Jeremiah 46:5
in Jeremiah 46Why am I seeing this? They are terrified, they are retreating; their warriors are defeated, they flee in haste without looking back; terror is on every side!” declares the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: terror is on every side, saith Jehovah.
KJV
Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the Lord.
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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)
Literally, “Why have I seen? They are terror-stricken! they are giving way back!” The Egyptian host feels that the battle is lost, and overborne by the enemy loses heart, and in despair, yet not without a struggle, gives way. It is remarkable, that while Jeremiah in his warning addressed to Jerusalem uses the most simple and unadorned prose, his language concerning the Gentile nations is, on the contrary, full of brilliant poetry. Look not back - turn not back. They make no halt, and no attempt to rally. Fear was round about - The prophets watch-word, Magor-missabib (see Jer 6:25).
This site's exposition
This is the word of the LORD about the nations
on Jeremiah 46:1-6
The heading opens the oracles about the nations, and Egypt comes first, the power Judah’s kings kept turning to. The date is Carchemish, where Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharaoh Neco “in the fourth year of Jehoiakim,” 605 BC. 2 Kings 24:7 records that Egypt did not march out of its land again.
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,
Note, The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Valiant men are not always victorious. They are upbraided with their utter inability ever to recover this blow, which should be fatal to their nation,
Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back?....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The language of astonishment, that an army so well equipped should be driven back in "dismay." The prophet sees this in prophetic vision. fled apace--literally, "fled a flight," that is, flee precipitately. look not back--They do not even dare to look back at their pursuers.
Wherefore have I seen them dismayed - What! such a numerous, formidable, and well-appointed army panic-struck? So that they have turned back - fled apace, and looked not round; while their mighty ones - their generals and commanders, striving to rally them, are beaten down.
The words behind it
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַדּ֣וּעַ | madua' | why? | H4069 → | 72 times |
| רָאִ֗יתִי | raiti | have I seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| הֵ֣מָּה | hemah | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| חַתִּים֮ | chatim | [will be] terrified | H2844 → | |
| נְסֹגִ֣ים | nesogim | [they will be] turned back | H5472 → | |
| אָחוֹר֒ | ʾachor | backwards | H268 → | 41 times |
| וְגִבּוֹרֵיהֶ֣ם | vegiboreihem | and warriors their | H1368 → | 158 times |
| יֻכַּ֔תּוּ | yukatu | they will be crushed | H3807 → | |
| וּמָנ֥וֹס | umanos | and flight | H4498 → | 8 times |
| נָ֖סוּ | nasu | they will flee | H5127 → | 159 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| הִפְנ֑וּ | hifnu | they will turn back | H6437 → | 135 times |
| מָג֥וֹר | magor | terror | H4032 → | 8 times |
| מִסָּבִ֖יב | misaviv | [will be] from round about | H5439 → | 336 times |
| נְאֻם־ | neum- | [the] utterance of | H5002 → | 376 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
מַדּ֣וּעַwhy?
madua'H4069 →72 times
רָאִ֗יתִיhave I seen
raitiH7200 →1300 times
הֵ֣מָּהthey
hemahH1992 →553 times
חַתִּים֮[will be] terrified
chatimH2844 →
נְסֹגִ֣ים[they will be] turned back
nesogimH5472 →
אָחוֹר֒backwards
ʾachorH268 →41 times
וְגִבּוֹרֵיהֶ֣םand warriors their
vegiboreihemH1368 →158 times
יֻכַּ֔תּוּthey will be crushed
yukatuH3807 →
וּמָנ֥וֹסand flight
umanosH4498 →8 times
נָ֖סוּthey will flee
nasuH5127 →159 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
הִפְנ֑וּthey will turn back
hifnuH6437 →135 times
מָג֥וֹרterror
magorH4032 →8 times
מִסָּבִ֖יב[will be] from round about
misavivH5439 →336 times
נְאֻם־[the] utterance of
neum-H5002 →376 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 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 19:16In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:30
The warriors of Babylon have stopped fighting; they sit in their strongholds. Their strength is exhausted; they have become like women. Babylon’s homes have been set ablaze, the bars of her gates are broken.
- Nahum 3:13
Look at your troops—they are like your women! The gates of your land are wide open to your enemies; fire consumes their bars.
- Jeremiah 50:37
A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.
- Isaiah 11:15
The LORD will devote to destruction the gulf of the Sea of Egypt; with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates. He will split it into seven streams for men…
- Jeremiah 30:5–7
Yes, this is what the LORD says: “A cry of panic is heard—a cry of terror, not of peace.
- Jeremiah 51:30
Through
Jeremiah 6:25Do not go out to the fields; do not walk the road. For the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 49:29
They will take their tents and flocks, their tent curtains and all their goods. They will take their camels for themselves. They will shout to them: ‘Terror is on every side!’
- Jeremiah 49:29
Through
Jeremiah 46:21Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them—the time…
it leads to
- Obadiah 1:13
You should not enter the gate of My people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over their affliction in the day of their disaster, nor loot their wealth in the day of…
- 2 Kings 7:6
For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the…
- Obadiah 1:13
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); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.