_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 Chapter s, and refers to the denunciation
of God's judgments upon the countries round about Judea, namely, those
of whom all enumeration... [ Continue Reading ]
_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, w... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 th... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 f... [ Continue Reading ]
_He made many to fall_ Or, as the Vulgate renders הרבה כושׁל,
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 conqu... [ Continue Reading ]
_O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt_ Blaney translates it, _O
inhabiting daughter of Egypt_, observing, that an antithesis seems to
be designed between יושׁבת, _inhabiting_, and the act of
migration, which was to follow. Countries and cities are often
represented under the emblem of women, especially... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I will punish the multitude of No_ Hebrew, מנא אמון,
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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, 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... [ Continue Reading ]