Jeremiah 46:20 BSB — MannaFest

Jeremiah 46:20

Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Egypt is a very fair heifer; but destruction out of the north is come, it is come.

KJV

Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.

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Commentary

2 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)

Egypt is like a very fair heifer,.... Like a heifer that has never been under a yoke, it having never been conquered, and brought under the power of another; and like a beautiful, fat, and well fed one, abounding in wealth and riches, in pleasures and delights, in wantonness and luxury, and fit for slaughter, and ready for it. The Targum is, "Egypt was a beautiful kingdom.'' Some think there is an illusion to the gods of Egypt, Apis and Mnevis, which were heifers or oxen, very beautiful, that had fine spots and marks upon them.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

Egypt is like a very fair heifer - Fruitful and useful; but destruction cometh out of the north, from Chaldea. It may be that there is an allusion here to Isis, worshipped in Egypt under the form of a beautiful cow.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

8 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
עֶגְלָ֥ה	'eg.Lah	[is] a heifer	H5697 →
יְפֵֽה־	ye.feh-	beautifully	H3304 →
פִיָּ֖ה	fi.Yah	beautiful	H3304 →
מִצְרָ֑יִם	mitz.Ra.yim	Egypt	H4714 →
קֶ֥רֶץ	Ke.retz	a gadfly	H7171 →
מִצָּפ֖וֹן	mi.tza.Fon	from [the] north	H6828 →
בָּ֥א	ba'	[is] about to come	H935 →
בָֽא׃	Va'	[is] about to come	H935 →

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
Jeremiah 46:6
“The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.
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.
- Jeremiah 46:12
  The nations have heard of your shame, and your outcry fills the earth, because warrior stumbles over warrior and both of them have fallen together.”
Through
Hosea 10:11
Ephraim is a well-trained heifer that loves to thresh; but I will place a yoke on her fair neck. I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow, and Jacob will break the hard ground.
leads to
- Hosea 4:16
  For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn heifer. Can the LORD now shepherd them like lambs in an open meadow?
Through
Jeremiah 1:14
Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land.
leads to
- Isaiah 41:25
  I have raised up one from the north, and he has come—one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who…
- Jeremiah 4:6
  Raise a signal flag toward Zion. Seek refuge! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, and terrible destruction.
- Jeremiah 10:22
  Listen! The sound of a report is coming— a great commotion from the land to the north. The cities of Judah will be made a desolation, a haunt for jackals.
Through
Jeremiah 50:11
“Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph—you who plunder My inheritance—because you frolic like a heifer treading grain and neigh like stallions,
leads to
- Isaiah 47:6
  I was angry with My people; I profaned My heritage, and I placed them under your control. You showed them no mercy; even on the elderly you laid a most heavy yoke.
Through
Jeremiah 47:2
This is what the LORD says: “See how the waters are rising from the north and becoming an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and its fullness, the cities and their inhabitants. The…
leads to
- Isaiah 15:2–5
  Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.

About Jeremiah

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

Jeremiah: the study guide →Read chapter 46 →The featured study →

PlaceThe NileEgyptThe land where Joseph rose, where Israel grew into a nation in bondage, where the Passover lamb was slain and the sea opened, and…

Continue: Jeremiah 46 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About Jeremiah

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About Jeremiah