Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 46:3

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 46:3. Order ye the buckler — This is the call to the general armament of the people against the Chaldeans.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

46:1-51:64 MESSAGES FOR FOREIGN NATIONS

Although Jeremiah’s main ministry was to Judah, he had also been called to proclaim God’s message to the surrounding nations (see 1:5,10). This section of Jeremiah’s book brings together a number of the messages that the prophet announced to foreign nations during the many years of his ministry (cf. 25:13). By these messages, the prophet shows that as God deals justly with Judah, so he deals justly with Judah’s neighbours.
The order in which the messages have been arranged does not follow the order of the events they announce. The arrangement is more according to the geographic location of the countries, starting with Egypt in the south and moving north and east towards Mesopotamia. The climax of the series deals with the nation that dominated the affairs of most countries in the region, Babylon. (For the nations dealt with here, see map located at Isaiah 13-23, where another group of messages to various nations is recorded.)

A message concerning Egypt (46:1-12)

Egypt’s first defeat by Babylon was in 605 BC at Carchemish. That battle marked the beginning of the end for Egyptian overlordship in the region, and brought Judea for the first time under the control of Babylon (46:1-2). Jeremiah pictures the activity and excitement as the Egyptian soldiers prepare for battle (3-4). They go out confidently but are surprised by the ferocity of the Babylonian attack. The Egyptians turn and flee but are cut off at the Euphrates River (5-6).

In another picture of the same battle, the prophet sees Egypt’s army surging forward like the Nile in flood. Strengthened with skilled soldiers hired from a number of neighbouring countries, the Egyptian forces feel they are so strong they could conquer the whole earth (7-9). But the day is not one of victory for Egypt. It is a day of God’s judgment, and the Egyptians suffer great slaughter (10). All Egypt’s skills in using medicine cannot heal her wounds. News of Egypt’s defeat spreads far and wide (11-12).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE ADVANCE OF EGYPT AT CARCHEMISH

"Prepare ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses, and get up (mount) ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the coats of mail."

These words with their sharp, staccato commandments and brilliant descriptive power remind us of the glorying words in the prophecy of Nahum re: the overthrow of Nineveh.

"The buckler and shield" The buckler was used by the lightly armed infantry, and the shield was handled by the heavier ranks of the soldiery who were generally the stronger of the two.Scribner's Bible Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898), p. 531.

"Put on the coats of mail" Those who are familiar with the KJV cannot fall to be astounded at a switch like this, for the KJV renders this passage, "Put on the brigandines!" Well, it happened like this. The word "brigandines" actually means "coats of mail," worn by soldiers, and in time came to mean "soldiers"; and the conduct of many soldiers throughout history gradually changed the meaning of "brigandines" to "rogues" or "scoundrels." The current word "brigand" derives from it and means "a robber" or a "bandit," especially, "one of a band of plundering outlaws or soldiers." This connection also resulted in such a title as Brigadier General, meaning the commander of a brigade! This appears to this writer as an item of intense interest.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Order ye ... - “i. e., prepare ye, make ready.” The buckler was a small round target carried by the lightly-armed troops: the shield belonged to the heavily-armed troops, and was large enough to protect the whole body.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Jeremiah uses now a form of speaking very common in the Prophets though remote from common use. For the Prophets, when they denounce God’s judgments and punishments on the ungodly, do not speak in a simple language, as though they were giving a narrative, but they employed figurative expressions, as though they wished to introduce men into the very scene itself. And that their doctrine might more effectually penetrate into the hearts of men, they bring forward various persons; they at one time introduce God as speaking, and at another they pronounce this or that according to the sentiments of others; and again, they declare the commands of God.

Jeremiah begins here by summoning the Egyptians, as though he were the herald of Pharaoh, and thus borrows the name of another person. He says, Prepare The verb ערך , orec, properly means to set in order, but here it signifies to prepare; Prepare, then, the buckler and the shield The word צנה, tsane, was a shield of a larger form, and מגן, megen, seems to have been a buckler carried by horsemen of light armor. And come near to battle: He then adds, Bind or he the horses The manner of fighting is not the same now as it was formerly; they fought in chariots, as heathen authors abundantly shew. He therefore says, hethe horses, that is, join them together that they may draw the chariots. Go up, ye horsemen, stand in your helmets, clean your lances, and put on your coats of mail. The meaning is, that Egyptians would come well prepared with all kinds of arms that they might be formidable to their enemies. And hence the vengeance appeared more clearly, because they had been well furnished, so that they might seem to have gained the victory before they engaged with their enemies. This is the reason why the Prophet enumerates their complete armor, having omitted no material part; he mentions the lances, the helmets, the coats of mail, the chariots, the horses, and the shield, so that victory, according to the judgment of men, was already theirs. This is the first thing.

