Jeremiah 46:11
in Jeremiah 46Go up to Gilead for balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt! In vain you try many remedies, but for you there is no healing.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain dost thou use many medicines; there is no healing for thee.
KJV
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.
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This verse in Jeremiah 46
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Balm - i. e., balsam, the usual remedy for wounds Jer 8:22. In vain shalt ... - Or, in vain hast thou multiplied medicines: healing-plaster hast thou none. Nothing shall avail to heal the blow.
This site's exposition
Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
on Jeremiah 46:7-12
Egypt pictures herself as the rising Nile flood covering the earth, an image of unstoppable power that the oracle turns back on her as the day of the Lord's vengeance, a sacrifice offered up by the river Euphrates rather than the Nile. The mercenary allies named in verse 9, Ethiopia, Libya and Lydia, fight for a cause already lost, hired strength unable to alter a sentence already passed. Verse 11 sends the daughter of Egypt to Gilead for balm, reversing the plea of 8:22, is there no balm in Gilead, into an ironic verdict on a nation seeking a cure that belongs to someone else and will not work for her.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
A prophecy of the descent which Nebuchadnezzar should make upon the land of Egypt, and his success in it, which was accomplished some years after the destruction of Jerusalem,
Go up into Gilead,....
But the measure of Egypt's iniquity is full, and now they shall not long enjoy their own; those that encroached on others shall not be themselves encroached on. The scope of the prophecy here is to show how the king of Babylon should shortly come and smite the land of Egypt, and bring the war into their own bosoms which they had formerly carried into his borders,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Gilead . . . balm--(See on Jer 8:22); namely, for curing the wounds; but no medicine will avail, so desperate shall be the slaughter. virgin--Egypt is so called on account of her effeminate luxury, and as having never yet been brought under foreign yoke. thou shalt not be cured--literally, "there shall be no cure for thee" (Jer 30:13;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Go up into Gilead, and take balm - An irony. Egypt is so completely enfeebled by this overthrow, that her political wound is utterly incurable. This figure is used with the more propriety here, as the Egyptians have been celebrated from the remotest antiquity for their knowledge of medicine.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
a mighty man has stumbled upon a mighty man When they were fleeing they would stumble over each other.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֲלִ֤י | ʾali | go up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| גִלְעָד֙ | gilad | Gilead | H1568 → | 134 times |
| וּקְחִ֣י | ukechi | and acquire | H3947 → | 966 times |
| צֳרִ֔י | tzori | balm | H6875 → | 6 times |
| בְּתוּלַ֖ת | betulat | O virgin of | H1330 → | 50 times |
| בַּת־ | bat- | [the] daughter of | H1323 → | 588 times |
| מִצְרָ֑יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| לַשָּׁוְא֙ | lashav' | for <the> vanity | H7723 → | 53 times |
| הִרְבֵּ֣ית | hirbeiti | you have multiplied | H7235 → | 227 times |
| רְפֻא֔וֹת | refuot | remedies | H7499 → | |
| תְּעָלָ֖ה | tealah | [is] healing | H8585 → | |
| אֵ֥ין | ʾein | there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| לָֽךְ׃ | lakh | for <the> you |
עֲלִ֤יgo up
ʾaliH5927 →890 times
גִלְעָד֙Gilead
giladH1568 →134 times
וּקְחִ֣יand acquire
ukechiH3947 →966 times
צֳרִ֔יbalm
tzoriH6875 →6 times
בְּתוּלַ֖תO virgin of
betulatH1330 →50 times
בַּת־[the] daughter of
bat-H1323 →588 times
מִצְרָ֑יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
לַשָּׁוְא֙for <the> vanity
lashav'H7723 →53 times
הִרְבֵּ֣יתyou have multiplied
hirbeitiH7235 →227 times
רְפֻא֔וֹתremedies
refuotH7499 →
תְּעָלָ֖ה[is] healing
tealahH8585 →
אֵ֥יןthere not
ʾeinH369 →789 times
לָֽךְ׃for <the> you
lakh
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
Jeremiah 8:22Is there no balm in Gilead? Is no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?
it leads to
- Genesis 37:25
And as they sat down to eat a meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to…
- Jeremiah 51:8
Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been shattered. Wail for her; get her balm for her pain; perhaps she can be healed.
- Jeremiah 30:12–17
For this is what the LORD says: “Your injury is incurable; your wound is grievous.
- Luke 8:43
including a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all her money on physicians, but no one was able to heal her.
- Genesis 37:25
Through
Isaiah 47:1“Go down and sit in the dust, O Virgin Daughter of Babylon. Sit on the ground without a throne, O Daughter of Chaldea! For you will no longer be called tender or delicate.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:33
For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “The Daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled. In just a little while her…
- Psalms 137:8
O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
- Jeremiah 51:33
Through
Jeremiah 14:17You are to speak this word to them: ‘My eyes overflow with tears; day and night they do not cease, for the virgin daughter of my people has been shattered by a crushing blow,…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:21
For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.
- Jeremiah 8:21
Through
Nahum 3:19There is no healing for your injury; your wound is severe. All who hear the news of you applaud your downfall, for who has not experienced your constant cruelty?
it leads to
- Micah 1:9
For her wound is incurable; it has reached even Judah; it has approached the gate of my people, as far as Jerusalem itself.
- Micah 1:9
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.