Jeremiah 46:8

8 Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters. She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy cities and their people.’

Jeremiah 46:8 in Other Translations

8 Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.

8 Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge. He said, 'I will rise, I will cover the earth, I will destroy cities and their inhabitants.'

8 It is the Egyptian army, overflowing all the land, boasting that it will cover the earth like a flood, destroying cities and their people.

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.'

8 Egypt rises like the Nile, and its waters churn like rivers. He boasts: I will go up, I will cover the earth; I will destroy cities with their residents.

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 cannot flee nor the strong escape. In the north by the River Euphrates they stumble and fall.

7 “Who is this that rises like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters?

8 Egypt rises like the Nile, like rivers of surging waters. She says, ‘I will rise and cover the earth; I will destroy cities and their people.’

9 Charge, you horses! Drive furiously, you charioteers! March on, you warriors—men of Cush and Put who carry shields, men of Lydia who draw the bow.

10 But that day belongs to the Lord, the LORD Almighty— a day of vengeance, for vengeance on his foes. The sword will devour till it is satisfied, till it has quenched its thirst with blood. For the Lord, the LORD Almighty, will offer sacrifice in the land of the north by the River Euphrates.

Cross References

• 1. Ezekiel 29:3,9; Ezekiel 30:12; Amos 8:8
• 2. Daniel 11:10