Jeremiah 46:8

8 Why, it's Egypt like the Nile in flood, like its streams torrential, Saying, 'I'll take over the world. I'll wipe out cities and peoples.'

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 swiftest runners won't get away, the strongest soldiers won't escape. In the north country, along the River Euphrates, they'll stagger, stumble, and fall.
7 "Who is this like the Nile in flood? like its streams torrential?
8 Why, it's Egypt like the Nile in flood, like its streams torrential, Saying, 'I'll take over the world. I'll wipe out cities and peoples.'
9 Run, horses! Roll, chariots! Advance, soldiers from Cush and Put with your shields, Soldiers from Lud, experts with bow and arrow.
10 "But it's not your day. It's the Master's, me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies - the day when I have it out with my enemies, The day when Sword puts an end to my enemies, when Sword exacts vengeance. I, the Master, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, will pile them on an altar - a huge sacrifice! - In the great north country, along the mighty Euphrates.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.