Jeremiah 46:8
in Jeremiah 46Egypt rises like the Nile, and its waters churn like rivers, boasting, ‘I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy the cities and their people.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Egypt riseth up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and the inhabitants thereof.
KJV
Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
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This verse in Jeremiah 46
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Answer to the question in Jer 46:7. waters . . . moved like the rivers--The rise of the Nile is gentle; but at the mouth it, unlike most rivers, is much agitated, owing to the sandbanks impeding its course, and so it rushes into the sea like a cataract.
This site's exposition
Who is this, rising like the Nile
on Jeremiah 46:7-12
Egypt pictures itself “rising like the Nile,” boasting, “I will rise and cover the earth.” The oracle turns the flood into “a sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.” Verse 11 sends Egypt “to Gilead for balm,” echoing 8:22, but “for you there is no healing.”
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 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,
I will destroy the city, whatever city it is that stands in my way. Like Pharaoh of old, I will pursue, I will overtake. The Egyptians say that they shall have a day of it, but God saith that it shall be his day: The is the day of the Lord God of hosts (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
): Egypt now rises up like a flood, scorning to keep within its own banks and threatening to overflow all the neighbouring lands. It is a very formidable army that the Egyptians bring into the field upon this occasion.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Egypt riseth up as a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers,....
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| כַּיְאֹ֣ר | kayor | like the River | H2975 → | |
| יַֽעֲלֶ֔ה | yaaleh | it rises | H5927 → | 890 times |
| וְכַנְּהָר֖וֹת | vekhaneharot | and like <the> rivers | H5104 → | 119 times |
| יִתְגֹּ֣עֲשׁוּ | yitgoashu | they surge | H1607 → | 9 times |
| מָ֑יִם | mayim | waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| וַיֹּ֗אמֶר | vaiyomer | and it has said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אַֽעֲלֶה֙ | ʾaaleh | I will rise | H5927 → | 890 times |
| אֲכַסֶּה־ | ʾakhaseh- | I will cover | H3680 → | 152 times |
| אֶ֔רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| אֹבִ֥ידָה | ʾovidah | I will destroy | H6 → | 184 times |
| עִ֖יר | ʾir | a city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| וְיֹ֥שְׁבֵי | veyoshevei | and [the] inhabitants | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| בָֽהּ׃ | vah | in <the> it |
מִצְרַ֙יִם֙Egypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
כַּיְאֹ֣רlike the River
kayorH2975 →
יַֽעֲלֶ֔הit rises
yaalehH5927 →890 times
וְכַנְּהָר֖וֹתand like <the> rivers
vekhaneharotH5104 →119 times
יִתְגֹּ֣עֲשׁוּthey surge
yitgoashuH1607 →9 times
מָ֑יִםwaters
mayimH4325 →581 times
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand it has said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אַֽעֲלֶה֙I will rise
ʾaalehH5927 →890 times
אֲכַסֶּה־I will cover
ʾakhaseh-H3680 →152 times
אֶ֔רֶץ[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
אֹבִ֥ידָהI will destroy
ʾovidahH6 →184 times
עִ֖ירa city
ʾirH5892 →1090 times
וְיֹ֥שְׁבֵיand [the] inhabitants
veyosheveiH3427 →1079 times
בָֽהּ׃in <the> it
vah
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
Ezekiel 32:2“Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 29:3
Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…
- Nahum 2:11–13
Where is the lions’ lair or the feeding ground of the young lions, where the lion and lioness prowled with their cubs, with nothing to frighten them away?
- Ezekiel 27:2
“Now you, son of man, take up a lament for Tyre.
- Ezekiel 29:3
Through
Ezekiel 29:3Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says,…
it leads to
- Isaiah 27:1
In that day the LORD will take His sharp, great, and mighty sword, and bring judgment on Leviathan the fleeing serpent—Leviathan the coiling serpent—and He will slay the dragon of the sea.
- Ezekiel 32:2
“Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash…
- Jeremiah 44:30
This is what the LORD says: Behold, I will deliver Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hands of his enemies who seek his life, just as I delivered Zedekiah king of Judah into…
- Ezekiel 29:9–10
The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the LORD. Because you said, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it,’
- Deuteronomy 8:17
You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.”
- Isaiah 27:1
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; 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.