Jeremiah Chapter 46
Jeremiah 46
A Word of Judgment Against Egypt
Jeremiah 46:1-2, Introduction to the Prophecy
Jeremiah 46:1-2, “The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho 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.”
Jeremiah 46 begins a new major section of the book. The word of the LORD now comes “against the Gentiles,” meaning against the nations. Jeremiah has spent much of the book declaring judgment against Judah, Jerusalem, the kings, the priests, the false prophets, and the people of the covenant. Now the LORD speaks against the surrounding Gentile powers.
This is important because the LORD is not a tribal deity. He is not merely the God of Judah in a narrow local sense. He is the LORD over all nations. He judges His covenant people, but He also judges Egypt, Babylon, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Elam, and the kingdoms of the earth. His throne is universal.
The first nation addressed is Egypt. This is fitting because Egypt had long influenced Judah politically and spiritually. Egypt had once enslaved Israel. Egypt had tempted Judah to trust in human military power instead of the LORD. Egypt also had recently killed godly King Josiah through Pharaohnecho.
The prophecy concerns Pharaohnecho’s army at Carchemish by the river Euphrates. This battle was one of the great turning points in the ancient Near East. Egypt, once a mighty power, was defeated by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. From this point forward, Babylon became the dominant imperial power in the region.
This also explains why Judah’s trust in Egypt was foolish. Egypt could not save itself from Babylon. Therefore Egypt certainly could not save Judah from the judgment God had appointed.
Jeremiah 46:3-5, Soldiers Called to Battle and Quickly Routed
Jeremiah 46:3-5, “Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines. Wherefore 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.”
The prophecy opens with the sound of military preparation. The buckler and shield are ordered. The horses are harnessed. The horsemen mount up. Helmets, spears, and armor are prepared. Egypt appears ready for war.
The scene is vivid and confident. Egypt has soldiers, horses, chariots, shields, spears, armor, and mighty men. Outwardly, this is the kind of army that would expect victory.
But the prophecy suddenly turns. “Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back?” The army prepared for battle is already fleeing. Their mighty men are beaten down. They flee quickly and do not look back.
The phrase “fear was round about” shows complete panic. Egypt comes in pride, but runs in terror. Their military equipment cannot save them. Their horses cannot save them. Their reputation cannot save them. The LORD has appointed their defeat.
This is a major theme in the judgments against the nations. Human strength is real, but it is never ultimate. When God decrees judgment, the mighty become afraid, the swift cannot flee, and the proud are brought low.
Jeremiah 46:6-8, Egypt Rises Like a Flood but Falls by the Euphrates
Jeremiah 46:6-8, “Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers? Egypt 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.”
The LORD declares that the swift will not flee away and the mighty man will not escape. Egypt’s defeat is certain. The soldiers will stumble and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates, the region of Carchemish.
Egypt is pictured as a rising flood. This image fits Egypt because of the Nile and its waters. The Egyptian army comes like an overflowing river, swelling with confidence and threatening to cover the earth.
Egypt says, “I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.” This is imperial arrogance. Egypt speaks as though conquest is certain. Egypt sees itself as unstoppable.
But the flood will be stopped. Egypt’s own boast becomes evidence against it. God judges not only Egypt’s military action, but Egypt’s pride. The nation speaks with the confidence of self-exaltation, but the LORD will show that Egypt is not sovereign.
The army that says, “I will cover the earth,” will itself be covered in shame. The flood that comes to overwhelm others will be broken by the judgment of God.
Jeremiah 46:9-10, Proud Egypt Destroyed
Jeremiah 46:9-10, “Come 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. For 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.”
The call to battle continues. Horses, chariots, mighty men, Ethiopians, Libyans, and Lydians are summoned. Egypt’s army includes foreign mercenaries and allied forces. It is a multiethnic military power.
But the battle is not finally between Egypt and Babylon. It is “the day of the Lord GOD of hosts.” The LORD of armies has appointed this day. It is a day of vengeance. Egypt stands among God’s adversaries, and the LORD will avenge Himself.
The sword will devour. It will be satiated and made drunk with blood. This is severe judgment language. The battlefield becomes like a sacrificial altar. The LORD has “a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.”
This does not mean God delights in cruelty. It means proud Egypt is being offered up to judgment. The army that came in arrogance is slain under the righteous government of the LORD.
The phrase “day of the Lord” here shows that the day of the LORD can refer to a historical season of divine judgment, not only the final eschatological Day of the LORD. This was a day when God manifested His power in judgment against a proud nation.
Jeremiah 46:11-12, Egypt Will Not Be Cured
Jeremiah 46:11-12, “Go 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. The 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.”
