Bible Strands
Jeremiah 2:18
Now what will you gain on your way to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? What will you gain on your way to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah addresses Israel during a period of political apostasy when the nation abandoned Yahweh for foreign alliances. The prophecy occurs between the warning that self-inflicted judgment results from forsaking God and the declaration that their own sin will discipline them.
The words — מַה (mah) translates literally as "what?" and functions as a rhetorical challenge to the pursuit of foreign security. שִׁח֑וֹר (shi.Chor) denotes the Shihor, a Nile branch, representing Egypt as a source of supposed sustenance.
The thread — The pattern of seeking Egyptian aid appears in Isaiah 31:1, while Joshua 13:3 geographically identifies the Shihor. Jeremiah explicitly connects both destinations in Jeremiah 2:36, noting repeated disappointment from both Egypt and Assyria.
Why it lands — The text demands a clear-eyed assessment of political alliances as futile substitutes for divine provision. It requires the reader to acknowledge that abandoning God for human power yields no lasting security.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river?
Cross-references
- Joshua 13:3 from the Shihor east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north (considered to be Canaanite territory)—that of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as that of the Avvites;
- Isaiah 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.
- Jeremiah 2:36 How impulsive you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.
- Hosea 7:11 So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria.
- 2 Kings 16:7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hands of the kings of Aram and Israel, who are rising up against me.”
- 2 Chronicles 28:20 Then Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria came to Ahaz but afflicted him rather than strengthening him.
- Isaiah 30:1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.
- Jeremiah 37:5 Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
- Lamentations 4:17 All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.
- Ezekiel 17:15 But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?’