Jeremiah 46:8

8 Egypt rises like the Nile, Even like the rivers whose waters surge about; And He has said, "I will ¹rise and cover that land; I will surely ²destroy the city and its 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 Let not the swift man flee, Nor the mighty man escape; In the north beside the river Euphrates They have stumbled and fallen.

7 Who is this that rises like the Nile, Like the rivers whose waters surge about?

8 Egypt rises like the Nile, Even like the rivers whose waters surge about; And He has said, "I will rise and cover that land; I will surely destroy the city and its inhabitants."

9 Go up, you horses, and drive madly, you chariots, That the mighty men may march forward: Ethiopia and Put, that handle the shield, And the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.

10 For that day belongs to the Lord GOD of hosts, A day of vengeance, so as to avenge Himself on His foes; And the sword will devour and be satiated And drink its fill of their blood; For there will be a slaughter for the Lord GOD of hosts, In the land of the north by the river Euphrates.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 37:24
• 2. Isaiah 10:13