Jeremias 6:23

23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; is fierce, and will have no mercy; their voice is as the roaring sea; they shall array themselves for war against thee as fire on horses and chariots, O daughter of Sion.

Jeremias 6:23 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 6:23

They shall lay hold on bow and spear
That is, everyone of them should be furnished with both these pieces of armour, that they might be able to fight near and afar off; they had bows to shoot arrows at a distance, and spears to strike with when near. The Targum renders it bows and shields. "They are cruel, and have no mercy"; this is said, to strike terror into the hearts of the hardened Jews: their voice roareth like the sea;
the waves of it, which is terrible, ( Luke 21:25 Luke 21:26 ) : and they ride upon horses;
which still made them more formidable, as well as suggests that their march would be quick and speedy, and they would soon be with them: set in array as men for war;
prepared with all sorts of armour for battle: or, "as a man" ^F1; as one man, denoting their conjunction, ardour, and unanimity; being not only well armed without, but inwardly, resolutely bent, as one man, to engage in battle, and conquer or die; see ( Judges 20:8 ) , against thee, O daughter of Zion;
the design being against her, and all the preparation made on her account; which had a very dreadful appearance, and threatened with ruin, and therefore filled her with terror and distress, as follows.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 (vyak) "tanquam vir", Pagninus; "ut vir", Schmidt; "quam unus vir", Grotius.

Jeremias 6:23 In-Context

21 Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I bring weakness upon this people, and the fathers and sons shall be weak together; the neighbour and his friend shall perish.

22 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people comes from the north, and nations shall be stirred up from the end of the earth.

23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; is fierce, and will have no mercy; their voice is as the roaring sea; they shall array themselves for war against thee as fire on horses and chariots, O daughter of Sion.

24 We have heard the report of them: our hands are weakened: anguish has seized us, the pangs as of a woman in travail.

25 Go not forth into the field, and walk not in the ways; for the sword of the enemy lingers round about.