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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.

12 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.

13 The word that the LORD spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and smite the land of Egypt.

14 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 round about thee.

15 Why are thy valiant men swept away? they stood not because the LORD did drive them.

16 He made many to fall, yea, one fell upon another: and they said, A

[against Egypt,

rise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword.

17 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise; he hath passed the time appointed.

18 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 he

come.

19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into capti vity: for Noph shall be waste and desolate without an inhabitant.

20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction cometh; it cometh out of the north.

21 Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks; for they also 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.

22 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.

23 They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable.

24 The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north.

25 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:

NOTES.

Ver. 9. The Ethiopians and the Libyans-Heb. "Cush and Pul;" the former, probably, referring to the Arabians on the borders of the Red Sea. See Note on 2 Kings xix. 9; Isa. xviii. 1, &c.

Ver. 11. Go up unto Gilead. See Note on chap. viii 22.

Ver. 16. Made many to fall-Heb. "Multiplied them that fall."

Ver. 17. Pharaoh....is but a noise-that is, He kas made a great noise of what he will do; but it is noise only. But Blayney renders this verse, "They cried there, O Pharaoh .... a tumult has frustrated the appointed meeting;" i. e. he disappointed his allies.

26 And I will deliver them into the

Ver. 22. Like a serpent-Blayney, “Like that of an enchanter;"'i e." low, and inarticulate, through fear." So Durell; but Boothroyd adheres to the common version. See Isa. xxix. 4. and Note.

Ver. 25. I will punish the multitude of No-Heb. "I will visit upon Ammon of No;" i. e. the Theban Jupiter. When an idolatrous nation is doomed to destruction, God is said to execute vengeance upos its idols. See chap. xliii. 12, 13.

-Set

Ver. 26. Afterward it shall be inhabited. Ezek. xxix. 11-13. And into-Blayney," Eves into," &c.

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27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, Ŏ 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.

28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD: for I am with thee; for 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 unpunishSed. (C)

CHAP. XLVI.

[against Egypt.

CHAP. XLVII. THE word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.

2 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell. therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.

3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;

4 Because of the day that cometh

EXPOSITION.

(C) Two distinct prophecies of Judgment upon Egypt.-The difference between the 12 preceding chapters in prose, and the six following in sublime poetic numbers, in point of composition, is very striking. The first verse of this chapter forms a general title to the whole. This chapter itself contains two distinct prophecies relative to Egypt. The first was delivered previous to au engagement between the king of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, near Carchemish, in which the Egyptians were routed with great slaughter, as here predicted.—Jeremiah sees the mighty preparations; but they are all to no purpose, since God had doomed their fall. The king of Egypt, however, is here represented as marching with all the confidence of victory, and his army is compared to the mighty Nile overflowing its banks, and threatening all the country around with inundation. He is heard animating his troops to battle; but the Prophet states that this is the time destined for their fall; and this prophecy "concludes with an apostrophe to the virgin daughter (meaning the inhabitants)

of Egypt, whose wound is pronounced incurable, and her disgrace universally known; forasmuch as the number of her warriors have only served to augment the general disorder, and more effectually to destroy each other."-Bligney.

At verse 13 begins the second prophecy respecting Egypt. "There appears no ground," says Dr. Blayney, "for fixing the date when this second prophecy was de livered; but the desolation foretold in it is undoubtedly the same which Ezekiel has predicted, (chapters xxix. to xxxii.) and came to pass in the 27th year of Jehoiakim's captivity, (in the 16th after the destruction of Jerusalem) as may be collected from Ezekiel xxix. 17. where Nebuchadnezzar's army is spoken of as having at that time suffered a great deal in the siege of Tyre; on which account the spoils of Egypt are promised for their wages, or indemnification; and the promise was accordingly made good that same year,"-as related by Josephus. (Antiq. lib. x. chap. 9.)

The two last verses respect Israel, and are a repetition of the comfortable promises we have already seen in chap. xxx. ver, 10, 11.

NOTES.

CHAP. XLVII. Ver. 1. Gaza, on the division of Canaan, was given to the tribe of Judah, and wrested from them by the Philistines; but after many changes, finally conquered by Hezekiah, 2 Kings xviii. 8. It was also called Aza, as in Deut. ii. 23, above quoted (the Heb. Gnain being sometimes pronounced as an A, and sometimes as G, or Gn.)

Ver. 4. The remnant of the country of Caphtor.— The Caphtorim, as well as the Philistim, (or Phi

listines) were descended from Mizraim, the father of the Egyptians. Gen. x. 13, 14.

Ver. 5. The remnant of their valley.— Sandys, (the celebrated traveller) describes the valley in which stood Ashkelon and Gaza, (about 12 miles apart) as the most "pleasant that ever eye beheld." Travels, lib. iii. p. 150.

Ver. 6. O sword of the Lord.-Sp is the Assyrian called "the rod of bis anger," Isa, x. 5.

Prophecies]

JEREMIAH.

to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.

5 Baldness is come upon Gaza; Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?

6 thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.

7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there hath he appointed it. (D)

CHAP. XLVIII.

AGAINST Moab thus saith the

LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed. 2 There shall be no more praise of Moab in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.

3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.

CHAP. XLVII.

