Jeremiah 46:5

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹This is the word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations. ²To Egypt, concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah: ³"Deploy your shields, small and large, and advance for battle! ⁴Harness the horses; mount the steeds; take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears; put on armor! ⁵Why am I seeing this? They are terrified, they are retreating, their warriors are defeated, they flee in haste, they never look back, terror is on every side! declares the LORD.⁶The swift cannot flee, and the warrior cannot escape! In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall. ⁷Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters churn? ⁸Egypt rises like the Nile, and its waters churn like rivers, boasting, "I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy the cities and their people." ⁹Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots! Let the warriors come forth-Cush and Put carrying their shields, men of Lydia drawing the bow. ¹⁰That day belongs to the Lord, the GOD of Hosts, a day of vengeance to avenge Himself against His foes. The sword will devour until it is satisfied, until it is quenched with their blood. For it will be a sacrifice to the Lord, the GOD of Hosts, in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

and their: Revelation 6:15

beaten down: Heb. broken in pieces

fled apace: Heb. fled a flight, Jeremiah 46:15, Genesis 19:17, 2 Kings 7:6, 2 Kings 7:7, Nahum 2:8

fear: Jeremiah 6:25, Jeremiah 20:3, Jeremiah 20:4, *marg. Jeremiah 46:10, Jeremiah 49:29, Isaiah 19:16, Ezekiel 32:10, Revelation 6:15-17

Reciprocal: Job 18:11 - Terrors Psalms 35:4 - turned Jeremiah 30:5 - General Jeremiah 38:22 - they are Jeremiah 46:21 - they did Jeremiah 49:5 - ye shall Lamentations 2:22 - my terrors Lamentations 5:17 - our heart Ezekiel 30:13 - put

Cross-References

Genesis 45:19
You are also directed to tell them: 'Take wagons from the land of Egypt for your young children and your wives, and bring your father and come back.

Genesis 45:21
So the sons of Israel did as they were told. Joseph gave them wagons as Pharaoh had instructed, and he also gave them provisions for their journey.

Genesis 45:27
However, when they relayed all that Joseph had told them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob was revived.

Genesis 46:17
The sons of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. The sons of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel.

Genesis 46:18
These are the sons of Jacob born to Zilpah-whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah-sixteen in all.

Exodus 10:24
Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, "Go, worship the LORD. Even your little ones may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind."

Exodus 10:26
Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind, for we will need some of them to worship the LORD our God, and we will not know how we are to worship the LORD until we arrive."

Acts 7:15
So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 haste they could to escape the fury of the enemy, and fled with the utmost precipitation, and never stopped to look back upon their pursuers; so great their fear:

[for] fear [was] round about, saith the Lord; from whence it came; it was he that put it into them, took away their courage, and made them a "magormissabib", or "fear round about", the word here used; see

Jeremiah 20:3. The Targum is,

"they looked not back to resist them that slay with the sword, who are gathered against them round about, saith the Lord;''

their enemies surrounded them, and that was the reason fear was round about them, and both were from the Lord; or as he had said, determined, and foretold it should be.

s וגבוריהם יכתו "et fortes corum contusi sunt, vel coutunduntur", Schmidt, Cocceius, Piscator; "contriti sunt", Vatablus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

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.