“Who is this, rising like the Nile at floodtime, overflowing all the land?
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?
- BSB Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters churn?
- 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?
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 47:2Yahweh says: “Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and will become an overflowing stream, and will overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein. The men will cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail.
- Dan 11:22The overwhelming forces shall be overwhelmed from before him, and shall be broken; yes, also the prince of the covenant.
- Isa 8:7–8now therefore, behold, the Lord brings upon them the mighty flood waters of the River: the king of Assyria and all his glory. It will come up over all its channels, and go over all its banks.
- Rev 12:15The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.
- Amos 8:8Won’t the land tremble for this, and everyone mourn who dwells in it? Yes, it will rise up wholly like the River; and it will be stirred up and sink again, like the River of Egypt.
- Song 8:5Who is this who comes up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Under the apple tree I aroused you. There your mother conceived you. There she was in labor and bore you.
- Song 3:6Who is this who comes up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all spices of the merchant?
- Isa 63:1Who is this who comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? Who this who is glorious in his clothing, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”
- Dan 9:26After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.
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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 46:7 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.