Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
5. Wherefore dismayed ] The LXX rightly omit the first Hebrew verb, and render, “Wherefore are they dismayed?”
terror is on every side ] Jeremiah’s characteristic expression. See on ch. Jer 6:25.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 Jer 6:25).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
God had either in a vision showed Jeremiah this army of the Egyptians flying, or else had revealed to him that they should be put to flight, which the prophet here publisheth. God made a fear to fall upon the Egyptians, so as when the king of Babylon came to join battle with them, they were not able at all to stand, but turned their backs, and their greatest commanders were either killed, or fled away as fast as they could.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. (See on Jer46:3). The language of astonishment, that an army so wellequipped should be driven back in “dismay.” The prophetsees this in prophetic vision.
fled apaceliterally,”fled a flight,” that is, flee precipitately.
look not backThey donot even dare to look back at their pursuers.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole 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
Jer 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 “et fortes corum contusi sunt, vel coutunduntur”, Schmidt, Cocceius, Piscator; “contriti sunt”, Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Thus well arrayed, the host advances to the fight; but suddenly the seer perceives the magnificent army terror-stricken, retreating, and breaking out into a disorderly flight. The question, “Why (wherefore) do I see?” points to the unexpected and incomprehensible turn in the progress of events. is not an accus. dependent on , but an independent clause: “What do I see? They are terror-stricken” ( , terrified, broken-spirited through terror). , Hoph. from , to be broken, here and in Job 4:20 applied to persons. is added to the verb instead of the inf. abs., to give emphasis to the idea contained in the word; cf. Ewald, 281, a. .a , “horror, terror around” (cf. Jer 6:25), is taken by Ewald as the reply of Jahveh to the question, “Wherefore is this? On every side there is danger;” and this is appropriately followed by the imperatives in Jer 46:6, “Let no one, then, attempt to flee; not one shall escape to Egypt, but they must fall at the Euphrates.” The perfects are prophetic; the stumbling and falling are as certain as if they had already happened. The second strophe commences at Jer 46:7. The description begins anew, and that with a question of astonishment at the mighty host advancing like the Nile when it bursts its banks and inundates the whole country. is the name of the Nile, taken from the Egyptian into the Hebrew language; cf. Gen. 41ff., Exo 1:22, etc. , dash about (Jer 5:22), wave backwards and forwards: the Hithpa. is here interchanged with the Hithpo. without any difference of meaning.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
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 according to the spirit, he would see that all this is frail and evanescent.”
But the question, How? is to be taken as emphatical; for it could have been hardly believed that an army so well equipped could have become a prey to the Babylonians, and that it was hastening to its own ruin. As then this seemed incredible to any one attending to the subject, the Prophet asks, How have I seen them? He however says that he saw them, even because God had set him, as we have said, as it were on a watch-tower. This, however, may be applied to the body as well as to the mind. I saw them turned backward:, when yet they were rushing forward, as he says afterwards, like a flood. Their valiant men, he says, have been smitten, and by flight they have fled. He means, in short, that there would not be so much courage in the Egyptians as to withstand the onset of their enemies, because they would be broken down by the hidden power of God. He also adds, that their flight would be accompanied with so much dread, that they would not dare to look behind, so that their danger would increase their haste.
He at length adds in God’s name, Terror on every side, says Jehovah Here he changes the person the third time, for he declares as from God’s mouth that there would be terror on every side; and thus it is an answer to the question, How, or why? even because God, he says, executes his judgment on them. Whenever, therefore, we see that nothing is wanting to our enemies for victory even over the Church of God, let what the Prophet says here be remembered by us, that there is no reason why we should despond, though we may be filled with wonder and amazement; for God will so work as to break down, without the hand of man, those who shake the whole world with terror. It afterwards follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) Wherefore have I seen them dismayed . . .?The prophet speaks as seeing already in his minds eye the confusion of the defeated army, with no way to escape, driven back on the Euphrates. In the fear round about (Magor-missabib) we have one of his characteristic formul (Jer. 6:25; Jer. 20:3; Jer. 20:10; Jer. 49:29).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Thus far the description of the embattled host. Now comes the picture of the defeat and discomfiture.
Wherefore have I seen them, etc. The original is more expressive and poetical. Why have I seen? They are terror-stricken! They are giving away back. Their heroes are broken, and utterly fled, and turn not back. Terror is round about ( on every side) saith Jehovah. The swift shall not flee and the hero shall not escape. Towards the north, by the side of the river Euphrates, they shall stumble and fall.
In graphic force this passage is masterly. However simple and unadorned may be the style of Jeremiah when treating of plain matters which were near to his own people, here we have a brilliancy and poetic beauty not often surpassed.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Utter Defeat ( Jer 46:5 ).
