What Does Jeremiah 46:2 Mean in the King James?
Against Egypt, against the army of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Egypt, Mitzrayim, the two narrows, is shown not as an endless enclosure but as an army struck at the Euphrates.
THE MEANING
You see Egypt’s army struck: its gathered power does not make it untouchable. The verse pins the blow to a river, a city, and a named moment, so vulnerability belongs to the scene itself. The violence stays plain: Nebuchadrezzar smites Pharaoh-necho’s army.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a force becomes invulnerable once it has gathered enough strength is undone: Egypt’s army is struck in its own theater of power.
THE ROOT
מִצְרַיִם
Mitzrayim
GROWS FROM
צרר
ts-r-r
To press, bind, or constrict into narrowness.
“Egypt” in this verse is Mitzrayim. Mitzrayim carries the image of the two narrows, so the verse does more than name a country: it places constriction itself in the scene. The army bearing that name is struck at the Euphrates; the narrow place is not invulnerable.
ALSO GROWS
tsar: Narrow, tight; also an adversary.
צַר
This branch gathers narrowness and opposition into one word-shape, echoing the pressure carried by Mitzrayim.
metsar: A narrow place or strait; distress.
מֵצַר
This branch makes the name’s image concrete: a constricted place can also be a place of pressure.
הִכָּה
hikkāh
GROWS FROM
נכה
n-k-h
To strike or smite.
“smote” in this verse is hikkāh. The root names a direct blow, while its branches can name the wound left by that blow. Here, the strike makes the vulnerability of Egypt’s gathered force visible.
ALSO GROWS
makkāh: A blow or wound.
מַכָּה
This branch turns the action of striking into its visible impact.
mukkēh: Struck or stricken.
מֻכֵּה
This branch describes the condition produced by the blow, keeping the verse’s violence in view.
THE PATTERN
A power that appears settled can be shaken and brought down.
The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.THE THREAD
And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.The Hebrew name Mitzrayim recurs in both verses. Here its army is struck; there, the same force no longer holds the scene, and its disappearance opens a way beyond the narrows.
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