If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?

JEREMIAH 12:5KJV
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Jeremiah 12:5 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 12:5 mean?

Jeremiah 12:5 is God’s challenging answer to Jeremiah: the troubles that have already exhausted him are not the hardest ones ahead. The verse uses two pictures to ask how Jeremiah will face greater danger if the present struggle has worn him down.

Running with footmen is set against racing horses. The “land of peace,” where Jeremiah felt secure, is set against the difficult country around the Jordan River. These questions follow Jeremiah’s complaint about the success of wicked people in verses 1–4.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 12:5

  • “contend” — תָּחָה (tachah): This word carries the sense of competing. It makes the picture a race: Jeremiah is asked to imagine matching his pace against horses.
  • “peace” — שָׁלוֹם (shalom): This word can mean safety or well-being. Here it helps describe a land where Jeremiah expected to be secure.
  • “swelling” — גָּאוֹן (ga’on): This word can refer to something rising or to dense growth. In the phrase “swelling of Jordan,” it is often understood as the thick growth along the river, a place associated with danger.

Why Jeremiah 12:5 matters

  • God’s answer focuses on Jeremiah’s capacity to face what lies ahead. The questions move from “footmen” to “horses” and from a “land of peace” to the Jordan.
  • The passage connects danger with people close to Jeremiah. Verse 6 speaks of betrayal by his own family, giving a more personal setting to the warning.

Where else these words appear

“contend” Hebrew H8474 · used in 2 verses

  • Jeremiah 22:15 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?

“footmen” Hebrew H7273 · used in 12 verses

  • Exodus 12:37 And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children.
  • 1 Samuel 4:10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
  • 1 Kings 20:29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.

“wearied” Hebrew H3811 · used in 18 verses

  • Genesis 19:11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
  • Psalms 68:9 Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.
  • Jeremiah 6:11 Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days.

“swelling” Hebrew H1347 · used in 45 verses

  • Exodus 15:7 And in the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which consumed them as stubble.
  • Isaiah 13:11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
  • Ezekiel 24:21 Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.