Bible Strands
Jeremiah 46:6
“The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The LORD speaks through Jeremiah to declare that the retreating Egyptian army will be intercepted by the Babylonian forces advancing from the north along the Euphrates River.
The words — The Hebrew יָנ֣וּס (ya.nus) translates literally as “he flees,” and יִמָּלֵ֖ט (yi.ma.lēt) means “he escapes,” both negated by אַל־ ('al) to state that flight and survival are impossible.
The thread — The pattern of stumbling and falling recurs in Daniel 11:19 concerning a ruler’s collapse and in Jeremiah 46:12 where combatants trip over one another in rout.
Why it lands — The passage requires the reader to acknowledge that military speed and strength cannot circumvent divine judgment, demanding acceptance that human power operates only within God’s sovereign limits.
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
King James Version
Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
Cross-references
- Daniel 11:19 After this, he will turn back toward the fortresses of his own land, but he will stumble and fall and be no more.
- Jeremiah 46:12 The nations have heard of your shame, and your outcry fills the earth, because warrior stumbles over warrior and both of them have fallen together.”
- Amos 9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.
- Judges 4:15 And in front of him the LORD routed with the sword Sisera, all his charioteers, and all his army. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.
- Psalms 27:2 When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.
- Psalms 33:16 No king is saved by his vast army; no warrior is delivered by his great strength.
- Psalms 147:10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11 I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.
- Isaiah 8:15 Many will stumble over these; they will fall and be broken; they will be ensnared and captured.”
- Isaiah 30:16 “No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster.