Jeremiah 46:10

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.

For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts,.... Or, "but this is the day" (y), &c. notwithstanding this great apparatus for war, and those many auxiliaries the Egyptians would have, yet it would not be their day, in which they should get the better of their enemies; but the Lord's day; the day he had appointed; who is the Lord God of all armies, above and below; and who would bring his own armies together when he pleased, and give them victory: a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his enemies: the enemies of his people, as the Targum; the Egyptians, who had been of old the implacable enemies of his people Israel; though now, contrary to his will, they too much trusted to them, and relied on them; according to Kimchi, this vengeance was taken on them for killing Josiah: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood; that is, the sword of the Chaldeans shall destroy the Egyptians in such vast numbers, that there shall be no more to be slain; or there shall be no desire in the enemy to slay any more; they shall be glutted with their blood. All the phrases are designed to show the carnage that should be made; the vast destruction of the people; the large numbers that should be slain: for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates; near Carchemish, situated by the river Euphrates, which lay north of Egypt; see Jeremiah 46:6.

Here is an allusion to the sacrifices of great persons, which are many; the Lord of hosts had a sacrifice, or a great slaughter of men, his enemies; inflicted punishment on them, wherein his power, justice, and holiness, were displayed; see Isaiah 34:6. (y) "dies autem", V. L. "atque dies", Junius & Tremellius; "sed dies ille", Schmidt.

Verse 10. - The contrast. And yet that day is ( the day ) of the Lord, Jehovah Sabdoth (the rendering of the Authorized Version, For this is the day, etc., is clearly a mistake). The "day of Jehovah" is an expression so familiar to us that we are in danger of losing a part of its sublime meaning. It is, in brief, "that crisis in the history of the world when Jehovah will interpose to rectify the evils of the present, bringing joy and glory to the humble believer, and misery and shame to the proud and disobedient .... This great crisis is called a day, in antithesis to the ages of the Divine long suffering: it is Jehovah's day, because, without a special Divine interposition, there would be no issue out of the perplexities and miseries of human life." We may say, with equal truth, that there are many "days of the Lord," and that there is only one. Every great revolution is a fresh stage in the great judgment day; " die Weltgesehichte ist das Weltgericht" (Schiller). The loci classici for the expression in the prophets are Amos 5:18, 20 ; Zephaniah 1:7, 14 ; Joel 2:1, 11 ; Isaiah 2:12 ; Isaiah 13:6, 9 (in Isaiah 2:12 , the phraseology closely resembles that of our passage - "for there is a day unto Jehovah Sabaoth;" Jehovah, that is, hath it in readiness in the supersensible world, where there is no time, and where all God's purposes have an ideal, but no less real existence. We might, in fact, render our passage, "but that day (is the day that belongeth) unto the Lord," etc.)

. The Lord here, as generally elsewhere, is that expressive form which intimates the universal lordship of the God who has revealed himself to Israel. The sword. A comparison with Isaiah 34:6 suggests that it is "the sword of the Lord" which is meant - a symbolic phrase for the Divine vengeance, which meets us again in Jeremiah 12:12 ; Jeremiah 47:6 ; Deuteronomy 32:41, 42 ; Judges 7:20 (comp. Joshua 5:13 ); Isaiah 27:1 ; Isaiah 31:8 ; Isaiah 34:5, 6 ; Isaiah 66:16 ; Zechariah 13:7 . If Jehovah can be spoken of as having an Arm, a Hand, and a Bow, why not also as having a sword? Both expressions represent the self-revealing side of the Divine nature, and are not merely poetical ornaments, but correspond to awful objective realities. Divine vengeance exists, and must exercise itself on all who oppose the Divine will. Hath a sacrifice. The same figurative expression occurs in Isaiah 34:6 , and, developed at considerable length, in Ezekiel 39:17-20 , where the slaughtered foes are described as fatted beasts, rams, lambs, he-goats, bullocks - animals employed in the Jewish sacrifices. This, then, is the purpose for which this immense host "rolls up from Africa" - it is that it may fall by the Euphrates, at once as a proof of God's justice, and as a warning to transgressors. Jeremiah 46:10

10 . For ] rather, But. For the language here cp. Isaiah 34:5-6 ; Isaiah 34:8 . The expression of fierce vengeance, adduced by Schwally and others (see introd. notes) as an argument for rejecting the passage, is not unnatural, when we consider that the death of Josiah and captivity of Jehoahaz (cp. Jeremiah 22:10 ) were still fresh in memory.

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 satisfied and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath {h} a sacrifice in the north country {i} by the river Euphrates. (h) He calls the slaughter of God's enemies a sacrifice, because it is a thing that pleases him, Isa 34:6. (i) That is, at Carchemish.

(10) This is the day of the Lord God of hosts.— The prophet contemplates the issue of all these great preparations, and sees that they will end in a disastrous overthrow, the righteous retribution for long years of cruelty and outrage. In doing so he falls back upon the language of earlier prophets ( Isaiah 34:8 ; Zephaniah 1:7 ), in part also upon that of Deuteronomy 32:42 . There is to be a “great sacrifice,” and the army of Egypt is the destined victim; and the banks of the Euphrates ( i.e., Carchemish) are to be as the altar.

Or, But this is the day of the Lord, & c. Pharaoh is mistaken in accounting this day his own, because of the multitude of his forces, this is the day of the Lord, who as he is the Lord of all the hosts of his creatures, so hath a particular rule and government over hosts of men: this is further explained by the next words, a day of vengeance, which God hath set apart, in it to be avenged upon his enemies. The sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: these phrases only metaphorically signify the great slaughter God would make that day amongst the Egyptians. This the prophet declares that God would do for his honour and glory, therefore he calls it a sacrifice, by which also he declareth his justice in this punishment of the Egyptians; and for the further repute and credit of his prophecy, telleth them to whom he spake of the place it should be in, viz. near the river Euphrates , where Josiah was slain by him, 2 Kings 23:29 .

This formidable army shall perish; for the day of the battle is the day of the Lord of hosts, on which He will take vengeance upon His enemies. Among these enemies are the Egyptians, who have grievously sinned against Israel, the people of the Lord, not merely of late, by making war upon and killing King Josiah, by carrying away Jehoahaz, and making Jehoiakim his vassal, but also from the earliest times. For this, Egypt is now to be brought low. The sword shall devour and be refreshed by drinking the blood of the Egyptians. For the Lord is preparing for a slaying of sacrifices (זבח) in the north, at the Euphrates. Isaiah 34:6 forms the basis of these words.