Commentary - Biblelive.org

Book

Chapter

Read

Jeremiah 45

Jeremiah 46

Jeremiah 47

Jeremiah 46 — Commentary 4

Listen

Click Play to listen

Voice

Speed

Pitch

Benson

Benson Commentary Jeremiah 46:1 The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; Jeremiah 46:1 . The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah against the Gentiles — This is a general title to the collection of prophecies contained in this and the five following chapters, and refers to the denunciation of God’s judgments upon the countries round about Judea, namely, those of whom all enumeration is made Jeremiah 25:19-25 . To some of these prophecies the date is annexed; in others it is left uncertain. It is evident they were not all delivered at the same time, and they seem to be here out of their proper place. In the Vatican and Alexandrian copies of the Septuagint, they follow immediately after Jeremiah 25:13 , where express mention is made of the book which Jeremiah had prophesied against all the nations; which book is contained in this and the following chapters. It seems those who collected Jeremiah’s writings judged proper, without confining themselves to the order of time, to join together all those prophecies which respected the Gentile nations, and were not immediately connected with the affairs of the Jews. Jeremiah 46:2 Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. Jeremiah 46:2 . Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho — Pharaoh- necho was king of Egypt in Josiah’s time, and it was by his army that Josiah was killed at Megiddo, as is related 2 Kings 23:29 , where see the note. That army was then marching under the conduct of Necho against the Medes and Babylonians, who, having by the capture of Nineveh destroyed the Assyrian empire, had become formidable to the neighbouring states. Josiah opposed it in its march through the country, but was defeated, and received a wound in the battle which proved mortal. Necho continued his march after this victory, defeated the Babylonians, took Carchemish, and securing it with a strong garrison, returned into his own country. Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon, observing that all Syria and Palestine had revolted on account of the reduction of Carchemish by the Egyptians, sent his son Nebuchadnezzar with an army to retake that city, and recover the revolted provinces. Necho marched with a powerful army to oppose him; and it appears it was at the time when the Egyptian army lay along the banks of the Euphrates, waiting to oppose the entrance of Nebuchadnezzar into Syria, that this prophecy was delivered, namely, as is here said, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. The two armies came to an engagement near the city of Carchemish, and the event of the battle proved very disastrous to the Egyptians, who were routed with prodigious slaughter, as is here foretold by the prophet in a very animated style, and with great poetic energy and liveliness of colouring. Jeremiah 46:3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Jeremiah 46:3-6 . Order ye the buckler, &c. — In these verses the mighty preparations of the Egyptians for war are described, which causes the prophet, who foresees the defeat, to express, as he does in the next two verses, “his astonishment at an event so contrary to what might have been expected; but he accounts for it by ascribing it to the disposition of the Almighty, who had spread terror all around, and had decreed that neither swiftness nor strength should avail the owners so as to save them from the impending overthrow.” — Blaney. I have seen them dismayed and turned back — God had, in a vision, shown Jeremiah the army of the Egyptians discomfited and fleeing; and their mighty ones — Their most powerful warriors and valiant commanders; are beaten down, and are fled apace — Either fall in the battle, or flee away as fast as they can; for fear is round about — A panic fear hath seized the whole army. Let not the swift flee away — Let them not be able to escape from those that pursue them, but be either killed or taken. They shall stumble, &c., toward the north by the river Euphrates — Which was northward from Egypt, and even from Judea: so Babylon is described as lying northward, being situate upon that river. Jeremiah 46:4 Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines. Jeremiah 46:5 Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the LORD. Jeremiah 46:6 Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. Jeremiah 46:7 Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers? Jeremiah 46:7-10 . Who is this that cometh up as a flood — Here the king of Egypt is compared to a mighty river, the Nile, or the Euphrates, when it swells above its banks, and threatens to overwhelm the country with ruin and desolation. And he saith I will go up, and will cover the earth — With my numerous armies; I will destroy the city — Carchemish or Babylon; and the inhabitants thereof — Who shall not be able to withstand the powerful force I bring against them. Thus the prophet represents him as beginning his march with all the ostentation and insolence of presumed success. Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots, &c. — Here he is exhibited calling aloud to the nations of which his army is composed, giving them the signal for action, and rousing them to deeds of desperate valour; but all in vain: for the time is come for God to avenge himself of his ancient foes: they are doomed to slaughter, to fall a bloody sacrifice on the plains of the north. For, adds the prophet, Jeremiah 46:10 , this is the day of the Lord God of hosts — That is, as it follows, the day of his vengeance. Hence, the day of the Lord is used in the New Testament to signify the day of judgment, of which all other days of vengeance are the earnests and forerunners. That he may avenge himself of his adversaries — Of the idols of Egypt and their worshippers: the Egyptians were some of the first idolaters, and carried idolatry to its greatest height. And the sword shall devour, it shall be satiate, &c. — These metaphorical expressions signify the very great slaughter which would be made at that time in the Egyptian army. For the Lord God hath a sacrifice, &c. — The slaughter of men in battle, which is by way of punishment for their sins, is called a sacrifice to God, because it makes some kind of satisfaction and atonement to the divine justice. See the margin. Jeremiah 46:8 Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. Jeremiah 46:9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow. Jeremiah 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. Jeremiah 46:11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured. Jeremiah 46:11-12 . Go up into Gilead, and take balm — Gilead was famous for producing balm and such like healing gums: see note on Jeremiah 8:22 . The prophet, alluding to the custom of men’s going thither for relief in dangerous infirmities, ironically