Jeremiah 46:13-26

3. The Second Prophecy Against Egypt

Jeremiah 46:13-26

With an Appendix, Jeremiah 46:27-28

13          The word that the Lord [Jehovah] spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how [concerning the coming of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, should come and [to] smite the land of Egypt.

14          Proclaim ye it in Egypt and publish it in Migdol,

Publish it also in Noph and Tahpanhes.Say ye, Stand fast15 and prepare thyself;16

For the sword hath devoured thy neighbors.

15     Wherefore is thy bull17 dragged away?

He stood not, for Jehovah thrust him away

16     He causeth many to totter;

One also falleth upon another:And they say, Up! let us return to our own people,And to the land of our birth, from the murderous sword.

17     There they cry:18 Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is lost;19

He hath lost the time through neglect!

18     As truly as I live, saith the king,

Jehovah Zebaoth is his Name;As Tabor among the mountains,And as Carmel by the sea, shall he come.Make thyself preparations [apparatus] for journeying,Thou inhabitant, daughter of Egypt;

19     For Noph shall become a wilderness,

And destroyed without an inhabitant.

20     A finely formed heifer is Egypt;

A gad-fly20 from the north is coming, is coming.21

21     Her hirelings also in her midst are like fatted calves

For they also turn and flee away together.They stand not, for the day of their destruction is come upon them,—The time of their visitation.

22     Her sound22 goeth like the sound of serpents;

For with power they advance,And are come to her with axes as hewers of wood.

23     They have cut down her forest, saith Jehovah.

For it is not to be searched;For they are many, more than the locusts,And of them there is no number.

24     The daughter of Egypt has been put to shame,

Delivered into the hand of a people from the North.

25     Saith Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel,

Behold, I visit the Amon of No,And Pharaoh and Egypt, and its gods and its kings,And Pharaoh and those that trust in him.

26     And I give them into the hand of those that seek their lives,

And into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,And into the hand of his servants:And afterwards it shall be inhabited23

As in the days of old, saith Jehovah.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

This prophecy cannot be regarded as an immediate contemporaneous continuation of the previous one. 1. The title announces it as an independent passage. There is not the slightest ground for regarding this as a later addition, for it contains nothing which Jeremiah could not himself have written. 2. In Jeremiah 46:26 Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned by name. Jeremiah never does this before the battle of Carchemish. As now we must assign the passage Jeremiah 46:1-12 to the period immediately before that battle, it follows that the present passage must have originated at a later period. 3. If the superscription in Jeremiah 46:13 expresses nothing with regard to the time of composition, but only states the main purport of the passage, it is yet clear that a prophecy concerning the coming of Nebuchadnezzar more probably originated at a time in which Jeremiah demonstrably expected this coming than at a time of which we have no trace that the prophet cherished this expectation. The prophet does not express the definite expectation that Nebuchadnezzar will come to Egypt, before Jeremiah 43:8-13. Previously, indeed, we have a general declaration, that Egypt will succumb to him (Jeremiah 15:19; Jeremiah 46:11-12). but none purporting that he will himself enter the country. It is therefore much more probable that this passage is contemporaneous with Jeremiah 43:8-13 than that it belongs to the time of Jeremiah 46:8-12. The reason, which Graf urges against this hypothesis, that Jeremiah there prophesies the conquest of Moab, Edom, Ammon, etc., in consequence of the battle of Carchemish, but with respect to Egypt, had contented himself with a song of triumph over its defeat, is not of weight; for evidently Egypt is the most important of all the countries, against which chh. 46–49 contain prophecies. It is hence no matter of surprise, if we have two prophecies against it, of which the first (Jeremiah 46:3-12) treats of the defeat and destruction of Egypt in general (Jeremiah 46:11-12), the second specially of the latter.

This prophecy, like the preceding one, evidently consists of two halves. In the first the Egyptian cities are summoned to equip themselves against the approaching enemy (Jeremiah 46:14); then the thought is expressed, that all, which is great in Egypt, Apis (Jeremiah 46:15) the foreign auxiliaries (Jeremiah 46:16), Pharaoh (Jeremiah 46:17) must bow before the greatness of the Chaldean prince, who approaches like Tabor among the mountains and Carmel in the sea, in order to carry away the Egyptians into captivity (Jeremiah 46:18-19). In the second half the quantitative conception seems to prevail. Egypt is a fair, fat cow, but a gad-fly from the North brings destruction to it (Jeremiah 46:20). Their mercenaries also, who are here compared to fatted calves, flee (Jeremiah 46:21). Egypt is further compared to a forest, in which stand innumerable trees. Yet there is only a hissing like a snako in a thicket, while the enemies proceed to cut down the trees (Jeremiah 46:22-23). Finally it is proclaimed in blunt words, without a figure, that Egypt with its gods, its kings, and all who trust in them, must be given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, but that a time will come, in which Egypt will be inhabited as quietly and undisturbed as of old (Jeremiah 46:24-26). The two halves are distinguished thus: 1. The Egyptian power is described from its intensive and qualitative, in the second from its intensive or quantitative side. 2. The first half closes with the prospect of exile, the second with a consolatory outlook into a distant but happy future.

Jeremiah 46:13. The word … Egypt. The superscription is of the larger kind, but in the form which occurs besides only in Jeremiah 45:1 and Jeremiah 50:1. It is indubitable that such a superscription introduces a specifically new passage. The only question is, Who composed this, the prophet himself or a later writer, who had no right to do it? No reasons can be urged against its composition by the prophet, either general or special. The form לָבוֹא, both alone and with a second infinitive depending on it, is very common in Jeremiah; it is found more frequently in him than in any other book of the Old Testament. (Comp. Jeremiah 36:5; Jeremiah 40:4; Jeremiah 41:17; Jeremiah 42:15; Jeremiah 42:17; Jeremiah 42:22; Jeremiah 44:12; Jeremiah 48:16). לְalso after a verb. dicendi is Jeremian. Comp. Jeremiah 28:8-9.

Jeremiah 46:14. Proclaim … thy neighbors. Egypt is alarmed, before all the boundary-cities. On Migdol, Noph and Tahpanhes, comp. rems. on Jeremiah 2:16; Jeremiah 44:1.—Immediate preparations are necessary, since the surrounding countries, the neighbors, have already been devastated by the hostile sword. Comp. Jeremiah 21:14; Jeremiah 48:17; Jeremiah 48:39; Jeremiah 49:5.

Jeremiah 46:15-19. Wherefore … without an inhabitant. The three heads of Egypt are Apis, the army consisting of foreigners, and the king. The overthrow of this triad is here described. With respect to the form it is noteworthy that the transition is made with the same turn from the summons to prepare and the description of the defeat as in Jeremiah 46:5.—The Apis, which had hitherto in divine majesty enjoyed most undisturbed existence in his temple, is now dragged away like a common ox to the slaughter, and can make no resistance, for it is Jehovah who thrusts him on, as it were, from behind. Numbers 35:20; Ezekiel 34:21. It is Jehovah, likewise, who causes great defeat among those upon whom the power of Egypt in war depended. Since the time of Psammetichus foreign mercenaries (עֶרֶב25:20; Ezekiel 30:5) composed the main strength of the Egyptian forces. (Comp. Duncker, I., S. 922); but they are unable to resist the enemy whom God sends against them. They therefore flee to their homes.—Falleth upon another. Comp. Jeremiah 29:9; Jeremiah 29:26.—Murderous sword. Comp. rems. on Jeremiah 25:38.—The king himself finally, whom the Egyptians adored as an incarnation of the deity (comp. Duncker, I., S. 150, “The Egyptians went further in their exaltation of their rulers than any other nation, even according divine worship to their despots”) becomes an object of ridicule.—Lost the time. These words signify that he has allowed the time to pass by. What time? The gracious respite appointed by Jehovah? Not impossibly. The prophet then places the confession in the mouth of the Egyptians, that they have not followed the advice given them in Jeremiah 25:15 coll. Jeremiah 27:8. In contrast to this humiliation of the Egyptian king the prophet exalts (verse 18) the greatness of the true king, the King of all kings, the Lord of hosts, Jehovah, and that of His chosen servant and instrument (Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 27:6), the king of Babylon. Jehovah, who is called king also in Jeremiah 48:15; Jeremiah 51:57, swears solemnly by Himself (Jeremiah 22:5; Jeremiah 22:24; Jeremiah 44:26), that he, who is not indeed here mentioned by name, but is plainly recognized from the connection, viz. the king of Babylon, will on his expedition to the other kings be as Tabor to the mountains rising to the north of it (comp. Raumer, Pal. S. 37) and will present himself as Carmel seen from the sea, for this “looks like a watch-tower westward over the Mediterranean” (Raumer, S. 45). In such circumstances should it fare better with Egypt than with Judah? No, the former also cannot escape captivity. He is therefore called upon to prepare himself for this. —כְּלֵי גוֹלָה (comp. Ezekiel 12:3 sqq.) are a very necessary equipment, such as exiles are allowed to take with them. As the capital of Judah was not spared, so the capital of Egypt, Memphis, shall be destroyed (comp. Jeremiah 2:15).

