Jeremiah 46:2

“Against Egypt, etc.] This is the title of the first prophecy against Egypt; which is the first mentioned, because first accomplished; and because the Jews placed great confidence in and much relied on the Egyptians for help: against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt; who is by Herodotusf809 called Necos; he was the son and successor of Psammitichus, and was succeeded by his son Psammis; and he by Apries, the same with Pharaohhophra, (<244430>Jeremiah 44:30); the Targum calls this king Pharaoh the lame: which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish; of which place (see Gill on “<231009>Isaiah 10:9”); this being in the land of the king of Assyria, as appears from the same place.…”

“Inscription of the first prophecy. Pharaoh-necho--He, when going against Carchemish (Cercusium, near the Euphrates), encountered Josiah, king of Judah (the ally of Assyria), at Megiddo, and slew him there (Kg2 23:29; Ch2 35:20-24); but he was four years subsequently overcome at Carchemish, by Nebuchadnezzar, as is foretold here; and lost all the territory which had been subject to the Pharaohs west of the Euphrates, and between it and the Nile. The prediction would mitigate the Jews' grief for Josiah, and show his death was not to be unavenged (Kg2 24:7). He is famed as having fitted out a fleet of discovery from the Red Sea, which doubled the Cape of Good Hope and returned to Egypt by the…”

“Against ... - i. e., relating to, concerning. So Jeremiah 48:1; Jeremiah 49:1; see the note at Jeremiah 46:13. Pharaoh-necho - See 2 Kings 23:29 note. In - (at) Carchemish - (The Gargamis of the inscriptions, now Jerabis, on the Euphrates, about 16 miles south of Birejik.) return to 'Top of Page'”

“46:2-12 Jeremiah used the results of a battle known to Jehoiakim to warn him and the people of Jerusalem that Egypt could not protect them from Babylon. Pharaoh Neco had thought that the time was ripe to become the dominant power in the ancient Near East, so he moved north in 609 BC. After Neco spent several years trying to help fragments of the Assyrian army stop the westward movements of the Babylonian army, he was soundly defeated at Carchemish on the Euphrates River in 605 BC. Soon after that, the Babylonian army surrounded Jerusalem and forced Jehoiakim to become a vassal of Babylon.”

“Against Egypt: Jer 46:14, Jer 25:9, Jer 25:19; Ezek. 29:1-32:32 Pharaohnecho: Kg2 23:29, Pharaoh-nechoh, Ch2 35:20, Ch2 35:21, Necho Carchemish: Isa 10:9 in the: Jer 25:1, Jer 36:1 Jeremiah 46:3”