning recalled earlier devastations (2 Chronicles 36:17: “He delivered them all into the hand of the king of the Chaldeans, young and old alike”). • God’s action exposes false security: elders with influence and youths with strength are equally powerless when the Almighty moves (Job 12:20-25). The young man and the maiden “With you I shatter the young man and the maiden” • The pairing highlights life’s prime—those presumed to have futures ahead—now abruptly interrupted (Lamentations 1:18-19; 2:21). • It reinforces the completeness of Babylon’s coming fall. Just as Jeremiah earlier urged the young to bear the yoke of discipline (Lamentations 3:27), refusing that yoke leads here to ruin. • The repetition of “with you” in 51:20-23 stresses the certainty of execution. God often repeats for emphasis (Genesis 41:32), assuring His word will not fail. summary Jeremiah 51:22 pictures the Lord wielding His chosen instrument so thoroughly that every demographic—men and women, elderly and youth, young men and maidens—falls under judgment. The verse affirmatively teaches that God’s justice is exact and all-encompassing, sparing no one who aligns with a rebellious kingdom. Its sober breadth calls readers to humble obedience, knowing the same righteous God both disciplines and delivers according to His unfailing word. |
    |