New Living Translation
Jeremiah 46:20
20Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer, but a horsefly from the north is on its way!
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
18“As surely as I live,” says the King, whose name is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “one is coming against Egypt who is as tall as Mount Tabor, or as Mount Carmel by the sea! 19Pack up! Get ready to leave for exile, you citizens of Egypt! The city of Memphis will be destroyed, without a single inhabitant. Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer, but a horsefly from the north is on its way! 21Egypt’s mercenaries have become like fattened calves. They, too, will turn and run, for it is a day of great disaster for Egypt, a time of great punishment. 22Egypt flees, silent as a serpent gliding away. The invading army marches in; they come against her with axes like woodsmen.
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“You rejoice and are glad, you who plundered my chosen people. You frisk about like a calf in a meadow and neigh like a stallion.
- Hosea 10:11“Israel is like a trained heifer treading out the grain— an easy job she loves. But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck. I will force Judah to pull the plow and Israel to break up the hard ground.
- Jeremiah 46:6“The swiftest runners cannot flee; the mightiest warriors cannot escape. By the Euphrates River to the north, they stumble and fall.
- Jeremiah 1:14“Yes,” the Lord said, “for terror from the north will boil out on the people of this land.
- Jeremiah 25:9I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever.
- Jeremiah 47:2This is what the Lord says: “A flood is coming from the north to overflow the land. It will destroy the land and everything in it— cities and people alike. People will scream in terror, and everyone in the land 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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