Jeremiah 47:2

“Look! Enemies are gathering in the north like water rising in a river. ¹  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.

Ps 24:1; Ps 50:12; Ps 96:11; Ps 98:7; Isa 8:7,8; Isa 15:2-5,8; Isa 22:1,4,5; Isa 28:17; Isa 59:19; Jer 1:14; Jer 8:16; Jer 46:6,20; Jer 46:7,8; Jer 46:13; Jer 48:3-5,39; Da 11:22; Am 9:5,6; Na 1:8; Zep 1:10,11; 1Co 10:26,28; Jas 5:1; Re 12:15,16; Re 17:1,15

¹ 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.