The prophecies against foreign nations are collected into one scroll Jeremiah. 46-49. Compare Isaiah. 13-23; Ezek. 25-32. They are arranged in two great divisions:
(a) Jeremiah. 46-49:33, spoken in connection with Jeremiah. 25; and
(b) Jeremiah. 50-51 spoken at a subsequent date against Babylon.
Between them is placed a prophecy against Elam Jeremiah 49:34-39 spoken in the first year of Zedekiah. The seven earlier prophecies belonging to the fourth year of Jehoiakim were written at the same time, and arranged as they at present stand. It is no doubt intentional that these prophecies against the nations are in number 7 (compare Amos 1:3; Amos 2:4).
Jeremiah. 46. This prophecy against Egypt consists of two parts,
(a) a song of triumph because of her defeat at Carehemish Jeremiah 46:3-12;
(b) a prediction that the conqueror would invade Egypt from one end to the other Jeremiah 46:14-28.
Possibly a long delay intervened between these predictions.

The difference between the preceding and the subsequent prophecies in point of composition is very remarkable; the last excelling much in majesty and elegance. This chapter (of which the first verse forms a general title to this and the five chapters following) contains two distinct prophecies relating to Egypt. The first was delivered previous to an engagement between Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; in which the Egyptians were routed in Carchemish with great slaughter, as here predicted. The prophet sees the mighty preparations; but they are all declared to be of no avail, as God had decreed their fall, Jeremiah 46:1-6. The King of Egypt, however, is represented as marching with all the confidence of victory, like a river overflowing its banks, and threatening all around with its inundation, Jeremiah 46:7, Jeremiah 46:8. But this immense armament of Pharaoh-necho, consisting of various nations, shall, by a righteous judgment of God, receive such a signal overthrow near the river Euphrates, that the political consequence of Egypt shall be thereby irretrievably ruined, and its remaining power become contemptible in the sight of the nations, Jeremiah 46:9-12. The other prophecy, beginning at the thirteenth verse, relates to the memorable overthrow of the Egyptians by Nebuchadnezzar, subsequent to his siege of Tyre, in the sixteenth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah 46:13-26. The promise, in the conclusion of the chapter, of preservation to the Jews, (who have for many ages continued a distinct people, when the various nations of antiquity who oppressed them, or with whom they had any intercourse, have long ago ceased to have any separate and visible existence), has been most remarkably fulfilled; and is a very signal act of providence, and a pledge of the restoration of Israel to the Divine favor, when the time of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, Jeremiah 46:27, Jeremiah 46:28.

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 46
This chapter contains two prophecies relating to Egypt; one concerning the overthrow of Pharaohnecho, king of it, which was quickly accomplished; and the other concerning the destruction of the land, fulfilled many years after, and both by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and the chapter is concluded with a word of comfort to the people of Israel. It begins with a general title to prophecies in this and the five following chapters, Jeremiah 46:1; then follows a particular prophecy of the route of Pharaoh's army; of the place where, and time when, Jeremiah 46:2; the preparations of the Egyptians for the battle, with a variety of warlike instruments, Jeremiah 46:3; the consternation, flight, and destruction of them, Jeremiah 46:5; notwithstanding their confidence of getting the victory, Jeremiah 46:7; the reason of it, because it was the day of the Lord's vengeance on them, and therefore their ruin was inevitable, Jeremiah 46:10; the consequence of which was shame and confusion, Jeremiah 46:12; next follows another prophecy of the destruction of the land itself by Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah 46:13; the places that should be destroyed, Jeremiah 46:14; the multitude that should be slain, Jeremiah 46:15; a description of the calamity; the instrument, manner, and consequence of it, Jeremiah 46:20; the certainty of it, Jeremiah 46:18; and the whole is closed with a promise of the return of the Jews, and of their salvation; though they should not be without divine corrections, Jeremiah 46:27.

(Jeremiah 46:1-12) The defeat of the Egyptians.
(Jeremiah 46:13-26) Their overthrow after the siege of Tyre.
(Jeremiah 46:27, Jeremiah 46:28) A promise of comfort to the Jews.

