Jeremiah 46:10

Jer 46:10 For this [is] the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

Ver. 10. For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts.] See Isa 34:5-8.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He calleth the slaughter of God’s enemies a sacrifice, because it is a thing that doth please him, Isa. 34:6.

That is, at Carchemish.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

vengeance--for the slaughter of Josiah (Kg2 23:29).

sword shall devour . . . be . . . drunk--poetical personification (Deu 32:42).

a sacrifice-- (Isa 34:6; Eze 39:17). The slaughter of the Egyptians is represented as a sacrifice to satiate His righteous vengeance.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts] The prophet represents this as a mighty sacrifice, where innumerable victims were slain.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Prophet having described the terrible forces of Pharaoh, in which he so trusted, that he dared to boast of a certain victory, now says that the event would be very different: But this day, he says, will be the day of Jehovah’s vengeance; as though he had said, that Pharaoh would look only on his chariots and horsemen, his hired soldiers, their arms and warlike preparations, and that he would not at the same time look to God, who is not without reason called the God of hosts. Though the Scripture in many places ascribes this title to God, yet here it has a special application. For the Prophet derides the folly of Pharaoh, because he thought the issue of the war was in his own hand, as though the over-ruling of all things was not in God’s hand. He then says, that victory depended on God only; and farther, he announces what was to be: This day, he says, will be the day of God’s vengeance.

By these words he intimates that God was incensed with the Egyptians, and the cause we referred to yesterday, even because Pharaoh-necho had in passing through slain the pious King Josiah. He then deserved that God should lay prostrate his arrogance, and also chastise his cruelty and check his tyranny. But when he calls the Egyptians God’s adversaries, this was said for the consolation of the chosen people, to shew that God would undertake their cause. For whence was it that he was an enemy to the Egyptians? even because he would not suffer the pious king to be killed with impunity. We now then understand what these words mean, that this day would be a day of vengeance to the God of hosts; as though he had said, that God would preside over and regulate that war, so that all the forces of Pharaoh would avail him nothing.

he afterwards expresses more clearly, for confirmation, what he had said: The sword, he says, shall devour, and shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood But at the end of the verse he says, that this would be the righteous judgment of God. For God so extols his own power, that he yet would have himself acknowledged to be just whenever he inflicts punishment on the ungodly; for as his severity often appears extreme, hence the Prophets, when they speak of acts of vengeance which God executes, at the same time adds some testimony as to his judgment being righteous, as in this place, when it is said, that the God of hosts had a sacrifice

By sacrifice the Prophet means, that the slaughter would be free from every stain; for it is the same thing as though he had said, “God will be glorified in that slaughter, when all the Egyptians shall be destroyed.” For why do we offer sacrifices to God except that his glory may be proclaimed, that he is just as well as merciful, and almighty, and the fountain of all wisdom and uprightness? We hence see the purpose for which the word sacrifice is used, even that none should dare to blame that slaughter, as though God were too rigid and exceeded the limits of justice in shedding that blood. He then says that all the slaughters would be as so many sacrifices, in which God’s justice as well as his power would shine forth, he again points out the place, the land of the north, nigh Euphrates, in order that more credit and certainty might be given to the prophecy. It now follows, —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(10) This is the day of the Lord God of hosts.—The prophet contemplates the issue of all these great preparations, and sees that they will end in a disastrous overthrow, the righteous retribution for long years of cruelty and outrage. In doing so he falls back upon the language of earlier prophets (Isa_34:8; Zep_1:7), in part also upon that of Deu_32:42. There is to be a “great sacrifice,” and the army of Egypt is the destined victim; and the banks of the Euphrates (i.e., Carchemish) are to be as the altar.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. For] rather, But. For the language here cp. Isa_34:5-6; Isa_34:8. The expression of fierce vengeance, adduced by Schwally and others (see introd. notes) as an argument for rejecting the passage, is not unnatural, when we consider that the death of Josiah and captivity of Jehoahaz (cp. Jer_22:10) were still fresh in memory.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts,.... Or, "but this is the day" (y), &c. notwithstanding this great apparatus for war, and those many auxiliaries the Egyptians would have, yet it would not be their day, in which they should get the better of their enemies; but the Lord's day; the day he had appointed; who is the Lord God of all armies, above and below; and who would bring his own armies together when he pleased, and give them victory:

