The Meaning of Jeremiah 49:22 Explained

Jeremiah 49:22

KJV: Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

YLT: Lo, as an eagle he cometh up, and flieth, And he spreadeth his wings over Bozrah, And the heart of the mighty of Edom hath been in that day, As the heart of a distressed woman!'

Darby: Behold, he shall come up, and fly as an eagle, and spread forth his wings against Bozrah; and at that day the heart of the mighty men of Edom shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

ASV: Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread out his wings against Bozrah: and the heart of the mighty men of Edom at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Behold, he shall come up  and fly  as the eagle,  and spread  his wings  over Bozrah:  and at that day  shall the heart  of the mighty men  of Edom  be as the heart  of a woman  in her pangs. 

What does Jeremiah 49:22 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The enemy would come down on Edom like an eagle (or vulture, cf. Jeremiah 48:40-41). Men would be as fearful as women in labor when the invader struck.
Nebuchadnezzar fulfilled the judgment predicted in this prophecy when he subdued the entire Transjordan region. Like Moab and Ammon, Edom plotted against the Babylonians, who had incorporated them into their empire about605 B.C. However, the Edomites assisted the Babylonians in attacking Judah in588-586 B.C. ( Psalm 137:7; Lamentations 4:21; Ezekiel 25:12-14; cf. Obad.). Babylonian reprisals against Edom for lack of cooperation, and subsequent invasions of Arab tribes (Nabateans; cf. Malachi 1:1-4), drove the Edomites into Judah where they settled, north of Hebron. This area later became known as Idumea. Herod the Great was an Idumean.
". . . the threatened devastation of the land of Edom was brought about by the Chaldeans, as is clear from Mal. i3; but the annihilation of the people was commenced by the Maccabeans, and completed by the Romans , about the time of the Jewish war [1]." [2]
Misplaced trust, plus pride in herself and in her reputedly inaccessible heights, caused Yahweh to judge this nation ( Jeremiah 49:16).

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 49

1  The judgment of the Ammonites
6  Their restoration
7  The judgment of Edom
23  of Damascus
28  of Kedar
30  of Hazor
34  and of Elam
39  The restoration of Elam

What do the individual words in Jeremiah 49:22 mean?

Behold like the eagle He shall come up and fly and spread His wings over Bozrah and shall be the heart of the mighty men of Edom in day that Like the heart of a woman in birth pangs -
הִנֵּ֤ה כַנֶּ֙שֶׁר֙ יַעֲלֶ֣ה וְיִדְאֶ֔ה וְיִפְרֹ֥שׂ כְּנָפָ֖יו עַל־ בָּצְרָ֑ה וְֽ֠הָיָה לֵ֞ב גִּבּוֹרֵ֤י אֱדוֹם֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֔וּא כְּלֵ֖ב אִשָּׁ֥ה מְצֵרָֽה ס

הִנֵּ֤ה  Behold 
Parse: Interjection
Root: הִנֵּה  
Sense: behold, lo, see, if.
כַנֶּ֙שֶׁר֙  like  the  eagle 
Parse: Preposition-k, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: נֶשֶׁר  
Sense: eagle, vulture, griffon-vulture.
יַעֲלֶ֣ה  He  shall  come  up 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
וְיִדְאֶ֔ה  and  fly 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: דָּאָה  
Sense: to fly fast, fly swiftly, dart through the air.
וְיִפְרֹ֥שׂ  and  spread 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: פָּרַשׂ  
Sense: to spread, spread out, stretch, break in pieces.
כְּנָפָ֖יו  His  wings 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: כָּנָף  
Sense: wing, extremity, edge, winged, border, corner, shirt.
עַל־  over 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
בָּצְרָ֑ה  Bozrah 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: בָּצְרָה 
Sense: a town in Edom.
וְֽ֠הָיָה  and  shall  be 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אֶהְיֶה 
Sense: to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out.
לֵ֞ב  the  heart 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
גִּבּוֹרֵ֤י  of  the  mighty  men 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural construct
Root: גִּבֹּור  
Sense: strong, mighty.
אֱדוֹם֙  of  Edom 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אֱדֹום 
Sense: Edom.
בַּיּ֣וֹם  in  day 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הַה֔וּא  that 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, third person masculine singular
Root: הוּא 
Sense: he, she, it.
כְּלֵ֖ב  Like  the  heart 
Parse: Preposition-k, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: לֵב 
Sense: inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
אִשָּׁ֥ה  of  a  woman 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אִשָּׁה  
Sense: woman, wife, female.
מְצֵרָֽה  in  birth  pangs 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Participle, feminine singular
Root: צָרַר 
Sense: to bind, be narrow, be in distress, make narrow, cause distress, besiege, be straitened, be bound.
ס  - 
Parse: Punctuation