Jeremiah 12:5
in Jeremiah 12“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and though in a land of peace thou art secure, yet how wilt thou do in the pride of the Jordan?
KJV
If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
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This verse in Jeremiah 12
Commentary
4 notes on this verse(Verse 5) If you have struggled running with foot soldiers, how will you be able to compete with horses? If you have relied on the land of peace, what will you do in the pride or tumult of the Jordan? If, as they say, you have been wearied by the frequent captivities of neighboring nations, the Moabites and Ammonites, the Philistines and Edomites, what will you do in the face of a long captivity that will be led by the Chaldeans all the way?
This site's exposition
If thou hast run with the footmen
on Jeremiah 12:5-6
The Lord's reply refuses comfort and raises the stakes instead, if thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses, worse trouble ahead of the trouble already wearing him down, and the swelling of Jordan names the river's flood season as the harder test still to come. Verse 6 identifies the betrayal as coming from inside the family, even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, have dealt treacherously with thee, closing the circle the men of Anathoth opened in chapter 11 and widening it to kin nearer than a hometown.
The record, by era
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Yahweh rebukes Jeremiah’s impatience, showing him by two proverbial sayings, that there were still greater trials of faith in store for him. Prosperous wickedness is after all a mere ordinary trial, a mere “running with the footmen;” he will have to exert far greater powers of endurance. And if in the land ... - Rather, “and in a land of peace thou art secure; but how wilt thou do amid the pride of Jordan?” if thou canst feel safe only where things are tranquil, what wilt thou do in the hour of danger?
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Jehovah's reply to Jeremiah's complaint. horses--that is, horsemen: the argument a fortiori. The injuries done thee by the men of Anathoth ("the footmen") are small compared with those which the men of Jerusalem ("the horsemen") are about to inflict on thee.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| רַגְלִ֥ים׀ | raglim | foot soldiers | H7273 → | |
| רַ֙צְתָּה֙ | ratztah | you have run | H7323 → | 103 times |
| וַיַּלְא֔וּךָ | vaiyalukha | and they have made weary you | H3811 → | 19 times |
| וְאֵ֥יךְ | veeikh | and how? | H349 → | 82 times |
| תְּתַֽחֲרֶ֖ה | tetachareh | will you compete | H8474 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | with | H854 → | 929 times |
| הַסּוּסִ֑ים | hasusim | the horses | H5483 → | 140 times |
| וּבְאֶ֤רֶץ | uveeretz | and in a land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| שָׁלוֹם֙ | shalom | safety | H7965 → | 236 times |
| אַתָּ֣ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| בוֹטֵ֔חַ | voteach | [are] falling to [the] ground | H982 → | 120 times |
| וְאֵ֥יךְ | veeikh | and how? | H349 → | 82 times |
| תַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה | taaseh | will you do | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| בִּגְא֥וֹן | bigon | in [the] thicket of | H1347 → | 49 times |
| הַיַּרְדֵּֽן׃ | haiyarden | the Jordan | H3383 → | 182 times |
כִּ֣יif
kiH3588 →4482 times
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
רַגְלִ֥ים׀foot soldiers
raglimH7273 →
רַ֙צְתָּה֙you have run
ratztahH7323 →103 times
וַיַּלְא֔וּךָand they have made weary you
vaiyalukhaH3811 →19 times
וְאֵ֥יךְand how?
veeikhH349 →82 times
תְּתַֽחֲרֶ֖הwill you compete
tetacharehH8474 →
אֶת־with
ʾet-H854 →929 times
הַסּוּסִ֑יםthe horses
hasusimH5483 →140 times
וּבְאֶ֤רֶץand in a land of
uveeretzH776 →2504 times
שָׁלוֹם֙safety
shalomH7965 →236 times
אַתָּ֣הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
בוֹטֵ֔חַ[are] falling to [the] ground
voteachH982 →120 times
וְאֵ֥יךְand how?
veeikhH349 →82 times
תַּעֲשֶׂ֖הwill you do
taasehH6213 →2628 times
בִּגְא֥וֹןin [the] thicket of
bigonH1347 →49 times
הַיַּרְדֵּֽן׃the Jordan
haiyardenH3383 →182 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Peter 4:12Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 3:12
Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
- 1 Peter 1:6–7
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials
- 1 Peter 5:9
Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:2–4
We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,
- Daniel 11:35
Some of the wise will fall, so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.
- 2 Timothy 3:12
Through
Proverbs 24:10If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:28–31
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching…
- Ephesians 3:13
So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
- Jeremiah 51:46
Do not let your heart grow faint, and do not be afraid when the rumor is heard in the land; for a rumor will come one year—and then another the next year—of violence in…
- Isaiah 40:28–31
Where this verse is studied
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Also on Jeremiah 12: 1 study that walk through this chapter ▾
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.