Jeremiah 46:4

Harness the horses; mount the steeds; take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears; put on armor!

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The Lord commands the Egyptian military to prepare for battle. The instruction sits between the call to deploy shields and the declaration of their sudden rout and terror.

The words — מִרְקוּ (mir.Ku) = polish and אִסְרוּ ('is.Ru) = harness. The text uses these imperatives to describe the physical preparation of weapons and mounts.

The thread — Ezekiel 21:9 repeats the polishing command for a sharpened sword. Jeremiah 51:3 and 1 Samuel 17:5 reference armor and helmets in parallel battle contexts.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that meticulous military preparation precedes inevitable defeat. It asks the reader to observe that human readiness cannot prevent the stated rout.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

אִסְר֣וּ'is.Ruharness הַסּוּסִ֗יםha./su.Simthe/ horses וַֽעֲלוּ֙va./'a.Luand/ mount הַפָּ֣רָשִׁ֔יםha./Pa.ra.Shimthe/ warhorses וְהִֽתְיַצְּב֖וּve./hit.ya.tze.Vuand/ take your stand בְּכ֥וֹבָעִ֑יםbe./Khoa.'Imwith/ helmets מִרְקוּ֙mir.Kupolish הָֽרְמָחִ֔יםha./re.ma.Chimthe/ spears לִבְשׁ֖וּliv.Shuput on הַסִּרְיֹנֹֽת׃ha./sir.yo.Notthe/ armor

King James Version

Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.

Cross-references

Ezekiel 21:9 “Son of man, prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord says: ‘A sword, a sword, sharpened and polished—
Jeremiah 51:3 Do not let the archer bend his bow or put on his armor. Do not spare her young men; devote all her army to destruction!
1 Samuel 17:5 and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels,
1 Samuel 17:38 Then Saul clothed David in his own tunic, put a bronze helmet on his head, and dressed him in armor.
2 Chronicles 26:14 Uzziah supplied the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and slingstones.
Nehemiah 4:16 And from that day on, half of my servants did the work while the other half held spears, shields, bows, and armor. The officers stationed themselves behind all the people of Judah
Ezekiel 21:28 Now prophesy, son of man, and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says concerning the Ammonites and their contempt: ‘A sword! A sword is drawn for slaughter, polished to consume, to flash like lightning—