Egypt is called “virgin, the daughter of Egypt,” likely emphasizing her proud sense of beauty, security, and untouched strength. But she is now wounded.
The LORD tells Egypt to go to Gilead and take balm. Gilead was known for balm, a healing ointment. But the command is ironic. Egypt may seek many medicines, but she will not be cured. Her wound is a judgment wound. No earthly medicine can heal what God has struck.
This echoes an earlier lament over Judah.
Jeremiah 8:22, “Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?”
For Egypt, many medicines are useless. Her shame is known among the nations. Her cry fills the land. Her mighty men stumble over one another and fall together. The army that came in order collapses into confusion.
The defeat at Carchemish becomes public humiliation. Egypt’s shame is not hidden. The nations hear it. Egypt’s fall announces that the age of Egyptian dominance is ending.
Jeremiah 46:13-17, Egypt Helpless before Babylon’s Armies
Jeremiah 46:13-17, “The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt. Declare 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. Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them. He 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. They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.”
The prophecy now moves from Egypt’s defeat at Carchemish to a later Babylonian invasion of Egypt itself. Nebuchadrezzar will come and smite the land of Egypt. The sword that Egypt thought would stay far away will come into Egyptian territory.
The announcement is to be published in Migdol, Noph, and Tahpanhes. These were important Egyptian locations, and Tahpanhes was the very place where the disobedient Jewish remnant had gone in Jeremiah 43. The warning is not abstract. It reaches the places where Judah’s remnant sought refuge.
Egypt is told to stand fast and prepare, but preparation will not save her. The sword devours all around.
The question is asked, “Why are thy valiant men swept away?” The answer is theological, “because the LORD did drive them.” Babylon’s army is the visible instrument, but the LORD is the ultimate cause. Egypt’s soldiers fall because God drives them away.
The mercenaries and foreign soldiers say, “Arise, and let us go again to our own people.” They abandon Egypt and return to their homelands. They do not die for Pharaoh’s pride. They flee from the oppressing sword.
Then comes the crushing assessment, “Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.” Pharaoh is exposed as loud but ineffective. He is a braggart whose moment has passed. His claims are noise. His strength is gone.
Judah’s remnant trusted Egypt because Egypt looked powerful. God says Egypt is noise.
Jeremiah 46:18-26, The Certainty of Judgment upon Egypt
Jeremiah 46:18-26, “As 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. O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant. Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north. Also 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. The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood. They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable. The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north. The 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: And 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.”
The LORD swears by His own life, “As I live.” The certainty of Egypt’s judgment rests on the living God. He identifies Himself as “the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.” Pharaoh may be called king of Egypt, but the LORD is the true King over all kings.
The coming of Nebuchadrezzar is compared to Tabor among the mountains and Carmel by the sea. These are prominent, unmistakable landmarks. In the same way, Babylon’s coming will be unmistakable and overwhelming.
Egypt is told to prepare for captivity. Noph, an important Egyptian city, will become waste and desolate without inhabitant. The nation that looked like refuge will itself become a place of ruin.
Egypt is compared to “a very fair heifer.” She is impressive, attractive, strong, and well fed. But destruction comes from the north. The beautiful heifer is destined for slaughter.
Her hired men are like fatted bullocks. Egypt’s mercenaries may appear strong and well kept, but they will turn back and flee. They will not stand because the day of Egypt’s calamity has come. The “time of their visitation” has arrived. This means God’s appointed time to deal with Egypt has come.
The voice of Egypt will go like a serpent. The proud roar is reduced to a retreating hiss. Babylon comes with axes like woodcutters, cutting down Egypt’s forest. Even if that forest seems impossible to search or count, the invaders are more numerous than grasshoppers.
The daughter of Egypt will be confounded and delivered into the hand of the people of the north. Again, Babylon is the instrument, but the LORD is the judge.
The LORD specifically says He will punish “the multitude of No,” Pharaoh, Egypt, their gods, their kings, and all who trust in Pharaoh. No was a major center of Egyptian religious and political power. God’s judgment reaches Egypt’s rulers, religion, military, and those who rely on Pharaoh.
This is especially relevant to Judah’s remnant. They had trusted Egypt. They had trusted Pharaoh. They had gone to Egypt against God’s command. But God says Pharaoh himself will be delivered into the hand of those who seek his life.
Yet the final word concerning Egypt is not total annihilation. “Afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old.” Egypt will be punished, but not erased. God judges Egypt, yet allows a future beyond the punishment.
Jeremiah 46:27-28, Comfort to the People of God
Jeremiah 46:27-28, “But 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. Fear 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.”
After judgment against Egypt, God speaks comfort to Jacob and Israel. This is a major shift in tone. Egypt will be judged. The nations will be shaken. But God tells His covenant people, “Fear not.”
