Jeremiah 51:32

They will report that the fords have been captured, the reed marshes have been burned, the soldiers are terrified. ¹ 

the river crossings seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers terrified."

The fords also have been seized, And they have burned the marshes with fire, And the men of war are terrified.

All the escape routes are blocked. The fortifications are burning, and the army is in panic.

The fords of the rivers are all taken. Wildfire rages through the swamp grass. Soldiers desert left and right.

And the ways across the river have been taken, and the water-holes…burned with fire, and the men of war are in the grip of fear.

the fords have been seized, the marshes have been burned with fire, and the soldiers are in panic.

The passages are blocked, The reeds they have burned with fire, And the men of war are terrified.

They will report that the fords have been captured, the reed marshes have been burned, the soldiers are terrified. ¹ 

¹ tn The words “They will report that” have been supplied in the translation to show the linkage between this verse and the previous one. This is still a part of the report of the messengers. The meaning of the word translated “reed marshes” has seemed inappropriate to some commentators because it elsewhere refers to “pools.” However, all the commentaries consulted agree that the word here refers to the reedy marshes that surrounded Babylon. (For a fuller discussion regarding the meaning of this word and attempts to connect it with a word meaning “fortress” see W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:427.)

sn Babylon was a city covering over a thousand acres. The city itself was surrounded by two walls, the inner one 21 feet (6.3 m) thick and the outer 11 feet (3.3 m) thick. To provide further security, walls were built to the south and east of the city and irrigation ditches and canals north and east of the city were flooded to prevent direct access to the city. The reference to “fords” here is to the river crossings of the Euphrates River which ran right through the city and the crossings at the ditches and canals. The reference to the “reed marshes” refers to the low lying areas around the city where reeds grew. The burning of the reed marshes would deprive any fugitives of places to hide and flush out any who had already escaped.