Jeremiah 46:8

8 It is Egypt, rising like the Nile, like a river flooding its banks. Egypt said, "I will rise and cover the world; I will destroy cities and the people who live there.

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 Those who run fast cannot get away; the soldiers cannot escape. In the north, by the Euphrates, they stumble and fall.

7 Who is this that rises like the Nile, like a river flooding its banks?

8 It is Egypt, rising like the Nile, like a river flooding its banks. Egypt said, "I will rise and cover the world; I will destroy cities and the people who live there.

9 Command the horses to go and the chariots to roll! Send out the soldiers: men from Ethiopia and Libya, carrying shields, and skilled archers from Lydia.' "

10 This is the day of the Sovereign Lord Almighty: today he will take revenge; today he will punish his enemies. His sword will eat them until it is full, and drink their blood until it is satisfied. Today the Almighty sacrifices his victims in the north, by the Euphrates.