Jeremiah 46

46:1–51:64 This series of messages is directed toward foreign nations (see 1:5, 10, and similar messages in Isa 13–23; Ezek 25–32; Amos 1:3–2:3). Through Nebuchadnezzar, the Lord was going to judge all the nations from the Euphrates River to Egypt for their rebellion and sins against him (cp. Lev 18:24-25). Ultimately, Babylon would also come under God’s judgment (Jer 50–51). These chapters were probably written while Jeremiah and Baruch were in hiding (36:27-32). Among the pronouncements of doom on the foreign nations for their sins are a few statements of hope for salvation. Collections of oracles against the nations are also found in Isaiah (Isa 13–23) and Ezekiel (Ezek 25–32). Although God used surrounding nations to punish his rebellious people, those nations were also held accountable for their actions. The Lord is not only the God of Israel; he is the God of the entire world.

46:2-12 Jeremiah used the results of a battle known to Jehoiakim to warn him and the people of Jerusalem that Egypt could not protect them from Babylon. Pharaoh Neco had thought that the time was ripe to become the dominant power in the ancient Near East, so he moved north in 609 BC. After Neco spent several years trying to help fragments of the Assyrian army stop the westward movements of the Babylonian army, he was soundly defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River in 605 BC. Soon after that, the Babylonian army surrounded Jerusalem and forced Jehoiakim to become a vassal of Babylon.

46:3-4 Military commands such as these would have been issued when the soldiers were excited, well armed, and ready to fight.

46:7-8 In spite of Pharaoh Neco’s boasting and the imposing presence of his soldiers, his tactics did not confuse the enemy or win the battle (cp. 1 Kgs 20:11).

46:9-10 The Lord had decreed that Egypt would lose the battle, so allies would be of little help. The battle of Carchemish was pivotal to the rise of Babylon as the great empire of the area.

46:11 Gilead was known as a source of healing plants (cp. 8:22).

46:13-24 The defeat at Carchemish created chaos in Egypt and among its armies. The Lord was executing judgment on Egypt.

46:15-17 The Lord filled the Egyptian soldiers with fear, and no one could keep them in military order as they fled from Carchemish through Canaan to their Egyptian homes. Back in Egypt, they would become strong critics of Pharaoh Neco and say that he was a loudmouth.

46:18 Mount Tabor towers over the eastern part of the Jezreel Valley. Mount Carmel rises above the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.

46:19 Memphis will be destroyed: This happened in 568–567 BC, when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt.

46:21 Egypt depended on hired mercenaries from other countries who had no interest in dying for Egypt. Under threat, they would turn and run.

46:22-23 The picture of a serpent gliding away illustrates the panic that gripped Egypt. The invaders would chop the people to pieces like woodsmen after swarming into the country like locusts.

46:25-26 Amon was a fertility god worshiped in Thebes, the capital of Southern Egypt. Amon’s idol, in the form of a ram, represented the sun. The Egyptians thought that this god was very powerful, but like all the other deities of Egypt, it would be destroyed by the all-powerful God of Israel. The Pharaoh, who claimed to be the son of the sun-god, would suffer the same fate. • the land will recover: In 601 BC, Nebuchadnezzar attacked Egypt, did great damage, and then withdrew. He invaded the land again in 568–567 BC (43:8-13; Ezek 29:19).

46:27 I will bring you home again: The exiles began returning to Judea in 538 BC. Israel was disciplined but not destroyed.