John Calvin 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)

Brevity of expression makes this sentence obscure or ambiguous. The verb הרבה (erebe), is used without a nominative case, but it should be applied to God; God, then, has multiplied.

Furthermore, there is a change of number, as the singular should be understood as plural when he says, he falls, כושל (cushil): the meaning is that many would stumble because God would drive them, as was said in the previous verse.

From this comes what immediately follows: Even fall shall every one on his friend, that is, before the enemy struck them, by crowding together they would, of their own accord, dash against one another, so that each would fall from the pushing of his associate.

He then adds, And they shall say, Rise. Here he is not speaking of natives. Some think the reference is to foreigners who had come into Egypt because of the land's fruitfulness, for dwelling in Egypt, which we know was very fertile and full of all abundance, was especially advantageous to them.

Since, then, Egypt had many strangers and sojourners in it, some interpreters think that the Prophet here speaks of them, as if he had said, “Those who came into Egypt to live well there, due to the affluence of all good things, will find nothing better for them than to flee away.” Then They shall then say, Rise; that is, everyone will exhort one another and say, Let us go into the land of our nativity, meaning, “Let us be satisfied with our own native soil, for the very richness of Egypt will prove fatal to us if we remain in it.” But I rather think that the Prophet refers to the hired soldiers.

We saw yesterday that when Pharaoh waged war on the banks of the Euphrates, he had with him Ethiopians, Lydians, and many from Libya; and we will see again shortly that there were hired soldiers in Egypt when Nebuchadnezzar conquered it.

It was then very fitting for the Prophet to mention these foreign soldiers whom Pharaoh had hired. For at the beginning of the verse he said, Every one shall stumble on his neighbor, and then it follows, And they shall say, Let us return to our own people and to the land of our nativity.

When he says, Every one shall stumble on his neighbor, he undoubtedly means those valiant men summoned to defend Egypt; he also speaks of the same when he says, Rise, let us return to the land of our nativity.

He says, From the face of the devastating sword. The word היונה (eiune), is derived by some from יין (iin), meaning wine; and they offer this explanation: “from the inebriated sword.” Jerome renders the word “Dove,” but without reason.

He then calls the sword “wasting” or “destroying,” a sword already inebriated with much blood and one that had committed many slaughters. By this sword, he means the sword of Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers.

Some render the words “saddening sword,” but this rendering appears meaningless to me. They then say, “Since we have already been broken down, and see our enemies committing slaughters with impunity and killing all who meet them, nothing is better for us than to return to our own land.”