This is the word that the LORD spokeThis phrase emphasizes the divine origin of the message. In the context of the Old Testament, the phrase "the word of the LORD" signifies a direct communication from God, often delivered through a prophet. This underscores the authority and reliability of the prophecy. The role of a prophet was to convey God's messages to His people, often calling them to repentance or warning them of impending judgment.
to Jeremiah the prophet
Jeremiah, known as the "weeping prophet," was called by God to deliver messages of warning and hope to the people of Judah. His ministry spanned the reigns of several kings and was marked by persecution and personal suffering. Jeremiah's role as a prophet was crucial during a time of great political upheaval and spiritual decline in Judah.
about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
Nebuchadnezzar II was the powerful ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, known for his military conquests and the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. His campaigns against Egypt were part of his broader strategy to dominate the ancient Near East. This prophecy highlights the geopolitical realities of the time, where Babylon was emerging as a dominant power.
to strike the land of Egypt
Egypt, a significant power in the ancient world, often found itself in conflict with Babylon. This prophecy foretells a specific military campaign by Nebuchadnezzar against Egypt, which historically occurred around 568-567 BC. The mention of Egypt serves as a reminder of the shifting alliances and power struggles that characterized the region. Egypt's reliance on its gods and military might is contrasted with the sovereignty of the LORD, who orchestrates the rise and fall of nations.
This prophecy also serves as a reminder of God's control over history and His ability to use even pagan nations to accomplish His purposes. The judgment on Egypt can be seen as a fulfillment of earlier prophecies and a demonstration of God's justice.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
JeremiahA major prophet in the Old Testament, known for his prophecies concerning the judgment of Judah and the surrounding nations. He is often called the "weeping prophet" due to his heartfelt laments over the sins of his people.
2.
NebuchadnezzarThe king of Babylon, known for his conquests and the expansion of the Babylonian Empire. He played a significant role in the history of Israel and Judah, including the destruction of Jerusalem.
3.
EgyptA powerful nation in the ancient Near East, often seen as a place of refuge and a symbol of worldly power. In this context, Egypt is the target of God's judgment through Babylon.
4.
BabylonAn ancient empire known for its military prowess and cultural achievements. It was used by God as an instrument of judgment against various nations, including Judah and Egypt.
5.
The LORDThe covenant name of God, Yahweh, who is sovereign over all nations and uses them to accomplish His purposes.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty Over NationsGod is in control of all nations and uses them to fulfill His divine purposes. This should encourage believers to trust in God's plan, even when world events seem chaotic.
The Futility of Trusting in Worldly PowersEgypt, a symbol of worldly strength, is shown to be vulnerable to God's judgment. Believers are reminded to place their trust in God rather than in human institutions or powers.
The Role of ProphetsProphets like Jeremiah are God's messengers, delivering His word to the people. Their messages often include warnings of judgment and calls to repentance, which are still relevant today.
Judgment and RedemptionGod's judgment is not arbitrary but serves a purpose in His redemptive plan. Understanding this helps believers see the bigger picture of God's work in history.
Historical Context and Its RelevanceUnderstanding the historical context of biblical events enriches our comprehension of Scripture and its application to our lives today.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Jeremiah 46:13?
2.How does Jeremiah 46:13 reveal God's sovereignty over nations like Egypt?
3.What historical context in Jeremiah 46:13 helps us understand God's message to Egypt?
4.How does Jeremiah 46:13 connect with God's judgment in other Old Testament books?
5.How can we apply the lessons from Jeremiah 46:13 to modern-day national events?
6.What does Jeremiah 46:13 teach us about trusting God's plans over human power?
7.What historical event does Jeremiah 46:13 refer to regarding Nebuchadnezzar's attack on Egypt?
8.How does Jeremiah 46:13 demonstrate God's sovereignty over nations?
9.What archaeological evidence supports the prophecy in Jeremiah 46:13?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Jeremiah 46?
11.Jeremiah 46:13 – Why does this prophecy about Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Egypt seemingly conflict with reports of the extent of Babylonian control in some historical sources?
12.Why don’t extrabiblical sources corroborate the destruction of the Egyptian temples or pillars (Jer 43:13)?
13.Ezekiel 32:4–6 – How could Pharaoh’s remains have been left exposed in a way that contradicts traditional Egyptian burial practices?
14.Jeremiah 46:8 – Is the imagery of the Nile flooding over the land literal or metaphorical, and could it contradict natural constraints on river flooding known from geological studies?What Does Jeremiah 46:13 Mean
This is the word• Jeremiah introduces this oracle as a specific, authoritative message, not personal opinion.
• Scripture reminds us that whenever God says, “This is the word,” we are hearing absolute truth (Isaiah 55:11;2 Timothy 3:16–17).
• The phrasing signals certainty: what follows is guaranteed to unfold exactly as stated.
that the LORD spoke• The source is “the LORD” (Yahweh), underscoring His sovereignty over nations.
• God alone directs history—He raised up Assyria, now Babylon, and will later discipline Babylon itself (Jeremiah 25:12).
• Because the Lord speaks, His people can trust both His warnings and His promises (Numbers 23:19).
to Jeremiah the prophet• Jeremiah’s calling is reaffirmed (Jeremiah 1:4-10). He speaks unpopular truth yet remains faithful.
• His prophetic office assures listeners the message is divinely authenticated (2 Chronicles 36:12, 21).
• God still uses chosen messengers to deliver His word today—pastors, teachers, faithful believers who stand on Scripture.
about the coming of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon• Nebuchadnezzar is God’s instrument of judgment (Jeremiah 25:9; 43:10-13).
• What looked like Babylonian ambition was actually God’s deliberate plan to humble Egypt and warn His own people not to seek security in foreign alliances (Isaiah 31:1).
• The prophecy underscores the futility of trusting earthly powers instead of the Lord (Psalm 20:7).
to strike the land of Egypt• Egypt, once the oppressor of Israel and later her unreliable ally, will now feel the rod of discipline (Ezekiel 29:19;Jeremiah 44:12).
• God’s judgment is comprehensive—political centers, idols, and false hopes will all crumble (Jeremiah 46:19; 46:25-26).
• The Lord’s justice is impartial: no nation is immune when it defies Him (Obadiah 1:15).
summaryJeremiah 46:13 announces a specific, divinely guaranteed judgment: God will deploy Nebuchadnezzar to invade and crush Egypt. The verse emphasizes the reliability of God’s word, His control over world events, and the folly of trusting in human power rather than in Him.
(13)
The word that the Lord spake . . .--The opening words clearly point to this as a distinct prophecy from the preceding, pointing to subsequent events, and it was probably delivered much later, possibly in connexion with
Jeremiah 43:10, and placed where it is as belonging to the series of predictions which had Egypt as their subject.
Verse 13. -
The word, etc. This verse is the heading of a new prophecy, which, however, for the reason already mentioned (see introduction to this chapter), is not to be regarded as entirely independent of the preceding prophecy, but rather as a supplement (just as
Isaiah 18, though not in strict sequence to Isaiah 17:12-14, is yet a supplement to it). The heading does not expressly state when the prophecy was written, but from the mention of Nebuchadnezzar, both in the heading and in the prophecy itself, we may assume a date subsequent to the battle of Carchemish, for the earlier prophecies contain no reference to that redoubtable name. An important question now arises - When did Nebuchadnezzar invade and conquer Egypt? and what would be the consequences of admitting that a Babylonian subjugation of that country is historically not proven? There can be no doubt that Jeremiah did hold out such a prospect; for he not only says so here, but also in
Jeremiah 43:8-13 and Jeremiah 44:30. In the latter prophecy it is not Necho, but Hophra, in whose reign the blow is to fall. But no monumental evidence has as yet been found [see, however, postscript to this note] of anything approaching to an invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar; nor do the accounts of Herodotus (2:159, etc.) at all supply the deficiency (on this, however, see further at end of note). It is true that Josephus quotes passages from Berosus, the Babylonian historian, to the effect that Nabopolassar had set a Chaldean governor over Egypt, but that this governor had revolted, and that Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar, crushed the rebellion and incorporated Egypt into his empire. But these events happened, according to the quotation from Berosus, partly before, partly immediately after, the death of Nabopolassar, and was consequently earlier than the prophecy in this chapter. Another fact of importance must be mentioned in this connection, viz. that Ezekiel repeats the announcement of the Babylonian conquest of Egypt, of which he speaks as if it were to happen at the close of the thirteen years of Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Tyre (
Ezekiel 29:17-21). Thus there is a gradual increase in the definiteness of the announcement. Looking at our chapter by itself, we might suppose that the conquest was to take place soon after the decisive battle at Carchemish. After the murder of Gedaliah, when Jeremiah had removed to Egypt, we find him foretelling the sore punishment of Egypt in greater detail, and the name of Hophra (instead of Necho) is introduced as that of the deposed king. Finally, Ezekiel (as we have seen) specifies a definite time. Now, it is true that our knowledge of this period is somewhat incomplete. We have not the direct historical proof that could be wished as to the result of Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Tyre, though it would be fastidious to scruple at the evidence which satisfied so cool a judgment as that of George Grote. The great historian denies, however, that Tyre at this time suffered such a terrific desolation as is suggested by a literal interpretation of
Ezekiel 26, and continues in these remarkable terms: "Still less can it be believed that that king conquered Egypt and Libya, as Megasthenes, and even Berosus so far as Egypt is concerned, would have us believe - the argument of Latchet, 'Ad Herodot.,' 2:168, is anything but satisfactory. The defeat of the Egyptian king at Carchemish, and the stripping him of his foreign possessions in Judaea and Syria, have been exaggerated into a conquest of Egypt itself" ('Hist. of Greece,' vol. 3. p. 445, note 1). Supposing Mr. Grote's view of the facts of the siege of Tyre to be correct, it is clear that the prophet's reproduction of the Divine revelation made to him was defective; that it presents traces of a stronger human element than we are accustomed to admit. Tyre had to suffer a fall; but the fall was not as yet to be so complete a one as Ezekiel, reasoning upon his revelation, supposed. It is equally possible that Jeremiah and Ezekiel, reasoning upon the revelation of the inevitable fall of Egypt, mistook the time when, in its fulness, the Divine judg. ment was to take place. The case may, perhaps, turn out to be analogous to that of an apparently but not really unfulfilled prophecy in
Isaiah 43:3. A literal interpretation of that passage would give the conquest of Egypt to Cyrus; as a matter of fact, we know that it was Cambyses, and not Cyrus, who fulfilled the prophecy. It would not be surprising if we should have to admit that it was Cambyses, and not any earlier monarch, who fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah. Certain great principles of God's moral government had to be affirmed; it was of no moment whatever whether Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, or Cambyses was the instrument of their affirmation. A parallel from Isaiah may again be adduced. The shameful captivity of Egypt, and perhaps Ethiopia, which Isaiah foresaw in the time of Sargon (
