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Saturday, August 16th, 2025
the Week of Proper 14 / Ordinary 19
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J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

Jeremiah 46:20

A calf of great beauty, is Egypt: The gad-fly, out of the North, cometh - cometh.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Babylon;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Ox, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Egypt;   Heifer;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Egypt;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Heifer;   Nebuchadnezzar;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Heifer;   Jeremiah;   Memphis;   Nebuchadnezzar;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Gadfly;   Heifer;   Insects;   Jeremiah;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Greek Versions of Ot;   Heifer;   Nebuchadrezzar;   Obadiah, Book of;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Heifer;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Egypt;   Jeremiah (2);   Smith Bible Dictionary - Nebuchadnez'zar,;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Calf, Golden;   Eglath-Shelishiyah;   Heifer;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Egypt;   Fly;   Gadfly;   Nebuchadnezzar;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Egypt is a beautiful young cow,but a horsefly from the north is coming against her.
Hebrew Names Version
Mitzrayim is a very beautiful heifer; [but] destruction out of the north is come, it is come.
King James Version
Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
English Standard Version
"A beautiful heifer is Egypt, but a biting fly from the north has come upon her.
New American Standard Bible
"Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!
New Century Version
"Egypt is like a beautiful young cow, but a horsefly is coming from the north to attack her.
Amplified Bible
"Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But a horsefly (Babylonia) is coming [against her] out of the north!
World English Bible
Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; [but] destruction out of the north is come, it is come.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Egypt is like a faire calfe, but destruction commeth: out of the North it commeth.
Legacy Standard Bible
Egypt is a pretty heifer,But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!
Berean Standard Bible
Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.
Contemporary English Version
An enemy from the north will attack you, beautiful Egypt, like a fly biting a cow.
Complete Jewish Bible
Egypt is a beautiful female calf; but a horsefly from the north has come to attack her.
Darby Translation
Egypt is a very fair heifer; the gad-fly cometh, it cometh from the north.
Easy-to-Read Version
"Egypt is like a beautiful cow. But a horsefly is coming from the north to attack her.
George Lamsa Translation
Egypt is like a very fair and pampered heifer, but an army from the north has come against her.
Good News Translation
Egypt is like a splendid cow, attacked by a stinging fly from the north.
Lexham English Bible
Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north will come against her.
Literal Translation
Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but coming a stinger comes out of the north.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The londe of Egipte is like a goodly fayre calfe, but one shall come out of the north to dryue her forwarde.
American Standard Version
Egypt is a very fair heifer; but destruction out of the north is come, it is come.
Bible in Basic English
Egypt is a fair young cow; but a biting insect has come on her out of the north.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Egypt is a very fair heifer; but the gadfly out of the north is come, it is come.
King James Version (1611)
Egypt is like a very faire heifer, but destruction commeth: it commeth out of the North.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The lande of Egypt is lyke a goodly faire calfe: but destruction shall come out of the north [I say] it commeth.
English Revised Version
Egypt is a very fair heifer; but destruction out of the north is come, it is come.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Egipt is a schapli cow calf, and fair; a prickere fro the north schal come to it.
Update Bible Version
Egypt is a very fair heifer; [but] destruction out of the north has come, it has come.
Webster's Bible Translation
Egypt [is like] a very fair heifer, [but] destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
New English Translation
Egypt is like a beautiful young cow. But northern armies will attack her like swarms of stinging flies.
New King James Version
"Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But destruction comes, it comes from the north.
New Living Translation
Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer, but a horsefly from the north is on its way!
New Life Bible
Egypt is like a beautiful young cow. But a horsefly has come upon her from the north.
New Revised Standard
A beautiful heifer is Egypt— a gadfly from the north lights upon her.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Egypt is like a fair and beautiful heifer: there shall come from the north one that shall goad her.
Revised Standard Version
"A beautiful heifer is Egypt, but a gadfly from the north has come upon her.
Young's Literal Translation
A heifer very fair [is] Egypt, Rending from the north doth come into her.
THE MESSAGE
"Too bad, Egypt, a beautiful sleek heifer attacked by a horsefly from the north! All her hired soldiers are stationed to defend her— like well-fed calves they are. But when their lives are on the line, they'll run off, cowards every one. When the going gets tough, they'll take the easy way out.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!

Contextual Overview

12 The nations have heard of thy disgrace, And, thine outcry, hath filled the earth, - For hero against hero, have they stumbled, Together, have fallen, the twain! 13 The word which Yahweh spake unto Jeremiah the prophet, - as to the coming of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon to smite the land of Egypt: - 14 Tell ye it in Egypt, And let it be heard in Migdol, Yea let it be heard in Noph, and in Tahpanhes, - Say ye - Stand thou forth, and prepare thyself, For a sword hath devoured round about thee. 15 Wherefore have thy valiant ones been laid prostrate? He hath made no stand, because, Yahweh, hath driven him back: 16 Hath made many a one to be stumbling, Yea fallen is every one against his neighbour, So they have said - Arise and let us return to our own people, And unto the land of our birth, From the face of the sword of the oppressor. 17 Proclaim ye a name, - Pharaoh, king of Egypt - a Sound! He hath overstepped the time appointed! 18 As I live, saith the King, Yahweh of hosts, is his name: Though Like Tabor among mountains, Like Carmel, Into the sea shall he go! 19 Baggage for captivity, prepare thee, O inhabitress, daughter of Egypt; For, Noph, shall become a desolation, And be burned without inhabitant. 20 A calf of great beauty, is Egypt: The gad-fly, out of the North, cometh - cometh. 21 Even her hirelings in her midst are like fatted calves, For, even they, have turned - have fled at once! have made no stand! For, their day of doom, hath come upon them, The time of their visitation.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

a very: Jeremiah 50:11, Hosea 10:11

it cometh: Jeremiah 46:6, Jeremiah 46:10, Jeremiah 1:14, Jeremiah 25:9, Jeremiah 47:2