IV. Prophecies Directed Against Foreign Nations - Jeremiah 46-51
Like Amos, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, Jeremiah has uttered predictions concerning a number of heathen nations, and incorporated them with the collection of his prophecies regarding Judah and Israel. But while in Amos the utterances regarding six nations round about the kingdom of God, as representatives of the whole heathen world, merely pave the way for announcing judgment on Judah and Israel, and are given for the purpose of teaching the necessity for judgment on the whole world that is opposed to God, in order that the kingdom of God may be advanced; Isaiah, on the other hand, when the power of Assyria appeared against the kingdom of God, brought forward the thought, in a pretty long series of oracles against the nations, Jeremiah 13-23, that all kingdoms and peoples, cities and men of the world that had apostatized from God, and still continued in apostasy, shall be humbled, and compelled by judgments inflicted on them to seek refuge with the God of Israel, - to submit to Him, and to offer their gifts for the establishment of His kingdom; and he concludes this announcement with an apocalyptic description of the judgment on the whole earth, and the consummation of the kingdom of God in glory, Jeremiah 24-27. The object aimed at by Ezekiel and Jeremiah in their oracles against the heathen nations is more specific. Ezekiel, in view of the destruction of Jerusalem and the kingdom of Judah, directs a series of oracles against seven nations; and in these addresses he predicts the destruction of the heathen world, and the fall of all heathen powers into Sheol, in order that these may not exult over the fall of the people of God, but rather, in the judgment on Israel, recognise the omnipotence and justice of the Lord, the Judge of all the earth. And Jeremiah, in his addresses to the nations, Jeremiah 46-51, merely brings out more fully the execution of that sentence which he had already proclaimed (Jeremiah 25) to all the peoples and kingdoms of the earth, shortly before the appearance of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon in the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign. The multitude of nations and tribes, far and near, to which, in Jeremiah 25:17-26, he gives the cup of the divine wrath out of Jahveh's hand, is in Jeremiah 46-51 reduced to nine nations; and these are named in such order, that here, as there (Jeremiah 25), Egypt heads the list (Jeremiah 46), while Babylon closes it (Jeremiah 50; 51). Of the rest of these nations, those related to Israel, viz., Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, have special prophecies addressed to them, Jeremiah 48 and Jeremiah 49:1-22; but the others are more summarily addressed. Thus, in the oracle pronounced against the Philistines, the Phoenicians also (Tyre and Sidon) are threatened with extermination (Jeremiah 47:1-7); the many Arabian tribes severally named in Jeremiah 25 are comprehended under the general designations "Kedar" and "the kingdoms of Hazor" (Jeremiah 49:28-33); while the kingdoms of the north are represented by Damascus (Jeremiah 49:23-27), and the distant nations of the east (Media and Elam) by Elam, Jeremiah 49:34-39.
Ewald, Hitzig, Graf, and Ngelsbach would account for several smaller nations being taken together in one prophecy, on the ground that the prophet wished to make out the significant number seven, - just as Amos (Amos 1:1-2:5) brings forward seven kingdoms before his address is directed to Israel, and as Ezekiel also has arranged his prophecies against the nations in accordance with the number seven. But though the number seven plainly appears in Amos and Ezekiel, such an assumption cannot be established in the case of Jeremiah. To make out this number, the oracles against Elam and Babylon are viewed as later additions, on the ground that both of them are connected with the first years of the reign of Zedekiah. But the assertion that the first seven belong to the fourth year of Jehoiakim cannot be proved. The second prophecy regarding Egypt (Jeremiah 46:14-28), and that against the Philistines (Jeremiah 47:1-7), contain, in their headings, indications of the time of composition, which do not point to the fourth year of Jehoiakim. With this also accords the remark further brought to bear on the alleged composition of those seven prophecies in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, - that this follows, not merely from the general agreement of their contents with Jeremiah 46 as well as with Jeremiah 25, but also from the fact that "the same expressions which the prophet uses in Jeremiah 25 with reference to the judgment of all nations, are re-echoed in Jeremiah 46-49:33: e.g., cf Jeremiah 25:31, Jeremiah 25:34, with Jeremiah 46:10; Jeremiah 25:35 with Jeremiah 46:5-6; Jeremiah 25:29, Jeremiah 25:31, with Jeremiah 47:6-7; and particularly Jeremiah 25:28-29, with Jeremiah 49:12 (Caspari on Obadiah, p. 16): cf. also Jeremiah 25:27 with Jeremiah 48:26; Jeremiah 25:30 with Jeremiah 48:33; Jeremiah 25:34 with Jeremiah 49:20; Jeremiah 25:38 with Jeremiah 49:19 and Jeremiah 46:16." For, of all these passages, none belongs to the second prophecy against Egypt (Jeremiah 46:14-28), and to that against the Philistines (Jeremiah 47:1-7), except the last-quoted passage, Jeremiah 46:16, in which the expression חרב agrees with Jeremiah 25:38, if in the latter passage we read חרב for חרון. But this expression is also repeated in the oracle against Babylon, Jeremiah 50:16; so that no proof can be drawn, from a consideration of the language employed, to show that the prophecies against Egypt (Jeremiah 46:14-28) and against the Philistines (Jeremiah 47:1-7) belong to the same time, as has been supposed. And the assertion that the prophecy against Elam forms an appendix to those which precede, could have been made only by a mind in a state of perplexity. Its position, after that against the Arabian tribes, and before that against Babylon, exactly agrees with the place occupied by Elam in Jeremiah 25:5.
