Jeremiah 37:5

“Then Pharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt, etc.] At the time the above message was sent to Jeremiah. Zedekiah, though he had took an oath of homage to the king of Babylon, rebelled against him, and entered into a league with the king of Egypt, to whom he sent for succours in his distress; and who, according to agreement, sent his army out of Egypt to break up the siege of Jerusalem; for though the king of Egypt came no more in person out of his land, after his defeat at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, (<244602>Jeremiah 46:2 <122407>2 Kings 24:7); yet he sent his army to the relief of Jerusalem: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem; which was in…”

“After this temporary diversion, caused by Pharaoh in favor of Jerusalem, the Egyptians returned no more to its help (Kg2 24:7). Judea had the misfortune to lie between the two great contending powers, Babylon and Egypt, and so was exposed to the alternate inroads of the one or the other. Josiah, taking side with Assyria, fell in battle with Pharaoh-necho at Megiddo (Kg2 23:29). Zedekiah, seeking the Egyptian alliance in violation of his oath, was now about to be taken by Nebuchadnezzar (Ch2 36:13; Eze 17:15, Eze 17:17).”

“Then - And. Pharaoh-Hophra Jeremiah 44:30, the Apries of Herodotus, probably withdrew without giving Nebuchadnezzar battle. After a reign of 25 years, he was dethroned by Amasis, but allowed to inhabit his palace at Sais, where finally he was strangled. return to 'Top of Page'”

“37:5 The Babylonians began their siege of Jerusalem in 588 BC. But they left Jerusalem because the army of Pharaoh Hophra was coming to help Judah. The Babylonians hoped to block and defeat the Egyptians, which they did.”

“Pharaoh's: This was Pharaoh Hophra, or Apries, as he is called by Herodotus, who succeeded his father Psammis on the throne of Egypt, am 3410, bc 594, and reigned twenty-five years. Having entered into a confederacy with Zedekiah ( Eze 17:15), he marched out of Egypt with a great army to his relief; which caused Nebuchadnezzar to raise the siege of Jerusalem to meet him; during which period the transactions detailed here took place. Jer 37:7; Kg2 24:7; Eze 17:15 they: Jer 37:11, Jer 34:21 Jeremiah 37:7”