Jeremiah 46:20-23. A finely formed heifer … no number. In a new double picture Egypt’s destruction is here portrayed. These pictures refer, as already remarked, more to the extent and quantity of the Egyptian forces, the first setting forth their volume, the second their numerical strength. Accordingly Egypt is first compared to a state-cow, which is of course to be regarded as well kept. We are involuntarily reminded of Pharaoh’s fat kine in Genesis 41:18. עֶגְלָה is moreover a young cow, but one which has attained its full vigor, for it may be three years old (Jeremiah 48:34; Isaiah 15:5; Genesis 15:9), give milk (Isaiah 7:21-22), be already trained (Hosea 10:11), draw the plough (Judges 14:18), but also may still rejoice in the untamed wildness of its life (Jeremiah 31:18).—This cow is to be attacked by a gad-fly coming from the north, from whence Jeremiah is accustomed to see the Chaldeans coming (comp. Jeremiah 1:14, etc). [Blayney and Wordsworth find here a probable allusion to the legend of Io, who was transformed into a heifer, and driven by a gad-fly into Egypt, where she was worshipped as Isis. Comp Virg. Georg., III., 147; Ovid, Metam. Lib., I.—S. R. A.]

The double is coming portrays the vehemence of the assault. Comp. Ezekiel 7:6; Psalms 96:13. The same fulness and breadth are seen in the well-kept mercenaries as in Egypt itself. (Comp. Herod., II. 158; Duncker, I., S. 922). They are fatted calves, and consequently lazy, as is seen in their fleeing instead of fighting.—Turn. Comp. rems. on Jeremiah 46:5.—Day of destruction. Comp. Deuteronomy 32:35; Jeremiah 18:17.—Time of visitation. Comp. Jeremiah 10:15; Jeremiah 50:27.—In a second picture it is described how the forces of the Egyptians, though so great in number, are overcome. Egypt is in this behalf compared to a forest, which serves for the abode of a serpent. The serpent has retired into a thicket. It is only heard to hiss. Thus the ancient power of Egypt, which led Ezekiel to compare it to a crocodile (Jeremiah 29:3; Jeremiah 32:2), as come to an end. It is only a serpent hissing with impotent rage in a thicket. It no longer attacks nor bites, for it is afraid. There is also reason for this. For the enemies rush upon it with power (בְּחַיִל, comp. Zechariah 4:6); they come upon it with axes (comp. Jeremiah 49:9) as hewers of wood. Whether this figure is occasioned by the circumstance that the Persians, Massagetes, and Scythians made use of battle-axes, as Graf supposes, or whether it has no connection with this, must be left undecided.

Jeremiah 46:23. With their axes the enemies hew down the forest, i.e. they kill the warriors, destroy the fortifications and supplies. This forest is not to be otherwise come at, for it is unsearchable, impenetrable. A thin forest may be taken possession of by going through it, but a thick, impenetrable one must be cut down tree by tree. The enemies can do this, for they are more numerous than the locusts.—Not to be searched(יֵהָקֵר) I would not refer to the enemies, 1. on account of the sing number; 2. because then the same thought would be expressed three times.—In the following context the thought of Egypt’s subjugation is expressed without a figure.

Jeremiah 46:24-26. The daughter … saith Jehovah.—Put to shame. Comp. Jeremiah 2:26; Jeremiah 6:15; Jeremiah 48:1; Jeremiah 50:2, etc.—The God of Israel, who is more powerful than the gods of the Egyptians, declares that He will visit the Amon of No (the highest deity of the Egyptians, comp. Herzog, R.-Enc. I., S. 286, which had its seat in Thebes, hence called נאֹ אנוֹן, Nahum 3:8; comp. 1b. X., S. 392), Pharaoh and the land itself, and further all the other kings (i.e. those entitled to be so) and gods, and finally Pharaoh and the entire mass of those who trust in him as a god. (Comp. remsּ on Jeremiah 46:17). The style is here very broad and verbose, in order to express the completeness of the destruction. All these shall fall into the hands of those who seek their life (comp. rems, on Jeremiah 44:30), and be given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar and his servants.—And afterwards, etc. If we compare on the one hand Jeremiah 46:19, and on the other passages like Jeremiah 48:47; Jeremiah 49:6; Jeremiah 49:39, it appears in the highest degree probable, that here at the close a favorable prospect, is to be opened up to the Egyptians. In the days of old, ancient Thebes, of which no one knows when it was built, was peaceful, unassailed and prosperous. A remembrancer of this condition can be understood only as a word of blessed promise.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

It is acknowledged that these words stand in the original and suitable connection in Jeremiah 30:0, as well as that they are not necessary to Jeremiah 46:0, and would not be missed if they were omitted. Still it may be said that every injury befalling the enemies of the theocracy is a corroboration of the latter, and that it cannot be unsuitable also to express in words this mutual relation founded in the nature of the case, the two going constantly hand in hand in chh. 50, 51. (Comp. Jeremiah 50:4-6; Jeremiah 50:17-19; Jeremiah 50:28; Jeremiah 50:33; Jeremiah 51:5-6; Jeremiah 51:10; Jeremiah 51:35; Jeremiah 51:45; Jeremiah 51:50). But the overthrow of the Babylonian kingdom by Cyrus bore the deliverance of Judah immediately in its womb. This can be said of the conquest of Egypt no more than of that of the other small nations against which chh. 47–49 are directed. Hence in these three chapters there is no trace of that mutual relation. Why then just here? And how does it agree with the fact that elsewhere in Egypt Jeremiah pronounces only the severest threatenings against the Israelites (chh. 42–44)? There is much then that is opposed to the genuineness of the passage, while on the other hand it is easy to suppose that a later seer saw fit to oppose this light to the former shadow. Moreover, as we have said, the words are not absolutely unsuitable here, and we cannot therefore deny the possibility, that Jeremiah, who, as is well known, is very fond of quoting himself, himself felt the need of causing the light of Israel to shine brightly on the dark background of their ancient enemy, Egypt.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Förster states four reasons why the prophets had to proclaim judgment on the heathen nations also. The first is διδασκαλικός: it is to be known that the prosperity of the heathen is not lasting, but that heathendom has no basis of true prosperity. The second reason is παρηγορικός: the pious are not to fear that the heathen will get the upper hand and suppress the church. The third is ἐπανορθωτικός: God’s people are to guard against forming alliances with the heathen and trusting in their help. The fourth is ἐλεγκτικός: a conclusion is to be drawn a minori ad majus: if God does not spare the heathen who are deprived of His light, how much less will He spare His people, if they despise the light of His word.

2. “Jeremiah’s God is also the Lord of all the heathen and makes their destinies. They find it so according to their words and especially their posture towards the chosen people Israel. They haste to their destruction, for one nation only is eternal; this, however, is the nation which has been passed through a thousand sieves and in comparison with others is no nation. That which is in Israel, as in other nations, passes away, and only that which it has above other nations remains eternal. Jeremiah prophesies most against Egypt, Moab and Babylon, in which the wealth, the jealous, scoffing manner of the mean world, and the cavalier spirit of great states is rebuked. … He who rightly understands this sees here not sermons addressed to generations long since passed away, but to the natural humanity streaming through this world, as it is continually presented with new names and yet always with the same carnal impulses and based on the same unreason. To him, who thus understands Jeremiah, he is again alive, and the Jewish legend is fulfilled, that Jeremiah must come again before the Messianic kingdom can bloom up again in glory. Yea, let Jeremiah rise truly for thee to mourn, and Christ, with the hosannas of His eternal hosts of disciples, will not longer be hidden from thee, and in Him thou wilt have all things.” Diedrich.