advises the Egyptians to try all the methods they can think of to prevent that destruction that threatened them, but he signifies that all their endeavours would be in vain. Compare Jeremiah 51:8 . O virgin, the daughter of Egypt — Those cities or countries are called virgins which were never conquered. Egypt was grown great by her conquests, particularly by the former battle at Carchemish, (see Jeremiah 46:2 ,) and did not apprehend itself to be in any danger of being conquered. The nations have heard of thy shame — Of thy armies being shamefully beaten and running away; for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty — When an army is once broken and disordered, multitudes are a hinderance one to another, and one part helps to destroy another. Thus the prophet concludes the first prophecy against Egypt, or, as he expresses it, the daughter of Egypt, by an apostrophe to her, addressing her as a conquered nation, whose wound is pronounced incurable, and disgrace universally known; forasmuch as the number of her warriors served only to augment the general disorder, and more effectually to destroy each other. Jeremiah 46:12 The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together. Jeremiah 46:13 The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt. Jeremiah 46:13 . The word that the Lord spake, &c. — Here begins the second prophecy against Egypt, the exact time of the delivery of which we have no means of ascertaining; but the desolation foretold in it is undoubtedly the same with that predicted by Ezekiel, chaps. 29., 30., 31., 32. And this came to pass in the twenty-seventh year of Jehoiachin’s captivity, that is, the sixteenth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, as may be collected from Ezekiel 29:17 , where Nebuchadnezzar’s army is spoken of as having at that time suffered a great deal at the siege of Tyre; on which account the spoils of Egypt are promised them for their wages and indemnification: and the promise was accordingly made good that same year. — Jos. Ant., lib. 10. cap. 9. Jeremiah 46:14 Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee. Jeremiah 46:14-15 . Publish in Migdol, and in Noph, and Tahpanhes — Concerning these three cities, see note on Jeremiah 44:1 . The meaning is, publish this prophecy over all the land of Egypt; or these three places are named, because in them the Jews, who went into Egypt with Johanan, were chiefly settled. Say, Stand fast, and prepare thee — Prepare for war, and resolve to keep your ground, and not yield to the enemy: compare Jeremiah 46:2-3 . For the sword shall devour round about thee — The nations are destroyed around you, and you have reason to expect that the sword will next reach you. Why are thy valiant men swept away? — “The Hebrew word ???? , here rendered valiant, is sometimes spoken of God, as Genesis 49:24 . Sometimes it is a title given to angels, as Psalm 78:25 ; but the LXX. understand it here of Apis, the idol of Egypt, which might properly be said to be conquered when the nation, that had put themselves under his protection, was subdued.” — Lowth. And, instead of they stood not, because the Lord did drive them, as we translate the next clause, the LXX. add, ? ?????? ? ???????? ??? ??? ??????? , ??? ?????? ????????? ????? , thy elect calf did not abide, because the Lord debilitated, literally, paralyzed, him. But it is not at all probable that this idol was here intended, but either of the mighty princes of Egypt; or, if the noun be singular, as Blaney understands it, reading, ????? , thy mighty one, instead of ?????? , thy mighty ones, then the king is probably meant. Neither the king himself, nor his valiant captains, could stand before Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean army, because God discomfited them. It was of God to destroy Egypt, and when he works none can hinder him; when he strikes none can stand up against him, or stand before him. Jeremiah 46:15 Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them. Jeremiah 46:16 He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword. Jeremiah 46:16-17 . He made many to fall — Or, as the Vulgate renders ???? ????? , multiplicavit ruentes, he multiplied those falling, or more literally, the faller, as in the margin, the word being singular. Blaney connects this with the next clause, as the LXX. do, and reads the verse thus: “He hath caused many to stumble, yea, to fall; they said therefore one to another, Arise, and let us return to our people, and to our native country, because of the oppressor’s sword.” These are either the words of the Egyptian allies, resolving to return to their own countries, and not concern themselves any further with the affairs of Egypt; or else they are the words of the remains of the Egyptians, resolving to retire within their own borders, as thinking the Babylonians would not follow them thither. They did cry, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise — He is no more than an empty boaster: he has neglected the opportunities he ought to have laid hold on, and he is not prepared according to his appointment. Jeremiah 46:17 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed. Jeremiah 46:18 As I live, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. Jeremiah 46:18 . As I live saith the king, whose name is the Lord of hosts — He, before whom the mightiest kings on earth, though gods to us, are but as grasshoppers; he hath said and sworn what follows; Surely as Tabor, &c. — As surely as Tabor is among the mountains and Carmel by the sea, so surely shall the conqueror of Egypt come. Or, though Egypt were as inaccessible as the top of Tabor, and begirt with the sea like Carmel, yet the enemy should come upon her, and make an entire conquest of her. Houbigant paraphrases the clause thus, “As much as Tabor overtops all other mountains, so much shall the Chaldeans be superior to the Egyptians; and as the waves of the sea roar in vain at the foot of mount Carmel, so shall the Egyptians waves rage in vain.” Blaney understands the clause in nearly the same sense, observing, “Tabor and Carmel were two of the most considerable mountains in the land of Israel. Carmel formed the principal headland all along the sea-coast. Nebuchadnezzar is compared to these on account of his superiority over all others.” Jeremiah 46:19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant. Jeremiah 46:19 . O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt — Blaney translates it, O inhabiting daughter of Egypt, observing, that an antithesis seems to be designed between ?????? , inhabiting, and the act of migration, which was to follow. Countries and cities are often represented under the emblem of women, especially in medals and pictures. Furnish thyself to go into captivity — “The expression is ironical, implying that, instead of the rich and goodly furniture wherein she did pride herself, she should be carried away captive, naked and bare, and wanting all manner of