Jeremiah 25:15 · Bible study
Jeremiah 25:15 Commentary: The Cup of Yahweh's Wrath
Hebrew · 10 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Understand the symbol of the cup of wrath in Jeremiah 25:15. Study its meaning, historical background, and theological implications for God's judgment.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God’s wrath is like a cup of wine that all nations must drink, an inevitable, intoxicating judgment.
- Key words: Cup (H3563), wine (H3196), wrath/rage (H2534), cause to drink (H8248 Hiphil), hand (H3027).
- Main debate: Whether the action was a literal symbolic act or a purely visionary experience; and whether the cup represents historical judgment through Babylon or ultimate eschatological judgment.
- Theological theme: Divine judgment is personal, measured, universal, and certain.
- Best use: As a sobering reminder of God’s holiness and a call to repentance, while pointing to Christ who drank that cup for his people.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.
WEB World English Bible 2000
For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me: “Take this cup of the wine of wrath from my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.
KJV King James Version 1769
For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto me: Take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
`For thus said Jehovah God of Israel unto me, Take the wine cup of this fury out of My hand, and thou hast caused all the nations to drink it unto whom I am sending thee;
Darby Darby Bible 1890
For thus hath Jehovah the God of Israel said unto me: Take the cup of the wine of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
For thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Take the cup of wine of this fury at my hand: and thou shalt make all the nations to drink thereof, into which I shall send thee.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Porque así me dijo Jehová Dios de Israel: Toma de mi mano el vaso del vino de este furor, y da á beber de él á todas las gentes á las cuales yo te envío.
Porque assim me disse o SENHOR Deus de Israel: Toma de minha mão este copo de vinho do meu furor, e dá de beber dele a todas as nações às quais eu te envio.
Car ainsi m’ a parlé l’ Éternel, le Dieu d’ Israël:
Denn also spricht zu mir der HERR, der Gott Israels: Nimm diesen Becher Wein voll Zorns von meiner Hand und schenke daraus allen Völkern, zu denen ich dich sende,
Want alzo heeft de HEERE, de God Israels, tot mij gezegd: Neem dezen beker des wijns der grimmigheid van Mijn hand, en geef dien te drinken al den volken, tot welke Ik u zende;
Poiché così m’ha parlato l’Eterno, l’Iddio d’Israele: Prendi di mano mia questa coppa del vino della mia ira, e danne a bere a tutte le nazioni alle quali ti manderò.
Bo tak rzekł Pan, Bóg Izraelski, do mnie: Weźmij kubek wina tej popędliwości z ręki mojej, a napawaj nim wszystkie narody, do których Ja ciebie poślę;
Ибо так сказал мне Господь, Бог Израилев: возьми из руки Моей чашу сию с вином ярости и напой из нее все народы, к которым Я посылаю тебя.
耶和華─以色列的 神 對我 如此 說：「你從我手中 接 這 杯 忿怒 的酒，使 我 所 差遣 你 去 的各 國的民 喝。
For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said to me: Take the cup of the wine of this wrath from my hand, and make all the nations to whom I send you take of it.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Jeremiah 25:15
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Jeremiah 25:15 presents a symbolic vision in which God hands his prophet a cup representing divine wrath. Barnes notes the verb “says” (אָמַר, amar) is a prophetic perfect, giving the decree certainty. Calvin explains the vision was necessary because the earlier prophecy (v9-11) was too brief; this dramatic image makes the judgment tangible. Gill identifies the cup as the familiar biblical metaphor from Psalm 75:8, “the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs.” The Hebrew phrase “cup of the wine of wrath” (כּוֹס הַ/יַּיִן הַ/חֵמָה) uses chemah, meaning heat or burning rage, underscoring that judgment springs from God’s righteous fury against sin. The causative verb הִשְׁקִיתָה (hishkitah, “you will cause to drink”) shows the prophet actively administers judgment as God’s agent. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown insists the action was “only in symbolical vision,” not a literal cup-passing. Keil & Delitzsch describe the cup as “a flagon filled with wrath,” handed to all nations without exception.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God uses the image of a cup of wine to represent his righteous judgment against sin, which will be poured out on all nations.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Cup imagery as judgment | The cup is a symbol of God’s wrath poured out on nations. | Some understand the action as a literal symbolic act (Jeremiah gave actual wine to representatives); others see it as a visionary experience only. |
