Jeremiah 46:20
Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
Original Language Analysis
עֶגְלָ֥ה
heifer
H5697
עֶגְלָ֥ה
heifer
Strong's:
H5697
Word #:
1 of 8
a (female) calf, especially one nearly grown (i.e., a heifer)
מִצָּפ֖וֹן
of the north
H6828
מִצָּפ֖וֹן
of the north
Strong's:
H6828
Word #:
6 of 8
properly, hidden, i.e., dark; used only of the north as a quarter (gloomy and unknown)
Cross References
Jeremiah 47:2Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.Hosea 10:11And 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.Jeremiah 1:14Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.Jeremiah 46:10For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.Jeremiah 46:6Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
Historical Context
Egypt's economy centered on Nile agriculture, making the heifer a fitting symbol of prosperity. The Apis bull was worshiped at Memphis as the incarnation of Ptah. The "north" refers to Babylon, which approached Canaan and Egypt from the north despite being east of both regions.
Questions for Reflection
- How can external beauty and prosperity blind us to internal spiritual vulnerability?
- Why does God often use the very symbols of a culture's pride (like Egypt's sacred bulls) in pronouncing judgment?
- What does the certainty of "it cometh, it cometh" teach about the unstoppable nature of divine justice?
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Analysis & Commentary
Egypt is like a very fair heifer (עֶגְלָה יְפֵה־פִיָּה מִצְרָיִם)—The Hebrew eglah yafah-fiyyah portrays Egypt as a beautiful, well-fed young cow, pampered and proud. Yet destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north (קֶרֶץ מִצָּפוֹן בָּא בָא)—the doubled ba ba (it cometh, it cometh) intensifies the certainty and imminence of Babylon's approach.
The heifer metaphor evokes Egypt's agricultural wealth and the sacred Apis bull cult at Memphis. But beauty and prosperity provide no defense against divine judgment. The phrase qerets (destruction) literally means a biting insect or gadfly—ironic given Egypt's previous plague of flies (Exodus 8:21-24). Now judgment comes not from above but from Mesopotamia.