Jeremiah 46:8

8 It's Egypt that rises like the Nile, whose banks overflow, who declares, "I will arise and cover the earth and destroy cities and inhabitants."

Jeremiah 46:8 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 46:8

Egypt riseth up as a flood, and [his] waters are moved like the
rivers
This is the answer to the above question; that it was Egypt that was seen; the king of Egypt, as the Syriac version; he with his army, as the Targum; and which was so numerous, that it seemed as if the whole country of Egypt, all the inhabitants of it, were come along with him; these rose up like the Nile, and moved like the several sluices of it, with great velocity and force, as if they would carry all before them: and he saith, I will go up;
Pharaohnecho king of Egypt said, I will go up from my own land to the north, to meet the king of Babylon: [and] will cover the earth;
with his army: even all, the north country, the whole Babylonish empire; which he affected to be master of, grasping at, universal monarchy: I will destroy the city, and the inhabitants thereof;
which Abarbinel restrains to the city Carchemish, where his army was smitten: but it is better to interpret, the singular by the plural, as the Targum does, "I will destroy cities"; since it was not a single city he came up to take, nor would this satisfy his ambitious temper.

Jeremiah 46:8 In-Context

6 The swift can't flee; the mighty can't escape. Up north by the Euphrates River, they stagger and fall.

7 Who is this that rises like the Nile, whose banks overflow?

8 It's Egypt that rises like the Nile, whose banks overflow, who declares, "I will arise and cover the earth and destroy cities and inhabitants."

9 Charge, you horses; advance, you chariots! Attack, you soldiers with your shield in hand, you people of Cush and Put with your bow drawn, you archers from Lud.

10 But that day belongs to the LORD God of heavenly forces; it's a day of reckoning, settling scores with enemies. The sword will devour until it has had its fill of blood. The LORD God of heavenly forces is preparing a sacrifice in the north by the Euphrates River.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or like rivers whose waters roar