Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 46:3

Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.

3. Order ye ] rather, Prepare ye. Or, more literally, Set in line.

buckler and shield ] The former of these was a small round shield which the light-armed troops carried, while the latter covered the whole body and was borne accordingly by the heavy-armed.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

3 6. These verses give us a lively description of the preparation and the advance, which were followed by the disastrous defeat at Carchemish.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Order ye … – i. e., prepare ye, make ready. The buckler was a small round target carried by the lightly-armed troops: the shield belonged to the heavily-armed troops, and was large enough to protect the whole body.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 3. Order ye the buckler] This is the call to the general armament of the people against the Chaldeans.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

3. Derisive summons to battle.With all your mighty preparation for the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar,when ye come to the encounter, ye shall be “dismayed” (Jer46:5). Your mighty threats shall end in nothing.

bucklersmaller, andcarried by the light-armed cavalry.

shieldof larger size,and carried by the heavily armed infantry.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Order ye the buckler and shield,…. Both signify one and the same sort of armour, only of a different form, the one being lesser and lighter than the other. Jarchi makes the difference to be, that the former was made of skin, the latter of wood; they were both used to defend the body in war. To order them is not only to prepare them, and get them ready; but to fit them to the body, and to put them on, that they might be in a readiness to engage in battle. The exhortation is made either to the Chaldean army, to prepare to fight against the Egyptians; or to the army of Pharaohnecho, to defend themselves against the king of Babylon, who was coming against them, as Kimchi and Abarbinel, who seem to be in doubt which it should be; but the latter is most probable: and it is either a direction of Pharaoh to his army, to be in readiness; or rather of God, speaking ironically to them, suggesting, that let them do what they would, and make ever such preparations for battle, all would come to nothing, victory would be on the other side;

and draw near to battle; engage the enemy briskly, and with the greatest courage, and use all your military skill; and, when ye have done, it will all be in vain.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

“Prepare shield and target, and advance to the battle. Jer 46:4. Yoke the horses [to the chariots]; mount the steeds, and stand with helmets on; polish the spears, put on the armour. Jer 46:5. Why do I see? they are terrified and turned back, and their heroes are beaten, and flee in flight, and do not turn: terror is round about, saith Jahveh. Jer 46:6. Let not the swift one flee, nor let the hero escape; towards the north, by the side of the river Euphrates, they stumble and fall. Jer 46:7. Who is this that cometh up like the Nile? his waters wave like the rivers. Jer 46:8. Egypt cometh up like the Nile, [his] waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy the city, and those who dwell in it. Jer 46:9. Go up, ye horses; and drive furiously, ye chariots; and let the heroes go forth; Cushites and Phutites, bearing the shield; and Lydians, handling [and] bending the bow. Jer 46:10. But that day [belongs] to the Lord Jahveh of hosts, a day of vengeance for avenging Himself on His enemies: and the sword shall devour and be satisfied, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord Jahveh of hosts holdeth a slaying of sacrifices in the land of the north at the river Euphrates. Jer 46:11. Go up to Gilead, and take balsam, O virgin, daughter of Egypt: in vain hast thou multiplied medicines; cure there is none for thee. Jer 46:12. The nations have heard of thine ignominy, and thy cry hath filled the earth: for heroes stumble against heroes, both of them fall together.”

