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Jeremiah 46

ENGWEBEnglish28 verses

1Yahweh’s word which came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations.

2Of Egypt: concerning the army of Pharaoh Necoh king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon struck in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah.

3Prepare the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle!

4Harness the horses, and get up, you horsemen, and stand up with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.

5Why have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled apace, and don’t look back: terror is on every side, says Yahweh.

6Don’t let the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen.

7Who is this who rises up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?

8Egypt rises up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he says, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and its inhabitants.

9Go up, you horses; and rage, you chariots; and let the mighty men go out: Cush and Put, who handle the shield; and the Ludim, who handle and bend the bow.

10For that day is of the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

11Go up into Gilead, and take balm, virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain do you use many medicines; there is no healing for you.

12The nations have heard of your shame, and the earth is full of your cry; for the mighty man has stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together.

13The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah the prophet, how that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon should come and strike the land of Egypt.

14Declare in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Memphis and in Tahpanhes: say, Stand up, and prepare; for the sword has devoured around you.

15Why are your strong ones swept away? they didn’t stand, because Yahweh pushed them.

16He made many to stumble, yes, they fell one on another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from the oppressing sword.

17They cried there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he has let the appointed time pass by.

18As I live, says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies, surely like Tabor among the mountains, and like Carmel by the sea, so shall he come.

19You daughter who dwells in Egypt, furnish yourself to go into captivity; for Memphis shall become a desolation, and shall be burnt up, without inhabitant.

20Egypt is a very beautiful heifer; but destruction out of the north has come, it has come.

21Also her hired men in the middle of her are like calves of the stall; for they also are turned back, they are fled away together, they didn’t stand: for the day of their calamity has come on them, the time of their visitation.

22The sound of it shall go like the serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as wood cutters.

23They shall cut down her forest, says Yahweh, though it can’t be searched; because they are more than the locusts, and are innumerable.

24The daughter of Egypt shall be disappointed; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.

25Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I will punish Amon of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh, and those who trust in him:

26and I will deliver them into the hand of those who seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants; and afterwards it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, says Yahweh.

27But don’t you be afraid, Jacob my servant, neither be dismayed, Israel: for, behold, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, and no one shall make him afraid.

28Don’t you be afraid, O Jacob my servant, says Yahweh; for I am with you: for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.

Commentary

46:1 The word - This verse contains the title of all the ensuing discourses; for, tho' there be some verse s in these chapter s that relate to the Jews, yet they are all concerning their restoration. The prophecies of judgments from the beginning of this chapter to the fifty - second, are all against foreign nations, which are called Gentiles.

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.

CHAPTER 46Jer 46:1-28. The Prophecies, Forty-sixth through Fifty-second Chapters, Refer to Foreign Peoples.He begins with Egypt, being the country to which he had been removed. The forty-sixth chapter contains two prophecies concerning it: the discomfiture of Pharaoh-necho at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar, and the long subsequent conquest of Egypt by the same king; also the preservation of the Jews (Jer 46:27, 28).1. General heading of the next six chapters of prophecies concerning the Gentiles; the prophecies are arranged according to nations, not by the dates.

2. Inscription of the first prophecy.Pharaoh-necho—He, when going against Carchemish (Cercusium, near the Euphrates), encountered Josiah, king of Judah (the ally of Assyria), at Megiddo, and slew him there (2Ki 23:29; 2Ch 35:20-24); but he was four years subsequently overcome at Carchemish, by Nebuchadnezzar, as is foretold here; and lost all the territory which had been subject to the Pharaohs west of the Euphrates, and between it and the Nile. The prediction would mitigate the Jews' grief for Josiah, and show his death was not to be unavenged (2Ki 24:7). He is famed as having fitted out a fleet of discovery from the Red Sea, which doubled the Cape of Good Hope and returned to Egypt by the Mediterranean.

4. Harness the horses—namely, to the war chariots, for which Egypt was famed (Ex 14:7; 15:4).get up, ye horsemen—get up into the chariots. Maurer, because of the parallel "horses," translates, "Mount the steeds." But it is rather describing the successive steps in equipping the war chariots; first harness the horses to them, then let the horsemen mount them.brigandines—cuirasses, or coats of mail.

5. (See on [971]Jer 46:3). The language of astonishment, that an army so well equipped should be driven back in "dismay." The prophet sees this in prophetic vision.fled apace—literally, "fled a flight," that is, flee precipitately.look not back—They do not even dare to look back at their pursuers.

7. as a flood—(Jer 47:2; Isa 8:7, 8; Da 11:22). The figure is appropriate in addressing Egyptians, as the Nile, their great river, yearly overspreads their lands with a turbid, muddy flood. So their army, swelling with arrogance, shall overspread the region south of Euphrates; but it, like the Nile, shall retreat as fast as it advanced.

9. Ironical exhortation, as in Jer 46:3. The Egyptians, owing to the heat of their climate and abstinence from animal food, were physically weak, and therefore employed mercenary soldiers.Ethiopians—Hebrew, Cush: Abyssinia and Nubia.Libyans—Phut, Mauritania, west of Egypt (compare Ge 10:6).shield—The Libyans borrowed from Egypt the use of the long shield extending to the feet [Xenophon, Cyropædia, 6 and 7].Lydians—not the Lydians west of Asia Minor (Ge 10:22; Eze 30:5), but the Ludim, an African nation descended from Egypt (Mizraim) (Ge 10:13; Eze 30:5; Na 3:9).handle and bend the bow—The employment of two verbs expresses the manner of bending the bow, namely, the foot being pressed on the center, and the hands holding the ends of it.

11. Gilead … balm—(See on [972]Jer 8:22); namely, for curing the wounds; but no medicine will avail, so desperate shall be the slaughter.virgin—Egypt is so called on account of her effeminate luxury, and as having never yet been brought under foreign yoke.thou shalt not be cured—literally, "there shall be no cure for thee" (Jer 30:13; Eze 30:21). Not that the kingdom of Egypt should cease to exist, but it should not recover its former strength; the blow should be irretrievable.

46:13-28 Those who encroached on others, shall now be themselves encroached on.

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Translations8 · 5

AMHEVG ስለ አሕዛብ ወደ ነቢዩ ወደ ኤርምያስ የመጣው የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ይህ ነው። አማርኛ ENGNIV This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations: English BCV ብዛዕባ ኣህዛብ ናብ ነቢይ ኤርሚያስ ዝመፀ ቓል እግዚኣብሄር እዙይ እዩ። ትግርኛ GAZBIB Dubbiin Waaqayyoo inni waa'ee saba lafa irraatiif gara ana Ermiyaas dhufe, kanatti fufee jira; Afaan Oromoo BCV GIZ ቃለ እግዚአብሔር ዘኮነ ኀበ ኤርምያስ ነቢይ ላዕለ አሕዛብ ዘግብፅ። giz GAZGAZ Dubbiin Waaqayyoo inni waa'ee saba lafa irraatiif gara ana Ermiyaas dhufe, kanatti fufee jira; Afaan Oromoo BCV aksum ብዛዕባ ኣህዛብ ናብ ነቢይ ኤርሚያስ ዝመፀ ቓል እግዚኣብሄር እዙይ እዩ። ትግርኛ AMHNIV ስለ ሕዝቦች ወደ ነቢዩ ወደ ኤርምያስ የመጣው የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ይህ ነው፤ አማርኛ