Jeremiah 46:20
New International Version
“Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly is coming against her from the north.

New Living Translation
Egypt is as sleek as a beautiful heifer, but a horsefly from the north is on its way!

English Standard Version
“A beautiful heifer is Egypt, but a biting fly from the north has come upon her.

Berean Standard Bible
Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.

King James Bible
Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.

New King James Version
“Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But destruction comes, it comes from the north.

New American Standard Bible
“Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!

NASB 1995
“Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north— it is coming!

NASB 1977
“Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!

Legacy Standard Bible
Egypt is a pretty heifer, But a horsefly is coming from the north—it is coming!

Amplified Bible
“Egypt is a very pretty heifer, But a horsefly (Babylonia) is coming [against her] out of the north!

Christian Standard Bible
Egypt is a beautiful young cow, but a horsefly from the north is coming against her.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Egypt is a beautiful young cow, but a horsefly from the north is coming against her.

American Standard Version
Egypt is a very fair heifer; but destruction out of the north is come, it is come.

Contemporary English Version
An enemy from the north will attack you, beautiful Egypt, like a fly biting a cow.

English Revised Version
Egypt is a very fair heifer; but destruction out of the north is come, it is come.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Egypt is like a beautiful cow, but a horsefly from the north will attack it.

Good News Translation
Egypt is like a splendid cow, attacked by a stinging fly from the north.

International Standard Version
Egypt is a beautiful calf, but a horsefly from the north is surely coming.

Majority Standard Bible
Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her.

NET Bible
Egypt is like a beautiful young cow. But northern armies will attack her like swarms of stinging flies.

New Heart English Bible
Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; but a horsefly from the north is coming against her.

Webster's Bible Translation
Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.

World English Bible
“Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; but destruction out of the north has come. It has come.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Egypt [is] a very beautiful heifer, "" Destruction comes into her from the north.

Young's Literal Translation
A heifer very fair is Egypt, Rending from the north doth come into her.

Smith's Literal Translation
Egypt a heifer, fair of mouth; destruction came; from the north it came.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Egypt is like a fair and beautiful heifer: there shall come from the north one that shall goad her.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Egypt is like a stately and finely-formed calf. The one who will goad her will come from the north.

New American Bible
Egypt is a beautiful heifer, a horsefly from the north keeps coming.

New Revised Standard Version
A beautiful heifer is Egypt— a gadfly from the north lights upon her.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Egypt is like a very fair and pampered heifer, but an army from the north has come against her.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Egypt, a beautiful speckled heifer, an army from the North came upon her
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Egypt is a very fair heifer; But the gadfly out of the north is come, it is come.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Egypt is a fair heifer, but destruction from the north is come upon her.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Judgment on Egypt
19Pack your bags for exile, O daughter dwelling in Egypt! For Memphis will be laid waste, destroyed and uninhabited. 20Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a gadfly from the north is coming against her. 21Even the mercenaries among her are like fattened calves. They too will turn back; together they will flee, they will not stand their ground, for the day of calamity is coming upon them—the time of their punishment.…

Cross References
Isaiah 19:1-4
This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them. / “So I will incite Egyptian against Egyptian; brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. / Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists. ...

Ezekiel 29:1-16
In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, / “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. / Speak to him and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt, O great monster who lies among his rivers, who says, ‘The Nile is mine; I made it myself.’ ...

Nahum 3:8-10
Are you better than Thebes, stationed by the Nile with water around her, whose rampart was the sea, whose wall was the water? / Cush and Egypt were her boundless strength; Put and Libya were her allies. / Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in chains.

Isaiah 30:7
Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.

Ezekiel 30:1-9
Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, / “Son of man, prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Wail, ‘Alas for that day!’ / For the day is near, the Day of the LORD is near. It will be a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations. ...

Isaiah 31:1-3
Woe 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. / Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers. / But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.

Isaiah 20:4-6
so the king of Assyria will lead away the captives of Egypt and the exiles of Cush, young and old alike, naked and barefoot, with bared buttocks—to Egypt’s shame. / Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed. / And on that day the dwellers of this coastland will say, ‘See what has happened to our source of hope, those to whom we fled for help and deliverance from the king of Assyria! How then can we escape?’”

Ezekiel 32:1-16
In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, / “Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him: ‘You are like a lion among the nations; you are like a monster in the seas. You thrash about in your rivers, churning up the waters with your feet and muddying the streams.’ / This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will spread My net over you with a company of many peoples, and they will draw you up in My net. ...

Isaiah 19:11-15
The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”? / Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt. / The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray. ...

Isaiah 19:16-17
In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them. / The land of Judah will bring terror to Egypt; whenever Judah is mentioned, Egypt will tremble over what the LORD of Hosts has planned against it.

Isaiah 19:18-22
In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of Hosts. One of them will be called the City of the Sun. / In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the center of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD near her border. / It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender to rescue them. ...

