Naravist

The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 46

Jeremiah 46: the word against Egypt at Carchemish and in her own land

General context

The word of the Lord against the Gentiles begins with Egypt. The first oracle names the army of Pharaoh-necho at the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Soldiers are ordered to arm and draw near; then the speaker asks why he sees them dismayed and turned back, their mighty ones fleeing, for fear was round about. Egypt rises like a flood and says he will cover the earth; Ethiopians, Libyans and Lydians are called up. But it is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, and the sword will be drunk with blood at a sacrifice in the north country by the Euphrates. The virgin daughter of Egypt is told to seek balm in Gilead in vain, for she will not be cured. A second oracle tells how Nebuchadrezzar will come and smite the land of Egypt. Migdol, Noph and Tahpanhes are told to stand fast; the valiant men are swept away because the Lord drove them, and those who fall say, let us go again to our own people. Pharaoh is called a noise who has passed the appointed time. The daughter dwelling in Egypt must prepare for captivity; Noph will be waste. Egypt is a fair heifer with destruction coming from the north, her hired men fatted bullocks that flee, her forest cut down by an army more numerous than grasshoppers. The Lord will punish No, Pharaoh, Egypt, their gods and kings, and hand them to Nebuchadrezzar, yet afterward the land will be inhabited as of old. The chapter closes by telling Jacob not to fear: the Lord will save him from afar, make a full end of the nations but not of him, and correct him in measure.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 46:1, Jeremiah 46:2, Jeremiah 46:3, Jeremiah 46:4, Jeremiah 46:5, Jeremiah 46:8, Jeremiah 46:9, Jeremiah 46:10, Jeremiah 46:11, Jeremiah 46:13, Jeremiah 46:14, Jeremiah 46:15, Jeremiah 46:16, Jeremiah 46:17, Jeremiah 46:19, Jeremiah 46:20, Jeremiah 46:21, Jeremiah 46:23, Jeremiah 46:25, Jeremiah 46:26, Jeremiah 46:27, Jeremiah 46:28

Jeremiah 46 (KJV)

1The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;

2Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho 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.

3Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.

4Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.

5Wherefore 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.

6Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.

7Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?

8Egypt 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.

9Come 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.

10For 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.

11Go 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.

12The 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.

13The word that the Lord spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.

14Declare 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.

15Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the Lord did drive them.

16He 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.

17They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.

18As 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.

19O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.

20Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.

21Also 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.

22The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood.

23They shall cut down her forest, saith the Lord, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.

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

25The 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:

26And 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.

27But 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.

28Fear 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.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The first oracle carries its own setting: Pharaoh-necho's army at Carchemish by the Euphrates, smitten by Nebuchadrezzar in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the year chapters 36 and 45 also name. The second oracle is undated and concerns Egypt's own land; the places it names, Migdol, Noph and Tahpanhes, are the places where chapter 44 locates the Jews. Pharaoh-necho is named in verse 2, while the Pharaoh called "but a noise" in verse 17 is not named, and the text does not say whether the same king is meant. Egypt's fighters include Ethiopians, Libyans and Lydians and unnamed "hired men." No is named among those to be punished. The attacker is "the people of the north" and Nebuchadrezzar with his servants; the chapter does not narrate the attack or its outcome, and it promises that afterward Egypt will be inhabited as in the days of old. The closing two verses to Jacob repeat, nearly word for word, two verses of chapter 30. The "I" who sees the army dismayed in verse 5 is not named, and the line ends "saith the Lord." Nothing in the chapter says where Jeremiah was when the word came.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 46:2, Jeremiah 36:1, Jeremiah 45:1, Jeremiah 46:14, Jeremiah 44:1, Jeremiah 46:17, Jeremiah 46:9, Jeremiah 46:21, Jeremiah 46:25, Jeremiah 46:24, Jeremiah 46:26, Jeremiah 46:27, Jeremiah 30:10, Jeremiah 30:11, Jeremiah 46:5

Literary context

Two poems against Egypt share one image reversed. In the first, Egypt is the flood that rises and boasts it will cover the earth; in the second, destruction "cometh out of the north" and Egypt is a heifer waiting for it. The first poem opens with brisk commands to arm and turns at once to the sight of flight, so the preparation is mocked by its result. The question "Who is this that cometh up as a flood?" is answered by Egypt's own boast. Battle is called a sacrifice and the sword is made drunk. The order to seek balm in Gilead recalls the earlier question asked over Judah, "Is there no balm in Gilead," now put to Egypt with the answer built in: no cure. The second poem repeats "they stood not" and "they did not stand," and it piles up animal figures, heifer, fatted bullocks, serpent, grasshoppers, with an army coming like hewers of wood. The north is both where Egypt falls, by the Euphrates, and where her destroyer comes from. The oracle ends in restoration, "as in the days of old," and then turns to Jacob with words already used in chapter 30, so the judgment on the first nation is framed by comfort for Israel.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 46:8, Jeremiah 46:20, Jeremiah 46:3, Jeremiah 46:5, Jeremiah 46:7, Jeremiah 46:10, Jeremiah 46:11, Jeremiah 8:22, Jeremiah 46:15, Jeremiah 46:21, Jeremiah 46:22, Jeremiah 46:6, Jeremiah 46:26, Jeremiah 46:27, Jeremiah 30:10

Key moments

  1. Carchemish by the Euphrates (Jeremiah 46:2). The first word is set at Pharaoh-necho's defeat by Nebuchadrezzar.
  2. Dismayed and turned back (Jeremiah 46:5). After the call to arms the speaker sees Egypt's mighty men fleeing.
  3. Egypt like a flood (Jeremiah 46:8). Egypt boasts that it will rise and cover the earth.
  4. A day of vengeance (Jeremiah 46:10). The Lord holds a sacrifice by the Euphrates and the sword drinks blood.
  5. Balm in vain (Jeremiah 46:11). The daughter of Egypt is told no medicine will cure her.
  6. Afterward inhabited (Jeremiah 46:26). Egypt will be given to Nebuchadrezzar, then inhabited as of old.
  7. Fear not, Jacob (Jeremiah 46:27). The chapter closes with words of comfort to Israel.

For reflection

The oracle tells Egypt to go up to Gilead for balm and in the same breath says no medicine will cure her. What does it mean to be sent for a remedy while being told it will not work?

People in this chapter

Also indexed here: