Chapter 46
This chapter begins the 3rd main outline point, called Proclamation of Judgement against the nations. Several are specifically named.
I recall many of these also in Isaiah. I think a comparative study would be interesting.
This chapter has the judgement of Egypt. Note that chapter 45 had kind of gone back to the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim had burned the words of the scroll Baruch had recorded from Jeremiah. Now, in 46, we are talking about Neco's army being defeated by Nebuchadnezzar also in the fourth year of Jehoiakim. It seems to be saying that the time of defeat is specifically during Jehoiakim's reign. So Neb would have had to take his army through Judah on the way to Egypt to do that. Is this correct? Well it just about has to be with this wording:
2 About Egypt. Concerning the army of Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: [Jer 46:2 ESV]
But we also know that in chapters 43 and 44 Jerusalem has fallen for the last time, Gedeliah was made governor and then murdered by Ishmael, and the remainder of the "good people" now had followed Gedeliah have decided to flee to Egypt where they'll be safe, and they have taken Jeremiah with them. So chronologically, Jerusalem is already down, but for some reason Jeremiah 45, 46, and perhaps more have gone back somewhere around 18 years to the 4th year of Jehoiakim. There is an MSB note that says it is likely the specific prophecies about each nation were given at different times, but in the organization of this book of Jeremiah, they have been collected together by nation instead of by the time of their revelation. (This still does not explain why they stuck in 45 about Baruch...unless it is Baruch organizing the book...or maybe it is just that the prophecy about Baruch came at the same time as Neco is defeated by Neb so they just seemed to go together as a good place to start the prophecies about the nations. It could just be that. So need to keep in mind that as we see the prophecies about the nations over the next few chapters, we could be/will be seeing things that were prophesied and have already happened connected with things prophesied at a different time perhaps, that have not happened. Expect to be confused. It is worth noting that so much is "compressed" into a short time here as the last days of Judah play out. Is it always that way with nations that go bad? They rise, they last for years, they get worse and worse until God's wrath finally MUST be spent on them, and as the day of that wrath gets closer, events accelerate in terms of government, international events, and the level of internal corruption and just plain evil that comes out of the woodwork of the doomed nation? What a thought...you could write a book about such things in the fall of Samaria, the fall of Judah, perhaps just as much so the fall of Pharoah Neco, of Assyria, and of Babylon. Did internal upheaval accelerate as their ends drew near also? As I think back on what little I've read of them - and it isn't very much - it sure seems to hold true. As an example, think of Judah. There was Josiah, who's reign ended in 608 BC. However, in that same year, Jehoahaz reigns for 3 months and then Jehoiakim reign. We know that Jehoahaz was only King for three months and was then taken captive by Pharoah Neco and taken to Egypt. Sort of a hostage, as Jehoahaz was Jehoiakim's brother. So Neco was out conquering at the beginning of Jehoiakim's reign.
2023 - In reference to the paragraph above, note that Jer 46:1 pretty much tells us that what follows is organized by nation and not by chronology of revelation. Many previous prophecies began with a "time stamp", such as the 8th year of King somebody or other. This one is very different. These will be about nations, without regard to when the prophecies were made. Vs 2 continues it. It gives us a little bit of a summary about Neco, then in vs 3 begins to recount the prophecies that God gave Jeremiah about him. Almost like "See, here's where he ended, and here are all the things Jeremiah had prophesied about him before Carchemish.
Ahhh, now I see! Look at the place this happens! In Carchemish by the Euphrates! That is NOT in Egypt, so Neb DID NOT march through Judah to attack Neco. It is the opposite! Neco marched north, and attacked Nebuchadnezzar on Babylon's home ground! Could have been a four year campaign with Neco capturing and sending Jehoahaz back, and then continuing on to Babylon, or some kind of sequence like that. But it makes so much more sense that Neco came north, while Nebuchadnezzar was still establishing Babylon, and gets defeated by the Chaldeans. This would have been a huge, earth-rattling victory for Babylon, cementing Nebuchadnezzar's hold on the throne, and beginning yet another long decline for Egypt. After this, Egypt has never in history risen to glory again. The timelines of various kingdoms is shown early in the MSB. It shows that Neco II came to power in about 615 BC, and Neb in about 610 BC. After Neco II was gone, there were only four more Pharaohs, none of whom I've ever heard of. So yes, the defeat of Neco started the decline of Egypt that would see the last Pharoah before 525 BC. Less than 100 years after this defeat, Egypt was gone as a world power, and has never recovered.
Through verse 12 speaks of defeat, fear, and flight of the Egyptian army before Nebuchadnezzar. Must remember these verses were likely written before this battle took place. Jeremiah lived through all this. Then Egypt is described (metaphor) like the Nile, overflowing to conquer the world. This may speak to Neco II's ambitions, and his subsequent invasion of the north. MSB says these verses are a call to Egypt to prepare for defeat. MSB also says vss 2-26 are history, describing Egypt's loss of territory west of the Euphrates.
vs 13 begins a section on "the coming of Nebuchadnezzar". Can't tell if this one is prophecy or history. (2020 - it is history at the time it was recorded, but was likely prophecy received long before chapter 46 was inserted in Jeremiah.) Note that vs 14 talks about Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. These are all cities in Egypt, so we know these verses are about a different "battleground" than the one in vss 3-12. Wow. All this is making so much more sense in 2020 than it did even last year when I read it.