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 46:24 - she shall Ezekiel 30:18 - the pomp

Cross-References

Genesis 41:45
And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah, and gave him Asenath daughter of Poti-phera priest of On, to wife, - and Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.
Genesis 46:4
I will go down with thee to Egypt, and will bring thee up, yea wholly up, - and, Joseph, shall lay his own hand upon thine eyes.
Genesis 46:5
So Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba, - and the sons of Israel brought Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the waggons which Pharaoh had sent to bring him;
Genesis 46:13
And, the sons of Issachar, - Tola and Puvah, and Iob and Shimron;
Genesis 46:14
And the sons of Zebulon, - Sered and Elon, and Jahleel.
Genesis 46:17
And, the sons of Asher, - Imnah and Ishvah and Ishvi and Beriah, and Serah their sister, - and the sons of Beriah, Heber and Malchiel.
Genesis 46:23
And, the sons of Dan, - Hushim;
Genesis 46:26
All the souls that came in with Jacob to Egypt that had come forth of his loins, besides Jacob's sons wives, - all the souls, were sixty-six;
Genesis 46:28
And he sent, Judah, before him unto Joseph, to direct his face to Goshen, - so they came in towards the land of Goshen.
Genesis 46:29
Then yoked Joseph his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father towards Goshen, - and he appeared unto him, and fell upon his neck, and wept upon his neck a good while.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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. Apis was worshipped at Memphis, or Noph, before mentioned, as to be wasted; and Mnevis at Heliopolis, the city of the sun, the same with Bethshemesh, whose destruction is prophesied of;

:-; and both these were of various colours, as Ovid z says, particularly of one of them, and is true of both. Pomponius Mela a observes of Apis, the god of all the people of Egypt, that it was a black ox, remarkable for certain spots; and unlike to others in its tongue and tail. And Solinus b says, it is famous for a white spot on its right side, in the form of a new moon: with whom Pliny c agrees, that it has a white spot on the right side, like the horns of the moon, when it begins to increase; and that it has a knot under the tongue, which they call a beetle. And so Herodotus d says, it is very black, and has a white square spot on the forehead; on the back, the effigies of an eagle; two hairs in the tail, and a beetle On the tongue, To which may be added what Strabo e reports, that at Memphis, the royal city of Egypt, is the temple of Apis, the same with Osiris; where the ox of Apis is fed in an enclosure, and reckoned to be a god; it is white in its forehead, and in some small parts of the body, and the rest black; by which marks and signs it is always judged what is proper to be put in its place when dead. In the Table of Iris f, published by Pignorius, it is otherwise painted and described; its head, neck, horns, buttocks, and tail, black, and the rest white; and, on the right side, a corniculated streak. Aelianus g says, these marks were in number twenty nine, and, according to the Egyptians, were symbols of things; some, of the nature of the stars; some, of the overflowing of the Nile; some, of the darkness of the world before the light, and of other things: and all agree, that the ox looked fair and beautiful, to which the allusion is; and there may be in the words an ironical sarcasm, flout, and jeer, at the gods they worshipped, which could not save them from the destruction coming upon them, as follows:

[but] destruction cometh, it cometh from the north; that is, the destruction of Egypt, which should come from Chaldea, which lay north of Egypt; and the coming of it is repeated, to denote the quickness and certainty of it: the word used signifies a cutting off, or a cutting up; in allusion to the cutting off the necks of heifers, which used to be done when slain, Deuteronomy 21:4; or to the cutting of them up, as is done by butchers: and the abstract being put for the concrete, it may be rendered, the "cutter up" h; or cutter off; men, like butchers, shall come out of Babylon, and slay and cut up, this heifer. So the Targum,

"people, that are slayers shall come out of the north against her, to spoil her i;''

that is, the Chaldean army, agreeably to the Syriac version,

"an army shall come out of the north against her.''

z "------variisque coloribus Apis", Ovid. Metamorph. l. 9. Fab. 12. a De Orbis Situ, l. 1. c. 9. b Polyhistor. c. 45. c Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 46. d L. 3. sive Thalia, c. 28. e Geograph. l. 17. p. 555. Ed. Casaubon. f Piguorii Mensa Isiaca, tab. 4. g De Animal. l. 11. c. 10. h קרץ "mactator", Grotius. So Jarchi. i So in T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 32. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Is like - Or, is. Her god was the steer Apis Jeremiah 46:15, and she is the spouse.

But destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north - More probably, “a gadfly from the north has come upon her.” This is a sort of insect which stings the oxen and drives them to madness. Compare Isaiah 7:18.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 46:20. 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.


 
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