conveniences.” The Hebrew of this clause seems to be more literally translated in the margin than in the text; the word ??? , there rendered instruments, meaning either the carriages, or the trunks and boxes that were to hold the things to be removed. Blaney reads it, Get ready thy equipage for removing. For Noph shall be waste, &c. — Noph in particular shall be wholly depopulated and laid waste. This place, called also Memphis, was accordingly laid waste some time after this, and remained some years in a state of desolation. It was, indeed, afterward rebuilt, but never recovered its ancient splendour. Jeremiah 46:20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north. Jeremiah 46:20-21 . Egypt is like a very fair heifer — “In the foregoing verse the prophet compared Egypt to a delicate young woman. Here he resembles her to a fat and well-favoured heifer. In which comparison, as Grotius not improbably conjectures, there is an allusion to their god Apis, which was a bull, remarkable for his beauty and the fine spots or marks he had about him.” — Lowth. But destruction cometh, &c. — The Hebrew is very emphatical, ??? ????? ?? ?? , destruction from the north, it cometh, it cometh. Also her hired men — Her mercenary soldiers; are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks — Bullocks fatted up, and fit for the slaughter: or they are inactive, and as little courageous as fatted bullocks; foreign or hired troops never fighting with such spirit and resolution as those manifest who are defending their own country and property. They did not stand — Namely, in the fight; because the day of their calamity was come — Because the time when God resolved to punish them, and bring calamity upon them, was arrived, even the time of their visitation, as it is expressed chap. Jeremiah 50:27 . Jeremiah 46:21 Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation. Jeremiah 46:22 The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood. Jeremiah 46:22-23 . The voice thereof shall go like a serpent — “That is, her (Egypt’s) voice shall be low and inarticulate through fear. This passage seems to be an imitation of Isaiah 29:4 , where we find the same threat denounced against Jerusalem, namely, Thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground. The cause which is assigned is the same in both places, the irresistible attack of powerful enemies.” — Dr. Durell. See note on Isaiah 29:4 . For they shall march with an army — For the Chaldeans shall come with powerful forces; with axes, as hewers of wood — As if they came to fell timber in a wood. They shall cut down her forest — Here Egypt is compared to a forest, either for the multitude of cities and their stately buildings, or of people in that country; and its destruction is described by the metaphor of cutting down the trees of a forest. Though it cannot be searched, &c. — Though the forest be very thick, and the trees thereof innumerable. Because they are more than the grasshoppers — Because the army of the Chaldeans shall be as numerous as the inhabitants of Egypt. In other words, though the cities and inhabitants of Egypt be never so numerous and large; yet the Chaldean army shall plunder and destroy them, because their number is proportionable to such an enterprise. Armies are often compared to grasshoppers and such like insects, both for their multitudes, and because they make a general consumption, grasshoppers devouring all before them, wherever they come: see Jdg 6:5 ; Jdg 7:12 ; Joel 2:4-5 . Jeremiah 46:23 They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable. Jeremiah 46:24 The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north. Jeremiah 46:25 The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him: Jeremiah 46:25-26 . Behold, I will punish the multitude of No — Hebrew, ??? ???? , Amon of No, which, says Blaney, “is the literal translation, and we need seek for no other.” Amon, or Ammon, as the word is generally written, was the name by which the Egyptians called Jupiter, who had a celebrated temple at Thebes, famous for its hundred gates in Homer’s time, and supposed to be the same city with No here mentioned. Here Jupiter was worshipped in a distinguished manner, on which account the place was called Diospolis, the city of Jupiter, which name the LXX. have put for No, Ezekiel 30:14-16 . If therefore No be Thebes, or Diospolis, as it seems evident it is, then Amman of No signifies the deity of the place, the Theban Jupiter, as Herodotus styles him, lib. 2. cap. 42. As, on the other hand, ?? ???? , No-ammon, Nahum 3:8 , should be rendered, No of Amman, which exactly corresponds with the Greek ????????? , or, city of Jupiter. But very different from these is the term, ?? ???? ?? , used Ezekiel 30:15 , which indeed signifies the multitude, or numerous inhabitants of No; although, from the similitude of the words ???? and ???? , Amon and Hamon, our translators, and others besides them, have confounded them together. Some have supposed No to mean Alexandria, the great emporium of Egypt; and the Chaldee and Vulgate have rendered it so. But Alexandria was not built till ages after the time when Jeremiah prophesied: and it does not appear that there had been before any city, at least any considerable one, standing upon the spot which the founder made the object of his choice. And Pharaoh and Egypt, with their gods and their kings — The same divine vengeance, which falls upon the idol Ammon and his worshippers, shall reach the rest of Egypt with their respective idols and governors. “When an idolatrous nation,” says Blaney, “is doomed to destruction, God is said to execute vengeance upon the idols of the country: see Jeremiah 43:12-13 . Accordingly, here Ammon of No, the principal deity, and Pharaoh, the principal man, among the Egyptians, are marked out in the first place as the primary objects of divine visitation; then follows, in the gross, Egypt with all her gods, and all her kings; which latter term is explained to include both Pharaoh himself, and those subordinate rulers who were dependant upon him for the rank and authority they held. And afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old — At the end of forty years Egypt was to begin to recover itself, as Ezekiel foretels, Ezekiel 29:13 . Jeremiah 46:26 And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD. Jeremiah 46:27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. Jeremiah 46:27-28 . But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither, &c. — See notes on Jeremiah 30:10-11 , from whence these two verses are taken, containing a comfortable promise to the Jews, that God will not make an utter destruction of them as he hath done of several other nations, against which the prophets have denounced his judgments; but will still preserve a remnant of them, to whom he will perform the promises made to their fathers: see also note on Jeremiah 30:16-17 . Jeremiah 46:28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositors

Expositor's Bible Commentary Jeremiah 46:1 The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; CHAPTER XVII EGYPT Jeremiah 43:8-13 , Jeremiah 44:30 , Jeremiah 46:1-28 "I will visit Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods and their kings: even Pharaoh and all them that trust in him." Jeremiah 46:25 THE kings of Egypt with whom Jeremiah was contemporary-Psammetichus II, Pharaoh Necho, and Pharaoh Hophra-belonged to the twenty-sixth dynasty. When growing distress at home compelled Assyria to loose her hold on her distant dependencies, Egypt still retained something of her former vigorous elasticity. In the rebound from subjection under the heavy hand of Sennacherib, she resumed her ancient forms of life and government. She regained her unity and independence, and posed afresh as an equal rival with Chaldea for the supremacy of Western Asia. At home there was a renascence of art and literature, and, as of old, the wealth and devotion of powerful monarchs restored the ancient temples and erected new shrines of their own. But this revival was no new growth springing up with a fresh and original life from the seeds of the past; it cannot rank with the European Renascence of the fifteenth century. It is rather to be compared with the reorganisations by which Diocletian and Constantine prolonged the decline of the Roman Empire, the rally of a strong constitution in the grip of mortal disease. These latter-day Pharaohs failed ignominiously in their attempts to recover the Syrian dominion of the Thothmes and Rameses; and, like the Roman Empire in its last centuries, the Egypt of the twenty-sixth dynasty surrendered itself to Greek influence and hired foreign mercenaries to fight its battles. The new art and literature were tainted by pedantic archaism. According to Brugsch, "Even to the newly created dignities and titles, the return to ancient times had become the general watchword. The stone door posts of this age reveal the old Memphian style of art, mirrored in its modern reflection after the lapse of four thousand years." Similarly Meyer tells us that apparently the Egyptian state was reconstituted on the basis of a religious revival, somewhat in the fashion of the establishment of Deuteronomy by Josiah. Inscriptions after the time of Psammetichus are written in archaic Egyptian of a very ancient past; it is often difficult to determine at first sight whether inscriptions belong to the earliest or latest period of Egyptian history. The superstition that sought safety in an exact reproduction of a remote antiquity could not, however, resist the fascination of Eastern demonology. According to Brugsch, (2:293) in the age called the Egyptian Renascence the old Egyptian theology was adulterated with Graeco-Asiatic elements - demons and genii of whom the older faith and its purer doctrine had scarcely an idea; exorcisms became a special science, and are favourite themes for the inscriptions of this period. Thus, amid many differences, there are also to be found striking resemblances between the religious movements of the period in Egypt and amongst the Jews, and corresponding difficulties in determining the dates of Egyptian inscriptions and of sections of the Old Testament. This enthusiasm for ancient custom and tradition was not likely to commend the Egypt of Jeremiah’s age to any student of Hebrew history. He would be reminded that the dealings of the Pharaohs with Israel had almost always been to its hurt; he would remember the Oppression and the Exodus-how, in the time of Solomon, friendly intercourse with Egypt taught that monarch lessons in magnificent tyranny, how Shishak plundered the Temple, how Isaiah had denounced the Egyptian alliance as a continual snare to Judah. A Jewish prophet would be prompt to discern the omens of coming ruin in the midst of renewed prosperity on the Nile. Accordingly at the first great crisis of the new international system; in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, either just before or just after the battle of Carchemish-it matters little which-Jeremiah takes up his prophecy against Egypt. First of all, with an ostensible friendliness which only masks his bitter sarcasm, he invites the Egyptians to take the field:- "Prepare buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses to the chariots, mount the chargers, Stand forth armed cap-a-pie for battle; Furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail." This great host with its splendid equipment must surely conquer. The prophet professes to await its triumphant return; but he sees instead a breathless mob of panic-stricken fugitives, and pours upon them the torrent of his irony:- "How is it that I behold this? These heroes are dismayed and have turned their backs; Their warriors have been beaten down; They flee apace, and do not look behind them: Terror on every side-is the utterance of Jehovah." Then irony passes into explicit malediction:- "Let not the swift flee away, nor the warrior escape; Away northward, they stumble and fall by the river Euphrates." Then, in a new strophe, Jeremiah again recurs in imagination to the proud march of the countless hosts of Egypt: "Who is this that riseth up like the Nile, Whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? Egypt riseth up like the Nile, His waters toss themselves like the rivers. And he saith, I will go up and cover the land" (like the Nile in flood); "I will destroy the cities and their inhabitants" (and, above all other cities, Babylon). Again the prophet urges them on with ironical encouragement:- "Go up, ye horses; rage, ye chariots; Ethiopians and Libyans that handle the shield, Lydians that handle and bend the bow" (the tributaries and mercenaries of Egypt). Then, as before, he speaks plainly of coming disaster: "That day is a day of vengeance for the Lord Jehovah Sabaoth, whereon He will avenge Him of His adversaries" (a day of vengeance upon Pharaoh Necho for Megiddo and Josiah). "The sword shall devour and be sated, and drink its fill of their blood: For the Lord Jehovah Sabaoth hath a sacrifice in the northern land, by the river Euphrates." In a final strophe, the prophet turns to the land left bereaved and defenceless by the defeat at Carchemish:- "Go up to Gilead and get thee balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: In vain dost thou multiply medicines; thou canst not be healed. The nations have heard of thy shame, the earth is full of thy cry: For warrior stumbles against warrior; they fall both together." Nevertheless the end was not yet. Egypt was wounded to death, but she was to linger on for many a long year to be a snare to Judah and to vex the righteous soul of Jeremiah. The reed was broken, but it still retained an appearance of soundness, which more than once tempted the Jewish princes to lean upon it and find their hands pierced for their pains. Hence, as we have seen already, Jeremiah repeatedly found occasion to reiterate the doom of Egypt, of Necho’s successor, Pharaoh Hophra, and of the Jewish refugees who had sought safety under his protection. In the concluding part of chapter 46, a prophecy of uncertain date sets forth the ruin of Egypt with rather more literary finish than in the parallel passages. This word of Jehovah was to be proclaimed in Egypt, and especially in the frontier cities, which would have to bear the first brunt of invasion:- "Declare in Egypt, proclaim in Migdol, proclaim in Noph and Tahpanhes: Say ye, Take thy stand and be ready, for the sword hath devoured round about thee. Why hath Apis fled and thy calf not stood? Because Jehovah overthrew it." Memphis was devoted to the worship of Apis, incarnate in the sacred bull; but now Apis must succumb to the mightier divinity of Jehovah, and his sacred city become a prey to the invaders. "He maketh many to stumble; they fall one against another. Then they say, Arise, and let us return to our own people And to our native land, before the oppressing sword." We must remember that the Egyptian armies were largely composed of foreign mercenaries. In the hour of disaster and defeat these hirelings would desert their employers and go home. "Give unto Pharaoh king of Egypt the name. Crash; he hath let the appointed time pass by." The form of this enigmatic sentence is probably due to a play upon Egyptian names and titles. When the allusions are forgotten, such paronomasia naturally results in hopeless obscurity. The "appointed time" has been explained as the period during which Jehovah gave Pharaoh the opportunity of repentance, or as that within which he might have submitted to Nebuchadnezzar on favourable terms. "As I live, is the utterance of the King, whose name is Jehovah Sabaoth, One shall come like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea." It was not necessary to name this terrible invader; it could be no other than Nebuchadnezzar. "Get thee gear for captivity, O daughter of Egypt, that dwellest in thine own land: For Noph shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up and left without inhabitants. Egypt is a very fair heifer, but destruction is come upon her from the north." This tempest shattered the Greek phalanx in which Pharaoh trusted:- "Even her mercenaries in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; Even they have turned and fled together, they have not stood: For their day of calamity hath come upon them, their day of reckoning." We do not look for chronological sequence in such a poem, so that this picture of the flight and destruction of the mercenaries is not necessarily later in time than their overthrow and contemplated desertion in Jeremiah 46:15 . The prophet is depicting a scene of bewildered confusion; the disasters that fell thick upon Egypt crowd into Giesebrecht, his vision without order or even coherence. Now he turns again to Egypt herself:- "Her voice goeth forth like the (low hissing of) the serpent; For they come upon her with a mighty army, and with axes like woodcutters." A like fate is predicted in Isaiah 29:4 for "Ariel, the city where David dwelt":- "Thou shalt be brought low and speak from the ground; Thou shalt speak with a low voice out of the dust; Thy voice shall come from the ground, like that of a familiar