INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 46 This chapter contains two prophecies relating to Egypt; one concerning the overthrow of Pharaohnecho, king of it, which was quickly accomplished; and the other concerning the destruction of the land, fulfilled many years after, and both by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon;... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WORD OF THE LORD WHICH CAME TO JEREMIAH THE PROPHET AGAINST THE GENTILES. Or "nations"; distinguished from the Jews; not all the nations of the world, but some hereafter mentioned, as the Egyptians, Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Syrians, Arabians, Persians, and Chaldeans: or "conce... [ Continue Reading ]
AGAINST EGYPT,.... This is the title of the first prophecy against Egypt; which is the first mentioned, because first accomplished; and because the Jews placed great confidence in and much relied on the Egyptians for help: AGAINST THE ARMY OF PHARAOHNECHO KING OF EGYPT; who is by Herodotus q called... [ Continue Reading ]
ORDER YE THE BUCKLER AND SHIELD,.... Both signify one and the same sort of armour, only of a different form, the one being lesser and lighter than the other. Jarchi makes the difference to be, that the former was made of skin, the latter of wood; they were both used to defend the body in war. To ord... [ Continue Reading ]
HARNESS THE HORSES,.... Put on their bridles and saddles and gird them: or, "bind the horses" r; that is, to the chariots; put them to, as we commonly express it: Egypt abounded in horses, and so no doubt brought a large cavalry, and a multitude of chariots, into the field of battle: AND GET UP, YE... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE HAVE I SEEN THEM DISMAYED [AND] TURNED AWAY BACK?.... The Egyptians, after all this preparation for war, and seeming ardent to engage in battle; and yet, when they came to it, were seized with a panic, and thrown into the utmost consternation, and turned their backs upon their enemy: these... [ Continue Reading ]
LET NOT THE SWIFT FLEE AWAY, NOR THE MIGHTY MEN ESCAPE,.... Those that were swift of foot, like Asahel, or carried but light armour, let not such trust to their swiftness or light carriage; nor let the mighty man think to escape by reason of his great strength, to make his way through the enemy, and... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO [IS] THIS [THAT] COMETH UP AS A FLOOD,.... These are either the words of the prophet, who having a vision in prophecy of the march of the Egyptian army from the south to the north, which he compares to a flood; in allusion to the river Nile, which used to overflow its banks, and spread itself ov... [ Continue Reading ]
EGYPT RISETH UP AS A FLOOD, AND [HIS] WATERS ARE MOVED LIKE THE RIVERS,.... This is the answer to the above question; that it was Egypt that was seen; the king of Egypt, as the Syriac version; he with his army, as the Targum; and which was so numerous, that it seemed as if the whole country of Egypt... [ Continue Reading ]
COME UP, YE HORSES; AND RAGE, YE CHARIOTS,.... These are either the words of Pharaoh, giving orders to his cavalry and charioteers to make haste and come up to battle, not doubting of victory: or rather of the Lord by the prophet, ironically calling upon the horsemen in the Egyptian army to come on... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS [IS] THE DAY OF THE LORD GOD OF HOSTS,.... Or, "but this is the day" y, c. notwithstanding this great apparatus for war, and those many auxiliaries the Egyptians would have, yet it would not be their day, in which they should get the better of their enemies but the Lord's day; the day he ha... [ Continue Reading ]
GO UP INTO GILEAD,.... Still the irony or sarcasm is continued Gilead was a place in the land of Israel famous for balm or balsam, used in curing wounds; see Jeremiah 8:22; hence it follows: AND TAKE BALM, O VIRGIN, DAUGHTER OF EGYPT; the kingdom of Egypt, as the Targum; so called because of its gl... [ Continue Reading ]
THE NATIONS HAVE HEARD OF THY SHAME,.... Their shameful defeat and overthrow by the Chaldean army; so, after the manner of prophecy, the thing is related as done; the battle fought, and the victory obtained; and the rumour and fame of it spread among the nations, to the great mortification of this p... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WORD THAT THE LORD SPAKE TO JEREMIAH THE PROPHET,.... This is a new and distinct prophecy from the former, though concerning Egypt as that; but in this they differ; the former prophecy respects only the overthrow of the Egyptian army at a certain place; this latter the general destruction of the... [ Continue Reading ]
DECLARE YE IN EGYPT,.... The coming of the king of Babylon, and his intention to invade the land, and subdue it: AND PUBLISH IN MIGDOL, AND PUBLISH IN NOPH, AND IN TAHPANHES; of these places Jeremiah 44:1; these were principal ones in the land of Egypt, where the enemy should come, and which he sho... [ Continue Reading ]
WHY ARE THY VALIANT [MEN] SWEPT AWAY?.... As with a mighty torrent, or a sweeping rain; so the word is used in Proverbs 28:3; to which the Chaldean army may be compared; which came with such irresistible force as to drive the Egyptians from their posts, so that they could not stand their ground. The... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MADE MANY TO FALL,.... That is, the Lord, by the hand of the Chaldeans, by whose sword multitudes fell in battle: YEA, ONE FELL UPON ANOTHER; they fell in heaps, denoting the multitude of the slain; or rather they fell in flight one upon another; one fell, and then another upon him, as usually t... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY DID CRY THERE,.... Not the Chaldeans, deriding Pharaoh and his army, and mocking them, saying the following words, as some; nor the Egyptians in Egypt, as Kimchi, complaining of their king; much less in Carchemish, as others; since this prophecy refers to another event, time, and place; but the... [ Continue Reading ]
[AS] I LIVE, SAITH THE KING, WHOSE NAME [IS] THE LORD OF HOSTS,.... A greater King than either Nebuchadnezzar or Pharaoh; the Lord of the armies of heaven and earth; and who has them all at his command and service; swears by his life, by himself, because he can swear by no greater, to the truth of w... [ Continue Reading ]
O THOU DAUGHTER DWELLING IN EGYPT,.... That is, O ye inhabitants of Egypt, that have long dwelt there, in great security, enjoying great plenty, and who promised themselves a long continuance: FURNISH THYSELF TO GO INTO CAPTIVITY; or, "make", or "prepare for thyself vessels of captivity" y; or such... [ Continue Reading ]
EGYPT [IS LIKE] A VERY FAIR HEIFER,.... Like a heifer that has never been under a yoke, it having never been conquered, and brought under the power of another; and like a beautiful, fat, and well fed one, abounding in wealth and riches, in pleasures and delights, in wantonness and luxury, and fit fo... [ Continue Reading ]
ALL HER HIRED MEN [ARE] IN THE MIDST OF HER LIKE FATTED BULLOCKS,.... Or, "bullocks of the stall" k; soldiers of other countries, that were hired into the service of Egypt, and lived so deliciously there, that they were unfit for war, and were like fatted beasts prepared for the slaughter. The Targu... [ Continue Reading ]
THE VOICE THEREOF SHALL GO LIKE A SERPENT,.... That is, the voice of Egypt, before compared to a heifer, when in its glory; but now it shall not bellow like a heifer in fat pasture, bat hiss like a serpent, when drove out of its hole, and pursued; signifying, that their voice should be low and submi... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL CUT DOWN HER FOREST, SAITH THE LORD,.... The land of Egypt, compared to a forest, for the multitude of its cities and towns, and the inhabitants of them; which should be destroyed by the Chaldeans, as a forest is cut down by hewers of wood; the metaphor is here continued. The Targum inter... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DAUGHTER OF EGYPT SHALL BE CONFOUNDED,.... Brought to shame before all the nations of the earth, being conquered by the Chaldeans; that is, the kingdom of Egypt, as the Targum; or the inhabitants of it, being subdued and carried captive: SHE SHALL BE DELIVERED INTO THE HAND OF THE PEOPLE OF THE... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD OF HOSTS, THE GOD OF ISRAEL, SAITH,.... These titles are often given to the Lord, and set before prophecies that come from him; and, according to Kimchi, the reason why he is here spoken of as the God of Israel was, because the vengeance threatened to the Egyptians should come upon them, as... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL DELIVER THEM INTO THE HAND OF THOSE THAT SEEK THEIR LIVES,.... Into the hands of the Chaldeans; that is, the king of Egypt, and all his people, and those that trusted in him: AND INTO THE HAND OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR KING OF BABYLON, AND INTO THE HAND OF HIS SERVANTS; his general officers, tha... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT FEAR THOU NOT, O MY SERVANT JACOB; AND BE NOT DISMAYED, O ISRAEL,.... The same things are said in Jeremiah 30:10; Jeremiah 30:10; FOR, BEHOLD, I WILL SAVE THEE FROM AFAR OFF, AND THY SEED FROM THE LAND THEIR CAPTIVITY; Grotius thinks the Jews carried into Egypt by Pharaohnecho, along with Jeho... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR THOU NOT, O JACOB, MY SERVANT, SAITH THE LORD, FOR I [AM] WITH THEE,.... Though afar off, in foreign lands, and in captivity: this exhortation is repeated, to strengthen their consolation, and them, against their fears of being cast off by the Lord: FOR I WILL MAKE A FULL END OF ALL THE NATION... [ Continue Reading ]