Of Egypt concerning the army of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, the king of Judah.
Jeremiah 46 turns from Judah to the nations, and it starts with a dated disaster: Egypt's army crushed at Carchemish on the Euphrates. Why does a book about Jerusalem's fall record an Egyptian defeat, and why date it so exactly?
The verse names two kings who had already shaped Judah's recent history. Neco was the man Josiah had gone out to fight, and the man who put Jehoiakim on the throne in the first place.
This was the same energetic king whom Josiah attacked at Megiddo, on Neco's way to Carchemish. Josiah did it to his own ruin, and not at all by any design of the Egyptian king, who begged Judah's king in vain to leave him alone. Neco later deposed Jehoahaz and set up Eliakim as king, changing his name to Jehoiakim. But reverse was at hand. At Carchemish Nebuchadnezzar crushed his army. The result was not only the loss of all his possessions in Asia, but the shutting up of the king within his own land from then on.
Carchemish was more than one empire beating another. It marked the moment world power passed to Babylon, where Gentile rule began.
Egypt then sought to fill the scene of the world. It came up, conquered Judea, and met the power of Babylon at Carchemish. But its power was broken. Nebuchadnezzar became the head of gold over the whole earth, and the times of the Gentiles began. Those times are still running on, and will run until the Lord takes His great power and reigns.
The verse dates the battle by a king of Judah. That date also ties Judah's years to Babylon's.
Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, comes into God-given prominence in Jeremiah's time. The times of the Gentiles began with him. Dominion is given to him, and taken away from Israel. There is a remarkable date given in Jeremiah in relation to this. For anyone who dates ancient history, it is probably the most important date in any ancient records. … Jeremiah mentions it no less than four times, in 25:1; 36:1; 45:1; and 46:2. … "The fourth year of Jehoiakim" is the "first year of Nebuchadnezzar."
Jeremiah's messages to the nations run from chapter 46 to chapter 51. Egypt comes first, and Egypt was where Judah kept running for safety.
In Jeremiah 46 Jeremiah denounces Egypt, where these foolish Jews had fled for security. Jeremiah 47 goes on to denounce Philistia, and then Moab (Jer. 48). All these countries were places to which the Jews looked for security.
So Judah watched its chosen shelter collapse. Egypt had always been that kind of support:
Egypt has been a breaking staff to Israel — a staff of reed, which offered much but never fulfilled its promises, bringing only ruin to all who trusted it. Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of the people of God. God had brought them out of that land, and in their own deliverance they had seen His judgment on it. Yet they could turn back to it again and again. It is an inconsistency that not one of us who knows himself can claim to be a stranger to!
Josiah died because he inserted himself into this very campaign. A good man went out against Neco without a word from God — and was warned by a foreign king that he was fighting the wrong opponent.
The earth's broken pots are at war among themselves. Why is the Lord's anointed mixing himself up in their quarrel, unless the Lord has told him to? Does he have such a word? No — the very opposite. Listen to Neco's protest: "What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest He destroy you."
Egypt wanted the top place among the nations; God had assigned it elsewhere. Yet the sentence on Egypt is not permanent.
These nations were all to fall under the power of Nebuchadnezzar. But some of them are to be restored in the latter day. Among them will be Elam, Egypt, Moab and Ammon. Not Philistia, though, not Damascus, not Hazor, and above all not Babylon. Chapters 50 and 51 set Babylon's destruction before us in great detail.
- Date. Jehoiakim's fourth year is Nebuchadnezzar's first. Jeremiah repeats this date four times, and it is one of the most important dates in all ancient records.
- Transfer. Carchemish broke Egypt's bid for world power. Dominion passed from Israel to Babylon, and the times of the Gentiles began.
- Refuge. Egypt is judged first because Judah kept fleeing there for safety. Egypt was a staff of reed: it promised much and brought ruin.
- Warning. Josiah's death at Megiddo shows the cost of entering a quarrel the Lord never gave him.
- Mercy. These nations all fall under Nebuchadnezzar. Yet Egypt is marked for restoration in a coming day; Babylon is not.
Make ready buckler and shield, and draw near to battle!
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Harness the horses, and mount ye horsemen, and stand forth with helmets; polish the spears, put on the coats of mail!
Jeremiah's word against Egypt opens with a call to arms — horses, helmets, spears, armour — and God has already marked this army for defeat. The orders come from a prophet in Judah, not from Pharaoh, so who really directs the armies of the nations?
This call to arms belongs to a real battle. Commentators trace what became of the Egyptian king who marched out:
This was the same energetic king whom Josiah attacked at Megiddo as the king marched to Carchemish. The attack ruined Josiah, and it was no plan of the Egyptian ruler, who begged the king of Judah in vain to leave him alone. The Egyptian later deposed Jehoahaz and made Eliakim king, changing his name to Jehoiakim. But a reversal was at hand. At Carchemish Nebuchadnezzar completely routed his army. He lost all his territory in Asia, and from then on he could not move outside his own land.