3. On Jeremiah 46:6. “The race is not to the swift. Ecclesiastes 9:11. Therefore let not the strong man glory in his strength. Jeremiah 9:22. Also are horses and chariots and such like things of no avail: for to those who have not God on their side, all is lost.” Cramer.

4. On Jeremiah 46:10. “God may long delay His reckoning. This Pharaoh-necho had killed the pious Josiah, conquered his son Jehoahaz and laid the land of Judah under tribute. But guilt rusts not, however old, and though God comes slowly He comes surely.” Cramer.

5. On Jeremiah 46:10. “Although the ungodly go free for a long time and rejoice with timbrel and harp and are glad with pipes and spend their days in wealth (Job 21:12), yet he lets them go free like sheep for the slaughter, and spares them for the day of slaughter (Jeremiah 12:3).” Cramer.

6. On Jeremiah 46:25. “Bonum confidere in Domino et non in principibus (Psalms 146:0). When their help is most needed they lie down and die.” Förster.

7. On Jeremiah 46:27-28. “When God turns things upside down and takes care that neither root nor branch remains, His little flock must be preserved. The punishments which redound to the destruction of the ungodly redound to the amelioration of the godly. For from these He takes the eternal punishment, and the temporal must also redound to their advantage, but the ungodly drink it to the dregs.” Cramer.

Footnotes:

Jeremiah 46:14; Jeremiah 46:14.—התיצב comp. Jeremiah 46:4.

Jeremiah 46:14; Jeremiah 46:14.—והכן לך. Comp. Ezekiel 38:7. It is a direct causative Hiphil: make preparation, equipment for thyself. Naegelsb. Gr., § 69, 1,. Anm. 2.

Jeremiah 46:15; Jeremiah 46:15.—Jeremiah uses the plural אַבִּירִים elsewhere only in the meaning of “strong horses” (Jeremiah 8:16; Jeremiah 47:3; Jeremiah 50:11). But neither this meaning nor that of “strong men, heroes” גִבּוֹרִים suits the connection. For apart from נִסְחַף (besides here in Proverbs 28:3 only) which as a foregoing predicate may certainly stand in the singular, the singulars עָמַד and הֲדָפֹוֹ show that אַבִּירֶיךָ is to be taken as singular. Then, however, nothing is more natural than, with the LXX., to think of the Apis. This is the LXX. translation: διατί ἐ̓φυγεν από σου ὁ Ἅπις ; ὁ μόσχος ὁ ἐκλεκτός σου οὐκ ἐ̓μεινεν. אֶבִֹּר both in the singular and plural is frequently used for bulls: Isaiah 34:7; Psalms 22:13; Psalms 50:13; Psalms 68:31. But who but Apis is the bull of Egypt? The plural suffix has been explained as an abnormal pausal pronunciation (comp. תִּהְלָּתֶיךָ Psalms 9:15; שִׂנְאָתֶיךָ Ezekiel 35:11—בֵינֶיךָ [Genesis 16:5; 1 Kings 15:19] which Graf adduces, does not belong here), comp. Olsh., § 39, c, Anm.; § 131, k, but this is unnecessary. אַבִּיר (observe that Jehovah also is called אַבִּיר יִשְׂרַאֵל or אי יְַעַקב, Isaiah 1:24; Isaiah 49:26, etc.) stands in the plural as a name of God, according to the analogy of קְדשִׁים תְּרַפִים בַּעַל אָדוֹן, which again themselves follow the analogy of אֱלֹחַים. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 61, 2, Anm.; Olsh., § 122, g; Gesen., § 108, 2, Anm., b.

