Jeremiah 6:23
They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion. They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.
The phrase lay hold renders the Hebrew chazaq, occurring here in the same verb form as the word translated layeth hold in Isaiah 56:2, and carrying the ideas of holding fast with strength and force.
The daughter of Zion denotes God's true people or church, which though not always pure is neither wholly corrupt nor wholly apostate.
The verse belongs to the prophecies of Jeremiah 3 to Jeremiah 21, whose meaning stands out very clearly indeed as a sorrowful and awful denunciation of sin and transgression over the people's wrongdoing, making a most touching appeal to return to God which the mass of the people met with utter lack of response.
The verse depicts armed, cruel and merciless enemies seizing bow and spear, roaring like the sea, and riding upon horses set in array as men for war against Zion.
These northern enemies represent the forces of evil opposed to God and His redeemed people, so that this imagery connects with the final destruction of the wicked at the close of the thousand years.