Commentators also date this word and note how exactly it came true.
This Pharaoh tried to invade the territory of the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar defeated him in a battle at Carchemish, on the river Euphrates. Jeremiah gave this prophecy about eighteen years before Jerusalem fell, and all of it came true word for word.
Jeremiah 46 opens a run of chapters about the nations, and Egypt comes first. The reason lies in what Egypt wanted and what God had already settled:
Egypt would have liked first place among the nations. But Israel had failed and lost that place, and God had decided to give it to Babylon. So all the nations must be judged, and we see God's care and patience in giving them His word about it.
There is a second reason, closer to home. The nations named in these chapters are the ones Judah had been leaning on:
In Jeremiah 46 we have God's sentence against Egypt, where these foolish Jews had fled for safety. Jeremiah 47 brings the same sentence against Philistia, and Jeremiah 48 against Moab — because the Jews looked to all these countries for safety.
The verse lists gear that men trust their lives to. Judah had already watched an Egyptian army march out to help it, and learned what that help was worth:
The help of man is useless against the word of God. This was not the first time Egypt had proved a broken reed, piercing the hand of anyone who leaned on it. Pharaoh's army went home without striking a blow for Judah. That only delayed the siege. The Chaldeans soon came up again and destroyed the city with fire.
The same trust is a standing danger for anyone:
Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of God's people. God had brought them out of that land, and in their own rescue they had seen His judgment on Egypt. Yet again and again they could turn back to it. Sadly, no one who knows himself can claim to be free of the same inconsistency.
The chapter never lets Babylon take the credit for the victory:
In powerful language the prophet describes how Egypt's defenders break away before the unstoppable tide, "because the Lord drove them" (v. 15). God uses Nebuchadnezzar, but the work is still that of "the King whose name is the Lord of hosts" (v. 18).
That is why a prophet in Judah can give orders to an Egyptian army: the call to arm and the defeat that follows come from the same hand.
The armour comes off, but Egypt is not written off for ever. Commentators note a distinction running through these chapters:
All these nations were to fall under Nebuchadnezzar's power. But some of them will be restored in a coming day: Elam, Egypt, Moab and Ammon — but not Philistia, not Damascus, not Hazor, and above all not Babylon.
Commentators also say what the blow was for:
So for Israel's sake God Himself must break the staff they leaned on. He shows mercy in the end, and Egypt is not finally left to judgment, as Edom and Babylon are. Yet from now on Egypt must be a low kingdom — one that no longer invites the confidence it used to invite, and that its neighbours will trust no more.
- Word first. Jeremiah gave this call to arms about eighteen years before Jerusalem fell, and it came true at Carchemish. God speaks before He acts.
- Word to the nations. God sends His word to Egypt before the blow falls. Commentators call this His care and patience: He does not judge a nation without first telling it.
- Word against the armour. The verse names horse, helmet, spear and armour, and none of it saves. The help of man is useless against the word of God.
- Word behind the sword. Nebuchadnezzar wins the battle, but Egypt's defenders break because the Lord drove them. The real victor is "the King whose name is the Lord of hosts".
- Word beyond the ruin. Egypt falls under Babylon's power. Yet Egypt has a place among the nations God will restore; Babylon has none.
Why do I see them dismayed, turned away back? And their mighty ones are beaten down, and take to flight, and look not back? Terror [is] on every side, saith Jehovah.
Jeremiah 46 turns from Judah to the nations. It opens with Egypt marching north to fight at Carchemish. Verse 5 is God's own question about what He sees there: an army dressed for victory, suddenly running the other way.
One writer sets the scene and names the outcome:
It was the same energetic king whom Josiah attacked at Megiddo on his route to Carchemish, but to his own ruin. It was no design at all of the Egyptian monarch, who begged the king of Judah in vain to leave him alone. He later deposed Jehoahaz and set up Eliakim as king, changing his name to Jehoiakim. But a reverse was at hand. At Carchemish Nebuchadnezzar routed his army completely. Pharaoh lost all his possessions in Asia, and from then on he was shut up within his own land.
The phrase that closes the verse once became a man's name:
Pashhur, the chief governor in the house of the LORD, struck Jeremiah and put him in the stocks. … His name Pashhur means "most noble." Now it should be "Magor-missabib," which means "terror on every side."
So the words picture a man surrounded, with no direction left to run.
The verse asks why. The same chapter answers a few verses later:
The prophet describes how Egypt's defenders break away before the unstoppable tide, "because the LORD thrust them down" (v. 15). Nebuchadnezzar is the one used, yet the work belongs to "the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts" (v. 18). In the end, when Israel is restored to first place among the nations under our Lord Jesus Christ, Egypt will be inhabited as in the days of old.