Isaiah 20:3), was not realized in fact until Esar-haddon despoiled Tithakah, King of Egypt and Ethiopia, of the whole of Upper Egypt. There are cases in which a literal fulfilment of prophecy may be abandoned without detriment to Divine revelation, and this seems to be one of them. And yet we must always remember that even the letter of the prophecy may some day turn out to be more nearly in harmony with facts than we have supposed, our knowledge of this period being in several respects so very imperfect. It has been acutely pointed out that the oracle given to Necho (Herod., 2:158), "that he was labouring for the barbarian," seems to imply a current expectation of an invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, and that the gradual conquest by that king of one neighbouring country after another suggests that the invasion of Egypt was at any rate the object at which he aimed. The silence of Herodotus as to a Chaldean invasion is, perhaps, not very important. He does not mention Necho's defeat by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, nor does he ever refer to the victories over Egypt of any King of Assyria. POSTSCRIPT. - The above note is left precisely as it was written, February, 1881, in ignorance of Wiedemann's then recent discovery of a contemporary hieroglyphic inscription which, as the report of the German Oriental Society expresses it, "ratifies the
hitherto universally doubted fact of an invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar." The hieroglyphic narrative is supplemented and confirmed by two cuneiform records, and the combined results are as follows. In the thirty-seventh year of his reign, Hophra or Apries being King of Egypt, Nebuchadnezzar undertook an expedition against Egypt, and penetrated as far as the island of Elephantine, and damaged the temple of Chnum, which stood there. His army could not, however, pass the cataracts. At Syene the Egyptian troops, under Neshor, met and repelled the invaders. Two years later, however, the Babylonians came again, were victorious over the Egyptian host under Amasis, and compelled the whole land to pay tribute. Thus we have a remarkable confirmation of Ezekiel's prophecy that Egypt should be "waste and desolate from Migdol unto Syene, even unto the border of Ethiopia" (
Ezekiel 29:10). It should be mentioned that the Babylonians are not described in the hieroglyphics by their proper name, but as "the Syrians (?), the peoples of the north, the Asiatics;" it is from a terra-cotta cuneiform tablet that we learn that, in Nebuchadnezzar's thirty-seventh year (B.C. 568-7), a war arose between him and the King of Egypt, which ended with the payment of tribute to the former (Wiedemann, in 'AEgyptische Zeitschrift,' 1878, pp. 2-6 and 87-89; ' Geschichte AEgyptens,' 1880, pp. 168-170). The value of prophecy does not, happily, depend on the minuteness of its correspondence with history, and the evidential value of the argument from such a correspondence is but secondary. Still, as long as such a correspondence can be proved, even in part, by facts such as Wiedemann has discovered, the apologist is perfectly justified in using it in confirmation of the authority of Scripture. The second prophecy falls into two parts - vers. 14-19 and 20-26 respectively.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
This is the wordהַדָּבָר֙(had·dā·ḇār)Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1697:A word, a matter, thing, a causethatאֲשֶׁ֣ר(’ă·šer)Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834:Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order thatthe LORDיְהוָ֔ה(Yah·weh)Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068:LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israelspokeדִּבֶּ֣ר(dib·ber)Verb - Piel - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1696:To arrange, to speak, to subduetoאֶֽל־(’el-)Preposition
Strong's 413:Near, with, among, toJeremiahיִרְמְיָ֖הוּ(yir·mə·yā·hū)Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3414:Jeremiah -- 'Yah loosens', the name of a number of Israelitesthe prophetהַנָּבִ֑יא(han·nā·ḇî)Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5030:A spokesman, speaker, prophetabout the comingלָב֗וֹא(lā·ḇō·w)Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 935:To come in, come, go in, goof Nebuchadnezzarנְבֽוּכַדְרֶאצַּר֙(nə·ḇū·ḵaḏ·reṣ·ṣar)Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5019:Nebuchadnezzar -- 'Nebo, protect the boundary', a Babylonian kingkingמֶ֣לֶךְ(me·leḵ)Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4428:A kingof Babylonבָּבֶ֔ל(bā·ḇel)Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 894:Babylon -- an eastern Mediterranean empire and its capital cityto strikeלְהַכּ֖וֹת(lə·hak·kō·wṯ)Preposition-l | Verb - Hifil - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5221:To strikethe landאֶ֥רֶץ(’e·reṣ)Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 776:Earth, landof Egypt:מִצְרָֽיִם׃(miṣ·rā·yim)Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 4714:Egypt -- a son of Ham, also his descendants and their country in Northwest Africa
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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 46:13 The word that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah (Jer.) 
