Jeremiah 46:23
in Jeremiah 46They will chop down her forest, declares the LORD, dense though it may be, for they are more numerous than locusts; they cannot be counted.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They shall cut down her forest, saith Jehovah, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.
KJV
They shall cut down her forest, saith the Lord, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.
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This verse in Jeremiah 46
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Or, “They have cut down her forest, saith Yahweh, for it is impenetrable,” i. e., just as a pathless forest must be cleared to assist agriculture and the passage to and fro of men, so must the false worship and the material prosperity of Egypt be overthrown. Grasshoppers - The invading host advances as multitudinous as the locusts which consume the whole vegetation of the land on which they alight.
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
They shall cut down her forest, saith the Lord,.... The land of Egypt, compared to a forest, for the multitude of its cities and towns, and the inhabitants of them; which should be destroyed by the Chaldeans, as a forest is cut down by hewers of wood; the metaphor is here continued.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
36:26) as it may seem: referring to the thickly set cities of Egypt, which were at that time a thousand and twenty. The Hebrew particle is properly, "for," "because." because--the reason why the Chaldeans shall be able to cut down so dense a forest of cities as Egypt: they themselves are countless in numbers. grasshoppers--locusts (Jud 6:5).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
They shall cut down her forest - Supposed to mean her cities, of which Egypt had no fewer than one thousand and twenty.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כָּרְת֤וּ | karetu | they will cut down | H3772 → | 288 times |
| יַעְרָהּ֙ | ya'rah | forest its | H3293 → | 59 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כִּ֖י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵֽחָקֵ֑ר | yechaker | it will be searched | H2713 → | 27 times |
| כִּ֤י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רַבּוּ֙ | rabu | they will be many | H7231 → | 21 times |
| מֵֽאַרְבֶּ֔ה | mearbeh | more than locust[s] | H697 → | |
| וְאֵ֥ין | veein | and not | H369 → | 789 times |
| לָהֶ֖ם | lahem | [belonged] to <the> them | ||
| מִסְפָּֽר׃ | mispar | number | H4557 → | 134 times |
כָּרְת֤וּthey will cut down
karetuH3772 →288 times
יַעְרָהּ֙forest its
ya'rahH3293 →59 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כִּ֖יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יֵֽחָקֵ֑רit will be searched
yechakerH2713 →27 times
כִּ֤יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
רַבּוּ֙they will be many
rabuH7231 →21 times
מֵֽאַרְבֶּ֔הmore than locust[s]
mearbehH697 →
וְאֵ֥יןand not
veeinH369 →789 times
לָהֶ֖ם[belonged] to <the> them
lahem
מִסְפָּֽר׃number
misparH4557 →134 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
Joel 2:25I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.
it leads to
- Zechariah 10:6
I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them, and they will be as though I had not rejected them.…
- Joel 1:4–7
What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
- Joel 2:2–11
a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be…
- Zechariah 10:6
Through
Judges 7:12Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
it leads to
- Judges 8:10
Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army of about fifteen thousand men—all that were left of the armies of the people of the east. A hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Judges 6:5
For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.
- Judges 8:10
Through
Judges 6:5For the Midianites came with their livestock and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were innumerable, and they entered the land to ravage it.
it leads to
- Judges 7:12
Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
- Judges 7:12
Through
Ezekiel 20:46“Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 21:2
“Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel
- Amos 7:16
Now, therefore, hear the word of the LORD. You say: ‘Do not prophesy against Israel; do not preach against the house of Isaac.’
- Ezekiel 21:2
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
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 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).