“They shouted there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is nothing but a big noise; He has let the appointed time pass by!’
Parallel translations
- WEB They cried there, ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.’
- KJV They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.
- BSB There they will cry out: ‘Pharaoh king of Egypt was all noise; he has let the appointed time pass him by.’
- NKJV They cried there, ‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a noise. He has passed by the appointed time!’
- NLT There they will say, ‘Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is a loudmouth who missed his opportunity!’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They mock Pharaoh as merely a loud noise who let his opportunity pass. Egypt's king is exposed as empty bluster.
Overview
The fleeing soldiers ridicule Pharaoh as all talk, having squandered the appointed moment for action. The taunt deflates the proud image of Egypt's ruler. This exposure of a boastful but powerless king illustrates the emptiness of human pomp before God, contrasting with Christ the true King, whose word never fails and whose timing is perfect.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Isa 19:11–16The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?”
- 1 Kgs 20:10Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”
- Exod 15:9The enemy said, ‘I will pursue. I will overtake. I will divide the plunder. My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’
- Isa 31:3Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When Yahweh stretches out his hand, both he who helps shall stumble, and he who is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together.
- Ezek 31:18To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth: you shall lie in the middle of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ezek 29:3Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the middle of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.’
- 1 Kgs 20:18He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”
- Isa 37:27–29Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like a field before its crop has grown.
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Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 46:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.