Cut off the sower from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest: for fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.

JEREMIAH 50:16KJV
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Jeremiah 50:16 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 50:16 mean?

Jeremiah 50:16 describes how, during Babylon’s coming downfall, the people who plant and harvest crops will be cut off and forced to flee because of the invading army’s violence. The verse pictures everyone, including ordinary workers, abandoning Babylon and returning to their own homelands out of fear.

In this verse, the prophet Jeremiah is speaking God’s message of judgment against Babylon. The situation is one of chaos and fear: even those doing everyday work like sowing and harvesting are not safe. The verse highlights how complete the destruction will be—so threatening that people from many nations who had settled in Babylon will run back to their own countries for safety.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 50:16

  • "off" (כָּרַת, karat): This word often means to cut off or destroy. In this verse, it emphasizes that the normal life of Babylon, represented by sowing and harvesting, will be violently interrupted.
  • "sower" (זָרַע, zara): This refers to someone planting seed. Mentioning the sower shows that even the most basic, peaceful activities will stop because of the coming danger.
  • "fear" (פָּנִים, panim): While usually meaning "face," here it carries the sense of being in the presence of something—specifically, the fear caused by the "oppressing sword."
  • "oppressing" (יָנַד, yanad): This word means something like "pressing" or "crushing." It underlines the harshness of the invading army, making clear why people are so desperate to escape.

Why Jeremiah 50:16 matters

  • Jeremiah 50:16 shows that Babylon’s fall will affect everyone, not just soldiers or leaders, but even ordinary workers—no one will be spared from the upheaval.
  • The verse connects to the wider passage by picturing the reversal of Babylon’s earlier power, as people from many nations who once came to Babylon now flee from it.
  • The detail about people fleeing "every one to his own land" helps explain the multi-ethnic makeup of Babylon at the time, and how its collapse would scatter people back to their original homes.

Where else these words appear

“sickle” Hebrew H4038 · used in 2 verses

  • Joel 3:13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.

“oppressing” Hebrew H3238 · used in 20 verses

  • Exodus 22:21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
  • Psalms 123:4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.
  • Ezekiel 18:12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,

“harvest” Hebrew H7105 · used in 49 verses

  • Genesis 8:22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
  • 1 Samuel 6:13 And they of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
  • Isaiah 9:3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

“sower” Hebrew H2232 · used in 54 verses

  • Genesis 1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
  • Deuteronomy 11:10 For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
  • Isaiah 30:23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.