The next verse says the swift cannot flee away and the warrior cannot escape. One writer states the principle at work:
Had they sought to flee? They should flee in terror. Had they sought help to escape quickly? Swift should be the vengeance of their foes. God constantly makes the earthly object of trust the rod for the fool's back.
Egypt's collapse was not just foreign news:
In Jeremiah 46 we have the denunciation of Egypt, where these foolish Jews had fled for security.
One writer names the causes behind the judgment:
There are two main causes of the judgment. The first is Egypt's pride and self-sufficiency. The second is that Egypt has been a breaking staff to Israel — a staff of reed. It offered much but never kept its promises, and it brought only ruin to everyone who trusted it. Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of the people of God. Yet God had delivered them from that land, and in their own deliverance they had seen His judgment on it. Yet again and again they could turn back to it. Sadly, it is an inconsistency that none of us who knows himself can claim to be a stranger to. … God Himself must therefore break this staff Israel leaned on. He shows mercy in the end and does not finally leave Egypt to judgment, yet from then on Egypt must be a low kingdom, one that no longer invites the confidence it once invited. The lesson is as plain as it is basic. It is the lesson, "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?"
One writer dates the prophecy:
This prophecy was given about eighteen years before the fall of Jerusalem. All was literally fulfilled.
Another writer draws the conclusion:
We see Babylon, a young power, rise up and do what Jeremiah foretold. It is enough to fill us with astonishment. It convinces any thoughtful person that God rules in the kingdom of men.
- Parade. Egypt marched out fully equipped under an energetic king. At Carchemish Nebuchadnezzar routed that army and shut Pharaoh inside his own land.
- Panic. "Terror on every side" is the name Jeremiah once gave a man. It pictures someone surrounded, with nowhere left to run.
- Power. The soldiers did not stand, because the LORD thrust them down. Nebuchadnezzar was only the instrument; the King whose name is the LORD of hosts did the work.
- Prop. Egypt was the reed staff that promised much and kept nothing. The Jews who fled there for safety leaned on the very army God was breaking.
- Promise. This word came eighteen years before Jerusalem fell, and it also promises that Egypt will one day be inhabited as in the days of old. God rules in the kingdom of men.
Let not the swift flee away, neither let the mighty man escape! -- Toward the north, hard by the river Euphrates, they have stumbled and fallen.
Jeremiah 46 turns from Judah to the nations, starting with Egypt — the power God's people kept turning to for help. The verse catches Egypt's best troops as the retreat collapses: the swiftest and the strongest fall together, far from home by the Euphrates.
Pharaoh Necho met Nebuchadnezzar in a real battle at Carchemish. One commentator traces the campaign and what it cost Egypt:
Josiah attacked this same energetic king at Megiddo as the Egyptian marched to Carchemish. Josiah brought ruin on himself. The Egyptian king had never planned it; he begged Josiah in vain to leave him alone. He later deposed Jehoahaz and set up Eliakim as king, changing his name to Jehoiakim. But a reversal was at hand. At Carchemish Nebuchadnezzar routed his army completely. He lost not only all his lands in Asia; from then on he was also shut up inside his own country.
The prophecy came long before the events it describes:
This Pharaoh tried to invade the territory of the king of Babylon. Nebuchadrezzar defeated him in a battle at Carchemish, on the river Euphrates. God gave this prophecy about eighteen years before Jerusalem fell. It all came true, word for word.
Egypt's collapse was no accident. Behind it lay a decision about which nation would hold the leading place:
First, as to Egypt: God gave a word foretelling the overthrow of Pharaoh Necho's army, which had gone up to the river Euphrates (Jer. 46:2-12). Egypt would have liked the pre-eminence among the nations. But Israel had failed and lost it, and God had decided to give it to Babylon. So all the nations must come under judgment. We see the care and patience of God in giving them His word about it.
The verse names exactly what soldiers rely on to survive a rout — quickness and muscle — and cancels both. Writing on a similar warning given to Judah about horses and swift escape, one commentator draws out how God deals with the thing a person leans on:
God would make them a striking example. He would show that the resources they trusted were only nets to catch them in. Had they sought to flee? They should flee in terror. Had they looked for help to escape quickly? Their enemies would take vengeance just as quickly. Again and again God turns the thing a person trusts on earth into the rod for the fool's back.
"Stumbled and fallen" describes more than one bad day. One writer comments on a later prophecy that looks back to this same defeat. He notes how lasting the damage was, and how God refused to let false hope grow:
We now have another short, separate prophecy. It is about the wound God has already made on Egypt, and how that wound cannot be healed. He clearly means their defeat at the battle of Carchemish — a blow from which they never recovered. The prophecy is there to forbid any revival of hope because of the activity and energy Egypt was showing again for a time.