Here is an interesting contrast between translations:
17 Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, 'Noisy one who lets the hour go by.' [Jer 46:11, 17 ESV]. This makes it look like "Noisy one...' is the translation of a name given to Pharoah to mock him for losing this battle to Neb. Like "Pharoah Loser". But in NASB:
17 "They cried there, 'Pharaoh king of Egypt [is but] a big noise; He has let the appointed time pass by!' [Jer 46:17 NASB]
The idea is the same in both, but unless you read both, you don't really get the full implication of what is being said. I love the Bible!
2023 - The name is pronounced "shaw-own'". A big noise. "aw-bar'" "mo-ade'" is the rest.
18 "As I live, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts, like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea, shall one come. 19 Prepare yourselves baggage for exile, O inhabitants of Egypt! For Memphis shall become a waste, a ruin, without inhabitant. [Jer 46:18-19 ESV] These verses speak of the still future defeat of Egypt on its own home ground by the invading Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. It is true that Jeremiah lived until this defeat was in the past. I'm sure some would make the claim that the prophecy was also made after the fact. If you don't believe in God, you have to find a way to explain the accuracy of every single prophecy that Jeremiah made, many many of which are in the past from our viewpoint. An important consideration is that pretty much all the prophets - major and minor - also include Millennial prophecies and a large number of them include Messianic prophecies. The Messianic prophecies were 100's of years in the future for all these prophets, yet Jesus showed up, and the prophecies are obviously about him. The Millennial prophecies are still future. So to those who say Jeremiah prophesied retroactively, I say look at the Messianic and the Millennial prophecies that he and so many other Biblical prophets made, and explain to me how men who could be so unerringly accurate about Jesus life 100's of years in advance would feel it necessary to "lie" about all these other prophecies that came true in their lifetimes? History knows that prophets were everywhere in Israel and other places. How is it that none of the prophets who aren't included in the Bible didn't also prophesy in reverse so their books could be in the Bible? Why is it that only the ones that are without error are the ones in the Bible? Maybe because they are the only ones who truly were prophets of God?
(2020 - I am very bogged down thinking about this amazing stuff. Need to push on through the rest of the reading....)
Vs 21 speaks in past tense, as if this has all happened. Vs 24 however, is future tense:
24 The daughter of Egypt shall be put to shame; she shall be delivered into the hand of a people from the north." [Jer 46:24 ESV] MSB says Babylon invaded Egypt 15 or 16 years before Jerusalem's fall. This is another indication that these prophecies were organized by place, not chronology, and all put together here at a later time. Does any other historical account do things like this? In some places the prophecy is embedded in the rest of the book indicating the time it was received by the prophet, yet other places, the prophecy is gathered together by place? And when I get this all together, it will be interesting to see how many different prophets in different places were saying the same thing at the same time. Vs 26 ends saying "afterward" Egypt "will be inhabited as in the days of old." Does this refer back to the time before the Pharoah's arose in Egypt? To the time before she was a world power. She will be inhabited as in those days after Nebuchadnezzar conquers them? Or does afterward refer to the Millennial? That in that future time, Egypt will again be a world power?
Last two vss, 27 and 28, are addressed to Jacob. God promises to preserve Jacob, though He will make "...a full end of ALL the nations." This surely is end times - maybe post-Millennial even. Or. the time of Antichrist when all the world will be under him as one world-nation.
2023 - So I didn't remember ever hearing that Neb went all the way down to Egypt and conquered it, as Jeremiah says he is going to do. We have all heard of the Battle of Carchemish, but that is way north of Israel, not in Egypt. So I Googled it and found several claims that it never happened. Then I found this one:
Question:
According to Jer 43 Egypt would be conquered by Babylon, but secular historians attribute this conquest to the Persians. Do you have any info on this?
Answer:
Your information is correct. The Persians/Medes did conquer Egypt under Cambysses, the son of Cyrus in 525 BC. However, the Persians were not the first to conquer Egypt. The Hyskos “The Peoples of the Sea” conquered Egypt about 1750 BC. After that, Egypt was conquered by the Assyrians. The Assyrian armies destroyed Thebes, the capital of Egypt in 663 BC. Eventually, an Egyptian dynasty was reestablished. Later, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon became the dominant power in the Near East. He attacked an Egyptian army at the famous battle of Carcemish in 607 BC, nearly destroying Egyptian power. According to his own annals, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt, conquering parts of the Nile valley in 567 BC and “dealt a severe blow to its supremacy and power.”
To summarize, it is true that the Persians conquered Egypt under Cambysses. But Jeremiah’s prophecy that Egypt would be conquered by Babylon was also fulfilled. To be honest, this is not one of the more amazing prophecies in the Bible because at the time Jeremiah made this statement, Nebuchadnezzar was a rising power in the Near East. It was not a great shock that he was able to defeat Egypt. Nevertheless, God’s prophecy through Jeremiah was fulfilled, exactly as predicted by the prophet.
So the annals of Nebuchadnezzar, his own internal documents, say that he did indeed go to Egypt and conquer it there, in their own land. I am sure that those who want to "prove the Bible wrong" make a big deal of there being no other record of this conquest, and so Neb must be a liar, patting himself on the back for things he never did. I wonder how many historical events become "unprovable" if the "winner's version of events" is never believed without corroboration from the losers? I bet we'd have to do a lot of revision!