_The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah against the Gentiles_ This is a general title to the collection of prophecies contained in this and the five following Chapter s, and refers to the denunciation of God's judgments upon the countries round about Judea, namely, those of whom all enumeration... [ Continue Reading ]
_Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho Pharaoh- necho_ was king of Egypt in Josiah's time, and it was by his army that Josiah was killed at Megiddo, as is related 2 Kings 23:29, where see the note. That army was then marching under the conduct of Necho against the Medes and Babylonians, w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Order ye the buckler_, &c. In these verses the mighty preparations of the Egyptians for war are described, which causes the prophet, who foresees the defeat, to express, as he does in the next two verses, “his astonishment at an event so contrary to what might have been expected; but he accounts fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who is this that cometh up as a flood_ Here the king of Egypt is compared to a mighty river, the Nile, or the Euphrates, when it swells above its banks, and threatens to overwhelm the country with ruin and desolation. _And he saith I will go up, and will cover the earth_ With my numerous armies; _I... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go up into Gilead, and take balm_ Gilead was famous for producing balm and such like healing gums: see note on Jeremiah 8:22. The prophet, alluding to the custom of men's going thither for relief in dangerous infirmities, ironically advises the Egyptians to try all the methods they can think of to... [ Continue Reading ]
_The word that the Lord spake_, &c. Here begins the second prophecy against Egypt, the exact time of the delivery of which we have no means of ascertaining; but the desolation foretold in it is undoubtedly the same with that predicted by Ezekiel, chaps. 29., 30., 31., 32. And this came to pass in th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Publish in Migdol, and in Noph, and Tahpanhes_ Concerning these three cities, see note on Jeremiah 44:1. The meaning is, publish this prophecy over all the land of Egypt; or these three places are named, because in them the Jews, who went into Egypt with Johanan, were chiefly settled. _Say, Stand f... [ Continue Reading ]
_He made many to fall_ Or, as the Vulgate renders הרבה כושׁל, _multiplicavit ruentes, he multiplied those falling_, or more literally, _the faller_, as in the margin, the word being singular. Blaney connects this with the next clause, as the LXX. do, and reads the verse thus: “He hath caused many to... [ Continue Reading ]
_As I live saith the king, whose name is the Lord of hosts_ He, before whom the mightiest kings on earth, though gods to us, are but as grasshoppers; he hath said and sworn what follows; _Surely as Tabor_, &c. As surely as Tabor is among the mountains and Carmel by the sea, so surely shall the conqu... [ Continue Reading ]
_O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt_ Blaney translates it, _O inhabiting daughter of Egypt_, observing, that an antithesis seems to be designed between יושׁבת, _inhabiting_, and the act of migration, which was to follow. Countries and cities are often represented under the emblem of women, especially... [ Continue Reading ]
_Egypt is like a very fair heifer_ “In the foregoing verse the prophet compared Egypt to a delicate young woman. Here he resembles her to a fat and well-favoured heifer. In which comparison, as Grotius not improbably conjectures, there is an allusion to their god _Apis_, which was a bull, remarkable... [ Continue Reading ]
_The voice thereof shall go like a serpent_ “That is, her (Egypt's) voice shall be low and inarticulate through fear. This passage seems to be an imitation of Isaiah 29:4, where we find the same threat denounced against Jerusalem, namely, _Thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I will punish the multitude of No_ Hebrew, מנא אמון, _Amon of No_, which, says Blaney, “is the literal translation, and we need seek for no other.” _Amon_, or _Ammon_, as the word is generally written, was the name by which the Egyptians called Jupiter, who had a celebrated temple at Thebes... [ Continue Reading ]
_But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither_, &c. See notes on Jeremiah 30:10, from whence these two verses are taken, containing a comfortable promise to the Jews, that God will not make an utter destruction of them as he hath done of several other... [ Continue Reading ]