Jeremiah 46:21

21 Also her soldiers are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also turned back, and all fled away without stopping: because the day of their calamity was come upon them and the time of their visitation.

Jeremiah 46:21 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 46:21

All her hired men [are] in the midst of her like fatted
bullocks
Or, "bullocks of the stall" F11; soldiers of other countries, that were hired into the service of Egypt, and lived so deliciously there, that they were unfit for war, and were like fatted beasts prepared for the slaughter. The Targum and Jarchi interpret it, her princes F12; who had the care of this heifer, and of the feeding of it; these themselves were like that, nourished for the day of slaughter: for they also are turned back, [and] are fled away together;
they turned their backs upon the enemy in battle, and fled in great confusion and precipitancy; see ( Jeremiah 46:15 Jeremiah 46:16 ) ; they did not stand;
and face the enemy, and light him, but fell or fled before him: because the day of their calamity was come upon them, [and] the time of
their visitation;
the time appointed by the Lord to visit and punish them, and bring destruction on them for their sins.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 (qbrm ylgek) "velut vituli saginae", Montanus, Cocceius,
F12 So R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed, fol. 50. 2.

Jeremiah 46:21 In-Context

19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall be a pasture and shall be made desolate without an inhabitant.
20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.
21 Also her soldiers are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also turned back, and all fled away without stopping: because the day of their calamity was come upon them and the time of their visitation.
22 Her voice shall go forth like a serpent; for they shall march with an army and come against her with axes as hewers of wood.
23 They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, for they cannot be counted because they are more than the locusts; they are innumerable.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010