Battle of Carchemish

On the banks of the Euphrates, Babylon crushed the army of Egypt. Jeremiah called it the day of the LORD's vengeance, and Judah was left in Babylon's shadow.

In the fourth year of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeated the army of Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish by the river Euphrates. Jeremiah's oracle against Egypt pictures the battle vividly: Egypt rising like a flood with horses, chariots, and allies, and then its mighty men dismayed, beaten down, and stumbling toward the north by the Euphrates. The prophet calls it 'the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance'. The result reshaped the region. Second Kings records that the king of Egypt came out of his land no more, for the king of Babylon had taken everything from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates. Judah now lay in Babylon's shadow, and the exile Jeremiah had foretold drew near.

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Details

Era: Divided Kingdom
Category: Divided Kingdom
Participants: Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar) vs. Egypt (Pharaoh Necho)
Outcome: Egypt routed by Babylon, ending Egypt's power in the region
Divine Intervention: No

Key Chapters

Jeremiah 46 Oracle Against Egypt 5 min read Jeremiah portrays Egypt's proud advance and sudden collapse as the day of the LO... 2 Kings 24 The Fall of Jerusalem Begins 4 min read A single verse sums up the outcome: Babylon now ruled everything from the river ...

Key Passages

Jeremiah's Oracle Against Egypt

Jeremiah 46:2-12

Jeremiah portrays Egypt's proud advance and sudden collapse as the day of the LORD's vengeance by the Euphrates.

A²gainst Egypt, against the army of Pharaohnecho 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.

³ Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. ⁴ Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines. ⁵ Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: for fear was round about, saith the LORD. ⁶ Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. ⁷ Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers? ⁸ Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. ⁹ Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow. 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. ¹¹ Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured. ¹² The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen both together.

Egypt Came Not Again

2 Kings 24:7

A single verse sums up the outcome: Babylon now ruled everything from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates.

A⁷nd the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt.