Jeremiah 46:14

Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) Declare ye in Egypt.—The general proclamation is afterwards defined by the names of the cities which were the more immediate objects of Nebuchadrezzar’s attack. For the three cities named see Note on Jeremiah 44:1.

Benson Commentary

Jeremiah 46:14-15. 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 fast, and prepare thee — Prepare for war, and resolve to keep your ground, and not yield to the enemy: compare Jeremiah 46:2-3. For the sword shall devour round about thee — The nations are destroyed around you, and you have reason to expect that the sword will next reach you. Why are thy valiant men swept away? — “The Hebrew word אביר, here rendered valiant, is sometimes spoken of God, as Genesis 49:24. Sometimes it is a title given to angels, as Psalm 78:25; but the LXX. understand it here of Apis, the idol of Egypt, which might properly be said to be conquered when the nation, that had put themselves under his protection, was subdued.” — Lowth. And, instead of they stood not, because the Lord did drive them, as we translate the next clause, the LXX. add, ο μοσχος ο εκλεκτος σου ουκ εμεινεν, οτι κυριος παρελυσεν αυτον, thy elect calf did not abide, because the Lord debilitated, literally, paralyzed, him. But it is not at all probable that this idol was here intended, but either of the mighty princes of Egypt; or, if the noun be singular, as Blaney understands it, reading, אבירן, thy mighty one, instead of אבירין, thy mighty ones, then the king is probably meant. Neither the king himself, nor his valiant captains, could stand before Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean army, because God discomfited them. It was of God to destroy Egypt, and when he works none can hinder him; when he strikes none can stand up against him, or stand before him.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

46:13-28 Those who encroached on others, shall now be themselves encroached on. Egypt is now like a very fair heifer, not accustomed to the yoke of subjection; but destruction comes out of the north: the Chaldeans shall come. Comfort and peace are spoken to the Israel of God, designed to encourage them when the judgments of God were abroad among the nations. He will be with them, and only correct them in measure; and will not punish them with everlasting destruction from his presence.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The sword shall devour - "The sword" hath devoured "those round about thee." One after another the nations have been consumed by Nebuehadnezzar; and now at length Tyre, which so long had withstood him, has fallen, and his forces are about to fall upon Egypt (Jeremiah 2:16 note). Hence, the summons to arrange themselves in their ranks, and to prepare for battle by putting on their armor.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14. Declare … publish—as if giving sentence from a tribunal.

Migdol … Noph … Tahpanhes—east, south, and north. He mentions the three other quarters, but omits the west, because the Chaldeans did not advance thither. These cities, too, were the best known to the Jews, as being in their direction.

sword shall devour round about thee—namely, the Syrians, Jews, Moabites, and Ammonites (see on [974]Jer 48:1). The exhortation is ironical, as in Jer 46:4, 9.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Concerning these three cities of Egypt, See Poole "Jeremiah 44:1": the meaning is, Publish this prophecy over all the land of Egypt. Or perhaps these three were the chief places whither the Jews that went with Johanan the son of Kareah, &c. went, and where they fixed themselves: many more places in Egypt are named by Ezekiel, Jeremiah 30:14, &c.

Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee; look to yourselves, and prepare yourselves for battle, for the nations are destroyed round about you, (so it is in the Hebrew,) and you have reason to expect that the sword should come next into your countries.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Declare ye in Egypt,.... The coming of the king of Babylon, and his intention to invade the land, and subdue it:

and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph, and in Tahpanhes; of these places See Gill on Jeremiah 44:1; these were principal ones in the land of Egypt, where the enemy should come, and which he should lay waste; and therefore the above things are to be published for their warning; and particularly these were places where the Jews that went into Egypt contrary to the will of God resided; and therefore for their sakes also this publication must be made, to let them see and know that they would not be safe there, but would be involved in the general calamity of the nation:

say ye, stand fast, and prepare thee; O Egypt, and the several cities mentioned, and all others; prepare for war, and to meet the enemy, resist and repel him; present yourselves on the frontiers of your country; put yourselves in proper places, and keep your ground:

for the sword shall devour round about thee; the sword of the Chaldeans, into whose hands fell Palestine, Judea, Syria, and other neighbouring countries; and therefore it was high time for them to bestir themselves, and provide for their defence and safety.

