Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillers.

JEREMIAH 51:27KJV
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Jeremiah 51:27 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 51:27 mean?

Jeremiah 51:27 describes a call to assemble armies from various nations to attack Babylon, using vivid images like raising a banner, blowing a trumpet, and summoning kingdoms such as Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz. The verse commands the preparation of these nations for battle and compares the advancing horses to rough, swarming locusts.

In this verse, the prophet Jeremiah is relaying God’s message to summon foreign powers against Babylon, which was then a dominant empire. The language is urgent and military, with instructions to signal and gather allies for a coming invasion. The mention of specific kingdoms and the comparison to caterpillars (locusts) highlights the overwhelming force that will be brought against Babylon.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 51:27

  • "Standard" (נֵס, nēs): This word means a banner or signal pole, often used in the Old Testament as a rallying point for troops. Here, it shows the public and unmistakable call to war.
  • "Prepare" (קָדַשׁ, qadash): This verb means to set apart or consecrate, often for a special purpose. In this context, it means to ready the nations for battle, almost as if the war effort itself is a kind of solemn, set-apart task.
  • "Rough" (סָמָר, sāmar): This word describes something bristling or rough, and paired with "caterpillars" (אַרְבֶּה, arbeh), it paints a picture of horses swarming and bristling like a plague of locusts—emphasizing both their numbers and their destructive power.

Why Jeremiah 51:27 matters

  • Jeremiah 51:27 clarifies that Babylon’s downfall will come through a coalition of foreign nations, not just one enemy, showing the scale of the coming judgment.
  • The verse’s military imagery and the specific mention of ancient kingdoms help readers see how God’s message was rooted in real historical events and peoples.
  • By comparing the invading armies to locusts, Jeremiah emphasizes the total and unstoppable nature of the coming destruction, which ties into the wider theme of Babylon’s judgment in this chapter.

Where else these words appear

“captain” Hebrew H2951 · used in 2 verses

  • Nahum 3:17 Thy crowned are as the locusts, and thy captains as the great grasshoppers, which camp in the hedges in the cold day, but when the sun ariseth they flee away, and their place is not known where they are.

“Ashchenaz” Hebrew H813 · used in 3 verses

  • Genesis 10:3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
  • 1 Chronicles 1:6 And the sons of Gomer; Ashchenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.

“Ararat” Hebrew H780 · used in 4 verses

  • Genesis 8:4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
  • 2 Kings 19:37 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Armenia. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
  • Isaiah 37:38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

“caterpillers” Hebrew H3218 · used in 7 verses

  • Psalms 105:34 He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number,
  • Joel 1:4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
  • Nahum 3:15 There shall the fire devour thee; the sword shall cut thee off, it shall eat thee up like the cankerworm: make thyself many as the cankerworm, make thyself many as the locusts.