John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 46

The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against
the Gentiles .
] Or "nations"; distinguished from the Jews; not all the nations of the world, but some hereafter mentioned, as the Egyptians, Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Syrians, Arabians, Persians, and Chaldeans: or "concerning the nations" ^F16 ; the above mentioned; though the prophecies delivered out concerning them are all against them, and not in their favour. Mention is made of Jeremiah's prophesying against all the nations in (Jeremiah 25:13) ; after which follow the several prophecies contained in the next chapters in the Septuagint and Arabic versions, as they stand in the Polyglot Bible.

FOOTNOTES:

• F16: (Mywg le) "super gentes", Montanus; "de gentibus", Cocceius.

Against Egypt
This is the title of the first prophecy against Egypt; which is the first mentioned, because first accomplished; and because the Jews placed great confidence in and much relied on the Egyptians for help:

against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt ;
who is by Herodotus

FOOTNOTES:

• F17: called Necos; he was the son and successor of Psammitichus, and was succeeded by his son Psammis; and he by Apries, the same with Pharaohhophra, (Jeremiah 44:30) ; the Targum calls this king Pharaoh the lame: which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish ;
  of which place (See Gill on Isaiah 10:9); this being in the land of the king of Assyria, as appears from the same place. Pharaohnecho, in Josiah's time, came up against him, in order to take it from him; but whether he did or no is not certain; see (2 Kings 23:29) (2 Chronicles 35:20) ; however, he appeared at the same place a second time, against the king of Babylon, into whose hands it was now very probably fallen, with the whole Assyrian monarchy; and here, in this second battle, his army was routed, as follows: which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of
  Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah ;
  when he took away from the king of Egypt all that belonged to him between the Nile and Euphrates, so that he came no more out of his land, (2 Kings 24:7) . Kimchi and Abarbinel think there was but one expedition of Pharaohnecho; and that the siege of Carchemish continued to the fourth year of Jehoiakim; when he met with an entire overthrow from the king of Babylon, which God suffered as a judgment on him for killing Josiah. This, according to Bishop Usher, was in the year of the world 3397, and before Christ 607; and, according to the Universal History, in the year of the world 3396, and before Christ 608.
  L. 2. sive Euterpe, c. 158.

Order you the buckler and shield
Both signify one and the same sort of armour, only of a different form, the one being lesser and lighter than the other. Jarchi makes the difference to be, that the former was made of skin, the latter of wood; they were both used to defend the body in war. To order them is not only to prepare them, and get them ready; but to fit them to the body, and to put them on, that they might be in a readiness to engage in battle. The exhortation is made either to the Chaldean army, to prepare to fight against the Egyptians; or to the army of Pharaohnecho, to defend themselves against the king of Babylon, who was coming against them, as Kimchi and Abarbinel, who seem to be in doubt which it should be; but the latter is most probable:

and it is either a direction of Pharaoh to his army, to be in readiness; or rather of God, speaking ironically to them, suggesting, that let them do what they would, and make ever such preparations for battle, all would come to nothing, victory would be on the other side; and draw near to battle ;
engage the enemy briskly, and with the greatest courage, and use all your military skill; and, when you have done, it will all be in vain.

Harness the horses
Put on their bridles and saddles and gird them: or, "bind the horses" ^F18 ; that is, to the chariots; put them to, as we commonly express it: Egypt abounded in horses, and so no doubt brought a large cavalry, and a multitude of chariots, into the field of battle:

and get up, you horsemen ;
upon the horses, or into the chariots, and so be ready to receive the enemy, or to attack him:

and stand forth with [your] helmets ;
present themselves on horseback, or in their chariots, with their helmets on their heads, to cover them in the day of battle:

furbish the spears ;
that they may be sharp and piercing, and look bright and glittering, and strike terror in the enemy:

[and] put on the brigandines ;
coats of mail, to cover the whole body, which were made of iron, consisting of rings, as Kimchi observes.

FOOTNOTES:

• F18: (Myowoh wroa) "ligate equos", Montanus, Calvin; "alligate", Schmidt.

Wherefore have I seen them dismayed [and] turned away back ?
&c.] The Egyptians, after all this preparation for war, and seeming ardent to engage in battle; and yet, when they came to it, were seized with a panic, and thrown into the utmost consternation, and turned their backs upon their enemy: these are either the words of the prophet, who had a view by a spirit of prophecy, of the consternation, confusion, and flight of the Egyptian army; or of the Lord, who foresaw all this, and represents it as if it was done because of the certainty of it; upbraiding the Egyptians with their pusillanimity and cowardice:

and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not
back ;
or, "their mighty ones are broken" ^F19 ; their valiant soldiers and officers, their best troops were broken to pieces, their ranks and files, and thrown into the utmost disorder; and therefore made all the haste they could to escape the fury of the enemy, and fled with the utmost precipitation, and never stopped to look back upon their pursuers; so great their fear:

[for] fear [was] round about, saith the Lord ;
from where it came; it was he that put it into them, took away their courage, and made them a "magormissabib", or "fear round about", the word here used; see (Jeremiah 20:3) . The Targum is,``they looked not back to resist them that slay with the sword, who are gathered against them round about, saith the Lord;'' their enemies surrounded them, and that was the reason fear was round about them, and both were from the Lord; or as he had said, determined, and foretold it should be.

FOOTNOTES:

• F19: (wtky Mhyrwbgw) "et fortes eorum contusi sunt, vel coutunduntur", Schmidt, Cocceius, Piscator; "contriti sunt", Vatablus.