The Meaning of Jeremiah 25:14 Explained

Jeremiah 25:14

KJV: For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also: and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands.

YLT: For laid service on them -- also them -- have many nations and great kings, and I have given recompence to them according to their doing, and according to the work of their hands.

Darby: For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.

ASV: For many nations and great kings shall make bondmen of them, even of them; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the work of their hands.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For many  nations  and great  kings  shall serve  themselves of them also: and I will recompense  them according to their deeds,  and according to the works  of their own hands. 

What does Jeremiah 25:14 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Other nations and great kings would enslave the Babylonians, Judah"s mighty captors. Yahweh would pay back Babylon for all that she had done (cf. Habakkuk 1-2). Some of these many nations with great kings included the Medes, the Persians, and their several allies under Cyrus the Great.

Context Summary

Jeremiah 25:1-38 - Shepherds That Mislead God's Flock
It is God's purpose to care for His people through shepherds (pastors) who are responsible to Him. Jesus our Lord is the Branch into which we may be grafted. He is our King who saves us and clothes us with His own spotless righteousness. God finds us in Him, Philippians 3:9. Because He reigns, we are saved and dwell in safety. When we are brought into contact with false shepherds, whether the failure be in doctrine or example, let us ask for the broken heart of Jeremiah 23:9.
God is everywhere present; as the latter paragraph indicates, He is near at hand to overhear the blasphemy of those who deride religion, and to be a very present help in time of trouble. If He fills heaven and earth, can He not fill thy heart? If His Word is like fire, let it cleanse thee! If it is as a hammer, let it pulverize thy pride! Let those of us who essay to teach and preach, not steal our words from our neighbors, or utter our own, but receive them from the source of all truth. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 25

1  Jeremiah, reproving the Jews' disobedience to the prophets,
8  foretells the seventy years' captivity;
12  and after that, the destruction of Babylon
15  Under the type of a cup of wine he foreshows the destruction of all nations
34  The howling of the shepherds

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 25:14 mean?

For shall be served by them even them nations many and kings great and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands -
כִּ֣י עָֽבְדוּ־ בָ֤ם גַּם־ הֵ֙מָּה֙ גּוֹיִ֣ם רַבִּ֔ים וּמְלָכִ֖ים גְּדוֹלִ֑ים וְשִׁלַּמְתִּ֥י לָהֶ֛ם כְּפָעֳלָ֖ם וּכְמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה יְדֵיהֶֽם ס

עָֽבְדוּ־  shall  be  served 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: עָבַד  
Sense: to work, serve.
בָ֤ם  by  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine plural
גַּם־  even 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
גּוֹיִ֣ם  nations 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: גֹּוי 
Sense: nation, people.
רַבִּ֔ים  many 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
וּמְלָכִ֖ים  and  kings 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
גְּדוֹלִ֑ים  great 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: גָּבֹול 
Sense: great.
וְשִׁלַּמְתִּ֥י  and  I  will  repay 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: שָׁלֵם  
Sense: .
כְּפָעֳלָ֖ם  according  to  their  deeds 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: פֹּעַל  
Sense: work, deed, doing.
וּכְמַעֲשֵׂ֥ה  and  according  to  the  works 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מַעֲשֶׂה  
Sense: deed, work.
יְדֵיהֶֽם  of  their  own  hands 
Parse: Noun, fdc, third person masculine plural
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation