Jeremiah 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. WHEREFORE HAVE I SEEN THEM DISMAYED (note, ). The language of astonishment that an army so well equipped should be driven back in "dismay." The prophet sees this in prophetic vision. FLED APACE - literally, fled a flight, i:e., flee precipitately. LOOK NOT BACK - they do not even dare to look back at their pursuers....

For it immediately follows, _Why, _or how, _have I seen them broken? _Here the Prophet, on the other hand, disregards all the things which he before enumerated in such high terms, for he spoke, as it were, according to the common judgment of men. And, as I have said, he undertook the person of a herald, as though Pharaoh himself had commanded the Egyptians immediately to take up arms. This then was apparently very formidable. But the Prophet now speaks as though standing on an eminence, and says, How or what is this? for מדוע, m_eduo, _is a particle of wonder, How! He then passes over from the common opinion of the flesh to the prophetic Spirit, as though he had said, “Were any one to judge of the Egyptians by their external splen-dour, he would say that they would be victorious over their enemies; but were any one to ascend higher and to form a judgment, not according to the flesh, but...

1-12 The whole word of God is against those who obey not the gospel of Christ; but it is for those, even of the Gentiles, who turn to Him. The prophecy begins with Egypt. Let them strengthen themselves with all the art and interest they have, yet it shall be all in vain. The wounds God inflicts on his enemies, cannot be healed by medicines. Power and prosperity soon pass from one to another in this changing world....

Verse Jeremiah 46:5. _WHEREFORE HAVE I SEEN THEM DISMAYED_] What! such a numerous, formidable, and well-appointed army panic-struck? So that they have _turned back-fled apace_, and _looked not round_; while their _mighty ones_-their generals and commanders, striving to rally them, are _beaten down_....

Literally, “Why have I seen? They are terror-stricken! they are giving way back!” The Egyptian host feels that the battle is lost, and overborne by the enemy loses heart, and in despair, yet not without a struggle, gives way. It is remarkable, that while Jeremiah in his warning addressed to Jerusalem uses the most simple and unadorned prose, his language concerning the Gentile nations is, on the contrary, full of brilliant poetry. LOOK NOT BACK - turn not back. They make no halt, and no attempt to rally. FEAR WAS ROUND ABOUT - The prophets watch-word, Magor-missabib (see Jeremiah 6:25)....

EXPOSITION This chapter, the first of a series, consists of two prophecies united, though it is probable enough that the latter was intended to supplement the former, for Jeremiah 46:2 are clearly incomplete (from the point of view of this group of prophecies) without a distinct and unmistakable prediction of the conquest of Egypt. The earlier prophecy is, in fact, not itself a prediction, but a triumphal ode, analogous to such as we find in the Becks of Isaiah and Ezekiel. It falls into three stanzas: (1) verses 3-6; (2) verses 7-9; (3) verses 10-12. In the first two the great event is described with poetical imagery; in the third, its cause is declared, and the irremediable completeness of its effects. The point of time assumed is immediately before the battle of Carehemish. The Egyptian army h

WHEREFORE HAVE I SEEN THEM DISMAYED [AND] TURNED AWAY BACK?.... The Egyptians, after all this preparation for war, and seeming ardent to engage in battle; and yet, when they came to it, were seized with a panic, and thrown into the utmost consternation, and turned their backs upon their enemy: these are either the words of the prophet, who had a view by a spirit of prophecy, of the consternation, confusion, and flight of the Egyptian army; or of the Lord, who foresaw all this, and represents it as if it was done because of the certainty of it; upbraiding the Egyptians with their pusillanimity and cowardice: AND THEIR MIGHTY ONES ARE BEATEN DOWN, AND ARE FLED APACE, AND LOOK NOT BACK; or, "their mighty ones are broken" s; their valiant soldiers and officers, their best troops were broken to pieces, their ranks and files, and thrown into the utmost disorder; and therefore made all the has...

IV. THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE GENTILE NATIONS CHAPTER 46 Concerning Egypt _ 1. Prophecy about Pharaoh-Necho (Jeremiah 46:1) _ 2. Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt (Jeremiah 46:13) 3. A message of comfort (Jeremiah 46:27) Jeremiah 46:1. This Pharaoh made an attempt to invade the territory of the king of Babylon, but was defeated by Nebuchadrezzar in a battle on the river Euphrates at Carchemish. This prophecy was given about eighteen years before the fall of Jerusalem. All was literally fulfilled....

JEREMIAH 46-51. THE FOREIGN PROPHECIES. These form the third principal division of the Book of Jeremiah. As already seen (Jeremiah 1:5; Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 25:15), Jeremiah's prophetic horizon naturally included the surrounding nations; how far the prophecies that follow are his can be decided only by detailed criticism in each case. They refer, though in somewhat different order, to the several nations enumerated in Jeremiah 25:19 (which may be regarded as an introduction to them), except that an oracle on Damascus here replaces the reference to Tyre, Sidon, and the Mediterranean. (The LXX, which places this group of prophe

BEATEN DOWN. crushed. FLED APACE. Figure of speech _Polyptoton_. Hebrew fled. flight. Well rendered "fled apace". FEAR WAS ROUND ABOUT. Hebrew. _magor missabib_. terror round about. See note on Jeremiah 6:25. SAITH, &C. See note on Jeremiah 45:5....