This address falls into two strophes, Jer 46:3-6 and Jer 46:7-12. In both are depicted in a lively manner, first the advance of the Egyptian host to the battle, then their flight and destruction. The whole has been arranged so as to form a climax: in the first strophe, the admirable equipment of the armies, and their sudden flight and defeat, are set forth in brief sentences; in the second, there is fully described not merely the powerful advance of the host that covers the earth, but also the judgment of inevitable destruction passed on them by God: the reason for the whole is also assigned. Jer 46:3. In order to represent the matter in a lively way, the description begins with the call addressed to the army, to make ready for the battle. “Make ready shield and target,” the two main pieces of defensive armour. was the small [round] shield; , scutum , the large shield, covering the whole body. “Advance to the fight,” i.e., go forward into the battle. Then the address turns to the several portions of the army: first to those who fight from chariots, who are to yoke the horses; then to the horsemen, to mount the steeds. are not horsemen, but riding-horses, as in 1Ki 5:6; 1Ki 10:26; Eze 27:14. is construed with the accus., as in Gen 49:4. The rendering given by Dahler and Umbreit, “Mount, ye horsemen,” and that of Hitzig, “Advance, ye horsemen,” are against the parallelism; and the remark of the last-named writer, that “Mount the steeds” would be , does not accord with 1Sa 30:17. Next, the address is directed to the foot-soldiers, who formed the main portion of the army. These are to take up their position with helmets on, to polish the spears, i.e., to sharpen them, and to put on the pieces of armour, in order to be arrayed for battle. , to rub, polish, remove rust from the spear, and thereby sharpen it. , here and in Jer 51:3 for , a coat of mail, pieces of armour.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Vs. 3-12: A PREVIEW OF EGYPT”S DEFEAT

1. In verses 3-4 one hears a call for the mobilization and march of the proud and confident army of Egypt.

2. But the scene immediately changes to one of terror and dismay as the over-powered Egyptians try to beat a hasty retreat – not even daring to look back, (vs. 5).

3. The swift and mighty are not permitted to escape, but stumble so as to fall by the river Euphrates, (vs. 6).

4. Proud and self-confident, the Egyptians have risen up, like the mighty Nile – confident of overwhelming its enemies by the force of her multitudes, (vs. 7-8).

5. In addition to her own forces she has hired, as mercenary soldiers, Ethiopian, Abyssinian, Lydian and Sudim, (vs. 9).

6. What they did not know was that the Providence of Jehovah had arranged the whole affair; it was the day of His long-suspended vengeance, wherein He had prepared a sacrifice by the river Euphrates, (vs. 10).

7. The hopelessness of Egypt’s recovery is set forth in verse 11; noted for her medicinal superiority, there was no balm that would heal her wound, (comp. Jer 8:22; Jer 30:13; Mic 1:9; Nah 3:19).

8. Her wound is deepened; her humiliation and shame made unbearable by the fact that the cry of her helplessness had been heard by the nations, (vs. 12; comp. Jer 2:36; Nah 3:8-10; Isa 19:2-4).

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Jeremiah uses now a form of speaking very common in the Prophets though remote from common use. For the Prophets, when they denounce God’s judgments and punishments on the ungodly, do not speak in a simple language, as though they were giving a narrative, but they employed figurative expressions, as though they wished to introduce men into the very scene itself. And that their doctrine might more effectually penetrate into the hearts of men, they bring forward various persons; they at one time introduce God as speaking, and at another they pronounce this or that according to the sentiments of others; and again, they declare the commands of God.

Jeremiah begins here by summoning the Egyptians, as though he were the herald of Pharaoh, and thus borrows the name of another person. He says, Prepare The verb ערך , orec, properly means to set in order, but here it signifies to prepare; Prepare, then, the buckler and the shield The word צנה, tsane, was a shield of a larger form, and מגן, megen, seems to have been a buckler carried by horsemen of light armor. And come near to battle: He then adds, Bind or he the horses The manner of fighting is not the same now as it was formerly; they fought in chariots, as heathen authors abundantly shew. He therefore says, he the horses, that is, join them together that they may draw the chariots. Go up, ye horsemen, stand in your helmets, clean your lances, and put on your coats of mail. The meaning is, that Egyptians would come well prepared with all kinds of arms that they might be formidable to their enemies. And hence the vengeance appeared more clearly, because they had been well furnished, so that they might seem to have gained the victory before they engaged with their enemies. This is the reason why the Prophet enumerates their complete armor, having omitted no material part; he mentions the lances, the helmets, the coats of mail, the chariots, the horses, and the shield, so that victory, according to the judgment of men, was already theirs. This is the first thing.

But we must observe the design of the Holy Spirit; it was his purpose to remove the veil from the eyes of the faithful, which for the most part prevents us to see as clearly as we ought the power of God; for when we fix our attention on warlike preparations, we do not think that anything is left for God to do; for they who are well prepared seem to be beyond the hazard of losing the day. That the Jews then might know that it would be nothing for God to punish the Egyptians, he records this preparation. And there is a kind of concession when he says, They shall indeed be furnished with a helmet, a coat of mail, a shield, a sword, and a lance; but all this would avail nothing as to the issue. Then from this prophetic word let us learn, that God makes no account of all those things which men prepare when they wish to effect anything. For smoke is everything that dazzles our eyes; so forces and arms have no importance before God; for by a single blast he can dissipate all such clouds. And this truth is very useful; for we look on external things, and when anything specious presents itself to us, we are immediately taken up with it, and rob God of all power; for we transfer his glory to these masks which appear before us. We now then understand why the Prophet speaks here of bucklers, and shields, and lances, and chariots, and helmets, and coats of mail.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(3, 4) Order ye the buckler and shield . . .The poem opens with a summons to the hosts of Nebuchadnezzar to prepare for their victory. First the foot-soldiers are called, then the horse, lastly the light-armed troops.

Put on the brigandines.The history of the word is not without interest. Light-armed skirmishers were known in Italian as brigands (brigantiliterally, quarrellers); the light coat of mail worn by them was accordingly known as a brigandine. When the Italian word became synonymous with robbers by land or sea, the ship used by them was called a brigantino, and from this is derived our English brig (W. A. Wright: Bible Word Book). The word brigandine is accordingly used by writers of the sixteenth century in both senses: by Spenser, for a ship

Like as a warlike brigandine applied
To fight;

and by Milton

Then put on all thy gorgeous arms, thy helmet
And brigandine or brass

(Sams. Agonist., 1120)in the same sense as here and in Jer. 51:3.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

SONG OF TRIUMPH FOR THE DEFEAT OF EGYPT, Jer 46:3-12.

3. Order Prepare, make ready. Buckler Small shield, carried by the light-armed troops.

Shield A piece of larger defensive size for the heavy armed troops.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Expectant Preparation For Battle ( Jer 46:3-4 ).

The prophecy commences with a vivid picture of preparation for battle, as the Egyptian army prepared to face the enemy. Some see in this the Babylonian preparations, but the whole context appears to have in mind the Egyptians (although note Jer 46:6).

Jer 46:3-4

‘Prepare you the buckler and shield,

And draw near to battle.

Harness the chariot horses,

And mount your horses,

And stand forth with your helmets,

Furbish the spears,

Put on the coats of mail.’

How proudly the Egyptian army would have prepared itself. They dressed both their large (rectangular or oval) and small (usually round) shields, they prepared to advance onto the battlefield, they harnessed their chariots and mounted their horses, they put on their leather helmets ready for battle, their infantrymen prepared their spears and donned their ‘coats of mail’ (possibly made up of metal strips attached to their jerkins). They were so sure of themselves as they stood forth and drew near to do battle with the Babylonians and their allies.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jer 46:3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.

Ver. 3. Order ye the buckler and shield. ] So Pharaoh is brought in bespeaking his forces, when he was going to fight against Nebuchadnezzar. Or so the prophet bespeaketh the Egyptians ironically, a and by way of scoff; q.d., Do so, but all shall be to no purpose, b See the like Isa 8:9 . Congregamini et vincemini. We are assembled and will be conquered. Yea, though upon Pharaoh’s shield should be the same inscription that was once upon Agamemnon’s, This is the terror of all mortal wights. c

a Hypotuposis ironica.

b State galeati, loricati, lanceati: sed frustra.

c O . – Pausan.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)