Jeremiah 50:21
New International Version
“Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod. Pursue, kill and completely destroy them,” declares the LORD. “Do everything I have commanded you.

New Living Translation
“Go up, my warriors, against the land of Merathaim and against the people of Pekod. Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them, as I have commanded you,” says the LORD.

English Standard Version
“Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill, and devote them to destruction, declares the LORD, and do all that I have commanded you.

Berean Standard Bible
Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the residents of Pekod. Kill them and devote them to destruction. Do all that I have commanded you,” declares the LORD.

King James Bible
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

New King James Version
“Go up against the land of Merathaim, against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Waste and utterly destroy them,” says the LORD, “And do according to all that I have commanded you.

New American Standard Bible
“Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and completely destroy them,” declares the LORD, “And do according to everything that I have commanded you.

NASB 1995
“Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Slay and utterly destroy them,” declares the LORD, “And do according to all that I have commanded you.

NASB 1977
“Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Slay and utterly destroy them,” declares the LORD, “And do according to all that I have commanded you.

Legacy Standard Bible
“Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod. Put them to the sword and devote them to destruction,” declares Yahweh, “And do according to all that I have commanded you.

Amplified Bible
“Go against [Babylon] the land of Merathaim (Double Rebellion), Go up against it and against the people of Pekod (Punishment). Kill and utterly destroy them,” says the LORD, “And do everything that I have commanded you.”

Christian Standard Bible
Attack the land of Merathaim, and those living in Pekod. Put them to the sword; completely destroy them — this is the LORD’s declaration — do everything I have commanded you.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
“Go against the land of Merathaim, and against those living in Pekod. Put them to the sword; completely destroy them— this is the LORD’s declaration— do everything I have commanded you.

American Standard Version
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them, saith Jehovah, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Come up against the rebellious land! Come up upon it and upon its inhabitants! Wake up, oh sword, and put them to the sword, says LORD JEHOVAH, and do as I have commanded you!

Brenton Septuagint Translation
on the land, saith the Lord. Go up against it roughly, and against them that dwell on it: avenge, O sword, and destroy utterly, saith the Lord, and do according to all that I command thee.

Contemporary English Version
The LORD said: I have told the enemies of Babylonia, "Attack the people of Merathaim and Pekod. Kill them all! Destroy their possessions!"

Douay-Rheims Bible
Go up against the land of the rulers, and punish the inhabitants thereof, waste, and destroy all behind them, saith the Lord: and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

English Revised Version
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: slay and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Attack the land of Merathaim and the people who live in Pekod. Claim them for me by killing them with a sword," declares the LORD. "Do everything I commanded you.

Good News Translation
The LORD says, "Attack the people of Merathaim and of Pekod. Kill and destroy them. Do everything I command you. I, the LORD, have spoken.

International Standard Version
"Go up against the land of Merathaim and the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill them with swords, and completely destroy them," declares the LORD, "and do everything that I've commanded you.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod; Waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, And do according to all that I have commanded thee.

Literal Standard Version
Against the land of Merathaim, go up against it, | And to the inhabitants of Pekod, | Dry up and devote their posterity,” | A declaration of YHWH, | “And do according to all that I have commanded you.

Majority Standard Bible
Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the residents of Pekod. Kill them and devote them to destruction. Do all that I have commanded you,” declares the LORD.

New American Bible
Attack the land of Merathaim, and those who live in Pekod; Slaughter and put them under the ban—oracle of the LORD— do all I have commanded you.

NET Bible
The LORD says, "Attack the land of Merathaim and the people who live in Pekod! Pursue, kill, and completely destroy them! Do just as I have commanded you!

New Revised Standard Version
Go up to the land of Merathaim; go up against her, and attack the inhabitants of Pekod and utterly destroy the last of them, says the LORD; do all that I have commanded you.

New Heart English Bible
"Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: kill and utterly destroy after them," says the LORD, "and do according to all that I have commanded you.

Webster's Bible Translation
Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded thee.

World English Bible
“Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod. Kill and utterly destroy after them,” says Yahweh, “and do according to all that I have commanded you.

Young's Literal Translation
Against the land of Merathaim: Go up against it, and unto the inhabitants of Pekod, Waste and devote their posterity, An affirmation of Jehovah, And do according to all that I have commanded thee.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Destruction of Babylon
21Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the residents of Pekod. Kill them and devote them to destruction. Do all that I have commanded you,” declares the LORD. 22“The noise of battle is in the land—the noise of great destruction.…

Cross References
Isaiah 48:14
Come together, all of you, and listen: Which of the idols has foretold these things? The LORD's chosen ally will carry out His desire against Babylon, and His arm will be against the Chaldeans.

Ezekiel 23:23
the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, the men of Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them--all desirable young men, governors and commanders, officers and men of renown, mounted on horses.


Treasury of Scripture

Go up against the land of Merathaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Pekod: waste and utterly destroy after them, said the LORD, and do according to all that I have commanded you.

up

Jeremiah 50:3,9,15
For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast…

Merathaim.

Ezekiel 23:23
The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young men, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses.

and do

Jeremiah 34:22
Behold, I will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.