Egypt is addressed, but Judah is meant to overhear. The order of these chapters follows the map of Judah's misplaced hopes:
In Jeremiah 46 we have the denunciation of Egypt, where these foolish Jews had fled for security, and the further denunciation of Philistia in Jeremiah 47. Then again of Moab (Jer. 48) — because all these countries were places to which the Jews looked for security.
The habit was old and repeatedly exposed:
Egypt, too, was to reap the results of her ways. Israel was continually turning to her for help instead of turning to the Lord (Jer. 2:17-18). Now the Lord tells them they will be ashamed of Egypt too (Jer. 2:36). Chapter 46 records His word about her.
- Carchemish — Nebuchadnezzar routed Pharaoh Necho's army at the Euphrates. The word came about eighteen years before Jerusalem fell, and all of it came true.
- Pre-eminence — Egypt wanted the top place among the nations. God had given it to Babylon, so Egypt's fastest and strongest men fell in the north instead of winning there.
- Trust — God breaks what a man leans on. Those who counted on speed to escape found that their pursuers were the swift ones.
- Incurable — Egypt never recovered from this wound. God's later word forbade any fresh hope in Egypt's brief bursts of energy.
- Warning — God's people kept turning to Egypt for help instead of to the Lord. This judgment was aimed at their hearts: the help they preferred lay stumbling by the river.
Who is this [that] riseth up as the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?
Jeremiah now turns from Jerusalem to the nations, and Egypt comes first. He pictures her as the Nile rising in flood, then asks who this rising water is and who sets its limit.
The swelling waters are an army on the march. Commentators tie the picture to a dated event: Pharaoh Necho's march north to the Euphrates, and what met him there.
Nebuchadnezzar completely routed his army at Carchemish. The result was not only the loss of all his possessions in Asia. From then on the king was also shut up inside his own land.
This word came eighteen years before Jerusalem fell, and one writer adds: "All was literally fulfilled." (Arno Clemens Gaebelein)
Egypt's whole life came from one river. That is why a rising river fits Egypt so well.
Egypt is a narrow strip of land on each side of the great river that flows through it. The land owes its existence to that river alone... If for one year the river only partially fails, the land is in distress. The world is the same. The unbroken stream of God's mercies keeps it in an existence that would otherwise be impossible. Yet although it is so dependent, the world does not see, as Egypt does not see, what it really depends on... The river itself is their all. They can even take credit for what is God's gift: "My river is mine, and I have made it."
Egypt's ambition ran into a decision God had already made.
Egypt would have liked the pre-eminence among the nations, but since Israel had failed and lost it, God had decided that it should be given to Babylon. All the nations must therefore be judged, and we see the care and patience of God in giving His word to them concerning this.
This word landed on people who had run to Egypt for safety.
In Jeremiah 46 we have the condemnation of Egypt, where these foolish Jews had fled for security. Then comes the condemnation of Philistia in Jeremiah 47. Then Moab as well — because all these countries were places where the Jews looked for security.
One writer names the causes behind this judgment, and the lesson:
The judgment has mainly two causes. The first is Egypt's own pride and self-sufficiency. The second is that Egypt has been a breaking staff to Israel. It was a staff of reed, which offered much but never kept its promises, and brought only ruin to all who trusted it. Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of the people of God, even though God had delivered them from that land... God must therefore, for Israel's sake, break this staff they leaned on... The lesson is as plain as it is basic: "Stop regarding man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for of what account is he?"
So who really moves these waters? What happened next points past both Egypt and Babylon.
Jeremiah foretells that the Lord "will punish all those who are circumcised along with the uncircumcised: Egypt, Judah, and Edom and the sons of Ammon, and Moab and all who live in the farthest corners" (Jer. 9:25-26). Then we see Babylon, a fairly young power, rise up and do it. That is enough to fill us with astonishment, and to convince any thoughtful person that God rules in the kingdom of men.
Egypt's boast is cut down, but Egypt is not written off.
These nations were all to fall under the power of Nebuchadnezzar; but some of them are to be restored in the latter day. Among these nations will be Elam, Egypt, Moab and Ammon, but not Philistia, not Damascus, not Hazor, and above all not Babylon.
- The boast — Egypt rises like her own flooding river. The picture fits a nation that owes everything to a river it claims to have made itself.
- The borrowed river — the water Egypt claims as its own is a gift. One year of low flow leaves the land in distress.
- The blocked ambition — first place among the nations was not on offer. Israel had lost it, and God had given it to Babylon.
- The broken staff — a reed that promised much and kept nothing. God broke it because His people kept leaning on it. The lesson: stop counting on man.
- The bigger hand — a young Babylon did what was foretold, and that shows God rules in the kingdom of men. His rule leaves Egypt a future; Babylon has none.
It is Egypt that riseth up as the Nile, and [his] waters toss themselves like the rivers; and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.
