Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters churn?
Parallel translations
- WEB “Who is this who rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?
- KJV Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
- NKJV “Who is this coming up like a flood, Whose waters move like the rivers?
- NASB Who is this that rises like the Nile, Like the rivers whose waters surge?
- NLT “Who is this, rising like the Nile at floodtime, overflowing all the land?
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
The poem asks who is this rising like the Nile, whose waters surge like rivers. It introduces Egypt's proud, swelling ambition.
Overview
Using the imagery of the flooding Nile, the oracle pictures Egypt's arrogant rise to overflow and dominate the nations. The rhetorical question heightens the sense of Egypt's swelling pride before its fall. This depiction of human ambition surging only to be checked by God warns against pride, for the Lord brings low every haughty power, exalting instead the humility displayed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 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
- Dan 11:22Then a flood of forces will be swept away before him and destroyed, along with a prince of the covenant.
- Isa 8:7–8the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
- Rev 12:15Then from the mouth of the serpent spewed water like a river to overtake the woman and sweep her away in the torrent.
- Amos 8:8Will not the land quake for this, and all its dwellers mourn? All of it will swell like the Nile; it will surge and then subside like the Nile in Egypt.
- Song 8:5Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? I roused you under the apple tree; there your mother conceived you; there she travailed and brought you forth.
- Song 3:6Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?
- Isa 63:1Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”
- Dan 9:26Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
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 46:7 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.