But we must observe the design of the Holy Spirit; it was his purpose to remove the veil from the eyes of the faithful, which for the most part prevents us to see as clearly as we ought the power of God; for when we fix our attention on warlike preparations, we do not think that anything is left for God to do; for they who are well prepared seem to be beyond the hazard of losing the day. That the Jews then might know that it would be nothing for God to punish the Egyptians, he records this preparation. And there is a kind of concession when he says, They shall indeed be furnished with a helmet, a coat of mail, a shield, a sword, and a lance; but all this would avail nothing as to the issue. Then from this prophetic word let us learn, that God makes no account of all those things which men prepare when they wish to effect anything. For smoke is everything that dazzles our eyes; so forces and arms have no importance before God; for by a single blast he can dissipate all such clouds. And this truth is very useful; for we look on external things, and when anything specious presents itself to us, we are immediately taken up with it, and rob God of all power; for we transfer his glory to these masks which appear before us. We now then understand why the Prophet speaks here of bucklers, and shields, and lances, and chariots, and helmets, and coats of mail.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Let's turn now in our Bibles to Jeremiah 46:1-28 .

Beginning with chapter 45 we came into the sixth part or section of the book of Jeremiah. And this sixth section is comprised of miscellaneous prophecies that are directed mainly to those nations that were around Israel. And so as we get into chapter 46, we find the introduction to these series of prophecies as he addresses them to the Gentiles, the Gentile kingdoms. And so God is going to address Himself to those Gentile nations now roundabout Israel.

The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah. Order the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the LORD. Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers? 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. Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow. For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured. The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together ( Jeremiah 46:1-12 ).

And so God actually is speaking of the defeat of the Egyptians there by the river Euphrates at Carchemish and of the turning back of the Egyptians in this battle. The interesting thing, "Go up to Gilead, take the balm." Gilead was known through the ancient world as the place of medicines. You remember the passage that Jeremiah earlier declared, "Is there no balm in Gilead? And is there no healer there?" ( Jeremiah 8:22 ) But there is no healing for Egypt. They are to receive the judgment of God and God is going to use the Babylonian armies as His instrument of bringing His judgment against Egypt. This is basically why Jeremiah warned the people not to go down to Egypt to try to find safety there. He said, "If you go to Egypt to escape the sword, surely the sword will follow you in Egypt and the famine and the pestilence and you will die in Egypt. You won't come back to the land." But the people did not obey the voice of the Lord. They came back to Egypt. But here now he is just really bringing the whole issue of Egypt into prophetic focus.

Now, as he focuses upon the various nations, there are a lot of people who wonder why the United States isn't brought forth into a prophetic focus in that the United States has become such an important nation in these days. But if you'll read in the book of Revelation, the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And really all prophecy centers around the person of Jesus and because the nation Israel was so important to the coming of Jesus, we find many prophecies relating to Israel and then to those nations that related to Israel in either a good or an evil sense in those days. But it isn't God's intention through prophecy to spell out the future of each nation that would arise in the world but only those nations that would bear directly upon the coming of Jesus Christ in either His first or second coming. And when you read that most of the prophecies against the nations are those of judgment and all, it's probably a good thing that we don't read about the United States, because surely I'm certain that the Lord would have some pretty stern words for us today.

The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet [verse Jeremiah 46:13 ], how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt ( Jeremiah 46:13 ).

Now, this is going now into the second part of the prophecy. The first part of it dealt with the battle up at Carchemish where the Pharaoh was defeated by Babylon. And now he is speaking about a coming invasion of Babylon on down into Egypt.

Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour all around you. Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them. He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword. They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed. As I live, saith the King, whose name is The LORD of hosts, Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, and as Carmel by the sea, so shall it come. O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant. Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction is coming; it is coming out of the north [from Babylon]. Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they are turned back, and are fled away together: they did not stand, because the day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visitation. The voice thereof shall go like a serpent; for they shall march with an army, and come against her with axes, as hewers of wood. They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable. The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north. The LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saith; Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their kings; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him: And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of his servants: and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old, saith the LORD ( Jeremiah 46:14-26 ).

So Egypt is to be invaded. It is to be defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, but yet they will yet inhabit the land.

Now God in the last couple of verses gives encouragement to His people.

But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; and I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished ( Jeremiah 46:27-28 ).

