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Saturday, July 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Young's Literal Translation

Jeremiah 46:20

A heifer very fair [is] Egypt, Rending from the north doth come into her.

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.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
A calf of great beauty, is Egypt: The gad-fly, out of the North, cometh - cometh.
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.
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 Nations have heard of thy shame, And thy cry hath filled the land, For the mighty on the mighty did stumble, Together they have fallen -- both of them!' 13 The word that Jehovah hath spoken unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming in of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to smite the land of Egypt: 14 `Declare ye in Egypt, and sound in Migdol, Yea, sound in Noph, and in Tahpanhes say: Station thyself, yea, prepare for thee, For a sword hath devoured around thee, 15 Wherefore hath thy bull been swept away? He hath not stood, because Jehovah thrust him away. 16 He hath multiplied the stumbling, Yea one hath fallen upon his neighbour, And they say: Rise, and we turn back to our people, And unto the land of our birth, Because of the oppressing sword. 17 They have cried there: Pharaoh king of Egypt [is] a desolation, Passed by hath the appointed time. 18 I live -- an affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name, Surely as Tabor [is] among mountains, And as Carmel by the sea -- he cometh in, 19 Goods for removal make for thee, O inhabitant, daughter of Egypt, For Noph becometh a desolation, And hath been burnt up, without inhabitant. 20 A heifer very fair [is] Egypt, Rending from the north doth come into her. 21 Even her hired ones in her midst [are] as calves of the stall, For even they have turned, They have fled together, they have not stood, For the day of their calamity hath come on them, The time of their inspection.

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 calleth Joseph's name Zaphnath-Paaneah, and he giveth to him Asenath daughter of Poti-Pherah, priest of On, for a wife, and Joseph goeth out over the land of Egypt.
Genesis 46:4
I -- I go down with thee to Egypt, and I -- I also certainly bring thee up, and Joseph doth put his hand on thine eyes.'
Genesis 46:5
And Jacob riseth from Beer-Sheba, and the sons of Israel bear away Jacob their father, And their infants, and their wives, in the waggons which Pharaoh hath sent to bear him,
Genesis 46:13
And sons of Issachar: Tola, and Phuvah, and Job, and Shimron.
Genesis 46:14
And sons of Zebulun: Sered, and Elon, and Jahleel.
Genesis 46:17
And sons of Asher: Jimnah, and Ishuah, and Isui, and Beriah, and Serah their sister. And sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.
Genesis 46:23
And sons of Dan: Hushim.
Genesis 46:26
All the persons who are coming to Jacob to Egypt, coming out of his thigh, apart from the wives of Jacob's sons, all the persons [are] sixty and six.
Genesis 46:28
And Judah he hath sent before him unto Joseph, to direct before him to Goshen, and they come into the land of Goshen;
Genesis 46:29
and Joseph harnesseth his chariot, and goeth up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and appeareth unto him, and falleth on his neck, and weepeth on his neck again;

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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