Yeremia 46:24

46:24 Poor dear Egypt ¹  will be put to shame.

She will be handed over to the people from the north.”

Yesaya 14:31

14:31 Wail, O city gate!

Cry out, O city!

Melt with fear, ²  all you Philistines!

For out of the north comes a cloud of smoke,

and there are no stragglers in its ranks. ³ 

Yeremia 47:2

47:2 “Look! Enemies are gathering in the north like water rising in a river. ⁴ 

They will be like an overflowing stream.

They will overwhelm the whole country and everything in it like a flood.

They will overwhelm the cities and their inhabitants.

People will cry out in alarm.

Everyone living in the country will cry out in pain.

[46:24]  ¹ tn Heb “Daughter Egypt.” See the translator’s note on v. 19.

[14:31]  ² tn Or “despair” (see HALOT 555 s.v. מוג). The form נָמוֹג (namog) should be taken here as an infinitive absolute functioning as an imperative. See GKC 199-200 §72.v.

[14:31]  ³ tn Heb “and there is no one going alone in his appointed places.” The meaning of this line is uncertain. בּוֹדֵד (boded) appears to be a participle from בָּדַד (badad, “be separate”; see BDB 94 s.v. בָּדַד). מוֹעָד (mo’ad) may mean “assembly” or, by extension, “multitude” (see HALOT 558 s.v. *מוֹעָד), but the referent of the third masculine pronominal suffix attached to the noun is unclear. It probably refers to the “nation” mentioned in the next line.

[47:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “Behold! Waters are rising from the north.” The metaphor of enemy armies compared to overflowing water is seen also in Isa 8:8-9 (Assyria) and 46:7-8 (Egypt). Here it refers to the foe from the north (Jer 1:14; 4:6; etc) which is specifically identified with Babylon in Jer 25. The metaphor has been turned into a simile in the translation to help the average reader identify that a figure is involved and to hint at the referent.