Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; but destruction out of the north has come. It has come.
- KJV Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
- NKJV “Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But destruction comes, it comes from the north.
- NASB “Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!
- NLT Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer, but a horsefly from the north is on its way!
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
Egypt is likened to a beautiful heifer, but destruction comes upon her from the north. Her beauty and strength cannot stop Babylon's invasion.
Overview
The image of a lovely heifer, perhaps echoing Egypt's worship of cattle deities, contrasts with the destroying force advancing from the north, namely Babylon. The repeated 'It has come' stresses the certainty and imminence of judgment. This picture of beauty undone by judgment reminds us that outward glory offers no protection from God's hand, and that lasting security is found only in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Jer 47:2This is what the LORD says: “See how the waters are rising from the north and becoming an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and its fullness, the cities and their inhabitants. The people will cry out, and all who dwell in the land will wail
- Hos 10:11Ephraim is a well-trained heifer that loves to thresh; but I will place a yoke on her fair neck. I will harness Ephraim, Judah will plow, and Jacob will break the hard ground.
- Jer 46:6“The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.
- Jer 1:14Then the LORD said to me, “Disaster from the north will be poured out on all who live in the land.
- Jer 50:11“Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph—you who plunder My inheritance—because you frolic like a heifer treading grain and neigh like stallions,
- Jer 46:24The Daughter of Egypt will be put to shame; she will be delivered into the hands of the people of the north.”
- Jer 25:9behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.
- Jer 46:10For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance against His foes. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, until it is quenched with their blood. For the Lord GOD of Hosts will hold a sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 46:20 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.