Bible Strands
Jeremiah 46:2
concerning Egypt and the army of Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt, which was defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord speaks through Jeremiah to document a specific historical judgment against Egypt. The oracle is anchored to the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign over Judah.
The words — חֵיל (cheil) denotes the organized host or army, while מִצְרַיִם (mitz.Ra.yim) literally names the land of Egypt.
The thread — The chronological marker appears in Jeremiah 25:1, while Pharaoh Neco’s movement toward the Euphrates is noted in 2 Kings 23:29. Carchemish is later invoked rhetorically in Isaiah 10:9 as a symbol of fallen power.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that human military campaigns fall under divine accounting. It requires the reader to treat recorded history as the arena where sovereign judgment is executed.
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
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.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 23:29 During Josiah’s reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went out to confront him, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo.
- Isaiah 10:9 “Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus?
- Jeremiah 25:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
- Jeremiah 25:19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, his officials, his leaders, and all his people;
- Jeremiah 36:1 In the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the LORD:
- Jeremiah 45:1 This is the word that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Baruch son of Neriah when he wrote these words on a scroll at the dictation of Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah:
- Jeremiah 46:14 “Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes: ‘Take your positions and prepare yourself, for the sword devours those around you.’
- Ezekiel 29:1 In the tenth year, on the twelfth day of the tenth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
- 2 Chronicles 35:20 After all this, when Josiah had set the temple in order, Neco king of Egypt marched up to fight at Carchemish by the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to confront him.
- Jeremiah 25:9 behold, I will summon all the families of the north, declares the LORD, and I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, whom I will bring against this land, against its residents, and against all the surrounding nations. So I will devote them to destruction and make them an object of horror and contempt, an everlasting desolation.