a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his enemies: the enemies of his people, as the Targum; the Egyptians, who had been of old the implacable enemies of his people Israel; though now, contrary to his will, they too much trusted to them, and relied on them; according to Kimchi, this vengeance was taken on them for killing Josiah:

and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood; that is, the sword of the Chaldeans shall destroy the Egyptians in such vast numbers, that there shall be no more to be slain; or there shall be no desire in the enemy to slay any more; they shall be glutted with their blood. All the phrases are designed to show the carnage that should be made; the vast destruction of the people; the large numbers that should be slain:

for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates; near Carchemish, situated by the river Euphrates, which lay north of Egypt; see Jer 46:6. Here is an allusion to the sacrifices of great persons, which are many; the Lord of hosts had a sacrifice, or a great slaughter of men, his enemies; inflicted punishment on them, wherein his power, justice, and holiness, were displayed; see Isa 34:6.

(y) "dies autem", V. L. "atque dies", Junius & Tremellius; "sed dies ille", Schmidt.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rather, But that “day belongeth to the Lord Yahweh of hosts.” They march forth in haughty confidence, but that day, the day to which they are looking forward in proud hope of victory, is Yahweh’s day, a day on which they will be the victims sacrificed in His honor.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Devour. It seems animated, and eager to slay the victim, Ezechiel xxxix. 17.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Or,

But this is the day of the Lord, & c. Pharaoh is mistaken in accounting this day his own, because of the multitude of his forces, this is

the day of the Lord, who as he is the Lord of all the hosts of his creatures, so hath a particular rule and government over hosts of men: this is further explained by the next words, a day of vengeance, which God hath set apart, in it to be avenged upon his enemies.

The sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: these phrases only metaphorically signify the great slaughter God would make that day amongst the Egyptians. This the prophet declares that God would do for his honour and glory, therefore he calls it a

sacrifice, by which also he declareth his justice in this punishment of the Egyptians; and for the further repute and credit of his prophecy, telleth them to whom he spake of the place it should be in, viz. near the river Euphrates, where Josiah was slain by him, 2Ki 23:29.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. For this is the day, etc. — Rather, but that day belongs to the Lord of hosts.

The Lord… hath a sacrifice — The Lord is making ready to slay sacrifices. So the slaughter of the Egyptians is represented.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The contrast. And yet that day is (the day) of the Lord, Jehovah Sabdoth (the rendering of the Authorized Version, For this is the day, etc., is clearly a mistake). The "day of Jehovah" is an expression so familiar to us that we are in danger of losing a part of its sublime meaning. It is, in brief, "that crisis in the history of the world when Jehovah will interpose to rectify the evils of the present, bringing joy and glory to the humble believer, and misery and shame to the proud and disobedient .... This great crisis is called a day, in antithesis to the ages of the Divine long suffering: it is Jehovah"s day, because, without a special Divine interposition, there would be no issue out of the perplexities and miseries of human life." We may say, with equal truth, that there are many "days of the Lord," and that there is only one. Every great revolution is a fresh stage in the great judgment day; die Weltgesehichte ist das Weltgericht" (Schiller). The loci classici for the expression in the prophets are Amo_5:18, 20 Zep_1:7, 14 Joe_2:1, 11 Isa_2:12 Isa_13:6, 9 Isa_2:12, the phraseology closely resembles that of our passage there is a day unto Jehovah Sabaoth;" Jehovah, that is, hath it in readiness in the supersensible world, where there is no time, and where all God"s purposes have an ideal, but no less real existence. We might, in fact, render our passage, "but that day (is the day that belongeth) unto the Lord," etc.). The Lord here, as generally elsewhere, is that expressive form which intimates the universal lordship of the God who has revealed himself to Israel. The sword. A comparison with Isa_34:6 suggests that it is "the sword of the Lord" which is meant a symbolic phrase for the Divine vengeance, which meets us again in Jer_12:12 Jer_47:6 Deu_32:41, 42 Jud_1:7:20; (comp. Jos_5:13) Isa_27:1 Isa_31:8 Isa_34:5, 6 66:16 Zec_13:7. If Jehovah can be spoken of as having an Arm, a Hand, and a Bow, why not also as having a sword? Both expressions represent the self-revealing side of the Divine nature, and are not merely poetical ornaments, but correspond to awful objective realities. Divine vengeance exists, and must exercise itself on all who oppose the Divine will. Hath a sacrifice. The same figurative expression occurs in Isa_34:6, and, developed at considerable length, Eze_39:17-20, where the slaughtered foes are described as fatted beasts, rams, lambs, he-goats, bullocks animals employed in the Jewish sacrifices. This, then, is the purpose for which this immense host "rolls up from Africa it is that it may fall by the Euphrates, at once as a proof of God"s justice, and as a warning to transgressors.

