CHAPTER XLVI _The difference between the preceding and the subsequent_ _prophecies in point of composition is very remarkable; the_ _last excelling much in majesty and elegance. This chapter (of_ _which the first verse forms a general title to this and the_ _five chapters following) contains tw... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:2. _PHARAOH-NECHO_] This was the person who defeated the army of Josiah, in which engagement Josiah received a mortal wound, of which he died, greatly regretted, soon after at _Megiddo_. After this victory, he defeated the Babylonians, and took Carchemish; and, having fortified it,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:3. _ORDER YE THE BUCKLER_] This is the call to the general armament of the people against the Chaldeans.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:4. _FURBISH THE SPEARS_] Cleanse, brighten, and sharpen them; from the Franco-Gallic _fourbir_, to polish, brighten. _BRIGANDINES._] A coat of mail, especially that which was made _scale fashion_; one plate overlapping the other, like the scales of fish.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:5. _WHEREFORE HAVE I SEEN THEM DISMAYED_] What! such a numerous, formidable, and well-appointed army panic-struck? So that they have _turned back-fled apace_, and _looked not round_; while their _mighty ones_-their generals and commanders, striving to rally them, are _beaten down_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:6. _LET NOT THE SWIFT FLEE AWAY_] Even the swiftest shall not be able to escape. _THEY SHALL - FALL TOWARD THE NORTH_] By the _Euphrates_, which was northward of Judea. Here the Egyptian army was routed with great slaughter.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:7. _WHO_ IS _THIS_ THAT _COMETH UP AS A FLOOD_] The vast concourse of people is here represented as a _river_: for instance, the Jordan, suddenly swollen with the rains in harvest, rolling its waters along, and overflowing the whole country. A fine image to represent the incursions... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:9. _THE ETHIOPIANS_] Heb. _Cush, Phut_, and the _Ludim_. This army was composed of many nations. _Cush_, which we translate _Ethiopians_, almost invariably means the _Arabians_; and here, those _Arabs_ that bordered on Egypt near the Red Sea. _Phut_ probably means the _Libyans_; f... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:10. _FOR THIS_ IS _THE DAY OF THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS_] The prophet represents this as a _mighty sacrifice_, where innumerable victims were slain.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:11. _GO UP INTO GILEAD, AND TAKE BALM_] An irony. Egypt is so completely enfeebled by this overthrow, that her political wound is utterly incurable. This figure is used with the more propriety here, as the Egyptians have been celebrated from the remotest antiquity for their _knowle... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:12. _THE NATIONS HAVE HEARD OF THY SHAME_] Of thy disgrace, by this prodigious slaughter of thy troops.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:13. _HOW NEBUCHADREZZAR - SHOULD COME_ AND _SMITE THE LAND OF_ _EGYPT._] See on Jeremiah 44:29; Jeremiah 44:30. This was after Amasis had driven Pharaoh-necho into Upper Egypt. See Jeremiah 44:30.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:14. _MIGDOL_] Magdolum, a city of Lower Egypt. _Noph_, Memphis. _Tahpanhes_, Daphne. See before, Jeremiah 44:1, _ROUND ABOUT THEE._] The Phoenicians, Philistines, Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites, all prostrated by the arms of the Chaldeans.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:15. _THEY STOOD NOT, BECAUSE THE LORD DID DRIVE THEM._] The Lord panic-struck them, and _drove_ them back.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:16. _ONE FELL UPON ANOTHER_] In their terror and confusion ranks fell on ranks, and overturned each other. _LET US GO AGAIN TO OUR OWN PEOPLE_] Let us flee to our own country with all possible speed. These were the auxiliaries.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:17. _THEY DID CRY THERE_] Dr. _Blayney_ translates this cry thus: - _______ "O Pharaoh, king of Egypt, A tumult hath frustrated the appointed meeting." These allies sent their excuse to Pharaoh, that the disasters they had met with had prevented them from joining him as they had... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:18. _AS TABOR IS AMONG THE MOUNTAINS_] This mountain is situated in the plain of Esdraelon in Galilee, on the confines of the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar, Joshua 19:22. It stood by itself, separated from all the other mountains by deep valleys, and is the highest of the whole.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:19. _FURNISH THYSELF TO GO INTO CAPTIVITY_] The thing is unavoidable; prepare for this calamity.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:20. _EGYPT_ IS LIKE _A VERY FAIR HEIFER_] Fruitful and useful; but destruction cometh out of the north, from Chaldea. It may be that there is an allusion here to _Isis_, worshipped in Egypt under the form of a beautiful cow.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:21. _ARE FLED AWAY TOGETHER_] Perhaps there is a reference here to the case of a cow stung with gnats. She runs hither and thither not knowing where to go; so shall it be with this scattered people.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:22. _THE VOICE - SHALL GO LIKE A SERPENT_] See Isaiah 29:4, and the note there.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:23. _THEY SHALL CUT DOWN HER FOREST_] Supposed to mean her cities, of which Egypt had no fewer than _one thousand_ and _twenty_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:24. _THE HAND OR THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTH_] The Chaldeans.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:25. _THE MULTITUDE OF NO_] אמון מנא _Amon minno_, the Amon of No, called by the Greeks Διοσπολις, or _Jupiter's city_. It was the famous _Thebes_, celebrated anciently for its hundred gates. _Amon_ was the name by which the Egyptians called Jupiter, who had a famous temple at Thebe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:26. _AFTERWARD IT SHALL BE INHABITED_] That is, within _forty_ _years_, as Ezekiel had predicted, Ezekiel 29:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:27. _FEAR NOT - MY SERVANT JACOB_] In the midst of wrath God remembers mercy. Though Judah shall be destroyed, Jerusalem taken, the temple burnt to the ground, and the people carried into captivity, yet the _nation_ shall not be destroyed. A seed shall be preserved, out of which th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 46:28. _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_] The Jews still remain as a _distinct people_, while the _Assyrians, Chaldeans,_ _Egyptians_, c., are no more! ON this subject, I cannot withhold from my readers th... [ Continue Reading ]