Jeremiah 46:22

Jer 46:22 The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.

Ver. 22. The voice thereof (of Egypt) shall go like a serpent.] {a} Submissa voce loquetur. She shall hiss and whisper, as being daunted and damped, scarce able to mutter or utter aught for fear. {Isa 29:4}

{a} Vox trepida et prae metu instar serpentum stridula.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jer 46:22-23. The voice thereof shall go like a serpent — “That is, her (Egypt’s) voice shall be low and inarticulate through fear. This passage seems to be an imitation of Isa 29:4, where we find the same threat denounced against Jerusalem, namely, Thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground. The cause which is assigned is the same in both places, the irresistible attack of powerful enemies.” — Dr. Durell. See note on Isa 29:4. For they shall march with an army — For the Chaldeans shall come with powerful forces; with axes, as hewers of wood — As if they came to fell timber in a wood. They shall cut down her forest — Here Egypt is compared to a forest, either for the multitude of cities and their stately buildings, or of people in that country; and its destruction is described by the metaphor of cutting down the trees of a forest. Though it cannot be searched, &c. — Though the forest be very thick, and the trees thereof innumerable. Because they are more than the grasshoppers — Because the army of the Chaldeans shall be as numerous as the inhabitants of Egypt. In other words, though the cities and inhabitants of Egypt be never so numerous and large; yet the Chaldean army shall plunder and destroy them, because their number is proportionable to such an enterprise. Armies are often compared to grasshoppers and such like insects, both for their multitudes, and because they make a general consumption, grasshoppers devouring all before them, wherever they come: see Jdg 6:5; Jdg 7:12; Joe 2:4-5.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

46:22-23 The picture of a serpent gliding away illustrates the panic that gripped Egypt. The invaders would chop the people to pieces like woodsmen after swarming into the country like locusts.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

They shall be scarce able to speak for fear of the Chaldeans.

Meaning, Egypt.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The cry of Egypt when invaded shall be like the hissing of a serpent roused by the woodcutters from its lair. No longer shall she loudly roar like a heifer, but with a low murmur of fear, as a serpent hissing.

with axes--the Scythian mode of armor. The Chaldeans shall come with such confidence as if not about to have to fight with soldiers, but merely to cut down trees offering no resistance.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. The voice - shall go like a serpent] See Isa 29:4, and the note there.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

To study elegance was not so much the object of the Prophet, as to confirm what he had taught. The figures, then, which he now uses, were not intended as ornaments of speech, but rather for the purpose of giving force and power to what he had said; for, as it has been said, prophecies had no credit with stupid men, unless stimulants were added to them.

He says now, that the voice of Egypt would go forth like that of a serpent: some read, “as though it were a serpent;” but I prefer to render it in the genitive case, and it is more suitable; for the Prophet means that the complaints of Egypt would not be obstreperous; as serpents, in creeping, send forth their hisses, so he intimates that the Egyptians, being overthrown, would be so broken down, as not to dare to utter open complaints, as those who freely cry out, but such as would remain alive would be so smitten with fear as only to mutter, as it has been said of serpents, who hiss as they creep. We now understand the real meaning of the Prophet: he says that the Egyptians would be so east down as not to dare openly to complain of their miseries, for they would only mutter, not otherwise than serpents who, on the ground, indistinctly hiss: its voice, then, shall advance, or go forth, like that of a serpent; and thus he points out their uneasiness, for they would seek hiding-places, and flee here and there, and never dare to remain in the same place. It is, indeed, a proof of the most miserable trepidation, when he who succumbs under his evils finds no place to set his foot on, but is forced, like serpents, to wander here and there. Jerome’s rendering is, “as that of brass,” as though it was written, נחשת, nuchashet; but I have already shewn what the Prophet meant.

He adds, For they shall come with an army, or with power. The word חיל, chil, means both. He now speaks of the Chaldeans. He said that the Egyptians would tremble, and be so broken down, as not to dare to utter their groans openly. Now follows the reason, because the Chaldeans would come with power, or with an army; they would come not only as soldiers to fight, but also as hewers of wood with their axes He intimates that the issue of the war would by no means be doubtful, but that the Chaldeans would come into Egypt as hired men come to cut down trees. Soldiers are, indeed, armed with swords and lances; for they have to do with enemies, nor can they overcome without danger, at least they cannot conquer without striving; but the Prophet says that the Chaldeans would be so filled with confidence, that they would not regard the Egyptians as enemies, for they would come, as it were, to cut down trees which offer no resistance: They shall come, then, as hewers of wood There is here an implied contrast between swords, lances, and axes, as there is between soldiers and hewers of wood. It follows, —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(22) The voice thereof shall go like a serpent.—Better, her voice—i.e., the voice of Egypt. In early prophecies Egypt had been compared to a “dragon” or “serpent” (Isa_27:1; Isa_51:9; Psa_74:13). Here the serpent is represented as hissing in its rage and terror in the forest against which the enemies are advancing. The sign then gives way to the thing signified, and the latter clause of the verse brings before us the hosts of the Chaldæan allies, barbarous tribes like the Scythians, Massagetæ, and Sacæ, armed with axes instead of swords or spears (Herod. i. 275, iv. 5). They come, but it is to cut down the trees of the forest, i.e., the symbols of the power of Egypt, and there is no power to resist them (Isa_10:33). The forest is so dense that the trees cannot be counted, but the fellers of the trees are as numerous, and the forest is destined to destruction at the hands of “the people of the north.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22. The sound thereof shall go like the serpent] better, as mg. Her sound is like that of the serpent as it goeth. The voice of Egypt in her feebleness as she flees away from the enemy shall be like the voice of a serpent hissing, i.e. like a serpent hissing impotently at the woodcutters who disturb its retreat through the thick underwood. For “as it goeth” the LXX (but probably through an early confusion between two Greek words on the part of a scribe) read “hissing.” The serpent formed an important feature in the religion of the Egyptians, who worshipped Kneph under this form. The hostile army is likened in these. vv. to a host of persons clearing away a forest for firewood. The denseness of the forest represents the number and populous character of the cities of Egypt. Dr. compares Isa_10:18 f., 33 f.

