Jeremiah 46:8

8 Egypt, as a flood cometh up, And as rivers the waters shake themselves. And he saith, I go up; I cover the land, I destroy the city and the inhabitants in it.

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 do not flee, nor do the mighty escape, Northward, by the side of the river Phrat, They have stumbled and fallen.

7 Who is this? as a flood he cometh up, As rivers do his waters shake themselves!

8 Egypt, as a flood cometh up, And as rivers the waters shake themselves. And he saith, I go up; I cover the land, I destroy the city and the inhabitants in it.

9 Go up, ye horses; and boast yourselves, ye chariots, And go forth, ye mighty, Cush and Phut handling the shield, And Lud handling -- treading the bow.

10 And that day [is] to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts A day of vengeance, To be avenged of His adversaries, And the sword hath devoured, and been satisfied, And it hath been watered from their blood, For a sacrifice [is] to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the north, by the river Phrat.