With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman; and with thee will I break in pieces old and young; and with thee will I break in pieces the young man and the maid;

JEREMIAH 51:22KJV
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Jeremiah 51:22 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 51:22 mean?

Jeremiah 51:22 portrays God using an instrument of destruction against people across a whole population. The verse names men and women, people of different ages, and young men and maidens, showing how widely the violence reaches.

God is the speaker, and “with thee” addresses the one God uses as a weapon. Following the image of a battle-axe in verse 20, the repeated phrase “break in pieces” pictures the terrible force of an attack.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 51:22

  • “break in pieces” — נָפַץ (naphats): This word can mean to smash or shatter. Its repetition gives the verse the sound of blow after blow.
  • “young man” — בָּחוּר (bachur): This word often refers to a young man in the prime of life. Paired with “maid,” it brings a couple of marriageable age into the picture.

Why Jeremiah 51:22 matters

  • The pairs make the destruction comprehensive. “Man and woman” and “old and young” cross boundaries of sex and age rather than limiting the attack to soldiers.

  • The weapon image belongs within a larger message against Babylon. In verse 24, God says he will repay Babylon and its people for the evil they have done in Zion, the city of Jerusalem.

Where else these words appear

“pieces” Hebrew H5310 · used in 17 verses

  • Genesis 9:19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
  • Psalms 137:9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
  • Jeremiah 22:28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not?

“man” Hebrew H970 · used in 44 verses

  • Deuteronomy 32:25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.
  • Isaiah 31:8 Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.
  • Lamentations 1:15 The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress.

“maid” Hebrew H1330 · used in 50 verses

  • Genesis 24:16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.
  • Esther 2:2 Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:
  • Jeremiah 31:4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.