Jeremiah 46:5

5 What therefore? I saw them dreadful, either afeared, and turning the(ir) backs, the strong men of them (be) slain; and they fled swiftly, and beheld not; dread was on each side, saith the Lord. (But what did I see? I saw them fearful, or afraid, and turning their backs, for their strong men be killed; and the rest swiftly fled away, and beheld not; fear was on all sides, saith the Lord.)

Jeremiah 46:5 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 46:5

Wherefore have I seen them dismayed [and] turned away back?
&c.] The Egyptians, after all this preparation for war, and seeming ardent to engage in battle; and yet, when they came to it, were seized with a panic, and thrown into the utmost consternation, and turned their backs upon their enemy: these are either the words of the prophet, who had a view by a spirit of prophecy, of the consternation, confusion, and flight of the Egyptian army; or of the Lord, who foresaw all this, and represents it as if it was done because of the certainty of it; upbraiding the Egyptians with their pusillanimity and cowardice: and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not
back;
or, "their mighty ones are broken" ^F19; their valiant soldiers and officers, their best troops were broken to pieces, their ranks and files, and thrown into the utmost disorder; and therefore made all the haste they could to escape the fury of the enemy, and fled with the utmost precipitation, and never stopped to look back upon their pursuers; so great their fear: [for] fear [was] round about, saith the Lord;
from whence it came; it was he that put it into them, took away their courage, and made them a "magormissabib", or "fear round about", the word here used; see ( Jeremiah 20:3 ) . The Targum is,

``they looked not back to resist them that slay with the sword, who are gathered against them round about, saith the Lord;''

their enemies surrounded them, and that was the reason fear was round about them, and both were from the Lord; or as he had said, determined, and foretold it should be.

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FOOTNOTES:

F19 (wtky Mhyrwbgw) "et fortes corum contusi sunt, vel coutunduntur", Schmidt, Cocceius, Piscator; "contriti sunt", Vatablus.

Jeremiah 46:5 In-Context

3 Make ye ready shield and target, and go ye forth to battle.

4 Join ye horses, and ascend, ye knights; stand ye in helmets, polish ye spears, clothe ye you in habergeons. (Join ye up the horses, and ye horsemen go upon them; stand ye in helmets, polish ye the spears, clothe ye yourselves with breastplates.)

5 What therefore? I saw them dreadful, either afeared, and turning the(ir) backs, the strong men of them (be) slain; and they fled swiftly, and beheld not; dread was on each side, saith the Lord. (But what did I see? I saw them fearful, or afraid, and turning their backs, for their strong men be killed; and the rest swiftly fled away, and beheld not; fear was on all sides, saith the Lord.)

6 A swift man shall not flee, and a strong man guess not himself to be saved; at the north, beside the flood [of] Euphrates, they were overcome, and fell down. (But the swift shall not be able to flee away, and the strong shall not be able to save themselves; in the north, by the Euphrates River, they were overcome, and fell down.)

7 Who is this, that ascendeth as a flood, and his swells waxed great as of floods? (Who is this, who goeth up like a flood, yea, like a river overflowing its banks?)