Jeremiah 46:16
in Jeremiah 46They continue to stumble; indeed, they have fallen over one another. They say, ‘Get up! Let us return to our people and to the land of our birth, away from the sword of the oppressor.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He made many to stumble, yea, they fell one upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.
KJV
He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.
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This verse in Jeremiah 46
Commentary
7 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to strike the land of Egypt
on Jeremiah 46:13-19
This second oracle foretells Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Egypt. It names Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes, the towns where the Jews of 44:1 had settled, so the judgment reaches the refuge they chose. The invader comes “like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea,” landmarks seen from far off.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): They said, "Arise, and let us go again to our own people, where we may be safe from the oppressing sword of the Chaldeans, that bears down all before it." In times of exigence little confidence is to be put in mercenary troops, that fight purely for pay, and have no interest in theirs whom they fight for.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
He made many to fall,.... That is, the Lord, by the hand of the Chaldeans, by whose sword multitudes fell in battle: yea, one fell upon another; they fell in heaps, denoting the multitude of the slain; or rather they fell in flight one upon another; one fell, and then another upon him, as usually they do, when men are frightened and flee precipitantly, as in Jer 46:12; and they said, arise: not those that fell, which may seem at first sight; but either the strangers in the land of Egypt, as Kimchi, such as the Jews were; who, perceiving the destruction that was coming on Egypt, exhort one another to arise, and get out of it; or rather the auxiliaries of the Egyptians, as the Ethiopians, Lybians, and Lydians, Jer 46:9; who finding the enemy too strong for them, and they themselves deserted or unsupported by Pharaoh's army, advise one another to quit his service, and provide for their own safety: and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity; their own country, where they were born, and their friends and relations lived; that so they might be safe from the oppressing sword; the sword of the Chaldeans. The Septuagint version is a very bad one, followed by the Arabic, which renders it, "from the Grecian sword"; and so is the Vulgate Latin version, "from the face of the dove"; to countenance which it is said, that the Chaldeans and Assyrians had a dove in their ensigns; See Gill on Jer 25:38; and so a most ancient Saxon translation in the library of Christ's Church in Oxford, "from the face of the sword of the culver" (k), or "dove"; that is, from their sword, who display their banners in the field with the ensign of a dove; meaning the Chaldeans. The Targum is, "from the sword of the enemy, which is as wine inebriating;'' which sense is followed by Jarchi. (k) Apud Gregory's Posthuma, p. 236.
Her hired men, the troops Egypt has in he service, are indeed in the midst of her like fatted bullocks, lusty men, able bodied and high spirited, who were likely for action and promised to make their part good against the enemy; but they are turned back; their hearts failed them, and, instead of fighting, they have fled away together.
The Nineteenth Century2 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
One fell upon another - In their terror and confusion ranks fell on ranks, and overturned each other. Let us go again to our own people - Let us flee to our own country with all possible speed. These were the auxiliaries.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Literally, as in the margin, i. e., Yahweh hath made many to stumble. Arise ... - The Egyptian army being composed of mercenaries, has no patriotic feeling and immediately that the battle is lost, they propose to abandon the country which has hired them, and return each to his native land.
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִרְבָּ֖ה | hirbah | he will multiply | H7235 → | 227 times |
| כּוֹשֵׁ֑ל | koshel | [one who] stumbles | H3782 → | 62 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| נָפַ֞ל | nafal | he will fall | H5307 → | 435 times |
| אִ֣ישׁ | ʾish | each | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| רֵעֵ֗הוּ | reehu | neighbor his | H7453 → | 188 times |
| וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| ק֣וּמָה׀ | kumah | arise ! | H6965 → | 628 times |
| וְנָשֻׁ֣בָה | venashuvah | so let us return | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| עַמֵּ֗נוּ | ʾamenu | people our | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אֶ֙רֶץ֙ | ʾeretz | [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מֽוֹלַדְתֵּ֔נוּ | moladtenu | kindred our | H4138 → | |
| מִפְּנֵ֖י | mipenei | <from> because of | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| חֶ֥רֶב | cherev | [the] sword of | H2719 → | 413 times |
| הַיּוֹנָֽה׃ | haiyonah | the oppressor | H3238 → | 20 times |
הִרְבָּ֖הhe will multiply
hirbahH7235 →227 times
כּוֹשֵׁ֑ל[one who] stumbles
koshelH3782 →62 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
נָפַ֞לhe will fall
nafalH5307 →435 times
אִ֣ישׁeach
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
רֵעֵ֗הוּneighbor his
reehuH7453 →188 times
וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙and they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
ק֣וּמָה׀arise !
kumahH6965 →628 times
וְנָשֻׁ֣בָהso let us return
venashuvahH7725 →1056 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
עַמֵּ֗נוּpeople our
ʾamenuH5971 →1873 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
אֶ֙רֶץ֙[the] land of
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
מֽוֹלַדְתֵּ֔נוּkindred our
moladtenuH4138 →
מִפְּנֵ֖י<from> because of
mipeneiH6440 →2123 times
חֶ֥רֶב[the] sword of
cherevH2719 →413 times
הַיּוֹנָֽה׃the oppressor
haiyonahH3238 →20 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
Jeremiah 51:9“We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches to the clouds.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 13:14
Like a hunted gazelle, like a sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Jeremiah 50:16
Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time. In the face of the oppressor’s sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to…
- Revelation 18:5
For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
- Isaiah 13:14
Through
Jeremiah 50:16Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time. In the face of the oppressor’s sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:9
“We tried to heal Babylon, but she could not be healed. Abandon her! Let each of us go to his own land, for her judgment extends to the sky and reaches to the clouds.”
- Jeremiah 51:9
Through
Jeremiah 46:6“The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.
it leads to
- Daniel 11:19
After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be no more.
- Daniel 11:19
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…
- Jeremiah 46:5
Why 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.
- Obadiah 1:13
Where this verse is studied
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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.