Swelling

of Jordan ( Jeremiah 12:5 ), literally the "pride" of Jordan (as in RSV), i.e., the luxuriant thickets of tamarisks, poplars, reeds, etc., which were the lair of lions and other beasts of prey. The reference is not to the overflowing of the river banks. (Comp 49:19 ; 50:44 ; Zechariah 11:3 ).

SWELLING

swel'-ing:

The verb ga'-ah, means "rise up" (Ezekiel 47:5, etc.), so that the noun ga'awah (Psalms 46:3) means "arising." The "swelling" of the sea that shakes the mountains is a perfectly good translation, and "pride" (so the American Revised Version margin) is beside the mark. In Jeremiah 12:5; 49:19 parallel 50:44; Zechariah 11:3 is found the phrase ge'on ha-yarden, "exaltation of the Jordan," which the King James Version translates "pride of Jordan" in Zechariah and "swelling of Jordan" in Jeremiah (the Revised Version (British and American) has "pride" throughout, with "swelling" in the margin of Jeremiah). What is described is a place, with a mass of vegetation, easily burned (Zechariah 11:1-3), a lair of lions (Jeremiah 49:19; Zechariah 11:3), and a particularly dangerous place for human beings (Jeremiah 12:5). The luxuriant thicket of the Jordan bank is evidently meant, which could well be spoken of as "Jordan's pride" (OHL, "majesty of the Jordan"), and "swelling" is quite impossible.

In the New Testament "swelling" is used in 2 Corinthians 12:20 for phusiosis, "puffing up," "blatant self-conceit," and 2 Peter 2:18 parallel Jude verse 16 for huperogkos, "overgrown," "solemnly inane."

Burton Scott Easton