Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 46:15

"Why are thy strong ones swept away? they stood not, because Jehovah did drive them." — Jeremiah 46:15 (ASV)

Why are your valiant men swept away? — Better, Why is your strong bull dragged away! The Hebrew verbs are in the singular, and the adjective is given in the same number in both the Septuagint and Vulgate.

The Septuagint gives the rendering, Why did Apis flee from you, and your chosen calf did not remain? This seems to refer to the bull Apis as the representative of Osiris, the chief deity of Egypt.

This interpretation receives some support from the use of the Hebrew words for "oxen," "bulls," "beasts," in Isaiah 34:7, Psalms 22:12, and Psalm 68:30. Further support comes from the fact that the same word is used in Isaiah 1:24 and Isaiah 49:26 as a divine name, the mighty one of Israel.

Understood this way, the prophet’s words contemplate the triumph of the God of Israel over the animal-form deity of Egypt. We may find a literal fulfillment of these words in the slaughter of the sacred bull by Cambyses .