Geneva Study Bible

Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

14. Migdol] See on Jeremiah 44:1. For Noph and Tahpanhes See on Jeremiah 2:16. Migdol was the border town in the Asiatic direction and Noph the capital city of Lower Egypt. The other proper names in the v. (omitted by LXX) are probably later glosses.

Stand forth] take up a defensive position.

hath devoured] The neighbouring nations had been subdued.

round about thee] The LXX read “thy thicket,” which can be obtained by an inconsiderable modification of MT. and receives a certain amount of support from the metaphor in Jeremiah 46:22 f.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 14-19. - The cities of Egypt are called upon to prepare to meet the foe. But it is in vain; for all that is great and mighty in the land - Apis, the mercenary soldiers, and the Pharaoh - bows down before that terrible one who is comparable only to the most imposing objects in the inanimate world. Pharaoh's time is over; and Egypt must go into captivity. Verse 14. - Declare ye; viz. the approach of the foe (comp. Jeremiah 4:5). The news is to be told in the frontier towns Migdol and Tahpanhes, and in the northern capital Noph or Memphis (see on Jeremiah 2:16; 44:1). The sword shall devour, etc.; rather, the sword hath devoured those round about thee. The neighbouring nations (the same phrase occurs in Jeremiah 48:17, 39) have one after another succumbed; no ally is left there. Jeremiah 46:14

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

"Tell ye it in Egypt, and make it to be heard in Migdol, and make it be heard in Noph and Tahpanhes: say, Stand firm, and prepare thee; for the sword hath devoured around thee. Jeremiah 46:15. Why hath thy strong one been swept away? he stood not, for Jahveh pushed him down. Jeremiah 46:16. He made many stumble, yea, one fell on another; and they said, Arise, and let us return to our own people, and to the land of our birth, from before the oppressing sword. Jeremiah 46:17. They cried there, Pharaoh the king of Egypt is undone; he hath let the appointed time pass. Jeremiah 46:18. As I live, saith the King, whose name is Jahveh of hosts, Surely as Tabor among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, shall he come. Jeremiah 46:19. Prepare thee things for exile, O daughter dwelling in Egypt: for Noph will become a desolation, and be destroyed by fire, without an inhabitant."

Like the last prophecy, this one also begins with the summons to arms (Jeremiah 46:14), in order to prepare the way for the description given immediately afterwards of the defeat (Jeremiah 46:15.). The summons to make the proclamation is addressed to some persons not named, who are to announce through the country, particularly in the frontier towns and in the northern capital of Egypt, that the foe, in his devastating career, has advanced to the borders of the land. This is evident from the clause which states the reason: "The sword hath devoured what lay round thee." Regarding Migdol, i.e., Magdolos, and Tahpanhes, i.e., Daphne, the two frontier towns in the north, and Noph, i.e., Memphis, the northern capital of the kingdom, see on Jeremiah 2:16 and Jeremiah 54:1. התיצּב, to take up one's position for the fight; cf. Jeremiah 46:4. סביביך, "thy surroundings," are the frontier countries, but especially those on the north, - Judah, Philistia, Edom, - since the enemy comes from the north. However, we cannot with certainty infer from this, that by that time the kingdom of Judah had already fallen, and Jerusalem been laid waste. Immediately after Necho had been vanquished at the Euphrates, Nebuchadnezzar marched after the fugitive foe, pursuing him as far as the borders of Egypt; hence we read, in 2 Kings 24:7, "The king of Egypt went no more out of his land; for the king of Babylon had taken all that had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates." Even at that time, in the fourth and fifth years of Jehoiakim, it could be said, "His sword hath devoured the countries contiguous to Egypt." And Nebuchadnezzar was prevented on that occasion from advancing farther, and penetrating into Egypt itself, only by hearing of his father's death at Babylon, in consequence of which he was compelled to return to Babylon as speedily as possible, for the purpose of assuming the reins of government, and to let his army with the prisoners follow him at their leisure (Berosus in Josephus, contra Ap. i. 19).