Bible Strands
Jeremiah 8:16
The snorting of enemy horses is heard from Dan. At the sound of the neighing of mighty steeds, the whole land quakes. They come to devour the land and everything in it, the city and all who dwell in it.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah speaks to Judah at a moment when national hopes for peace and healing have collapsed into terror. The prophet delivers a report of impending invasion just as the people confront the futility of their expectations.
The words — נַחְרַת (nacharat) translates to "snorting" and מִצְהֲל֣וֹת (mitzhalot) to "neighings," both denoting the audible approach of enemy cavalry that forces the land to tremble.
The thread — The thundering hooves parallel Judges 5:22, while the reference to Dan aligns with Judges 18:29. The threat of uncharmed snakes in Jeremiah 8:17 follows as the next phase of the same judgment.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to acknowledge that divine warning precedes unavoidable destruction, leaving no room for delayed response. It demands acceptance that waiting for peace without heeding the warning yields only terror.
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
The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein.
Cross-references
- Judges 5:22 Then the hooves of horses thundered—the mad galloping of his stallions.
- Judges 18:29 They named it Dan, after their forefather Dan, who was born to Israel—though the city was formerly named Laish.
- 1 Corinthians 10:28 But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience—
- Jeremiah 4:15 For a voice resounds from Dan, proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
- Judges 20:1 Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out, and the congregation assembled as one man before the LORD at Mizpah.
- Psalms 24:1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.
- Jeremiah 4:24 I looked at the mountains, and behold, they were quaking; all the hills were swaying.
- Jeremiah 6:23 They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Zion.”
- Jeremiah 10:25 Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished him off; they have devastated his homeland.
- Jeremiah 47:3 at the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions, the rumbling of chariots, and the clatter of their wheels. The fathers will not turn back for their sons; their hands will hang limp.