Egypt's army marches north under Pharaoh Necho, boasting like a river in flood that will swallow the earth and its cities. God has just asked who this is, rising like the Nile — and the rest of the chapter answers.
This was not empty swagger. Egypt was a real power on a real campaign, and it had already killed a king of Judah on the way.
This was the same energetic king whom Josiah attacked at Megiddo, as he marched to Carchemish. Josiah brought ruin on himself, and not at all by any design of the Egyptian king, who begged the king of Judah in vain to leave him alone. He afterwards deposed Jehoahaz and set up Eliakim as king, changing his name to Jehoiakim. But reverse was at hand. Then Nebuchadnezzar utterly routed his army at Carchemish. The result was not merely the loss of all his lands in Asia. From then on he stayed shut inside his own land.
The flood that meant to cover the earth ended inside its own banks.
"I will rise" is a claim to the top place among the nations. That place was not empty by accident, and it was not Egypt's to take.
First, concerning Egypt, God gave a word to foretell the overthrow of Pharaoh Necho's army, which had gone up to the river Euphrates. Egypt would have liked the first place among the nations. But Israel had failed and lost that place, and God had decided to give it to Babylon. So God must judge all the nations, and we see His care and patience in giving His word to them about this.
The comparison is not decoration. Egypt lived by the Nile, and trusted it.
They were, in a way, independent of God. They had their river Nile to water the country. They did not depend at all on the dew and rain of heaven. Twice a year the river overflowed its banks… The sun dried up the water the soil did not absorb, and they reaped rich harvests of grain and hay without a drop of rain or dew. This is like the world. They have no need of God. Their springs are all down here. Christians can say, "All my springs are in you." God is the source of all their joys… Egypt had its river. The world, which spiritually is called Egypt, has its river too.
One commentator points out where God aims the blow:
Egypt would be struck, and hardest of all in what was its chief boast — its river.
Two empires collide in this chapter. The prophet points to the One whose word settles the outcome.
Jeremiah shows us that the Lord is the true Potentate. Above all earthly kings, He is "the King of Eternity" and "the King of nations" (Jer. 10:7-10). "Who would not fear you?" asks the prophet… In chapter 46, Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, is punished, according to the word of "the King whose name is the Lord of Hosts" (v. 18). He carries this out through the king of Babylon, who is also used to carry Israel into captivity. Yet Babylon's punishment must surely follow too, and Israel will be set free again.
This word was not aimed only at Egyptians. Some from Judah had fled there for safety.
In Jeremiah 46 we have the judgment announced against Egypt, where these foolish Jews had fled for safety. Jeremiah 47 announces judgment against Philistia, and then Moab again. All these countries were places the Jews looked to for security.
The habit is older than that flight, and the cure is plain:
Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of the people of God. God had brought them out of that land, and in their own deliverance they had seen His judgment on it. Yet again and again they could turn back to it. Not one of us who knows himself is a stranger to that inconsistency!… The lesson is as plain as it is basic. It is the lesson, "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?"
- Rises. Egypt speaks like a river in flood — up, over the earth, cities and people swept away. It is the language of a nation that wants first place.
- Routed. Nebuchadnezzar stopped that flood at Carchemish. Necho lost his lands in Asia and stayed shut inside his own borders.
- River. The picture comes from what Egypt trusted — a water supply that made it feel independent of heaven. God strikes a nation where it boasts.
- Ruler. The King whose name is the Lord of Hosts punishes Pharaoh, and He will judge in turn the Babylon He used.
- Refuge. Those from Judah who ran to Egypt for safety ran to the very place under sentence. Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath.
Go up, ye horses, and drive furiously, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth Cush and Phut that handle the shield, and the Ludim that handle the bow [and] bend it.
The verse reads like a battle-cry. It calls up horses, chariots and the foreign troops fighting for Egypt. Yet this muster is part of a sentence God has already passed, and the army marching out is the army Judah kept leaning on for safety.
Chapter 46 opens a block of messages aimed at the surrounding nations, and Egypt heads the list. One writer shows how the chapter divides.
Our chapter has two parts. They deal with events a long way apart in time. The opening verse is general — "the word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah against the Gentiles" — and seems to introduce Jeremiah 46–51. Verses 2-12 make up the first of the two condemnations of Egypt that fill the chapter, and verses 13-28 the second.
So verse 9 belongs to that first message — the word about Pharaoh Necho's army at the river Euphrates.
The same writer ties this muster to a real battle, and to the king Josiah had attacked at Megiddo.
It was the same energetic king whom Josiah attacked at Megiddo as he marched to Carchemish. Josiah brought ruin on himself, and the Egyptian ruler had no such plan: he begged the king of Judah in vain to leave him alone… But a reverse was at hand. At Carchemish Nebuchadnezzar completely routed his army. The Egyptian king lost all his possessions in Asia, and from then on he was shut up within his own land.
