We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
Parallel translations
- WEB We have given the hand to the Egyptians, To the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
- KJV We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
- NKJV We have given our hand to the Egyptians And the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread.
- NASB We have submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread.
- NLT We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough food to survive.
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 submitted to Egypt and Assyria merely to get enough bread to survive.
Overview
Driven by famine, the people made desperate alliances, giving their hand in submission to former oppressors just to be fed. This reflects both their dire need and the failure of trusting foreign powers rather than God. It exposes the emptiness of every substitute for God and turns the heart to the One who alone truly satisfies (Hos. 7:11; John 6:35).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Hos 9:3They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.
- Hos 12:1Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
- Gen 24:2So Abraham instructed the chief servant of his household, who managed all he owned, “Place your hand under my thigh,
- Hos 5:13When Ephraim saw his sickness and Judah his wound, then Ephraim turned to Assyria and sent to the great king. But he cannot cure you or heal your wound.
- Hos 7:11So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.
- Jer 2:36How unstable you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.
- Jer 2:18Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
- 2 Kgs 10:15When he left there, he found Jehonadab son of Rechab, who was coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and asked, “Is your heart as true to mine as my heart is to yours?” “It is!” Jehonadab replied. “If it is,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and Jehu helped him into his chariot,
- Ezek 17:18He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’
- Isa 31:1–3Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.
- Isa 57:9You went to Molech with oil and multiplied your perfumes. You have sent your envoys a great distance; you have descended even to Sheol itself.
- Isa 30:1–6“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.
- Jer 44:12–14And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to reside there; they will meet their end. They will all fall by the sword or be consumed by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine; and they will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and reproach.
- Jer 50:15Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take out your vengeance upon her; as she has done, do the same to her.
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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 5:6 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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