Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 47:2

"Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and them that dwell therein; and the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail." — Jeremiah 47:2 (ASV)

Behold, waters rise up out of the north.— The reference to the north indicates that the invasion which the prophet contemplates is that of Nebuchadnezzar, not of Pharaoh-Necho. For the metaphor of the overflowing river see Jeremiah 46:7; Isaiah 8:7. For the land and all that is therein read, as in the margin, the land and the fulness thereof.