Another writer dates the word and its outcome:
This Pharaoh tried to invade the territory of the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar defeated him in a battle at Carchemish, on the river Euphrates. This prophecy came about eighteen years before the fall of Jerusalem. It all came true to the letter.
Three peoples fight alongside Egypt here: Cush, Put and Lud. Older translations call Lud "the Lydians," a people of Asia Minor. One writer says that is the wrong trail.
There was also a Lud among the sons of Shem. He was the ancestor of the well-known Lydian race in the west of Asia Minor. It is important to tell him apart from those descended from Mizraim, who spread out west of the Nile. Those were archers, as we learn from Isaiah 66:19 and Jeremiah 46:9, where the African peoples seem to be listed and described that way… There ought not to be a doubt that they were African.
Each name comes with its weapon: shield for Cush and Put, bow for Lud. Another writer lists where these same nations stand beside Egypt elsewhere.
In Jeremiah 46:9 we find Cush and Phut joined to the Egyptian army — that is, to Mizraim, another son of Ham — and the Lydians too. Persia, Lud and Phut were among the hired soldiers of Tyre (Ezekiel 27:10). Cush, Phut and Lud stand with Mizraim, or Egypt, again in Ezekiel 30:5. Cush, Phut, Mizraim and Lubim (not Ludim) are together again in Nahum 3:9… Nahum shows that Cush and Phut had a natural link with Egypt.
Egypt was not just another foreign power. It was the help Israel ran to instead of God.
Egypt, too, was to reap the results of her ways. Israel kept turning to her for help instead of turning to the Lord (Jer. 2:17-18). Now, says the Lord, "You also shall be ashamed of Egypt" (Jer. 2:36). Chapter 46 records His word about her.
The fall of this army was no accident of politics. God had already settled which power would hold first place:
Egypt would have liked the first place among the nations. But Israel had failed and lost it, and God had decided to give it to Babylon. So all the nations must come under judgment, and we see the care and patience of God in sending them His word about it.
Cush stands with Egypt again in a war still to come:
This also bears on what is still future. When the last king of the north conquers and plunders Egypt, the Lubim and Cush will be at his heels. But Edom and Moab and the chief of the people of Ammon will be delivered out of his hands.
Yet the chapter that musters Egypt's troops does not end with Egypt wiped out. It closes with a promise for the very nation under judgment.
At the end, when Israel is restored to national first place under our Lord Jesus Christ, Egypt shall be inhabited as in the days of old.
- Summoned — The call for horses, chariots and warriors opens the first of two messages against Egypt. Egypt heads God's word to the nations.
- Shattered — The muster leads straight to Carchemish. Nebuchadnezzar routed Necho's army, and Necho lost his lands abroad and stayed shut inside Egypt.
- Shielded and shooting — The verse pictures the allies by their weapons: Cush and Put with the shield, Lud with the bow. One writer places them in Africa, and they stand beside Egypt again and again.
- Shamed — Egypt was the help Israel kept running to instead of the Lord. Her fall showed how empty that trust was.
- Spared — The chapter that gathers Egypt for judgment ends with Egypt inhabited again, blessed when Israel is restored under Christ.
For this is the day of the Lord Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may be avenged of his adversaries; and the sword shall devour, and it shall be sated and made drunk with their blood; for the Lord Jehovah of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country, by the river Euphrates.
Jeremiah now turns from Judah to the nations around her. The first word falls on Egypt, and on Pharaoh Necho's army crushed at Carchemish by the Euphrates. Verse 10 gives that one battle three names: the day of the Lord, a day of vengeance, and a sacrifice.
One commentator sets this defeat beside an earlier one. Judah's king Josiah attacked the same Egyptian ruler, and it ruined him:
This was the same energetic king whom Josiah attacked at Megiddo on his way to Carchemish. Josiah brought ruin on himself. The Egyptian king had no such plan, and had begged the king of Judah in vain to leave him alone. But a reversal was near. Nebuchadnezzar routed his army at Carchemish completely. He lost all his lands in Asia, and from then on the king was shut up inside his own country.
Egypt wanted first place among the nations. God had already assigned it elsewhere:
Egypt would have liked first place among the nations. But Israel had failed and lost it, so God had decided to give it to Babylon. All the nations must therefore face judgment, and we see God's care and patience in giving them His word about this.
Commentators differ over how far forward this verse reaches. One reads these chapters as speaking of their own time, not of the end of the age:
These chapters contain the prophecies against the nations around Judea, and against Babylon herself. The prophecies about the nations have special features. The judgments are not those of the last days, as in Isaiah. In keeping with the general character of the book, they refer to the destruction of the different nations to make way for the rule of one single empire.