Jeremiah 48:10
Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

Numbers 31:14-18
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle…

Jump to Previous
Attack Commanded Completely Death Declares Destroy Destruction Double Inhabitants Kill Live Orders Pekod Pursue Rebellion Slay Utterly Visitation Waste
Jump to Next
Attack Commanded Completely Death Declares Destroy Destruction Double Inhabitants Kill Live Orders Pekod Pursue Rebellion Slay Utterly Visitation Waste
Jeremiah 50
1. The judgment of Babylon and the redemption of Israel














(21) Go up against the land of Merathaim.--No such name is found in Babylonian inscriptions or is mentioned by historians. The most probable explanation of its use is that the prophet coined it as a descriptive word (= land of two rebellions), and then substituted it, after his manner (as with Sheshach, Jeremiah 25:6; Magor-missabib, Jeremiah 20:3), for the name Aram-Naharaim (= land of the two rivers = Mesopotamia), which was, as in Genesis 24:10; Deuteronomy 23:4; Judges 3:8; Judges 3:10, the recognised name of the country between the Tigris and Euphrates. It was, he seems to say, the country, not of rivers, but of rebellions, choosing the dual form, partly for the sake of assonance, partly to express the fact that Babylon having rebelled against Assyria, as, e.g., Merodach-baladan (Isaiah 39:1) and Nabopolassar had done, had also rebelled against Jehovah. Possibly, however, the dual may simply express intensity. Such changes of names were quite after the manner of Old Testament usage. So Beth-aven was substituted for Bethel (Hosea 10:5), Mephibosheth for Meribbaal (2Samuel 4:4; 1Chronicles 8:34). Micah 1 is full of such paronomasiae. . . . Verses 21-28. - The punishment of Babylon, corresponding to her crimes. Verse 21. - The land of Merathaim; i.e. of double rebellion. Probably enough an actual geographical name may lie at the root of this singular expression; but we are not able at present to say what it was. The prophet has, at any rate, modified it in such a way as to convey a definite meaning, symbolic of the character of Babylon (comp. on ver. 31). What was this meaning? According to Gesenius, there is an allusion to the two great blows inflicted on Israel and Judah by Assyria and Babylon respectively; but as these two powers were but the instruments of a higher Hand, this explanation would seem to be inconsistent with the prophetic teaching. Dahler, De Wette, and Keil take the two rebellions to be the spiritual ones of idolatry and pride; and there is no obvious objection to this. But the dual may be simply intended to express intensity; comp. ch. 17:18, "Destroy them with double destruction" (see note). The inhabitants of Pekod; i.e. of punishment. But here too a geographical name very probably lies underneath. The Taylor cylinder inscription of Sennacherib mentions a Pukudu ( = Pekod), together with Havrann (Hauran) and Nabatu (Nabathaeans); but this was the name of a tribe. In Ezekiel 23:23 we read, "The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa," etc.; and in 'Records of the Past,' 11:92, we find a town Pikudu mentioned, lying to the south of Babylon, which may, perhaps, have given its name to a district, and to this district the prophet not improbably alludes. M. Halevy conjectures that the event which corresponds to the prophecy is the decisive battle which virtually terminated the Babylonian empire. According to the newly discovered Cyrus inscription, this battle was fought near a place called Rutu, which appears to have been situated in the neighbourhood of Pukudu ('Records,' l.c.). About the symbolic meaning there can be no doubt: Pekod is a worthy pendant to Merathaim. Sin and punishment are so closely connected in the prophetic mind that one word sometimes covers both notions. It is doubtful, for instance, whether the better rendering of Isaiah 5:18 is "draw sin as with a cart rope" or "draw punishment."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“Go up
עֲלֵ֣ה (‘ă·lêh)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 5927: To ascend, in, actively

against
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the land
הָאָ֤רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

of Merathaim,
מְרָתַ֙יִם֙ (mə·rā·ṯa·yim)
Noun - fd
Strong's 4850: Merathaim -- perhaps 'double rebellion', another name for Babylon

and against
וְאֶל־ (wə·’el-)
Conjunctive waw | Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the residents
יוֹשְׁבֵ֖י (yō·wō·šə·ḇê)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural construct
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

of Pekod.
פְּק֑וֹד (pə·qō·wḏ)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6489: Pekod -- a people in southeastern Babylon

Put them to the sword
חֲרֹ֨ב (ḥă·rōḇ)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 2717: To parch, to desolate, destroy, kill

and completely destroy
וְהַחֲרֵ֤ם (wə·ha·ḥă·rêm)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 2763: To seclude, to devote to religious uses, to be blunt as to the nose

them,”
אַֽחֲרֵיהֶם֙ (’a·ḥă·rê·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 310: The hind or following part

declares
נְאֻם־ (nə·’um-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5002: An oracle

the LORD.
יְהוָ֔ה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

“Do
וַעֲשֵׂ֕ה (wa·‘ă·śêh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 6213: To do, make

everything
כְּכֹ֖ל (kə·ḵōl)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

I have commanded you.
צִוִּיתִֽיךָ׃ (ṣiw·wî·ṯî·ḵā)
Verb - Piel - Perfect - first person common singular | second person masculine singular
Strong's 6680: To lay charge (upon), give charge (to), command, order


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 50:21 Go up against the land of Merathaim (Jer.)
Jeremiah 50:20
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