He calls Jacob “my servant.” Though Israel has sinned, though Judah has been exiled, though Jerusalem has fallen, God has not forgotten His covenant people. They are chastened, but not abandoned.
God promises, “I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity.” This speaks to the restoration of His people from exile. The nation has been driven away, but not permanently erased. Jacob will return, have rest, be at ease, and none will make him afraid.
This comfort does not deny correction. God says, “I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished.” Israel will be disciplined, but not destroyed.
This is the difference between God’s covenant correction and His judgment of the nations. He may make a full end of nations to which He has driven Israel, but He will not make a full end of Jacob. His covenant promises stand.
This does not mean Israel’s sin was small. It means God’s covenant mercy is great. The LORD disciplines His people as a Father, but He does not abandon His promises.
Hebrews 12:6, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”
Jeremiah 46 therefore ends with both judgment and hope. Egypt’s pride falls. Pharaoh’s noise is silenced. Babylon rises as God’s instrument. Yet Jacob is told not to fear. The LORD will correct His people, preserve them, and bring them home.
Doctrinal and Practical Notes
Jeremiah 46 teaches that the LORD rules over all nations, not only Judah. The word of the LORD comes against Egypt because Egypt too is accountable to Him.
Jeremiah 46 teaches that military power cannot stand against divine judgment. Egypt’s shields, horses, chariots, mercenaries, and mighty men cannot save her.
Jeremiah 46 teaches that pride speaks loudly before it falls. Egypt says it will cover the earth, but God brings it to shame.
Jeremiah 46 teaches that the day of the LORD can refer to historical acts of divine judgment as well as final judgment. Carchemish was a day of vengeance against Egypt.
Jeremiah 46 teaches that wounds inflicted by God cannot be healed by human medicine. Egypt may seek balm and many medicines, but she cannot be cured.
Jeremiah 46 teaches that false refuges collapse. Judah’s remnant trusted Egypt, but Egypt itself would be struck by Babylon.
Jeremiah 46 teaches that rulers who are only noise will fail those who trust them. Pharaoh’s promises cannot save Egypt or Judah.
Jeremiah 46 teaches that God judges false gods as well as nations. The gods, kings, and all who trust Pharaoh are included in the judgment.
Jeremiah 46 teaches that God’s judgment on His covenant people is measured correction, not covenant extinction. He will not make a full end of Jacob.
Jeremiah 46 teaches that God’s people can have comfort even while nations fall. “Fear not” rests on God’s promise, not on political stability.
Summary
Jeremiah 46 begins the section of prophecies against the nations. The first prophecy is against Egypt and concerns Pharaohnecho’s army at Carchemish by the river Euphrates, where Nebuchadrezzar defeated Egypt in the fourth year of Jehoiakim.
Jeremiah pictures Egypt preparing for battle with shields, horses, helmets, spears, and armor. Yet the scene suddenly turns to panic. Egypt’s mighty men are beaten down, flee quickly, and do not look back because fear is all around. Though Egypt rises like a flood and boasts that it will cover the earth and destroy the city and its inhabitants, the swift will not escape and the mighty will fall by the Euphrates.
The LORD calls Egypt’s horses, chariots, Ethiopians, Libyans, and Lydians to battle because this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance. The sword will devour, and the battlefield in the north country by the Euphrates will be like a sacrifice before the LORD.
Egypt is told to go to Gilead for balm and use many medicines, but she will not be cured. The nations will hear of her shame, and her mighty men will stumble and fall together.
The prophecy then turns to Nebuchadrezzar’s later coming against Egypt itself. The warning is to be declared in Migdol, Noph, and Tahpanhes. Egypt is told to stand fast, but her valiant men are swept away because the LORD drives them. Mercenaries flee to their own lands, and Pharaoh is exposed as noise who has missed the appointed time.
The LORD swears by His own life that the conqueror will come as surely as Tabor among the mountains and Carmel by the sea. Egypt must prepare for captivity. Noph will become desolate. Egypt, like a fair heifer, will face destruction from the north. Her hired men will flee, her voice will go like a serpent, and Babylon’s army will cut down her forest. Egypt will be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
God will punish the multitude of No, Pharaoh, Egypt, her gods, her kings, and all who trust in Pharaoh. He will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar and his servants. Yet afterward Egypt will be inhabited again as in days of old.
The chapter closes with comfort for Jacob and Israel. God tells His servant Jacob not to fear or be dismayed. He will save Jacob from afar and his seed from captivity. Jacob will return, rest, be at ease, and none will make him afraid. God will make a full end of the nations where He drove His people, but He will not make a full end of Jacob. He will correct His people in measure and will not leave them wholly unpunished.