| Historical referent | The judgment is carried out through the Babylonian conquest under Nebuchadnezzar. | Christians differ on whether this points exclusively to historical Babylon or also anticipates a final eschatological judgment (as in Revelation). |
| Israel’s inclusion | Judgment begins with God’s own people (Jerusalem drinks first). | Some traditions see a qualitative difference: Israel’s cup is corrective discipline leading to restoration (v12), while the nations’ cup is purely punitive. |
Historical & Cultural Context
This verse anchors a major turning point in Jeremiah. The chapter is dated to the fourth year of Jehoiakim (605 BC), when Babylon defeated Egypt at Carchemish and began its domination of the region. God had predicted that Judah would serve Babylon for seventy years (v11-12), but now the judgment reaches far beyond: all surrounding nations will drink the same cup. The image of a wine cup as a vessel of divine punishment is a constant thread in Scripture. In the ancient world, wine was associated with both celebration and poison; the cup one drank symbolized one’s fate. Isaiah uses the same metaphor: “Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath” (Isaiah 51:17). The cup in Jeremiah’s vision produces drunkenness, reeling, and insanity (v16), a poetic description of military defeat and social collapse.
Lange’s Commentary shows that chapters 25, 29 form a literary unit. The cup vision in chapter 25 is later illustrated by the yoke in chapter 27. The list of nations in v18-26 begins with Jerusalem and Judah, then extends outward: Egypt, Philistia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon, Arabia, Elam, Media, and finally “the king of Sheshach” (a code name for Babylon). This order is significant. Poole explains that the cup represents “divine vengeance” and that Judah’s inclusion highlights that judgment starts with God’s household. The prophecy is not a prediction of a single event but a pattern: each nation drinks in its turn. The Septuagint rearranges these oracles, but the Masoretic order underscores the theme of universal accountability.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for this verse itself. The Cambridge Bible observes that the chapter’s extent has been questioned by some scholars (Schwally, Du.) who see editorial expansion, but on insufficient grounds. In the Septuagint the oracles against the nations are placed after chapter 51, suggesting a different arrangement, but the text of v15 is stable across traditions.
Reception History
This verse has shaped Christian understandings of divine judgment throughout history. Early readers connected it to God’s righteousness displayed in history. The cup image recurs in the New Testament, most notably in Revelation 14:10 and 18:6, where Babylon is made to drink from the same cup. In liturgical traditions, the verse is sometimes read during Lent or Holy Week to frame the sacrifice of Christ, who took the cup of wrath upon himself. Hymnody often echoes the phrase “cup of wrath” when describing the cross.
Preaching This Verse
Three-Point Outline
- The Source: God’s Hand. The cup comes “from my hand.” God is not passive; he personally administers justice.
- The Content: Wine of Wrath. The Hebrew chemah denotes burning anger. The cup is intoxicating, it causes madness and collapse.
- The Scope: All Nations. No one is exempt. Starting with Jerusalem, the cup passes to every kingdom on earth.
Five-Point Outline
- God Initiates Judgment. He commands the prophet to take the cup.
- Judgment is a Measured Portion. A cup is a specific amount, God’s judgment is not chaos but measured justice.
- The Judgment Intoxicates. It strips human strength and pride, leaving nations helpless (v16).
- The Prophet Mediates. Jeremiah acts as a herald and agent, showing that God works through human messengers.
- The Judgment is Non-Negotiable. Refusal to drink does not cancel the decree (v28). Believed or not, it comes.
Illustration Hooks
- The unwanted medicine. A parent tells a child to drink something bitter because it is necessary for healing. In judgment, the cup is not healing but destruction, yet it is just as unavoidable.
- The toasting cup at a feast. Imagine at a banquet, the host offers a cup that looks like wine but contains poison. The nations are offered a cup they think is normal, but it brings death.
- The drunk driver. Someone who drinks too much loses control and causes devastation. The nations drink the cup and lose all coherence.
