Jeremiah 46:22

46:22 Egypt will run away, hissing like a snake, ¹ 

as the enemy comes marching up in force.

They will come against her with axes

as if they were woodsmen chopping down trees.

[46:22]  ¹ tn Or “Egypt will rustle away like a snake”; Heb “her sound goes like the snake,” or “her sound [is] like the snake [when] it goes.” The meaning of the simile is debated. Some see a reference to the impotent hiss of a fleeing serpent (F. B. Huey, Jeremiah, Lamentations [NAC], 382), others the sound of a serpent stealthily crawling away when it is disturbed (H. Freedman, Jeremiah [SoBB], 297-98). The translation follows the former interpretation because of the irony involved.