Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the sky; They chased us on the mountains, They waited in ambush for us in the wilderness.
Parallel translations
- WEB Our pursuers were swifter than the eagles of the sky: They chased us on the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
- KJV Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
- BSB Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.
- NKJV Our pursuers were swifter Than the eagles of the heavens. They pursued us on the mountains And lay in wait for us in the wilderness.
- NLT Our enemies were swifter than eagles in flight. If we fled to the mountains, they found us. If we hid in the wilderness, they were waiting for us there.
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
Their pursuers were swifter than eagles, hunting them through mountains and wilderness.
Overview
The Babylonian forces overtook the fleeing people with relentless speed, leaving no place of escape. The eagle imagery conveys how inescapable the judgment was. This portrayal of inescapable pursuit, foretold in covenant warnings (Deut. 28:49), shows that no one outruns God's judgment, making His mercy in Christ all the more precious.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Hab 1:8Their horses also are swifter than leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves. Their horsemen press proudly on. Yes, their horsemen come from afar. They fly as an eagle that hurries to devour.
- Jer 4:13Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as the whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us! For we are ruined.
- Isa 5:26–28He will lift up a banner to the nations from far, and he will whistle for them from the end of the earth. Behold, they will come speedily and swiftly.
- Hos 8:1“Put the trumpet to your lips! Something like an eagle is over Yahweh’s house, because they have broken my covenant, and rebelled against my law.
- Deut 28:49Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you will not understand;
- Isa 30:16–17but you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”; therefore you will flee; and, “We will ride on the swift”; therefore those who pursue you will be swift.
- Matt 24:27–28For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
- Amos 9:1–3I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said, “Strike the tops of the pillars, that the thresholds may shake; and break them in pieces on the head of all of them; and I will kill the last of them with the sword: there shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of them escape.
- Amos 2:14Flight will perish from the swift; and the strong won’t strengthen his force; neither shall the mighty deliver himself;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The weeping over a ruined city and the steadfast mercies that are new every morning point to the man of sorrows who wept over Jerusalem and whose mercy rises new from the grave.
How Lamentations 4:19 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
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