Jeremiah 12:5 BSB — MannaFest

Jeremiah 12:5

“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in a peaceful land, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and though in a land of peace thou art secure, yet how wilt thou do in the pride of the Jordan?

KJV

If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?

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Commentary

3 voices

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah (420)

(Verse 5) If you have struggled running with foot soldiers, how will you be able to compete with horses? If you have relied on the land of peace, what will you do in the pride or tumult of the Jordan? If, as they say, you have been wearied by the frequent captivities of neighboring nations, the Moabites and Ammonites, the Philistines and Edomites, what will you do in the face of a long captivity that will be led by the Chaldeans all the way?

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

Yahweh rebukes Jeremiah’s impatience, showing him by two proverbial sayings, that there were still greater trials of faith in store for him. Prosperous wickedness is after all a mere ordinary trial, a mere “running with the footmen;” he will have to exert far greater powers of endurance. And if in the land ... - Rather, “and in a land of peace thou art secure; but how wilt thou do amid the pride of Jordan?” if thou canst feel safe only where things are tranquil, what wilt thou do in the hour of danger?

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Jehovah's reply to Jeremiah's complaint. horses--that is, horsemen: the argument a fortiori. The injuries done thee by the men of Anathoth ("the footmen") are small compared with those which the men of Jerusalem ("the horsemen") are about to inflict on thee.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

17 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
כִּ֣י	ki	if	H3588 →
אֶת־	'et-	with	H854 →
רַגְלִ֥ים׀	rag.Lim	foot soldiers	H7273 →
רַ֙צְתָּה֙	ratz.tah	you have run	H7323 →
וַיַּלְא֔וּךָ	vai.yal.'U.kha	and they have made weary you	H3811 →
וְאֵ֥יךְ	ve.'Eikh	and how?	H349 →
תְּתַֽחֲרֶ֖ה	te.ta.cha.Reh	will you compete	H8474 →
אֶת־	'et-	with	H854 →
הַסּוּסִ֑ים	ha.su.Sim	the horses	H5483 →
וּבְאֶ֤רֶץ	u.ve.'E.retz	and in a land of	H776 →
שָׁלוֹם֙	sha.lOm	safety	H7965 →
אַתָּ֣ה	'a.Tah	you	H859 →
בוֹטֵ֔חַ	vo.Te.ach	[are] falling to [the] ground	H982 →
וְאֵ֥יךְ	ve.'Eikh	and how?	H349 →
תַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה	ta.'a.Seh	will you do	H6213 →
בִּגְא֥וֹן	big.'on	in [the] thicket of	H1347 →
הַיַּרְדֵּֽן׃	hai.yar.Den	the Jordan	H3383 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
leads to
- 2 Timothy 3:12
  Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
- 1 Peter 1:6–7
  In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials
- 1 Peter 5:9
  Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.
- 1 Thessalonians 3:2–4
  We sent Timothy, our brother and fellow worker for God in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,
- Daniel 11:35
  Some of the wise will fall, so that they may be refined, purified, and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time.
Through
Proverbs 24:10
If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!
leads to
- Isaiah 40:28–31
  Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching…
- Ephesians 3:13
  So I ask you not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
- Jeremiah 51:46
  Do not let your heart grow faint, and do not be afraid when the rumor is heard in the land; for a rumor will come one year—and then another the next year—of violence in…

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Walks through Jeremiah 12

The Vine & the Vineyard

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About Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Jeremiah: the study guide →Read chapter 12 →The featured study →

Continue: Jeremiah 12 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Jeremiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Jeremiah