spirit, And thou shalt speak in a whisper from the dust." Thus too Egypt would seek to writhe herself from under the heel of the invader: hissing out the while her impotent fury, she would seek to glide away into some safe refuge amongst the underwood. Her dominions, stretching far up the Nile, were surely vast enough to afford her shelter somewhere: but no! the "woodcutters" are too many and too mighty for her:- "They cut down her forest-it is the utterance of Jehovah for it is impenetrable; For they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable." The whole of Egypt is overrun and subjugated; no district holds out against the invader, and remains unsubjugated to form the nucleus of a new and independent empire. "The daughter of Egypt is put to shame; she is delivered into the hand of the northern people." Her gods share her fate; Apis had succumbed at Memphis, but Egypt had countless other stately shrines whose denizens must own the overmastering might of Jehovah:- "Thus saith Jehovah Sabaoth, the God of Israel: Behold, I will visit Amon of No, And Pharaoh, and Egypt, and all her gods and kings, Even Pharaoh and all who trust in him." Amon of No, or Thebes, known to the Greeks as Ammon and called by his own worshippers Amen, or "the hidden one," is apparently mentioned with Apis as sharing the primacy of the Egyptian divine hierarchy. On the fall of the twentieth dynasty, the high priest of the Theban Amen became king of Egypt, and centuries afterwards Alexander the Great made a special pilgrimage to the temple in the oasis of Ammon and was much gratified at being there hailed son of the deity. Probably the prophecy originally ended with this general threat of "visitation" of Egypt and its human and divine rulers. An editor, however, has added, from parallel passages, the more definite but sufficiently obvious statement that Nebuchadnezzar and his servants were to be the instruments of the Divine visitation. A further addition is in striking contrast to the sweeping statements of Jeremiah:- "Afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old." Similarly, Ezekiel foretold a restoration for Egypt:- "At the end of forty years, I will gather the Egyptians, and will cause them to returnto their native land: and they shall be there a base kingdom: it shall be the basest of the kingdoms." { Ezekiel 29:13-15 } And elsewhere we read yet more gracious promises to Egypt:- "Israel shall be a third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the land: whom Jehovah Sabaoth shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance." { Isaiah 19:25 } Probably few would claim to discover in history any literal fulfilment of this last prophecy. Perhaps it might have been appropriated for the Christian Church in the days of Clement and Origen. We may take Egypt and Assyria as types of heathendom, which shall one day receive the blessings of the Lord’s people and of the work of His hands. Of political revivals and restorations Egypt has had her share. But less interest attaches to these general prophecies than to more definite and detailed predictions; and there is much curiosity as to any evidence which monuments and other profane witnesses may furnish as to a conquest of Egypt and capture of Pharaoh Hophra by Nebuchadnezzar. According to Herodotus, Apries (Hophra) was defeated and imprisoned by his successor Amasis, afterwards delivered up by him to the people of Egypt, who forthwith strangled their former king. This event would be an exact fulfilment of the words, "I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life," { Jeremiah 44:30 } if it were not evident from parallel passages { Jeremiah 46:25 } that the Book of Jeremiah intends Nebuchadnezzar to be the enemy into whose hands Pharaoh is to be delivered. But Herodotus is entirely silent as to the relations of Egypt and Babylon during this period; for instance, he mentions the victory of Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo-which he miscalls Magdolium-but not his defeat at Carehemish. Hence his silence as to Chaldean conquests in Egypt has little weight. Even the historian’s explicit statement as to the death of Apries might be reconciled with his defeat and capture by Nebuchadnezzar, if we knew all the facts. At present, however, the inscriptions do little to fill the gap left by the Greek historian; there are, however, references which seem to establish two invasions of Egypt by the Chaldean king, one of which fell in the reign of Pharaoh Hophra. But the spiritual lessons of this and the following prophecies concerning the nations are not dependent on the spade of the excavator or the skill of the decipherers of hieroglyphics and cuneiform script; whatever their relation may be to the details of subsequent historical events, they remain as monuments of the inspired insight of the prophet into the character and destiny alike of great empires and petty states. They assert the Divine government of the nations, and the subordination of all history to the coming of the Kingdom of God. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Illustrator

Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise. Jeremiah 46:17 Religious judgments J. Parker, D. D. How the Bible can torment its adversaries! — mock them, contemn them, dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Yet it is never mere contempt. The contempt of the Bible is the penal side of a profound philosophy. Its contempt is as necessary as its Gospel — nay, more, its Gospel renders its contempt necessary. Our God is a "consuming fire," "God is love," "the wrath of the Lamb." So when Pharaoh-Necho — mighty man — is called by the contemptuous term of "noise" no mere sneer is employed. This is a righteous judgment, a moral estimate, a correct representation of things as they are in reality, not of things as they appear to be. In all judgments we must have regard to distance, proportion, perspective. Pharaoh king of Egypt, with horses, chariots, swords, spears, hosts of men, is a terrific power; but to a man standing in the quiet of the Divine sanctuary, "Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise" — a waft of wind, a curl of smoke dying whilst it rises. If men would but consider this law of proportion the whole estimate of life would undergo an instantaneous and complete reversion. The text brings before us the great subject of religious judgments — by religious judgments I mean estimates. We must call religion into the house if we would take a true appraisement of what we possess. Only religion, as interpreted in Holy Scripture, can tell you what you are and what you are worth. 1. With regard to those religious estimates or judgments, note how fearless they are. They are not judgments about personal manners, social etiquette, little and variable customs; they challenge the whole world. We are moved by their heroism. Religious judgments do not fritter away our time and patience in discussing little questions and petty problems: they summon kings to their bar and call nations to stand back and be judged. There is a national entity as well as a personal individuality. Blessed is the voice that, fills a nation; grand is the Gospel that spreads itself over the whole world. We cannot do without the heroic element, the heroic judgment, the broad estimate, the complete arbitrament, that takes within its purview and decision everything concerning individual life and general civilisation. You must have the great call, the sublime challenge, the heroic appeal, the white throne that stretches itself from horizon to horizon, and before which kings are as little men and little men as kings — the grand astronomical pomp and majesty before which all else settles into its right relation. That you have in the Bible, and nowhere else. 2. The judgments of the Bible are rational as well as fearless. Under all contempt there is a rock of logic. Why does the Bible contemn things? Because of their proportion. It knows the exact proportion which everything bears to the sum-total of things and to the sovereign purpose of the Divine government. Then the judgments of the Bible are rational because the matter or element of duration is continually present to the minds of the inspired writers. The inspired writer has been locked up with God, and turning away from that glory all other things become as the baseless fabric of a vision. If we could see God we should be filled with contempt regarding all things, in so far as they affected to hinder us by their greatness or overpower us by their solidity. 3. Then the judgments of the Bible are also critical. They are very dainty in their expression: they take the right word with an inspired ingenuity. "Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise." You cannot amend that comment. Try to amend anything Jesus Christ ever said. As well amend a dewdrop; as well paint the lily. And the nations, according to the biblical estimate, are but "a wind" that cometh for a little time and then passeth away; and our life is but "a vapour," dying in its very living. These are the condensations of Omniscience; these arc the sharpened points whetted in eternity; these stand incapable of amendment. 4. But "fearless," "rational," "critical" — is there no word that comes nearer to my own necessity? Yes, there is a word that touches us all to-day: these religious judgments are inspiring. Man wants inspiration every day. The Bible was not inspired once for all, in the sense of having its whole meaning shown in one disclosure. Inspiration comes with every dawn, distils in every dew-shower, breathes in every breeze; it is the daily gift of God. How are these judgments inspiring? Because they enable a man who is right in his spirit and purpose to say, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" ( J. Parker, D. D. ) As I live, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts. Jeremiah 46:18 The oaths of Jehovah W. Rees, D. D. I. THE DIVINE OATHS RECORDED IN SCRIPTURE EXHIBIT AND DECLARE THE GLORY OF THE DIVINE CHARACTER. 