Another writer treats the phrase as a fixed expression with one settled meaning:
The expression "the day of Jehovah" is found often in the Old Testament, and "the day of the Lord" in the New Testament. This "day", which Scripture always presents as a future time or event, will bring sudden judgments on men and nations on the earth.
Here the phrase marks one nation's defeat. Elsewhere it marks the fall of others:
This day is mentioned in relation to the judgment of several nations: Babylon (Isa. 13:9), Egypt (Jer. 46:10; Ezek. 30:3), the Assyrian (Joel, five times), Israel (Amos 5:18 and 20), Judah (Zeph. 1:7 and 14); or in a general way (1 Thess. 5:2).
"A day of vengeance" is a phrase Jesus stopped short of when He read Isaiah aloud. The gap He left open is the age we live in:
He ends His reading with the words "to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." He closed the book in the middle of a sentence, because Isaiah goes on to say, "and the day of vengeance of our God." In this way He drew a sharp line between the two events... But the day of vengeance was not to be fulfilled yet. Old Testament Scripture had not shown that grace would be preached for a long time before that day came. Yet the preaching of grace has now continued for nearly 2000 years. The One who has closed the Old Testament book of prophecy for now will Himself open it again to disclose the day of vengeance.
The verse calls the slaughter by the Euphrates God's sacrifice. Scripture speaks the same way of another battlefield, and it means judgment on people still alive on earth:
"The sword of Jehovah is filled with blood... for Jehovah has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea"... Christendom has lost this terrible judgment of the living... The resurrection has changed everything in the church's relationship with God, and Christians have largely lost sight of the judgment of the living. They are used to expecting judgment only after death. But there will be a judgment of the living as well as a judgment of the dead.
The verse twice calls God the Lord GOD of hosts. Those hosts reach beyond any army on earth:
Scripture reveals a mighty heavenly host, and rulers and powers in the unseen world. God is the God of them all, as well as God of all the elements of nature, which He has often used to punish His enemies. "The stars in their courses fought against Sisera." Judges 5:20... In Ps. 24:10 the Lord Jesus is shown to be "Jehovah of hosts: he is the king of glory."
- Battle — Nebuchadnezzar routed Egypt's army at Carchemish, and Pharaoh never marched outside his own land again.
- Ownership — Egypt marched for first place, but God had already given it to Babylon. The day belonged to the Lord of hosts, not to Pharaoh.
- Day — "the day of the Lord" names a sudden judgment on nations. Scripture uses it here of Egypt, and elsewhere of Babylon, Assyria, Israel and Judah.
- Vengeance — Jesus read Isaiah up to the year of favor and closed the book before the day of vengeance. That unopened line is the space grace has filled ever since.
- Sacrifice — God calls the battlefield by the Euphrates His sacrifice, and Scripture promises a judgment of the living, not only of the dead.
Go up to Gilead, and fetch balm, O virgin-daughter of Egypt! In vain shalt thou multiply remedies there is no healing for thee.
Egypt has been struck at Carchemish. God now sends her on a long journey for the most famous medicine of the ancient world — knowing it will do nothing. The verse turns a famous cure into a taunt. It raises the question that runs through Jeremiah: when is a wound past healing, and why?
Gilead was famous for balm. Writers note that this gum stood for healing long before Jeremiah used it against Egypt:
Tseri, the balm, is the gum of the balsam bush, of great medicinal value. Gilead was famous for producing it. Scripture uses it as a proverb to set out the healing God had for His people if they really turned to Him (Jeremiah 8:22; Jeremiah 46:11; Jeremiah 51:8). Merchants carried it into Egypt and elsewhere (Genesis 37:25; Ezekiel 27:17). Jacob sent a little of it to Joseph (Genesis 43:11).
The failure is not medical. God's own hand is behind the wound, and Jeremiah makes the point twice:
The prophet Jeremiah twice observes that when God brings His judgements on a people, no medicine will cure them (Jeremiah 30:13; Jeremiah 46:11).
The injury behind the verse is one battle. Pharaoh Necho marched north with real strength. At Carchemish his army met Babylon:
Nebuchadnezzar utterly routed his army at Carchemish. The result was not only the loss of all his possessions in Asia. The defeat also shut the king up inside his own land from then on.
Egypt did rally afterwards and looked active again. That is exactly why God sent this word. Commenting on a parallel prophecy, one writer explains that God spoke to stop hope from reviving:
Here is another short, separate prophecy. It is about how incurable the breach is that God has already made on Egypt. That was clearly at their defeat in the battle of Carchemish — a blow they never recovered from. The prophecy forbids any revival of hope because of the activity and energy Egypt was showing again for the time. God announces that no bandage will bind up the broken arm so that it can hold the sword again.
Egypt's ambition explains the refusal. She wanted the top place among the nations, and God had given that place to another:
Egypt would have liked the pre-eminence among the nations, but since Israel had failed and lost it, God had decided to give it to Babylon. So God must judge all the nations, and we see His care and patience in giving His word to them about this.
