Jeremiah 46:20-26

B. The Consequences of Invasion Jeremiah 46:20-26

TRANSLATION

(20) A very beautiful heifer is Egypt. A gadfly from the north has come against her. (21) Also her hirelings in the midst of her are like calves of the stall; but they also have turned and fled together not standing fast; for the day of their destruction has come upon them, the time of their visitation. (22) Her voice is like a serpent going away; for they go with an army and with axes they come against her like those who hew wood. (23) They shall cut down her woods (oracle of the LORD) since it is impenetrable; for they are more than locust and are innumerable. (24) The daughter of Egypt is put to shame; she is given into the hand of the people of the north. (25) The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel has said: I am about to punish Amon of No, Pharaoh, Egypt, her gods, and her kings; even Pharaoh and those who trust in him. (26) And I will deliver them into the power of those who seek their life, even into the power of Nebuchadnezzar and his servants and afterwards it shall be inhabited as in olden days (oracle of the LORD).

COMMENTS

The second stanza of the poem emphasizes the plight of Egypt by means of several figures. The first picture is of the heifer and the gadfly (Jeremiah 46:20). Egypt had hither-to enjoyed wealth and luxury. She is like a very fair heifer, well-fed, sleek and beautiful. This beautiful animal suddenly finds herself pained and fleeing from the sting of a tiny gadfly[377] from the north. The picture is intended to describe the weakness of Egypt in the face of her new enemy to the north.

[377] The word rendered in the KJV and ASV destruction occurs only here. It comes from a root which means to pinch or sting. Commentators are agreed in suggesting the translation gadfly. This translation is found in the margin of the ASV.

The second picture is of the fleeing fat calves (Jeremiah 46:21). The mercenaries of Egypt are likened to fatted bullocks (KJV) or more precisely calves of the stall (ASV). These hirelings have no taste for real war. They have gotten all they could out of Egypt and have become fat and prosperous in the process. But now they read the handwriting on the wall and hastily flee to their native lands. It was the day of accountability for Egypt, the time of calamity and divine visitation.

The third picture is that of the advancing woodsmen and the hissing serpent (Jeremiah 46:22-23). The woodsmen are of course the Babylonians who will unmercifully demolish that which belongs to Egypt as the axmen clearing a forest. Egypt can only emit a hiss of defiance as she slithers towards her hole in the face of the advancing woodsmen. Thus the ancient power of Egypt which Ezekiel once compared to a crocodile (Ezekiel 29:3; Ezekiel 32:2) has become nothing but a serpent hissing with impotent rage.

The fourth picture is that of a great swarm of locust (Jeremiah 46:23 b). The phrase it cannot be searched could refer to the forest of the preceding figure or could equally well refer to the vast number of the invaders who are compared to a huge swarm of locust. In Joel 1:4 four stages of that insect's existence are represented by four distinct Hebrew words. The word used here seems to represent the second stage in the development of the locust. One wonders if the famous locust plague of Exodus was in the mind of Jeremiah as he penned this description of the forthcoming Chaldean invasion. Plagues of locust are not at all uncommon in this region of the world.

In the closing verses of the poem the prophet drops his figures of speech and becomes much more precise in his predictions. Egypt will be completely humiliated by being given into the hands of the people from the north (Jeremiah 46:24). God has decreed that He will punish Amon of No (ASV). Amon the sun god for centuries was the chief god of Egypt; No is the Biblical name for Thebes, one of the famous cities of the land located in Upper or southern Egypt. Thebes was located some 450 miles south of modern Cairo. Beginning about 2100 B.C. the city served as the seat of the Pharaohs. Thebes reached the height of its power between 1500 and 1000 B.C. when it was the wealthiest and most famous city in the world. The Egyptians called the place No-Amon, The Town of Amon. The greatest collection of monuments and ruins in all the world is to be found at ancient Thebes. The ruins are grouped in three major areas. At the modern city of Luxor is the magnificent Temple of Amenhotep III. A mile and a half northeast of Luxor, at Karnak, are the remains of the majestic Temple of Amon and several smaller temples. Across the Nile from Luxor and Karnak lies the Necropolis, or royal cemetery where the temples and tombs of former rulers are located.

Among the greatest achievements of mankind are the temples of Egypt and the greatest of all Egyptian temples is that of Amon at Karnak. It is the largest temple ever erected by man and, until recent times, the largest columned building ever constructed. Some of the columns in this temple rise to a height of 69 feet and are 34 feet in circumference, It is said that 125 men can stand on the top of each capital of these huge columns.

The history of Thebes from the time of Jeremiah up to the third Christian century is a succession of attacks by foreigners and insurrections by local inhabitants. First came Nebuchadnezzar (568-567 B.C.) who surely must have conquered Thebes though the evidence falls short of conclusive proof. Then came Cambyses II (525 B.C.) who plundered Thebes, burned the famous temples, and ravaged the city. Thebes never recovered her former prominence. An insurrection at Thebes was ruthlessly quelled by the Persians in 335 B.C. Alexander the Great next conquered Egypt (332 B.C.). In the first pre-Christian century Ptolemy IX completely destroyed Thebes in order to quell an uprising. The prophecy of Ezekiel 30:16, Thebes shall be breached and its walls broken down has been literally fulfilled. No city walls are to be seen at the ancient site. Only gateways and pylons mark the places where walls once stood.

Amon and the other gods of Egypt will be punished in the sense of being discredited when the Lord brings His instrument of judgment upon the land. Pharaoh and the kings or officials of royal blood will also taste of the wrath of the Lord along with all the foolish people who put their trust in Pharaoh. The Jews who fled to Egypt after the death of Gedaliah would be in the latter category. That there will be no doubt as to who the conqueror of Egypt will be, Jeremiah specifically names him in Jeremiah 46:26. It will be none other than Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon. Liberal critics have tried to discredit the prophecy by arguing that Nebuchadnezzar never actually conquered Egypt. However, history does record a successful Chaldean invasion of that land.

At the conclusion of the Egypt oracle Jeremiah holds out brighter prospects for the Egyptians. And afterwards it shall be inhabited as in the days of old (Jeremiah 46:26). Ezekiel predicts that after forty years of desolation Egyptians would be restored to their land; but Egypt would then be the basest of kingdoms (Ezekiel 29:12 ff.).[378] Does Jeremiah have in mind here the future political prospects of Egypt as did Ezekiel? This interpretation is possible. But Laetsch has offered a somewhat more spiritual interpretation of this sentence. He points out that afterwards here and elsewhere in these oracles against the nations (e.g., Jeremiah 49:6) is equivalent to the phrase the latter days found in Jeremiah 48:47 and Jeremiah 49:39. In the latter days God will bring back the captivity (i.e., reverse the fortunes) of Moab and Elam (Jeremiah 48:47, Jeremiah 49:39). Concerning Ammon God declares: But afterward I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon (Jeremiah 49:6). Thus Laetsch would seem to be justified in equating the term afterward and the latter days. Now if the term the latter days refers to the Messianic age as it most certainly does, then the term afterward should also have Messianic implications. This being the case, the reference here to the restoration of Egypt may well point to the conversion of Egypt to the Christian faith. Egypt shall be inhabited as in days of old. During the patriarchal and unmilitary days of old, Egypt provided a peaceful and happy home for the teeming masses which settled in the fertile Nile valley. So when Egypt in the future, in the latter days, shall hear the Gospel of Christ the inhabitants will know a peace and tranquility which will exceed even that of the days of old. Students of church history will recall that Egypt for centuries was a stronghold of the Christian faith.

[378] The forty years of Ezekiel 29:12 has also been taken to refer to the period of Persian occupation of Egypt (570-530 B.C.). Keil regards the forty years as symbolically denoting a period appointed by God for punishment and penitence.