Jeremiah 46:8

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

46:1-12 The whole word of God is against those who obey not the gospel of Christ; but it is for those, even of the Gentiles, who turn to Him. The prophecy begins with Egypt. Let them strengthen themselves with all the art and interest they have, yet it shall be all in vain. The wounds God inflicts on his enemies, cannot be healed by medicines. Power and prosperity soon pass from one to another in this changing world.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

In Jeremiah 46:3-6 we saw only a mighty army marshalling for battle, and its hasty flight. In Jeremiah 46:7-12 the prophet tells us at whose defeat we have been present.

A flood - the Nile. The metaphor describing the advance of the Egyptian army is naturally drawn from the annual overflow of their own sacred stream.

Whose waters are moved ... - literally, his waters toss to and fro as the rivers, the natural branches of the Nile in Lower Egypt.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8. Answer to the question in Jer 46:7.

waters … moved like the rivers—The rise of the Nile is gentle; but at the mouth it, unlike most rivers, is much agitated, owing to the sandbanks impeding its course, and so it rushes into the sea like a cataract.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The prophet compareth the Egyptians, fleshed with their former victory obtained against Josiah at Megiddo, and now preparing to another expedition, to a flood, (with allusion probably to the river Nilus, whose waters used to rise to a great height,) both for the multitude of their soldiers, and for their rage; they were resolved to carry such numbers as should cover the earth, and to take Carchemish, or some other city which their design was against. It should seem both by this text, and that Exodus 15:9,10, that the Egyptians were a people much given to vaunt and boast of the great things they would do, boasting when they were putting on their harness as if they were putting it off, not considering how uncertain the events of war were, nor yet that wherein they talked proudly there was one that could be above them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

8. and his waters toss themselves like the rivers] The LXX omit, but, as the v. stands in MT., this clause is wanted for the parallelism.

he saith] viz. Pharaoh, addressing his army.

the city and] Unless, with LXX, we omit these words, we should probably understand the Hebrew substantive collectively, cities.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 8. - Egypt riseth up, etc. The answer to the question in ver. 7. The city. The article is not expressed; and there can be no doubt that the word is used collectively of cities in general (comp. Jeremiah 47:2). Jeremiah 46:8

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

brings the answer to the question of astonishment: "Egypt approaches, its hosts cover the land like the waves of the Nile, to destroy cities and men." On the form אבידה (with א contracted from אא), cf. Ewald, 192, d; Gesenius, 68, Rem. 1. עיר is used in an indefinite general sense, "cities," as in Jeremiah 8:16. - In Jeremiah 46:9, the imperat. stands as in Jeremiah 46:3.: "Let the formidable army approach, - cavalry, chariots, and infantry, with all their splendidly equipped auxiliaries, - nevertheless it shall perish." עלוּ הסּוּסים does not here mean "Mount the steeds," which is against the parallelism, but "Get up (i.e., prance), ye horses;" this meaning is guaranteed by the Hiphil מעלה, as used in Nahum 3:3. התהללוּ הרכב is an imitation of Nahum 2:5. As auxiliaries, and very brave ones too (גבּורים), are mentioned "Cush," i.e., the Ethiopians; "Phut," the Libyans; and "Ludim," i.e., Hamitic, African Lydians, as in Ezekiel 30:5. On the double construct in תּפשׂי דר, "holding, bending bows," cf. Ew. 280, c.