So as is so often the case when you find God speaking of the judgment that is going to come, He sort of ends it with a bright light as He turns back toward the nation of Israel, the house of Jacob, "Don't be afraid." And He's talking about the yet future time, the Kingdom Age, when God is going to visit with them again and bring them back into the land. And when God is going to punish the nations, whither they have been driven.

In the second coming of Jesus Christ there will be the gathering of the nations together. "Then shall He gather together the nations: as a shepherd, and separates the sheep from the goat." And he will say unto those on His left hand, Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. I was hungry, you did not feed Me. Thirsty you did not give Me to drink," and so forth. "Lord, when did we see You this way?" "Inasmuch as you did it unto the least of these My brethren" ( Matthew 25:32-40 ). It is speaking of the treatment of the nations... of how the nations treated Israel. And the nations will be judged for their treatment of Israel. God said way back to Abraham, "I will bless those that bless you and curse those that curse you" ( Genesis 12:3 ).

Anti-Semitism is a horrible thing, and it is something that no child of God should be caught up in. Unfortunately, there is a lot of anti-Semitism even within many churches today. There are those who try to say that the modern day Jew isn't truly a Jew. That he is an Ashkenazim and so forth, and they use that as an excuse for failure to support these people today. But the nations will be brought before the Lord and have to answer for their treatment of God's people. And God declares that He will make a full end of all of the nations whether they've been driven, but He'll not make a full end of the nation of Israel, but it will be a very central figure in the reign of Christ in the Kingdom Age.

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Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. Egypt’s defeat in Syria 46:1-12

The first prophecy announced Egypt’s defeat at Carchemish in 605 B.C.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

In his oracle, Jeremiah summoned the Egyptian infantry and cavalry soldiers to prepare for battle.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Order ye the buckler and shield,.... Both signify one and the same sort of armour, only of a different form, the one being lesser and lighter than the other. Jarchi makes the difference to be, that the former was made of skin, the latter of wood; they were both used to defend the body in war. To order them is not only to prepare them, and get them ready; but to fit them to the body, and to put them on, that they might be in a readiness to engage in battle. The exhortation is made either to the Chaldean army, to prepare to fight against the Egyptians; or to the army of Pharaohnecho, to defend themselves against the king of Babylon, who was coming against them, as Kimchi and Abarbinel, who seem to be in doubt which it should be; but the latter is most probable: and it is either a direction of Pharaoh to his army, to be in readiness; or rather of God, speaking ironically to them, suggesting, that let them do what they would, and make ever such preparations for battle, all would come to nothing, victory would be on the other side;

and draw near to battle; engage the enemy briskly, and with the greatest courage, and use all your military skill; and, when ye have done, it will all be in vain.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles;   2 Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.   3 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle.   4 Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines.   5 Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the LORD.   6 Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates.   7 Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?   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.   9 Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.   10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.   11 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured.

      The first verse is the title of that part of this book, which relates to the neighbouring nations, and follows here. It is the word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah against the Gentiles; for God is King and Judge of nations, knows and will call to an account those who know him not nor take any notice of him. Both Isaiah and Ezekiel prophesied against these nations that Jeremiah here has a separate saying to, and with reference to the same events. In the Old Testament we have the word of the Lord against the Gentiles; in the New Testament we have the word of the Lord for the Gentiles, that those who were afar off are made nigh.

      He begins with Egypt, because they were of old Israel's oppressors and of late their deceivers, when they put confidence in them. In these verses he foretells the overthrow of the army of Pharaoh-necho, by Nebuchadnezzar, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, which was so complete a victory to the king of Babylon that thereby he recovered from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt, and so weakened him that he came not again any more out of his land (as we find, 2 Kings 24:7), and so made him pay dearly for his expedition against the king of Assyria four years before, in which he slew Josiah, 2 Kings 23:29. This is the event that is here foretold in lofty expressions of triumph over Egypt thus foiled, which Jeremiah would speak of with a particular pleasure, because the death of Josiah, which he had lamented, was now avenged on Pharaoh-necho. Now here,

