John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 46:3-5

"Prepare ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses, and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail. Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: terror is on every side, saith Jehovah." — Jeremiah 46:3-5 (ASV)

Jeremiah now uses a form of speaking very common among the Prophets, though different from common usage. For the Prophets, when they announce God’s judgments and punishments on the ungodly, do not speak in simple language, as if they were merely giving a narrative. Instead, they used figurative expressions, as if they wished to draw people into the very scene itself. And so that their doctrine might more effectively penetrate the hearts of people, they introduce various speakers: at one time they introduce God as speaking, at another they pronounce things according to the views of others, and at yet another time, they declare God’s commands.

Jeremiah begins here by summoning the Egyptians, as if he were Pharaoh’s herald, and thus speaks in the persona of another. He says, Prepare. The verb ערך, orec, properly means “to set in order,” but here it signifies “to prepare.” Prepare, then, the buckler and the shield. The word צנה, tsane, was a shield of a larger form, and מגן, megen, seems to have been a buckler carried by lightly armed horsemen.

And come near to battle. He then adds, Bind or tie the horses. The manner of fighting is not the same now as it was formerly; they fought in chariots, as pagan authors abundantly show. He therefore says, tie the horses, that is, join them together so that they may draw the chariots.

Go up, you horsemen, stand in your helmets, clean your lances, and put on your coats of mail. The meaning is that the Egyptians would come well prepared with all kinds of weapons, so that they might be formidable to their enemies. And thus the vengeance appeared more clearly, because they were so well equipped that they seemed to have gained the victory even before they engaged with their enemies.

This is why the Prophet lists their complete armor, omitting no significant part; he mentions the lances, the helmets, the coats of mail, the chariots, the horses, and the shield, so that victory, according to human judgment, was already theirs. This is the first point.

But we must observe the Holy Spirit’s purpose. His purpose was to remove the veil from the eyes of the faithful, a veil which usually prevents us from seeing God’s power as clearly as we should. For when we fix our attention on military preparations, we do not think that anything is left for God to do, because those who are well prepared seem to be beyond the risk of defeat.

So that the Jews then might know that it would be no difficult matter for God to punish the Egyptians, the Prophet records this preparation. And there is a kind of concession when he says they will indeed be equipped with a helmet, a coat of mail, a shield, a sword, and a lance; but all this would avail nothing in the outcome.

Then from this prophetic word let us learn that God takes no account of all those things which people prepare when they wish to effect anything. For everything that dazzles our eyes is like smoke; so military forces and weapons have no importance before God, for by a single blast He can scatter all such clouds.

And this truth is very useful, for we look at external things, and when anything superficially impressive presents itself to us, we are immediately captivated by it and rob God of all power; for we transfer His glory to these masks which appear before us. We now then understand why the Prophet speaks here of bucklers, and shields, and lances, and chariots, and helmets, and coats of mail.

For it immediately follows, Why, or how, have I seen them broken? Here the Prophet, on the other hand, disregards all the things which he previously listed in such grand terms, for he spoke, so to speak, according to common human judgment. And, as I have said, he adopted the persona of a herald, as if Pharaoh himself had commanded the Egyptians immediately to take up arms.

This preparation, then, was apparently very formidable. But the Prophet now speaks as if standing on a high vantage point, and says, ‘How or what is this?’ For מדוע, meduo, is a particle of wonder, meaning ‘How!’ He then transitions from the common human viewpoint (the flesh) to the prophetic Spirit, as if he had said, “If anyone were to judge the Egyptians by their external splendor, he would say that they would be victorious over their enemies. But if anyone were to ascend higher and form a judgment, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, he would see that all this is frail and fleeting.”

But the question, How? is to be taken as emphatic, for it could hardly have been believed that such a well-equipped army could become prey to the Babylonians and that it was rushing to its own ruin. Since this then seemed incredible to anyone considering the matter, the Prophet asks, “How have I seen them?”

He says, however, that he saw them, precisely because God had set him, as we have said, so to speak, on a watchtower. This, however, may apply to seeing with the body as well as with the mind. I saw them turned backward, even though they were rushing forward, as he says afterwards, like a flood.

Their valiant men, he says, have been smitten, and by flight they have fled. He means, in short, that the Egyptians would not have enough courage to withstand their enemies’ onslaught, because they would be broken down by God’s hidden power. He also adds that their flight would be accompanied by such great dread that they would not dare to look behind them, so that their danger would increase their haste.

Finally, he adds in God’s name, Terror on every side, says Jehovah. Here he changes the speaker for the third time, for he declares as from God’s own mouth that there would be terror on every side. And thus it is an answer to the question, ‘How?’ or ‘Why?’—namely, because God, he says, executes His judgment on them. Therefore, whenever we see that our enemies lack nothing for victory, even over the Church of God, let us remember what the Prophet says here: there is no reason why we should lose hope, though we may be filled with wonder and amazement, for God will work in such a way as to break down, without human intervention, those who shake the whole world with terror.