with axes] This would make a deep impression upon the mind of nations like the Jews, who had no such custom. “The battle-axe was a weapon but rarely employed by the Assyrians. It is only in the very latest sculptures, and in a very few instances, that we find axes represented as used by the warriors for any other purpose besides the felling of trees. Where they are seen in use against the enemy, the handle is short, the head somewhat large, and the weapon wielded with one hand.” Rawlinson, Anc. Mon. I. 459.

hewers] or, less well, gatherers of firewood.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The voice thereof shall go like a serpent,.... That is, the voice of Egypt, before compared to a heifer, when in its glory; but now it shall not bellow like a heifer in fat pasture, bat hiss like a serpent, when drove out of its hole, and pursued; signifying, that their voice should be low and submissive, and should not speak one big or murmuring word to their conquerors. The voice of the serpent is, by Aristotle (m) said to be small and weak; so Aelianus (n). Though Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, understand it of the voice of serpents heard afar off; and so it may respect the dreadful lamentation the Egyptians should make, when they should see the Chaldeans come upon them to destroy them; just as serpents in woods make a horrible noise, when they are set on fire, or are cut down, to which there is an allusion in some following clauses. The Targum seems to interpret this of the Chaldean army thus,

"the voice of the clashing of their arms as serpents creeping;''

and of them the following words are certainly meant:

for they shall march with an army; the Targum adds, against you; the meaning is, that the Chaldeans should come with a great army, and march against the Egyptians with great strength, force, and fury:

and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood; with battle axes, as if they came to cut down trees; nor would they spare the Egyptians any more than such hewers do the trees; nor would they be able any more to resist them than trees can resist hewers of wood.

(m) Hist. Animal. l. 4. c. 9. (n) De Animal. l. 15. c. 13.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The voice thereof - Her voice, i. e., the voice of Egypt. The word here probably means the busy sound of life and activity in the towns of Egypt, the tramping of her hosts, and the turmoil of camp and city. All this at the approach of the Chaldaean army shall depart, as the snake flees away when disturbed in its haunts by the wood-cutters.

March with an army - Advance with might.

With axes - The comparison of the Chaldaean warriors to woodcutters arose from their being armed with axes. As the Israelites did not use the battle-axe, their imagination would be the more forcibly struck by this weapon.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Brass. Septuagint, "hissing serpent;" lamenting in secret, Isaias xxix. 4. --- Wood. Battle-axes were then used. Great cities and monarchs shall fall, Zacharias xi. 2., and Ezechiel xxxi. 3. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Egypt is now like a heifer that makes a great bellowing, but the time shall come when she shall make a lesser noise, like the hissing of a serpent when it seeth itself set upon. For the Chaldeans shall come with a great army, armed with battle-axes, as if they came to fell down some wood in a forest or wood.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. Voice thereof — Of Egypt. As the serpent disturbed in his lair by the wood choppers flees away, so Egypt shall flee before the axes of the Chaldean army.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; rather, her voice is like (the sound of) a serpent gliding away. Egypt (like Jerusalem, in Isa_29:4) is imagined as a maiden (comp. ver. 19) seated on the ground, and faintly sighing; and her feeble voice is likened to the rustling sound of a serpent in motion. Come against her with axes. A sudden change of figure. Egypt, or, more strictly, Egypt"s grandeur its rich and complex national life, its splendid cities, its powerful army, all combined in one, is now compared to a forest. (comp. Jer_21:14 Jer_22:6, 7 Isa_2:13 Isa_10:18, Isa_10:19, Isa_10:33, Isa_10:34) It seems far fetched to suppose, with Graf and Dr. Payne Smith, that the comparison of the Chaldean warriors to wood cutters arose from their being armed with axes. It is probably true that the Israelites did not use the battle axe, but the axe is merely an accident of the description. It is the forest which suggests the mention of the axe, not the axe that of the forest, and forests were familiar enough to the Israelites.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Its voice shall go like [that of] the snake The “snake” comes to teach us about Egypt but ends by learning. For we learn from here that when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to the serpent, “You shall walk on your belly” (Gen. 3:14), He severed his feet, and his voice went to the end of the world. So we learned in the ‘Thirty-two Methods of Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Jose the Galilean’ (Method 12).

for they will march with an army against her.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.