Jeremiah 46:22
in Jeremiah 46Egypt will hiss like a fleeing serpent, for the enemy will advance in force; with axes they will come against her like woodsmen cutting down trees.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The sound thereof shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
KJV
The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.
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This verse in Jeremiah 46
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThe voice thereof shall go like a serpent,.... That is, the voice of Egypt, before compared to a heifer, when in its glory; but now it shall not bellow like a heifer in fat pasture, bat hiss like a serpent, when drove out of its hole, and pursued; signifying, that their voice should be low and submissive, and should not speak one big or murmuring word to their conquerors. The voice of the serpent is, by Aristotle (m) said to be small and weak; so Aelianus (n).
This site's exposition
Egypt is a beautiful heifer
on Jeremiah 46:20-26
“Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her,” and her mercenaries “are like fattened calves” who flee. The LORD will punish “Amon god of Thebes, along with Pharaoh,” yet verse 26 ends, “Egypt will be inhabited as in days of old.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
), and the Egyptians shall be no more able to resist them than the tree is to resist the man that comes with an axe to cut it down; so that Egypt shall be felled as a forest is by the hewers of wood, which (if there by many of them, and those well provided with instruments for the purpose) will be done in a little time.
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The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The voice thereof - Her voice, i. e., the voice of Egypt. The word here probably means the busy sound of life and activity in the towns of Egypt, the tramping of her hosts, and the turmoil of camp and city. All this at the approach of the Chaldaean army shall depart, as the snake flees away when disturbed in its haunts by the wood-cutters. March with an army - Advance with might. With axes - The comparison of the Chaldaean warriors to woodcutters arose from their being armed with axes.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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;
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The voice - shall go like a serpent - See Isa 29:4 (note), and the note there.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| קוֹלָ֖הּ | kolah | sound its | H6963 → | 506 times |
| כַּנָּחָ֣שׁ | kanachash | [is] like <the> snake | H5175 → | |
| יֵלֵ֑ךְ | yelekh | [which] it goes | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| בְחַ֣יִל | vechayil | with an army | H2428 → | 246 times |
| יֵלֵ֔כוּ | yelekhu | they will come | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| וּבְקַרְדֻּמּוֹת֙ | uvekardumot | and with axes | H7134 → | |
| בָּ֣אוּ | bau | they will come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לָ֔הּ | lah | to <the> it | ||
| כְּחֹטְבֵ֖י | kechotevei | like cutters of | H2404 → | |
| עֵצִֽים׃ | ʾetzim | wood<s> | H6086 → | 328 times |
קוֹלָ֖הּsound its
kolahH6963 →506 times
כַּנָּחָ֣שׁ[is] like <the> snake
kanachashH5175 →
יֵלֵ֑ךְ[which] it goes
yelekhH1980 →1546 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
בְחַ֣יִלwith an army
vechayilH2428 →246 times
יֵלֵ֔כוּthey will come
yelekhuH1980 →1546 times
וּבְקַרְדֻּמּוֹת֙and with axes
uvekardumotH7134 →
בָּ֣אוּthey will come
bauH935 →2568 times
לָ֔הּto <the> it
lah
כְּחֹטְבֵ֖יlike cutters of
kechoteveiH2404 →
עֵצִֽים׃wood<s>
ʾetzimH6086 →328 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
Isaiah 10:15Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or…
it leads to
- Romans 9:20–21
But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, “Why did You make me like this?”
- Isaiah 45:9
Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Isaiah 10:5
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath.
- Isaiah 29:16
You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of…
- Ezekiel 28:9
Will you still say, ‘I am a god,’ in the presence of those who slay you? You will be only a man, not a god, in the hands of those who wound you.
- Romans 9:20–21
Through
Isaiah 29:4You will be brought low, you will speak from the ground, and out of the dust your words will be muffled. Your voice will be like a spirit from the ground; your speech will…
it leads to
- Isaiah 8:19
When men tell you to consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who whisper and mutter, shouldn’t a people consult their God instead? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
- Psalms 44:25
For our soul has sunk to the dust; our bodies cling to the earth.
- Isaiah 8:19
Through
Isaiah 14:8Even the cypresses and cedars of Lebanon exult over you: “Since you have been laid low, no woodcutter comes against us.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 31:16
I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and…
- Ezekiel 31:16
Where this verse is studied
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 Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah and Lamentations; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.