Judah kept running to Egypt for protection. Now they hear that the power they leaned on cannot even heal itself. The lesson is blunt:
Egypt has been a breaking staff to Israel — a staff of reed, which offered much but never kept its promises, bringing only ruin to all who trusted it. Going down to Egypt for help was the constant snare of the people of God. Yet God had delivered them from that land, and in their own deliverance they had seen His judgment on it. Yet again and again they could turn back to it. It is the lesson, "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?"
Balm pictured the healing God had for His people. Writers point to where that healing came from, and it cost more than any plant could supply:
Only the rod falling on Another could bring healing to us. Without the cross and its stripes there could be no balm of Gilead for wounded men.
- Wound — Egypt's injury dates to Carchemish. There Nebuchadnezzar routed Pharaoh's army and shut the king inside his own land for good.
- Remedy — the balm of Gilead was the famous cure, a gum traded into Egypt itself. God sends Egypt to buy what cannot help her.
- Verdict — when God brings judgment on a people, no medicine cures it. Jeremiah makes that point twice.
- Reason — Egypt wanted the leading place among the nations, and God had given that place to Babylon. This word came to kill off false hope in Egypt's recovery.
- Real balm — Egypt was a staff of reed that broke under everyone who leaned on it. The healing that never fails came when the rod fell on Another at the cross.
The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the earth; for the mighty man stumbleth against the mighty, they are both fallen together.
This verse closes the first message against Egypt. Pharaoh Necho's army fell at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and the picture of soldiers tripping over each other raises two questions: who really defeated Egypt, and why could nothing repair the damage?
The verse closes a self-contained message. One commentator marks off the two halves of the chapter:
Our chapter has two parts. They refer to events separated by a long gap of time. Verses 2-12 make up the first of the two denunciations of Egypt which fill the chapter, and verses 13-28 the second.
Egypt had been strong enough to march as far as the Euphrates. Carchemish ended that reach:
Necho was able to attack the king of Assyria at a place as far away as Carchemish. This shows the strength of Egypt at that time. But the power of Babylon was growing. After three years Nebuchadnezzar defeated the army of Necho at Carchemish. He recovered every place from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates, and "the king of Egypt did not come again out of his land."
The verse just before sends Egypt to Gilead for balm. Gilead's balm "was proverbial for its healing powers" (Morrish Bible Dictionary), but here no cure works. One commentator explains why Egypt's later show of energy gave no ground for hope:
Here is another distinct, short prophecy. It is about how impossible it was to heal the breach God had already made upon Egypt. This points to their defeat at the battle of Carchemish — a blow from which they never recovered. The prophecy forbids any revival of hope because of the activity and energy Egypt was showing again for the moment.
Nebuchadnezzar won the battle. But God had already decided the outcome, and He said so beforehand:
First, about Egypt: God gave a word to foretell the overthrow of Pharaoh Necho's army, which had gone up to the river Euphrates (Jer. 46:2-12). Egypt would have liked to be first among the nations. But Israel had failed and lost that place, and God had decided to give it to Babylon. All the nations must therefore be judged, and we see the care and patience of God in giving His word to them about this.
Judah had most reason to hear this news. She kept running to Egypt for help, and the warning came long before the battle:
Egypt, too, was to reap the results of her ways. Israel was continually turning to her for help instead of turning to the Lord (Jer. 2:17-18). Now, says the Lord, "You will be put to shame by Egypt too" (Jer. 2:36). In chapter 46 His word about her is recorded.
Soldier tripping over soldier shows two falling as one. Another writer finds the same pattern where Israel leans on Egypt's horses:
The special and instructive contrasts here are "men" and "God," "flesh" and "spirit." Man with his horses and chariots and horsemen presents a show of strength. The natural mind thinks nothing can resist it. But "when the Lord stretches out his hand, the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall, and they will all perish together."
The ruin announced here does not end Egypt's story:
These nations were all to fall under the power of Nebuchadnezzar. But some of them are to be restored in the latter day. Among these nations will be Elam, Egypt, Moab and Ammon — but not Philistia, not Damascus, not Hazor, and above all not Babylon.
- Decided — Egypt wanted first place among the nations. God had already given that place to Babylon, so Egypt's fall was a verdict, not an accident.
- Announced — God foretold the fall of Necho's army at Carchemish, showing "the care and patience of God in giving His word" to the nations before He judged them.
- Incurable — Gilead's balm was famous for healing, yet no medicine could mend this breach. It was "a blow from which they never recovered."
- Heard — the news travelled to the nations, and above all to Judah. She kept running to Egypt for help, and would be "put to shame by Egypt too."
- Not final — Egypt falls under Nebuchadnezzar, but stands among the nations "to be restored in the latter day."