New King James Version
Jeremiah 46:20
20“Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But destruction comes, it comes from 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 Living Translation (NLT)Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer, but a horsefly from the north is on its way!
Context of Jeremiah 46:20
18“As I live,” says the King, Whose name is the Lord of hosts, “Surely as Tabor is among the mountains And as Carmel by the sea, so he shall come. 19O you daughter dwelling in Egypt, Prepare yourself to go into captivity! For Noph shall be waste and desolate, without inhabitant. “Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But destruction comes, it comes from the north. 21Also her mercenaries are in her midst like fat bulls, For they also are turned back, They have fled away together. They did not stand, For the day of their calamity had come upon them, The time of their punishment. 22Her noise shall go like a serpent, For they shall march with an army And come against her with axes, Like those who chop wood.
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“Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, You destroyers of My heritage, Because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, And you bellow like bulls,
- Hosea 10:11Ephraim is a trained heifer That loves to thresh grain; But I harnessed her fair neck, I will make Ephraim pull a plow. Judah shall plow; Jacob shall break his clods.”
- Jeremiah 46:6“Do not let the swift flee away, Nor the mighty man escape; They will stumble and fall Toward the north, by the River Euphrates.
- Jeremiah 1:14Then the Lord said to me: “Out of the north calamity shall break forth On all the inhabitants of the land.
- Jeremiah 25:9behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
- Jeremiah 47:2Thus says the Lord: “Behold, waters rise out of the north, And shall be an overflowing flood; They shall overflow the land and all that is in it, The city and those who dwell within; Then the men shall cry, And all the inhabitants of the land shall 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries