Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes: say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee; for the sword shall devour round about thee.

JEREMIAH 46:14KJV
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Jeremiah 46:14 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 46:14 mean?

Jeremiah 46:14 announces an approaching attack on Egypt and calls for the warning to be spread through its cities. The order to stand ready conveys urgency: danger is already close enough that Egypt must prepare to defend itself.

God gives the message through Jeremiah, following the announcement of the Babylonian king’s coming in verse 13. The phrase “the sword shall devour” pictures warfare as a hungry force consuming the areas around the people being warned.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 46:14

  • “publish” — שָׁמַע (shamaʿ): The word carries the sense of making something heard. Here the repeated command calls for the warning to be voiced in named places, not kept private.

  • “prepare” — כּוּן (kun): The word can carry the sense of making ready or establishing something firmly. Paired with “Stand fast,” it gives the announcement the character of a call to get ready for battle.

  • “devour” — אָכַל (akhal): The word commonly means to eat or consume. Applied to the sword, it makes the damage of war sound like something being eaten up.

Why Jeremiah 46:14 matters

  • The warning is meant to reach more than one part of Egypt. Migdol and Tahpanhes were in the eastern Nile Delta, while Noph was farther south, at Memphis.

  • The command to prepare does not guarantee a successful defense. Verse 15 goes on to ask why Egypt’s mighty ones have been swept away, giving the call to arms a grim setting.

Where else these words appear

“Migdol” Hebrew H4024 · used in 7 verses

  • Exodus 14:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baalzephon: before it shall ye encamp by the sea.
  • 2 Samuel 22:51 He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.
  • Ezekiel 29:10 Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.

“Noph” Hebrew H5297 · used in 7 verses

  • Isaiah 19:13 The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof.
  • Jeremiah 44:1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
  • Ezekiel 30:13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.

“Tahpanhes” Hebrew H8471 · used in 7 verses

  • Jeremiah 2:16 Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.
  • Jeremiah 43:8 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
  • Jeremiah 44:1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,

“fast” Hebrew H3320 · used in 45 verses

  • Exodus 2:4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.
  • Joshua 1:5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
  • 2 Chronicles 20:6 And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?