Jeremiah 46:21

21 "Also her 1mercenaries in her midst Are like fattened 2calves, For even they too have turned back and have fled away together; They did not stand their ground. For the day of their calamity has come upon them, The time of their 3punishment.

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 "Make your baggage ready for exile, O daughter dwelling in Egypt, For Memphis will become a desolation; It will even be burned down and bereft of inhabitants.
20 "Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north -it is coming!
21 "Also her mercenaries in her midst Are like fattened calves, For even they too have turned back and have fled away together; They did not stand their ground. For the day of their calamity has come upon them, The time of their punishment.
22 "Its sound moves along like a serpent; For they move on like an army And come to her as woodcutters with axes.
23 "They have cut down her forest," declares the LORD ; "Surely it will no more be found, Even though they are now more numerous than locusts And are without number.

Cross References 3

  • 1. 2 Samuel 10:6; 2 Kings 7:6; Jeremiah 46:5
  • 2. Isaiah 34:7
  • 3. Jeremiah 48:44; Hosea 9:7; Obadiah 13; Micah 7:4

Footnotes 1

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