Jeremiah 37:5

5 Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians^[a] who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 37:5 in Other Translations

5 Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

5 The army of Pharaoh had come out of Egypt. And when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

5 At this time the army of Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt appeared at the southern border of Judah. When the Babylonian army heard about it, they withdrew from their siege of Jerusalem.

5 Pharaoh's army was marching up from Egypt. The Chaldeans fighting against Jerusalem heard that the Egyptians were coming and pulled back.

5 Pharaoh's army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 37:5 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 37:5

Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt
At the time the above message was sent to Jeremiah. Zedekiah, though he had took an oath of homage to the king of Babylon, rebelled against him, and entered into a league with the king of Egypt, to whom he sent for succours in his distress; and who, according to agreement, sent his army out of Egypt to break up the siege of Jerusalem; for though the king of Egypt came no more in person out of his land, after his defeat at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, ( Jeremiah 46:2 ) ( 2 Kings 24:7 ) ; yet he sent his army to the relief of Jerusalem: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem;
which was in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign that they first besieged it, and is the time here referred to, ( Jeremiah 39:1 ) ; heard tidings of them;
the Egyptian army, and of its coming out against them; the rumour of which might be spread by the Jews themselves, to intimidate them; or which might come to them by spies they had in all parts to give them intelligence of what was doing; and what they had was good and certain, and on which they acted: they departed from Jerusalem:
not through fear, but to meet the Egyptian army, and give them battle, before they could be joined by any considerable force of the Jews. It was at this time the covenant was broken about the manumission of servants, ( Jeremiah 34:10 ) ; which conduct ill agrees with their desire of the prophet's prayer.

Jeremiah 37:5 In-Context

3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the LORD our God for us.”

4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.

5 Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

6 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet:

7 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 15:18; Isaiah 31:1; Ezekiel 17:15
• 2. Jeremiah 34:21
• 3. S Isaiah 30:5; Jeremiah 34:11; 2 Kings 24:7

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "Chaldeans" ; also in verses 8, 9, 13 and 14