Jeremiah 46:17; Jeremiah 46:17.—קראו שׁם. LXX., Vulg., Syr., and after them many modern commentators read these words קַרְאוּ שֵׁם (comp. Jeremiah 20:3; Isaiah 8:3; 20:7), but, as it appears to me, unnecessarily. The nominative of קָרְאוּ is not the auxiliaries, and שָׁם need not be referred to their home. It may very well be referred to the place where Apis was maltreated, and the warriors were killed, thus generally to the place of the previously described defeat. It might even be referred to the time, for שָׁם has also a temporal signification. Comp. Psalms 14:5; Psalms 53:6; Job 35:12; Hosea 2:17; Jeremiah 1:9. The subject of קָרְאוּ may be an indefinite number:—they call. Comp. Jeremiah 3:16-17; Naegelsb. Gr., § 101, 2, a.

Jeremiah 46:17; Jeremiah 46:17.—The meaning of שָׁאוֹן is strepitus, tumultus (Isaiah 5:14; Isaiah 13:14; Jeremiah 25:31; Jeremiah 48:45; Jeremiah 51:55, etc.). With the idea of tumult and confusion is connected that of destruction and ruin (comp. בּוֹר שָׁאוֹן, Psalms 40:3). The word would then be used as abstr. pro concreto: Pharaoh is ruin, i.e., ruined, (Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 59, 1) and there is no need to read שָׁאוּז with Maurer. We know not why the prophet chose this particular word, but there is probably an allusion in it to some Egyptian word unknown to us. Why Pharaoh is ruined the prophet proceeds to tell us. מוֹעֵד is the appointed season (Genesis 1:14; Genesis 17:21; Genesis 21:2, etc.) עָבַר of passing over a time is quite usual (comp. ex. gr., Jeremiah 8:20; Job 30:15).

Jeremiah 46:20; Jeremiah 46:20.—קרץ. The word occurs here only. The root קָרַץ signifies “to pinch, press together” (of the eyes Proverbs 6:13; Proverbs 10:11; 35:19, of the lips Proverbs 16:30) then “to pinch off” (Job 33:6). קֶרֶץ is then pinching, pinching off, or that which pinches. The old translations are vacillating: LXX. ἀπόσπασμα; Chald. עַמְמִין קָטֹלין populi interfectores; Syr. exercitus; Vulg. stimulator. Attaching himself to the last Rosenmueller translates stimulus; Cocceius, Schultens, Eichhorn, Hitzig, Graf, Meier, gad-fly [Bremse], comparing the Arabic quarasa, pupugit (pulex), quâris, insectum cimici simile, or quirs, a kind of small fly. Much more unsuitably Ewald adduces quarsh, and understands by it a great, fearful monster. The meaning excidium, which the Rabbis, Gesenius, Umbreit and others attribute to the word, does not correspond very exactly to the specific radical signification. Following this and the Arabic analogies I regard the meaning gad-fly as correct, which suits the connection admirably. Comp. Exodus 23:28; Deuteronomy 1:44; Deuteronomy 7:20; Isaiah 7:18; Psalms 118:12. [Blayney translates “breeze” though he admits the radical meaning and the Arabic analogies: Noyes has “destruction” as the A. V., Neumann, Fuerst, etc.—S. R. A.]

Jeremiah 46:20; Jeremiah 46:20.—The reading בָּא בָהּ in the LXX., Chald., Syr., Arab., and many codd. of Kennicott and De Rossi is only a weak correction.

Jeremiah 46:22; Jeremiah 46:22.—I do not approve of the reading קוֹלָם followed by the ancient translators and by Hitzig. קוֹלָם refers to Egypt. The feminine suffix (comp. שְׂכִירֶיהָ בְקִרְבָּהּ ver.21) is to be referred, if not to עֶנְלָה, yet to בַּת מִצְרַיִם (Jeremiah 46:19). The construction of the sentence is as Jeremiah 1:9; Nahum 2:5. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 65, 3, Ann. There is, it is true, no passage in which הָלַךְ is used expressly of the voice; but why may not the voice be described as- going? לְשׁוֹנָם תִּהֲלַךְ Psalms 73:9 is at least related. If we take יֵלֵךְ as a relative sentence (like a serpent, which goes) the expression is very feeble, and the meaning “creeps,” which Graf substitutes, either declares nothing, or must have an artificial meaning to it.

Jeremiah 46:26; Jeremiah 46:26.—שָׁכַן is used here in the neutral sense, as in Isaiah 13:20; Jeremiah 17:6; Jeremiah 17:25; Jeremiah 30:18; Jeremiah 1:13.