Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 46:16

"He made many to stumble, yea, they fell one upon another: and they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own people, and to the land of our nativity, from the oppressing sword." — Jeremiah 46:16 (ASV)

Arise, and let us go again to our own people.—The case contemplated is that of the settlers in Egypt, the Lydians, Ionians, and Carians (see Note on Jeremiah 46:9) whom Psammetichus had encouraged, or the fugitives from Judea of Jeremiah 43:5-7. These would find that it was no longer a safe home for them.

The “oppressing sword” is beyond question the right rendering. However, it is curious that both the Septuagint and Vulgate have taken the adjective in different senses: the Septuagint rendering it as “from the Greek sword,” as if the word for oppressing (Ionah) meant Ionian; and the Vulgate providing the apparently strange version, a facie gladii columbœ (“from before the sword of the dove”). For a possible explanation of these words, referring to the dove as a symbol of Chaldean power, see the Note on Jeremiah 25:38.