Why did Pharaoh's army come out of Egypt in Jeremiah 37:5? Immediate Context: Jeremiah 37:5 “Meanwhile, Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem.” Historical Setting (c. 588 BC) Zedekiah’s eleventh year (Ussher: Amos 3416, 588 BC) finds Jerusalem under Babylonian siege. Nebuchadnezzar II’s forces have ringed the city since late 589 BC. Word arrives that an Egyptian expeditionary force is marching north. The Babylonians pull back temporarily to regroup, giving Jerusalem false hope of deliverance. Which Pharaoh? The contemporaneous ruler is Pharaoh Hophra (Heb. Ḥophraʿ; Greek Apries), succeeding Psammetichus II in 589 BC. The Septuagint of Jeremiah 44:30 explicitly names him. Contemporary Egyptian inscriptions from Saïs and Herodotus II.161 confirm Apries’ early campaigns into Philistia, matching Jeremiah’s chronology. Geopolitical Motives of Egypt 1. Buffer Strategy: Controlling Philistia/Judah created distance between Egypt’s Delta and Babylonian aggression. 2. Treaty Obligations: Judah’s court (2 Kings 24:20; Jeremiah 37:7) had clandestinely sought Egyptian support, violating Yahweh’s command and Babylon’s vassal treaty. 3. Prestige Recovery: Egypt’s humiliation at Carchemish (605 BC) still stung. Apries sought to reassert regional influence. Prophetic Evaluation Jeremiah repeatedly warned that trusting Egypt was futile: • “Now what have you gained by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile?” (Jeremiah 2:18). • “If you set your faces to enter Egypt… you shall die there.” (Jeremiah 42:15-16). The brief Babylonian withdrawal merely validated Jeremiah 37:9—“Do not deceive yourselves, saying, ‘Surely the Chaldeans will go away from us,’ for they will not go.” Archaeological Corroboration • Lachish Letter 4 (ca. 588 BC) complains of Babylon’s advance “for we cannot see Azekah,” matching the siege context and sudden military movements. • Babylonian Chronicle BM 21946 records a pause in operations against “the land of Amurru” that same year—consistent with Nebuchadnezzar’s brief retreat. • Babylonian ration tablets (VAT 4956) date Jehoiachin’s captivity to 597 BC, anchoring the timeline leading to Zedekiah. Consistency with the Wider Canon Ezekiel 17:15–17 denounces Judah for breaking covenant with Babylon by “sending its envoys to Egypt so that it might give him horses and a large army,” then explicitly prophesies that Egypt “will not help.” Isaiah had earlier warned, “The Egyptians are men and not God” (Isaiah 31:3). Jeremiah 37:5 is thus one cog in a larger, unified prophetic witness against reliance on human powers. Outcome and Theological Message The Egyptian thrust fizzled. Babylon quickly re-laid the siege (Jeremiah 37:8). Jerusalem fell in 586 BC precisely as Jeremiah foretold. The episode illustrates: 1. The sovereignty of Yahweh over international affairs. 2. The peril of seeking salvation through worldly alliances instead of covenant obedience. 3. The reliability of prophetic Scripture—validated by events and extra-biblical data alike. Practical Implications Ancient Judah’s misplaced trust mirrors every generation’s temptation to ground security in political, military, or economic “Egypts.” Only submission to the Lord’s revealed will brings true deliverance, culminating in the definitive rescue accomplished by the risen Christ (Romans 10:9). |
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