(Note: From the above statement, the propriety and correctness of arrangement among these oracles in the Hebrew text will both be apparent. On the other hand, the transposition made in the Greek text of the lxx (already referred to in the note on p. 22) is characterized, even by Ewald and Hitzig, as "arbitrary" and "incorrect." Ewald remarks: "We cannot find that any other principle was acted upon in their arrangement than that the large portion about Babylon, Jeremiah 50ff., should be made as prominent as possible; the small piece about the Elamites which precedes it, Jeremiah 49:34-39, was put the very first, probably because it was thought desirable that, seeing they were then under Persian rule, what plainly referred to Persia should be made conspicuous; the portion directed against the Babylonians was then placed immediately after that referring to Egypt; that referring to the Philistines was then put in its place, but that referring to Edom, as being longer, was inserted after it; then the three small pieces on Ammon, Kedar, and Damascus were put together, while the large one about Moab concluded this much-distorted series." But the assertion of Movers and Hitzig - that this arrangement in the Greek text did not originate with the translator, but was found in the original, and that, too (according to Movers), at the time of Alexander's campaign against Persia - rests on critical conjectures regarding Jeremiah 46:27-28, which are decidedly erroneous. Moreover, the insertion of these oracles into the middle of Jeremiah 25, between Jeremiah 25:13 and Jeremiah 25:15, in the lxx text, is due to the arbitrary conduct of the Alexandrine translator, as even Hitzig allows that whoever arranged the chapter did not find it in a fragmentary condition, but had himself dismembered it. Yet Hitzig is of opinion that these oracles originally belonged to somewhere about Jeremiah 25, - a view that rests on grounds which, in the note on p. 233, we have already shown to be untenable.)
When we examine the contents of these nine oracles, we find that the one against Babylon differs from all the preceding in this, that it announces not merely the ruin of Babylon, but also the salvation of Israel; but this peculiarity is the very point in which it agrees with the prophecies against Egypt, of which the second ends with a promise in Israel's favour (Jeremiah 46:27-28). This correspondence shows us that we cannot separate the prophecy regarding Babylon from the others, or even place it in contrast with them. Egypt and Babylon were, at that time, the two great powers of this world which sought to oppress and destroy the kingdom of God. The fall of one or the other of these powers was thus for Israel a pledge that they would be preserved and saved. In the remaining oracles, the reference to the theocracy is quite placed in the background. Only in that against Ammon do we meet with the complaint that it had taken possession of the cities of Israel, as if Israel had no heir (Jeremiah 49:1). In the others there is no mention made of offence against the theocracy, but only of pride, arrogance, and carnal reliance on their earthly power, for which they shall be humbled and punished. Further, it is to be observed that the oracles against Egypt, Moab, Ammon, and Elam conclude with the promise of restoration at the end of the days, i.e., in the Messianic future (cf. Jeremiah 46:26; Jeremiah 48:47; Jeremiah 49:6 and Jeremiah 49:39). All these things plainly show that these oracles against the people merely repeat, in greater detail, the sentence already pronounced, Jeremiah 25, against all nations: God the Lord has appointed the king of Babylon to execute this sentence, and for this end will give him, in the immediate future, and till his appointed time shall end, supremacy over the nations; after that, Babylon also shall succumb to the sentence of ruin passed on it; and for Israel, with the deliverance from Babylon, there will arise a state of prosperity in which all nations will afterwards participate. In giving details with regard to these announcements of judgment, Jeremiah throughout falls back on the expressions of the older prophet, just as he does in his prophecies regarding Israel and Judah; these expressions he reproduces in a manner suited to the circumstances of his time, and still further developes. Cf. the collection of these references in Kueper on Jeremiah, p. 79ff.; see further the proofs given in the following commentary on each particular case.