Jeremiah 46:14, commentary and pictures

The call to declare in Egypt and publish in Migdol and in Noph and in Tahpanhes belongs to the prophecy against Egypt, which is part of the closing chapters of Jeremiah covering his personal experiences and his going into Egypt. In chronological order it stands at the very end, after Jeremiah 47 and after chapters 40 to 45. The prophecies after chapter 20 are not placed in chronological order because of displacement when the manuscript rolls were gathered together into one book. That displacement makes no change in the teaching, and the chapter itself clearly indicates its chronology.

The command is addressed to Migdol, Noph, Tahpanhes, and all Egypt to stand fast and prepare because the sword shall devour round about them. It predicts Egypt's defeat and fall before Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the mighty conqueror. It means Babylonian invasion, conquest, and spoiling was coming, and it identifies the place in the Egyptian capital where he would set his standard. This invasion was coming even though Egypt was ancient and powerful and defensible by sea, desert, navy, and Nile.

That invasion began a lasting fall into the hands of strangers. After it Egypt would never again exalt itself above the nations but would become the basest of the kingdoms and renounce idolatry.