[against Mosh 4 Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.

5 For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the ene mies have heard a cry of destruction.

6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.

7 For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.

8 And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.

9 Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities

thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.

10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.

11 Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emp tied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.

EXPOSITION.

zar's rapid success in Palestine (when he came to invade Jerusalem) the king of Egypt, in union with the Philistines, was making an attempt to recover the sea coast where Gaza stood, and which formerly be longed to them, as he infers from Deut. ii. 23: But as his argument will not admit abridgment, we can only refer to it. (Old Test. arranged, vol. ii. p. 501, 2.)

(D) Prophecy against the Philistines.among the nations doomed to suffer from the hostilities of Nebuchadnezzar, were the Philistines. And the calamities predicted in this chapter befel them, probably, during the long seige of Tyre, already mentioned, when their country was desolated to prevent their giving Tyre or Sidon any The Apostrophe in the close of this chap assistance: but as to the capture of Gaza ter, addressed to the Babylonish Monarch by Nebuchadnezzar, as Dr. Blayney re- as "the sword of the Lord," is remarkably marks, no history, sacred or profane, animated and poetical.-"Arise, O Lord; distinctly states the fact. Mr. Townsend....deliver my soul from the wicked, which is of opinion, that during Nebuchadnez

are thy sword." (Ps. xvii. 13.)

NOTES.

CHAP. XLVIII. Ver. 1. Nebo seems to have been a favourite idol of the Babylonians. See Isa. xlvi. 1.--Misgab means a high tower, probably in Kiriathaim.

Ver. 2. In Heshbon.-Blayney connects this with the first clause of the verse," Moab shall have no more glorying in Heshhon: They," &c.-Mad

men-Boothroyd, "Madena :" it is a proper name. - Cut down- Blayney, "Put to silence," Margin.

Ver. 5. Continual weeping-Heb. "Weeping with weeping." See Isa. xv 5.

Ver. 6. Like the heath.-See ch. xvii. 6, and Note.
Ver. 7. Chemosk.-See Judg. xi. 94.

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12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.

13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence.

14 How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?

15 Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the king, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.

17 All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!

18 Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.

CHAP. XLVIII.

[against Moab.

19 O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?

20 Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, 21 And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and Mephaath,

22 And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim,

23 And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon,

24 And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.

25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD. (D)

26 ¶ Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.

27 For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among

EXPOSITION.

(D) Ver. 1-25. Prophecies against the Moabites. -The ensuing prophecies concerning this and other neighbouring nations, are supposed to have had their accomplishment also during the same period as the preceding. "The whole of this chapter is poetry of the first order. The distress of the cities of Moab with which it opens is finely described. You hear the cries of one ruined city resounded to those of another; you hear the doleful ery of the helpless children; the highways on either hand resound with the voice of weeping; and the few that escape, resemble a blasted tree in the wide howling waste. (Ver. 6.) And then you see the tutelar god Chemosh, the capital figure in the triumph, carried off in chains, with all his trumpery of priests and officers. You

hear wings ordered for Moab as having no chance to escape, if it be not in another element; and you hear the victors animating each other in the ardour of the pursuit, and imprecating the man who executes his work with slackness. The subject is then diversified by an elegant and well supported comparison, importing that the Moabites increased in spirit and insolence in proportion to the duration of their prosperity: but this prosperity is declared to be at an end: the destroyer is commissioned against Moab, and his neighbours called to sing the usual lament at his fuueral. And lest any part of Moab might flatter themselves with the hopes of an exemption from this calamity, the Prophet (in an enumeration of all its principal cities) declares it to be general." Dr. J Smith.

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Ver. 15. Moab is spoiled, &c.. spoiler of Moab and her cities is gone up."-To

the slaughter-that is, to slay.

thou

y

Prophecies]
JEREMIAH.
thieves? for since thou spakest of him,
thou skippedst for joy.

28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.

29 We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.

30 I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.

31 Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.

32 O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage,

33 And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.

34 From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.

35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.

36 Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.

[against Moab,

37 For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped; upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.

38 There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.

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39 They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! So shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him.

40 For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.

41 Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.

42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD.

43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.

44 He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.

45 They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sion, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.

46 Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.

NOTES.

Ver. 28. The hole's---Blayney, " Pit's"-mouth. Ver. 30. It shall not be so---that is, be is not able to effect his purpose. His lies, &c. -- Marg. "Those on whom he stayeth (Heb. his bars, or -stays) do not right," rather, "they cannot effect it;" i. e. neither himself nor his allies. See Isa. xvi. 6. Ver. 32. O vine!---Compare Isa. xvi. 8, 9. Ver. 36. Like pipes.---Compare Isa. xvi. 11. Ver. 37. Upon all hands are cuttings.-D'Arvieux says, the Arabs used to scar their arms with knives,

as marks of love for their mistresses. Orient. Cust. No. 1106. Compare Note, chap. xvi, 6.

Ver. 40. He shall fly-that is, the enemy, the king of Babylon, or his general. See ch. xlix. 2. Ver. 41. Kerioth-Marg. "The cities are taken." Ver. 43. Fear, &c.---See Isa, xxiv. 17, 18. Ver. 45. Tumultuous ones Heb. "Children of noise," With this verse compare Num. xxi. #; xxiv. 17.

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