Questions Your Congregation Is Asking
- Does the “cup of wrath” apply to Christians today, or only to unbelievers?
- How can a loving God pour out wrath? Doesn’t mercy win?
- Is this just about ancient history, or is there a future fulfillment?
Leading a Discussion
Jeremiah 25:15 presents one of the Bible’s most vivid images of divine judgment: the cup of the wine of wrath. This passage invites a small group to reflect on the reality of God’s justice and the universal scope of sin.
Discussion Questions
- Read Jeremiah 25:15-16. What stands out to you about the way God describes his judgment?
- The prophet is told to “make all the nations drink.” What does this active role say about the relationship between God’s sovereign decree and human agency?
- How does the metaphor of wine and drunkenness help you understand the effects of God’s judgment?
- Why do you think the list of nations in v17-26 starts with Jerusalem? What does that teach us about God’s standards for his own people?
- Compare this cup of wrath with the cup Jesus prays about in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39). What is the difference, and what is the connection?
- In what ways do people today try to “refuse to drink” the cup (v28)? How does God’s response inform our witness?
- How does this passage challenge or encourage your trust in God’s justice and mercy?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Job 21:20 | Let his own eyes see his destruction. Let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty. |
| Psalms 11:6 | On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. |
| Psalms 75:8 | For in Yahweh’s hand there is a cup, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out. Indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs. |
| Isaiah 51:17 | Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it. |
| Isaiah 51:22 | Your Lord Yahweh, your God who pleads the cause of his people, says, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more. |
| Jeremiah 13:12 | “Therefore you shall speak to them this word: ‘Yahweh, the God of Israel says, “Every container should be filled with wine.”’ They will tell you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every container should be filled with wine?’ |
| Jeremiah 13:14 | I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,” says Yahweh: “I will not pity, spare, or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.”’” |
| Jeremiah 51:7 | Babylon has been a golden cup in Yahweh’s hand, who made all the earth drunk. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations have gone mad. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
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What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that the Septuagint places this prophecy after the oracles against the nations, giving it added weight. He sees it as a vivid statement that the rising Babylonian kingdom would serve as God’s instrument of judgment on peoples far and near.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin sees this vision of a cup as Jeremiah's way of removing the obscurity from his earlier, abrupt prophecy against all nations. The vivid image of God's burning wrath being handed over to drink is not new information but a clearer explanation, given because people were too sluggish to believe God's word without seeing the judgment before their eyes.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The Cambridge Bible commentary defends the passage as having a genuine Jeremianic core, despite some scholars questioning its authenticity. It notes that verses 27-29 may be a later insertion, partly because they imply other nations are guiltier than Judah, which conflicts with Jeremiah's earlier statements.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
For thus hath the Lord God of Israel spoken vnto me, Take the cuppe of wine of this mine indignation at mine hand, and cause all the nations, to whome I sende thee, to drinke it.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill emphasizes that God's judgments are called a "cup" because they are measured and temporary, unlike eternal punishment, and "fury" because they arise from divine wrath provoked by sin. He affirms the Jewish interpretation that this cup represents the prophecy of vengeance delivered to Jeremiah.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB clarifies that Jeremiah giving the wine cup to the nations was not a literal, physical act but a symbolic vision. The prophet borrowed this imagery from Isaiah, using the cup to represent God's stupefying judgments.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch stress that the cup's wine is not a symbol of wrath but is wrath itself, placed in apposition to the wine. They also highlight that the drunken reeling and madness in the passage are not literal intoxication but the stupefying horror of war from God's sword.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange treats Jeremiah 25 as the prophet's central programme, the first time he names Nebuchadnezzar and gives a precise date. He reads the chapter as a three-stage judgment: on Judah, on the surrounding nations through Babylon, and finally on Babylon itself and the whole world. The victory at Carchemish is the historical turning point that gives the prophecy its concrete definiteness.
Wesley's Explanatory Notes Methodist/Wesleyan 1754
Wesley points out that the cup God gave Jeremiah was not a literal physical object but a visionary symbol. The prophet saw the appearance of such a cup in a vision, meaning the revelation came through a divine visual experience rather than a tangible item.