The terror of sacrifice without its blessing.

The ancient sacrifices had much about them that was very repulsive. The slaughtering and dismemberment of the vast herds of animals that were year by year brought to the altar must have involved in it very much that was of a revolting nature. No doubt their sensitiveness to such scenes of blood was far less than ours; but at the best it must have been a most painful spectacle. Hence scoffers have called it the religion of the shambles. But the salvation and blessing that came through the sacrifices divested them of all that was painful or repulsive to the offerer. But there may be all that is terrible about sacrifice agony, blood, death, carnage without any corresponding blessing. Such is the meaning here. Slaughter, but no salvation. The same word for "sacrifice" is used as in those which were offered according to the Law on the altar in the temple. And so in the parallel passages in Isa_34:6 and Eze_39:17, which should be compared with this, and which are alluded to by St. John in the Revelation. In all these there is the terror of sacrifice, but none of its blessing. And there is that which corresponds to this now. Even Christ"s sacrifice may be a terror and not a salvation. It is so to:

1. Those who refuse it.

2. Those who apostatize from it, who count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, trampling underfoot the Son of God. (Heb 10)

3. Those who make it the minister of sin. Who "turn the grace of God into lasciviousness." There is, then a twofold aspect, of the Lord"s sacrifice. Either it must be that by it we rise or fall. "This child is set for the fall and rising again." The gospel is "a savour of life unto life, or," etc. Christ is a Rock on which we may build, or which, falling on the impenitent, crushes him to powder. Which for ourselves? C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Made drunk - These phrases only metaphorically signify, the great slaughter God would make that day amongst the Egyptians.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

This formidable army shall perish; for the day of the battle is the day of the Lord of hosts, on which He will take vengeance upon His enemies. Among these enemies are the Egyptians, who have grievously sinned against Israel, the people of the Lord, not merely of late, by making war upon and killing King Josiah, by carrying away Jehoahaz, and making Jehoiakim his vassal, but also from the earliest times. For this, Egypt is now to be brought low. The sword shall devour and be refreshed by drinking the blood of the Egyptians. For the Lord is preparing for a slaying of sacrifices (זבח) in the north, at the Euphrates. Isa 34:6 forms the basis of these words.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

day of the Lord

See Day (of Jehovah) note, (See Scofield "Isa 2:12").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Jeremiah's quotation of Yahweh's declaration to the nation of Egypt continues.

That day

This phrase refers to the day the Egyptians lose the battle to the Babylonians.

for the Lord Yahweh of hosts, and he will avenge himself on his foes

Yahweh speaks of himself in third person. This can be stated in first person. AT: "for me, Lord Yahweh of hosts, and I will avenge myself on my foes" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

The sword will devour and be satisfied. It will drink its fill of their blood

This speaks of Yahweh's sword as if it were devouring people and drinking blood. Both these phrases are saying similar thing and are combined to emphasize that there will be complete destruction. AT: "I will completely destroy my enemy. It will be like my sword devours them and gets drunk on their blood" (See: Parallelism and Personification)

The sword will devour

Yahweh punishing and killing his enemies is spoken of as if he would use a sword to kill them. (See: Metaphor)

For there will be a sacrifice

Yahweh avenging himself by causing the Egyptians to lose in battle against the Babylonians is spoken of as if the Egyptian army would be a sacrifice to Yahweh. AT: "For the Egyptians will be like a sacrifice" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

day

avenge

lord

Yahweh of hosts

sword

devour

blood

sacrifice

Euphrates River

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

and its thirst shall be quenched Heb. ורותה, an expression of satiety. [Another interpretation: It] is an expression of drunkenness; cf. שֵּׁכַר, strong drink, which we translate מְרַוֵי.

in the north land For Pharaoh marched on Nebuchadnezzar in Carchemish, and there he fell and his mighty men were slain, and he fled from the battle.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.