Jeremiah 27:7
And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him.
Study Note
Study Note
The prediction that 'all nations shall serve him [Nebuchadnezzar], and his son, and his son's son: until the very time of his land come' presents Babylonian dominance as a divinely measured, temporally bounded phenomenon. The verse's theological significance lies in its framing of pagan imperial power as under divine authority and schedule: Nebuchadnezzar is God's 'servant' (verse 6, 'my servant Nebuchadnezzar') in the same paradoxical sense that Cyrus is God's anointed in Isaiah 45:1 — divine ends are achieved through instruments that do not share divine purposes. The prophetic word that the king's dynasty will serve 'until the very time of his land come' implies that all imperial hegemonies are temporary, measured, and ultimately under judgment. Daniel 2:21's 'he removeth kings, and setteth up kings' and Acts 17:26's 'he hath determined... the times before appointed' develop the same providential philosophy of history.
Other Translations
And all the nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son’s son, until the time of his own land come: and then many nations and great kings shall make him their bondman.
And served him have all the nations, and his son, and his son's son, till the coming in of the time of his land, also it; and done service for him have many nations and great kings.
And all the nations will be servants to him and to his son and to his son's son, till the time comes for his land to be overcome: and then a number of nations and great kings will take it for their use.
Cross References
Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, …
Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, …
And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is …
I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with …
For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and …
He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, …
That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the …
And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and …
And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a …
The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see.