Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 2:18

"And now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt, to drink the waters of the Shihor? or what hast thou to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the River?" — Jeremiah 2:18 (ASV)

In the way of Egypt ...? —The rebuke becomes more and more specific. Great rivers were, in the poetry of the prophets, the natural symbols of the kingdoms through which they flowed. Sihor (meaning the turbid or muddy river) here, and in Isaiah 23:3, the Nile (though in Joshua 13:3 it stands for the border stream between Palestine and Egypt), represented Egypt. The “river,” or “flood,” needing no other name due to its pre-eminent greatness , the Euphrates, stood for Assyria .

These words point to the tendency to court the alliance now of one, now of the other, of the great kingdoms of the world. This policy was not new. Menahem in Israel and Ahaz in Judah had courted Assyria (2 Kings 15:19; 2 Kings 16:7–8); Hezekiah, Babylon (Isaiah 39); Hoshea had sought help from Egypt (2 Kings 17:4).

The prophet Hosea had rebuked both policies (Hosea 5:13; Hosea 7:11; Hosea 8:9). Even under Hezekiah, there was a party seeking the Egyptian alliance (Isaiah 18, 19, and 31).

Under Manasseh and Amon, that party was in power, and the very name of Amon probably bears witness to its influence. Josiah kept as far as possible to a neutral position but, when forced into action and probably guided by the counsels of Hilkiah, resisted the advance of Pharaoh-nechoh (2 Kings 23:29).

On Josiah’s death, the Egyptian party again gained ground under Jehoiakim. Jeremiah, opposing its strength, urged the wisdom of accepting the guidance of events and submitting to the Chaldeans (thus continuing the line of action adopted by Hezekiah). Ultimately, he was accused of deserting his own people and “falling away” to their oppressors (Jeremiah 37:13).