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Jeremiah 46:20

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

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Commentaries

Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.

Matthew Henry Bible Commentaryv. 20

How judgment began at the house of God we have found in the foregoing prophecy and history; but now we shall find that it did not end there. In this and the following chapters we have predictions of the desolations of the neighbouring nations, and those brought upon them too mostly by the king of Babylon, till at length Babylon itself comes to be reckoned with. The prophecy against Egypt is here put first and takes up this whole chapter, in which we have, I. A prophecy of the defeat of Pharaoh-necho's army by the Chaldean forces at Carchemish, which was accomplished soon after, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Jer 46:1-12) II. 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 (Jer 46:13-26). III. A word of comfort to the Israel of God in the midst of those calamities (Jer 46:27, Jer 46:28).

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Original language

The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).

Strong's Concordancev. 20

מִצְרַיִם (Mitsrayim, H4714) — Mitsrajim, i.e. Upper and Lower Egypt יְפֵה־פִיָּה (yᵉphêh-phîyâh, H3304) — very beautiful עֶגְלָה (ʻeglâh, H5697) — a (female) calf, especially one nearly grown (i.e. a heifer) קֶרֶץ (qerets, H7171) — extirpation (as if by constriction) בּוֹא (bôwʼ, H935) — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) צָפוֹן (tsâphôwn, H6828) — properly, hidden, i.e. dark; used only of the north as aquarter (gloomy and unknown)

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Cross-references

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Jeremiah 47:2rank 4

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 people will cry out, and all who dwell in the land will wail

Hosea 10:11rank 4

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.

Jeremiah 46:6rank 3

“The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.

Jeremiah 1:14rank 3

Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land.

Jeremiah 46:10rank 2

For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance against His foes. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, until it is quenched with their blood. For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.

Jeremiah 46:24rank 2

The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame; she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north.”

Jeremiah 50:11rank 2

“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,

Jeremiah 25:9rank 2

behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.

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