1. As they show forth the infinite condescension of God. He has addressed us not only in the language of authority and goodness, but also actually condescended to confirm His own true sayings by the most solemn oaths, and this He has done, not only upon some one particular occasion, but in numerous instances, and in every variety of form. Sometimes, Jehovah swears by one or the other of His natural perfections. The Lord hath sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength. At other times He swears by one or the other of His moral perfections, as, "Once have I sworn by My holiness." At other times by His great name, but the most expressive, as well as the most usual form is that in the text, "As I live, saith the Lord God." 2. The Divine oaths furnish a sublime and awful manifestation of the sincere earnestness of the Divine mind in what He declares unto us in His Word, with such an attestation. 3. The Divine oaths exhibit also the benevolent solicitude of God for the welfare of the unworthy creatures whom He thus addresses; or as the apostle expresses it, "the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man." 4. The Divine oaths intimate the unchangeableness of the Divine mind in relation to those arrangements in His natural and moral government which were in that manner established and confirmed. II. THE DIVINE OATHS ALSO SERVE TO ILLUSTRATE THE MORAL CHARACTER OF MAN, AND TO EXERCISE A POWERFUL INFLUENCE ON HIS MORAL AND SPIRITUAL INTERESTS. 1. They strongly corroborate the fact that the human heart is corrupt and alienated from God. In speaking to His holy angels, "who excel in strength," and are swift to do His will, an oath in confirmation of His Word is altogether unnecessary. They know His character too well ever to entertain the slightest suspicion of His truthfulness; but in dealing with fallen and apostate man, He knew it was necessary to confirm His own faithful words by most solemn oaths, pledging His own eternal existence on their truth. 2. They serve also as fearful warnings of the perilous condition of the impenitent and unbelieving soul. Could not an angel have reasonably supposed that in the face of all the declarations and oaths of Jehovah, recorded in the Bible, unbelief on the part of man would have been a moral impossibility? After all, unbelief is the most common sin in the world, and the sin on account of which men generally feel the least compunction; the sin on account of which the Son of God marvelled and was grieved, — men neither marvel nor grieve. Just as if it was a thing of no moment to treat the eternal God as a liar and a perjurer! Be not deceived, God is not mocked. 3. They afford the strongest encouragement to believers in their onward progress to heaven. Christians, during their earthly pilgrimage, have to contend against many things in themselves and in the world, which are calculated to exert a most depressing influence upon their hearts. But they are, nevertheless, favoured with abundant sources of consolation in the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, and in the great and precious truths and promises of the Gospel "God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of the promises the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." The firm stability of the ordinances of the covenant made with Noah, is employed to illustrate the stability and unchangeableness of the covenant of redemption. The mountains and the hills are referred to as fit emblems of its eternal immutability. ( W. Rees, D. D. ) But correct thee in measure. Jeremiah 46:28 Chastisement duly proportioned G. Swinnock. Correction is like physic, not to be given without good advice and caution. We use a difference when we go about to hew a rugged piece of timber, and to smooth a little stick, which you can bend as you please. A fit season must be observed. Cut your trees at some time of the year, and you kill them; prune them at other times, and they thrive much the better. Horses too straight reined in are apt to rise up with their forefeet; when they are allowed convenient liberty with their heads they go better. ( G. Swinnock. ).

Matthew Henry

46:1-12 The whole word of God is against those who obey not the gospel of Christ; but it is for those, even of the Gentiles, who turn to Him. The prophecy begins with Egypt. Let them strengthen themselves with all the art and interest they have, yet it shall be all in vain. The wounds God inflicts on his enemies, cannot be healed by medicines. Power and prosperity soon pass from one to another in this changing world. 46:13-28 Those who encroached on others, shall now be themselves encroached on. Egypt is now like a very fair heifer, not accustomed to the yoke of subjection; but destruction comes out of the north: the Chaldeans shall come. Comfort and peace are spoken to the Israel of God, designed to encourage them when the judgments of God were abroad among the nations. He will be with them, and only correct them in measure; and will not punish them with everlasting destruction from his presence.