In deliberately stark contrast we are now given the picture of this once proud army fleeing in tatters. It is as though it was written by an onlooker behind the lines who had observed with awe the initial preparations and advance, and now saw the same army streaming back in desperate and terror-stricken flight.
Jer 46:5
‘Why have I seen it? (or ‘What do I see concerning it?)
They are dismayed and are turned backward,
And their mighty ones are beaten down,
And are fled hastily,
And they look not back,
Terror is on every side,
the word of YHWH.’
‘What have I seen concerning it?’ The observer is astonished at what he sees. What could have caused this turnaround? For he now describes what follows the advance of the proud army. Its total humiliation. What follows is a picture of total defeat. The Egyptian army is no longer proud. They are filled with dismay and turn backwards, their mighty men are beaten down, all flee hastily not daring to look back, and all is terror. They are the remnants of an army fleeing in tatters. And all this in accordance with the prophetic word of YHWH (neum YHWH), which both prophesied it and brought it about.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 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.
Ver. 5. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed? ] Surprised with a panic terror.
And are fled apace.
For fear was round about.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
beaten down = crushed.
fled apace. Figure of speech Polyptoton. Hebrew fled a flight. Well rendered “fled apace”.
fear was round about. Hebrew. magor missabib = terror round about. See note on Jer 6:25.
saith, &c. See note on Jer 45:5.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 46:5-12
Jer 46:5-12
THE ROUTE OF THE EGYPTIAN ARMY
Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: terror is on every side, saith Jehovah. Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; in the north by the river Euphrates have they stumbled and fallen. Who is this that riseth up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers? Egypt riseth up like the Nile, and his waters toss themselves like the rivers: and he saith, I will rise up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities and the inhabitants thereof. Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Cush and Put, that handle the shield; and the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow. For that day is [a day] of the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt: in vain dost thou use many medicines; there is no healing for thee. The nations have heard of thy shame, and the earth is full of thy cry; for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, they are fallen both of them together.
Wherefore have I seen it? …
(Jer 46:5). These words are the dramatic introduction to a startling change in the scene, from that of the arrogant, advancing army of Egypt, to that of a hopelessly beaten and routed army.
Terror is on every side, saith Jehovah…
(Jer 46:5). Here is the key that demands our understanding of this passage, not as a record of something that has already occurred, but as a divine promise of what is going to happen. Therefore, this prophecy must be dated before the battle of Carchemish.
What brought about the defeat of such a large and impressive force? “It was panic, supernaturally induced, that did it.” In this long paragraph, note the words “terror” (Jer 46:5), “they have fled … look not back” (Jer 46:5), “the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty” (Jer 46:12), etc.
These verses (Jer 46:3-12) do not contain a triumphal song over a defeat that has already taken place, but a prophecy of a defeat about to take place.
Cush. Put… Ludim, etc. …..
(Jer 46:9). These places were the sources of the mercenary troops upon which the Pharaohs relied to build and replenish their armies. The Ethiopians, or Nubian Negroes, made up a large part of these. Such foreign mercenaries were never very reliable; and a later Pharaoh-Hophra lost his kingship because of a mutiny against him.
A day of the Lord…
(Jer 46:10). It is not the day of the Lord, for there are no eschatological echoes in the place.
A day of Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance…
(Jer 46:10). The Egyptians had quite recently slain the good King Josiah, and their defeat was a vengeance against that disaster for Israel. The possible reference here to Egypt’s slaying of Josiah (in 609 B.C.), if this alleged reference is correct, would indicate that the exact date of this prophecy would fall between 609 B.C. and 605 B.C., but well before the fall of Carchemish to Babylon.
The Lord hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates…
Contrary to all that the proud Egyptian army anticipated, they were destined to be sacrificial victims in that day at Carchemish when the Lord would provide himself a sacrifice of their entire army!
The Second Picture of Egyptian Defeat Jer 46:7-12
In this stanza of the poem Jeremiah sees the armies of Pharaoh Necho rolling toward Carchemish like the mighty Nile in flood time. The rivers mentioned in Jer 46:7-8 are the arms and canals of the Nile in the Delta region. In these vivid lines one can almost hear the roaring, moving and churning of the rampaging river. The pride and confidence of Pharaoh is revealed in his boast I will go up and cover the earth;; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof (Jer 46:8). By means of a sarcastic imperative Jeremiah urges the hosts of Egypt to hasten onward to their destination (Jer 46:9). Actually it is impossible to determine here whether the command to the troops is given by Pharaoh or mockingly by the prophet. The KJV by translating the verbs come up suggests that it is the prophet who is summoning the troops of Egypt. The ASV translation go up is preferable. Cush, Put and Lud (Ethiopians, Libyans and Lydians in KJV) refer to the countries of Pharaohs mercenary troops. Exact locations of Put and Lud are not known. It is thought that Put is on the east coast of Africa near Egypt and that Lud was west of Egypt. From the days of Pharaoh Psammetichus (663-610) these African mercenaries formed the major part of the Egyptian army. Who could withstand such a vast and heavily armed host? No wonder Pharaoh makes his boast. But God alone decrees what nation will rule His world, and God has chosen Nebuchadnezzar. Pharaoh will meet his doom at Carchemish!
Jer 46:10 presents a glaring contrast to what has preceded in this stanza. Laetsch proposes that the conjunction Which introduces Jer 46:10 should be rendered but or yet in English instead of for as in KJV and ASV. Jer 46:7-9 pictured the might and confident expectation of the Egyptian forces as they set out for Carchemish. Jer 46:10-12 picture the results of that battle. Instead of victory for Egypt or for Babylon, Carchemish will be a day of victory for the Lord. By describing the defeat at Carchemish as a sacrifice Jeremiah indicates the religious significance of the battle. The phrase the day of the Lord of hosts designates a day which God has reserved for the punishment of His adversaries and the deliverance of His people. Every day of the Lord throughout history is a preview of that great and notable day of the Lord which will be the final decisive and conclusive battle in the age-long struggle between righteousness and evil.
At Carchemish God will take vengeance on His adversaries. The Egyptians are not Gods adversaries because of the unmerciful oppression to which they had subjected the Israelites centuries earlier. That debt had long since been settled when God brought the terrific plague-judgments upon the land of Egypt. But the Egyptians had continued to show their hostility toward the people of God in more recent days. Pharaoh had harbored the enemies of Gods anointed king of Israel (1Ki 11:14 ff); he had warred against Jerusalem (1Ki 14:25 f.); he had come to the aid of the tottering Assyrian Empire which had for so many years afflicted the people of God; he had slain righteous king Josiah at the pass of Megiddo and deported young Jehoahaz. Even after Carchemish Pharaoh would goad tiny Judah into those suicidal rebellions against Babylon which finally brought about the doom of that country. Thus there is good reason to call Egypt the adversary of God.
Jer 46:11 describes the Egyptian defeat at Carchemish as a wound for which there is no known cure. Medical sciences advanced further in Egypt than in any other country of antiquity. But search as they may they would not be able to find any medicine which would heal Egypt of the mortal wound received at Carchemish. Even the famed balm of Gilead would avail nothing. Gilead lies east of the Jordan between the Arnon and Yarmuk rivers. The delicate virgin daughter of Egypt is doomed to death as a nation. What a sad day that will be for Pharaoh. Defeat and confusion follow the battle. The cry of the retreating soldiers can be heard throughout the land. In their haste to escape from the battlefield the mighty men of the Egyptian army stumble over one another.
Jeremiahs prediction of what would take place at Carchemish was marvelously fulfilled. The official Babylonian account of the battle reveals how accurately Jeremiah had foreseen what would transpire there. Concerning Nebuchadnezzar the great prince of Babylon the scribes wrote:
He crossed the river (to go) against the Egyptian army which was situated in Carchemish and . they fought with each other and the Egyptian army withdrew before him. He defeated them in the district of Hamath, so that not a single man escaped to his own country.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
and their: Rev 6:15
beaten down: Heb. broken in pieces
fled apace: Heb. fled a flight, Jer 46:15, Gen 19:17, 2Ki 7:6, 2Ki 7:7, Nah 2:8
fear: Jer 6:25, Jer 20:3, Jer 20:4, *marg. Jer 46:10, Jer 49:29, Isa 19:16, Eze 32:10, Rev 6:15-17
Reciprocal: Job 18:11 – Terrors Psa 35:4 – turned Jer 30:5 – General Jer 38:22 – they are Jer 46:21 – they did Jer 49:5 – ye shall Lam 2:22 – my terrors Lam 5:17 – our heart Eze 30:13 – put
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 46:5. Wherefore in the Bible usually means “why? or ‘how? and sometimes it means “therefore, which is its meaning in the present passage. The prediction had just been made that Egypt was to be drawn into war. God knows the future as well as the past and thus he could say I have seen them (the Egyptians) dismayed, etc.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
46:5 {d} Why have I seen them dismayed [and] turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and have fled apace, and look not back: [for] fear [was] on all sides, saith the LORD.
(d) The prophet had this vision of the Egyptians who would be put to flight by the Babylonians at Carchemish.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
He soon expressed shock, however, at seeing the Egyptians terrified and retreating. "Terror on every side" may have been a proverbial curse formula (cf. Jer 6:25; Jer 20:3; Jer 20:10; Psa 31:13). [Note: Thompson, p. 688.]