Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
Why are thy valiant men. Manuscripts, the Septuagint, and Vulgate read ['ªbiyrªkaa] 'thy valiant one,' Apis, the bull-shaped Egyptian idol worshipped at Noph or Memphis. The contrast thus is between the palpable impotence of the idol and the might attributed to it by the worshippers; as also in contradistinction to Yahweh the true [`aabiyd] Mighty One. The Hebrew term, strong or valiant, is applied to bulls (Psalms 22:12). Cambyses in his invasion of Egypt destroyed the sacred bull.
Swept away - (cf. Jeremiah 46:5). The Hebrew word for "swept away" [nicchap] is used of a sweeping rain in Proverbs 28:3.