Amplified Bible
Jeremiah 46:20
20Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But a horsefly (Babylonia) is coming [against her] out of the north!
Jeremiah 46:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
- New International Version (NIV)“Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly is coming against her from the north.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"A beautiful heifer is Egypt, but a biting fly from the north has come upon her.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But destruction comes, it comes from the north.
Context of Jeremiah 46:20
18As I live,” says the King, Whose name is the Lord of hosts, “Surely like Tabor among the mountains Or like Carmel by the sea, So shall he [the great king of Babylon] come. 19O you daughter who dwells in Egypt and you who dwell with her, Prepare yourselves [with all you will need] to go into exile, For Memphis will become desolate; It will even be burned down and without inhabitant. Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But a horsefly (Babylonia) is coming [against her] out of the north! 21Also her mercenaries in her army Are like fattened calves, For they too have turned back and have fled together; They did not stand [their ground], Because the day of their disaster has come upon them, The time of their punishment. 22The sound [of Egypt fleeing from the enemy] is like [the rustling of] an escaping serpent, For her foes advance with a mighty army And come against her like woodcutters with axes.
Read all of Jeremiah 46Jeremiah 46:20 word by word
עֶגְלָ֥ה יְפֵֽה־פִיָּ֖ה מִצְרָ֑יִם קֶ֥רֶץ מִצָּפ֖וֹן בָּ֥א בָֽא׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Jeremiah 46:20
- Jeremiah 50:11“Though you are glad, though you rejoice, O you who plunder My heritage, Though you are wanton and skip about like a heifer in the grass And neigh like stallions,
- Hosea 10:11Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to tread out the grain, But I will come over her fair neck with a heavy yoke [for hard field work]. I will harness Ephraim; Judah will plow and Jacob will harrow and rake for himself.
- Jeremiah 46:6Do not let the swift man run, Nor the mighty man escape; In the north by the river Euphrates They have stumbled and fallen.
- Jeremiah 1:14Then the Lord said to me, “Out of the north the evil [which the prophets foretold as the result of national sin] will reveal itself and spill out on all the people of the land.
- Jeremiah 25:9behold (hear this), I will send for all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will send for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant [to enact My plan], and I will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing [that is, an object of warning and ridicule] and an everlasting desolation.
- Jeremiah 47:2Thus says the Lord: “Behold, waters are going to rise out of the north (Babylonia) And become an overflowing stream And overflow the land and all that is in it, The city and those who live in it. Then the people will cry out, And all the inhabitants of the land [of Philistia] will wail.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 46:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Egypt is like a very fair heifer - Fruitful and useful; but destruction cometh out of the north, from Chaldea. It may be that there is an allusion here to Isis, worshipped in Egypt under the form of a beautiful cow.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Is like - Or, is. Her god was the steer Apis Jeremiah 46:15, and she is the spouse. But destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north - More probably, “a gadfly from the north has come upon her.” This is a sort of insect which stings the oxen and drives them to madness. Compare Isaiah 7:18.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-28Verses 13-28 Those who encroached on others, shall now be themselves encroached on. Egypt is now like a very fair heifer, not accustomed to the yoke of subjection; but destruction comes out of the north: the Chaldeans shall come. Comfort and peace are spoken to the Israel of God, designed to encourage them when the judgments of God were abroad among the nations. He will be with them, and only correct them in measure; and will not punish them with…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-24The defeat at Carchemish caused chaos in Egypt and its armies. The Lord was judging Egypt.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-2613-26. Prophecy of the invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, which took place sixteen years after the taking of Jerusalem. Having spent thirteen years in the siege of Tyre, and having obtained nothing for his pains, he is promised by God Egypt for his reward in humbling Tyre (Eze 29:17-20; 30:1-31:18). The intestine commotions between Amasis and Pharaoh-hophra prepared his way (compare Note, see on Is 19:1, &c.).Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 46:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Jeremiah 46
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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