The Meaning of Jeremiah 51:37 Explained

Jeremiah 51:37

KJV: And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant.

YLT: And Babylon hath been for heaps, A habitation of dragons, An astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.

Darby: And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.

ASV: And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And Babylon  shall become heaps,  a dwellingplace  for dragons,  an astonishment,  and an hissing,  without an inhabitant. 

What does Jeremiah 51:37 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Babylon would become nothing more than a heap of ruins that jackals would climb on, an uninhabited place that people would whistle at when they considered what had happened to the once-great city.

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 51

1  The severe judgment of God against Babylon, in revenge of Israel
59  Jeremiah delivers the book of this prophecy to Seraiah, to be cast into Euphrates,
64  in token of the perpetual sinking of Babylon

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 51:37 mean?

And shall become Babylon a heap a dwelling place for jackals An astonishment and a hissing without an inhabitant
וְהָיְתָה֩ בָבֶ֨ל ׀ לְגַלִּ֧ים ׀ מְעוֹן־ תַּנִּ֛ים שַׁמָּ֥ה וּשְׁרֵקָ֖ה מֵאֵ֥ין יוֹשֵֽׁב

וְהָיְתָה֩  And  shall  become 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
בָבֶ֨ל ׀  Babylon 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: בָּבֶל  
Sense: Babel or Babylon, the ancient site and/or capital of Babylonia (modern Hillah) situated on the Euphrates.
לְגַלִּ֧ים ׀  a  heap 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine plural
Root: גַּל 
Sense: heap, spring, wave, billow.
מְעוֹן־  a  dwelling  place  for 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מָעֹון 
Sense: dwelling, habitation, refuge.
תַּנִּ֛ים  jackals 
Parse: Noun, common plural
Root: תַּנִּין  
Sense: dragon, serpent, sea monster.
שַׁמָּ֥ה  An  astonishment 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שַׁמָּה  
Sense: waste, horror, appalment.
וּשְׁרֵקָ֖ה  and  a  hissing 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, feminine singular
Root: שְׂרֵקָה 
Sense: hissing, whistling.
מֵאֵ֥ין  without 
Parse: Preposition-m, Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
יוֹשֵֽׁב  an  inhabitant 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.