Isaiah 19:23-25
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt, and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. / In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing upon the earth. / The LORD of Hosts will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt My people, Assyria My handiwork, and Israel My inheritance.”

Revelation 11:8
Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city—figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where their Lord was also crucified.

Acts 7:22
So Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

Matthew 2:13-15
When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.” / So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, / where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”


Treasury of Scripture

Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.

a very

Jeremiah 50:11
Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;

Hosea 10:11
And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.

it cometh

Jeremiah 46:6,10
Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates…

Jeremiah 1:14
Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Jeremiah 25:9
Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

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Beautiful Biting Cow Destruction Egypt Fair Heifer Insect North Rending Young
Jeremiah 46
1. Jeremiah prophesies the overthrow of Pharaoh's army at Euphrates
13. and the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar
27. He comforts Jacob in his chastisement














Egypt
In the Hebrew text, "Egypt" is referred to as "Mizraim," which is a dual form, possibly indicating Upper and Lower Egypt. Egypt was a significant power in the ancient Near East, known for its wealth, culture, and military might. Historically, Egypt had been both an ally and adversary to Israel. In the context of Jeremiah, Egypt represents a nation that has often been a source of temptation for Israel to rely on instead of trusting in God.

is a beautiful heifer
The phrase "beautiful heifer" uses the Hebrew word "ʾegeleh," meaning a young cow or heifer. This imagery suggests prosperity, fertility, and attractiveness. In ancient cultures, a heifer was often associated with abundance and was sometimes used in sacrificial contexts. Egypt's beauty and allure are highlighted here, yet it is a superficial beauty that masks underlying vulnerabilities.

but a gadfly
The term "gadfly" translates from the Hebrew "qeretz," which refers to a stinging insect, possibly a hornet or a fly. This imagery is used to depict an annoyance or a threat that is persistent and difficult to ignore. The gadfly symbolizes an impending danger or judgment that is coming upon Egypt, disrupting its peace and prosperity.

from the north
In the prophetic literature of the Old Testament, the "north" often symbolizes a direction from which invaders come. Historically, this refers to the Babylonian empire, which was a dominant force in the region and posed a significant threat to Egypt. The north is frequently associated with judgment and divine retribution in the Bible.

is coming against her
This phrase indicates an imminent threat or attack. The Hebrew verb "bo" suggests movement or arrival, emphasizing the certainty of the coming judgment. The use of the feminine pronoun "her" personifies Egypt, making the prophecy more vivid and personal. It underscores the inevitability of God's judgment against nations that oppose His will.

(20) Egypt is like a very fair heifer.--The similitude points, like the "strong one" of Jeremiah 46:15, to the Apis worship of Egypt. The nation is like its god. The figure is continued in the words that follow. There comes from the north (from the land of the Chaldees, as in Jeremiah 1:1), not "destruction," but a gadfly that shall sting the heifer into the madness of agony. So, in Isaiah 7:18, the "fly" of Egypt and the "bee" of Assyria are invited to work evil on Judah. The words find a striking parallel in the Greek legend of Io (probably to be identified with the Egyptian Isis) transformed into a heifer, and her gadfly tormentor, this also connected with the Apis or Mnevis deities of Egypt ('schyl. Prom. v. 569). The word for "destruction" is not found elsewhere, but the etymology suggests the idea of "pinching" or "stinging," and the meaning "gadfly" is accepted by many recent scholars.

Verses 20-26. - A figurative description of the dark future of Egypt. Verse 20. - Like a very fair heifer. (The insertion of "like" weakens the passage.) The well nourished heifer reminds of the prosperity of the fruitful Nile valley. But destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north; rather, a gadfly from the north hath come upon her (not, "hath come, hath come," as the received text has - a very slight change in one letter is required, supported by the versions). The figure is precisely analogous to that of the "bee in the land of Assyria" (Isaiah 7:18). St. Chrysostom renders "a gadfly" (see Field, 'Origen's Hexapla,' 2:708); and so virtually Aquila and Symmachus.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Egypt
מִצְרָ֑יִם (miṣ·rā·yim)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 4714: Egypt -- a son of Ham, also his descendants and their country in Northwest Africa

is a beautiful
פִיָּ֖ה (p̄î·yāh)
Adjective - feminine singular
Strong's 3304: Very beautiful

heifer,
עֶגְלָ֥ה (‘eḡ·lāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5697: A, calf, one nearly grown

but a gadfly
קֶ֥רֶץ (qe·reṣ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7171: Perhaps nipping

from the north
מִצָּפ֖וֹן (miṣ·ṣā·p̄ō·wn)
Preposition-m | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6828: Hidden, dark, the north as a, quarter

is coming against her.
בָּ֥א (bā)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 46:20 Egypt is a very beautiful heifer (Jer.)
Jeremiah 46:19
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