      I. The Egyptians are upbraided with the mighty preparations they made for this expedition, in which the prophet calls to them to do their utmost, for so they would: "Come then, order the buckler, let the weapons of war be got ready," Jeremiah 46:3; Jeremiah 46:3. Egypt was famous for horses--let them be harnessed and the cavalry well mounted: Get up, you horsemen, and stand forth, c., Jeremiah 46:4; Jeremiah 46:4. See what preparations the children of men make, with abundance of care and trouble and at a vast expense, to kill one another, as if they did not die fast enough of themselves. He compares their marching out upon this expedition to the rising of their river Nile (Jeremiah 46:7; Jeremiah 46:8): Egypt now rises up like a flood, scorning to keep within its own banks and threatening to overflow all the neighbouring lands. It is a very formidable army that the Egyptians bring into the field upon this occasion. The prophet summons them (Jeremiah 46:9; Jeremiah 46:9): Come up, you horses; rage, you chariots. He challenges them to bring all their confederate troops together, the Ethiopians, that descended from the same stock with the Egyptians (Genesis 10:6), and were their neighbours and allies, the Libyans and Lydians, both seated in Africa, to the west of Egypt, and from them the Egyptians fetched their auxiliary forces. Let them strengthen themselves with all the art and interest they have, yet it shall be all in vain; they shall be shamefully defeated notwithstanding, for God will fight against them, and against him there is no wisdom nor counsel,Proverbs 21:30; Proverbs 21:31. It concerns those that go forth to war not only to order the buckler, and harness the horses, but to repent of their sins, and pray to God for his presence with them, and that they may have it to keep themselves from every wicked thing.

      II. They are upbraided with the great expectations they had from this expedition, which were quite contrary to what God intended in bringing them together. They knew their own thoughts, and God knew them, and sat in heaven and laughed at them,; but they knew not the thoughts of the Lord, for he gathers them as sheaves into the floor,Micah 4:11; Micah 4:12. Egypt saith (Jeremiah 46:8; Jeremiah 46:8): I will go up; I will cover the earth, and none shall hinder me; I will destroy the city, whatever city it is that stands in my way. Like Pharaoh of old, I will pursue, I will overtake. The Egyptians say that they shall have a day of it, but God saith that it shall be his day: The is the day of the Lord God of hosts (Jeremiah 46:10; Jeremiah 46:10), the day in which he will be exalted in the overthrow of the Egyptians. They meant one thing, but God meant another; they designed it for the advancement of their dignity and the enlargement of their dominion, but God designed it for the great abasement and weakening of their kingdom. It is a day of vengeance for Josiah's death; it is a day of sacrifice to divine justice, to which multitudes of the sinners of Egypt shall fall as victims. Note, When men think to magnify themselves by pushing on unrighteous enterprises, let them expect that God will glorify himself by blasting them and cutting them off.

      III. They are upbraided with their cowardice and inglorious flight when they come to an engagement (Jeremiah 46:5; Jeremiah 46:6): "Wherefore have I seen them, notwithstanding all these mighty and vast preparations and all these expressions of bravery and resolution, when the Chaldean army faces them, dismayed, turned back, quite disheartened, and no spirit left in them." 1. They make a shameful retreat. Even their mighty ones, who, one would think, should have stood their ground, flee a flight, flee by consent, make the best of their way, flee in confusion and with the utmost precipitation; they have neither time nor heart to look back, but fear is round about them, for they apprehend it so. And yet, 2. They cannot make their escape. They have the shame of flying, and yet not the satisfaction of saving themselves by flight; they might as well have stood their ground and died upon the spot; for even the swift shall not flee away. The lightness of their heels shall fail them when it comes to the trial, as well as the stoutness of their hearts; the mighty shall not escape, nay, they are beaten down and broken to pieces. They shall stumble in their flight, and fall towards the north, towards their enemy's country; for such confusion were they in when they took to their feet that instead of making homeward, as men usually do in that case, they made forward. Note, The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong. Valiant men are not always victorious.

      IV. They are upbraided with their utter inability ever to recover this blow, which should be fatal to their nation, Jeremiah 46:11; Jeremiah 46:12. The damsel, the daughter of Egypt, that lived in great pomp and state, is sorely wounded by this defeat. Let her now seek for balm in Gilead and physicians there; let her use all the medicines her wise men can prescribe for the healing of this hurt, and the repairing of the loss sustained by this defeat; but all in vain; no cure shall be to them; they shall never be able to bring such a powerful army as this into the field again. "The nations that rang of thy glory and strength have now heard of thy shame, how shamefully thou wast routed and how thou are weakened by it." It needs not be spread by the triumphs of the conquerors, the shrieks and outcries of the conquered will proclaim it: Thy cry hath filled the country about. For, when they fled several ways, one mighty man stumbled upon another and dashed against another, such confusion were they in, so that both together became a pray to the pursuers, an easy prey. A thousand such dreadful accidents there should be, which should fill the country with the cry of those that were overcome. Let not the mighty man therefore glory in his might, for the time may come when it will stand him in no stead.