← Back to Jeremiah 46

Jeremiah 46:2

KJV

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.

Read it in context Judgment on Egypt
Start reading at Jeremiah 46:1 (Jeremiah 46:1 to Jeremiah 46:28). An editorial reading unit, not a claim that the surrounding context stops here. Book background below applies to the shared passage; individual verses may need more specific explanation.

The collected oracles extend the judgment announcements beyond Judah and culminate in the words against Babylon.

  1. 46:1 The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;
  2. 46:2 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.
  3. 46:3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.
  4. 46:4 Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.
  5. 46:5 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.
  6. 46:6 Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.
  7. 46:7 Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
  8. 46:8 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.
  9. 46:9 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.
  10. 46:10 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.
  11. 46:11 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.
  12. 46:12 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.
  13. 46:13 The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.
  14. 46:14 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.
  15. 46:15 Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
  16. 46:16 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.
  17. 46:17 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.
  18. 46:18 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.
  19. 46:19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.
  20. 46:20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.
  21. 46:21 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.
  22. 46:22 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.
  23. 46:23 They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.
  24. 46:24 The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.
  25. 46:25 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:
  26. 46:26 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.
  27. 46:27 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.
  28. 46:28 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.

Who

What

When

Where

How

Cited: Jeremiah 46:1, Jeremiah 46:28, Jeremiah 31:31, Hebrews 8:8, Hebrews 8:10

Who wrote it, and how we know

Jeremiah, with Baruch as scribe Named in Scripture
What Scripture saysThe book names Jeremiah and records that Baruch wrote at his dictation. Jeremiah 1:1Jeremiah 36:4Jeremiah 36:32
Early traditionTradition names Jeremiah with Baruch as scribe.
What is debatedThe closing chapter parallels 2 Kings and appears to be added.

Related passages

Cross references from CrossReferences-org (CC BY 4.0).

Macro-Structure

See how this passage fits the chapter and the book.

Macro-Structure of Jeremiah

Jeremiah records words associated with his prophetic ministry and accounts surrounding Judah's fall. The book is not arranged as one continuous dated diary. Read each oracle's audience, occasion, and conditions rather than assigning every promise to every reader.

Jeremiah 1:1 Jeremiah 1:2 Jeremiah 36:4

Jeremiah's call
Jeremiah 1:1–19

FocusCommission and opposition

Connection to the wholeThe call establishes the prophet's task and the opposition he will face in delivering the LORD's words.
interpretation
Judah's unfaithfulness and announced judgment
Jeremiah 2:1–25:38

FocusWarning, intercession, and refusal

Connection to the wholeOracles and enacted signs expose covenant unfaithfulness and the coming judgment, including the warning about Babylon.
interpretation
The prophet contested
Jeremiah 26:1–29:32

FocusTrue and false messages

Connection to the wholeNarratives and letters contrast competing claims about the LORD's word and address life under Babylonian power, including the exiles' situation.
interpretation
Promises of restoration
Jeremiah 30:1–33:26

FocusReturn, covenant, and hope

Connection to the wholeWords of restoration appear amid announced judgment, including the new covenant promise; their wording and named audience must remain visible.
interpretation
Jerusalem's fall and its aftermath
Jeremiah 34:1–45:5

FocusRejected words and continuing disobedience

Connection to the wholeThe accounts follow conflicts around the prophetic word, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the choices of survivors, with a word to Baruch.
interpretation
Oracles against the nations
Jeremiah 46:1–51:64 You are here · 46:2

FocusJudgment on the surrounding powers

Connection to the wholeThe collected oracles extend the judgment announcements beyond Judah and culminate in the words against Babylon.
interpretation
The fall of Jerusalem recounted
Jeremiah 52:1–34

FocusDestruction and the exiled king

Connection to the wholeThe historical appendix recounts the disaster and closes with Jehoiachin's release, placing the preceding messages beside their historical aftermath.
interpretation

Suggested literary divisions. Headings summarize the passage; they are not part of the biblical text.

About This Ministry Support this work
You've Got Questions. v0.38.0.

Search