Swelling

Swelling [EBD]

of Jordan (Jer. 12:5), literally the "pride" of Jordan (as in R.V.), 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; Zech. 11:3).

SWELLING [ISBE]

SWELLING - swel'-ing: The verb ga'-ah, means "rise up" (Ezek 47:5, etc.), so that the noun ga'awah (Ps 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 Jer 12:5; 49:19 parallel 50:44; Zec 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 (Zec 11:1-3), a lair of lions (Jer 49:19; Zec 11:3), and a particularly dangerous place for human beings (Jer 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 Cor 12:20 for phusiosis, "puffing up," "blatant self-conceit," and 2 Pet 2:18 parallel Jude verse 16 for huperogkos, "overgrown," "solemnly inane."

Burton Scott Easton