46:14 “Make an announcement throughout Egypt.
Proclaim it in Migdol, Memphis, and Tahpanhes. 1
‘Take your positions and prepare to do battle.
For the enemy army is destroying all the nations around you.’ 2
46:19 Pack your bags for exile,
you inhabitants of poor dear Egypt. 3
For Memphis will be laid waste.
It will lie in ruins 4 and be uninhabited.
19:13 The officials of Zoan are fools,
the officials of Memphis 5 are misled;
the rulers 6 of her tribes lead Egypt astray.
30:13 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:
I will destroy the idols,
and put an end to the gods of Memphis.
There will no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;
so I will make the land of Egypt fearful. 7
30:16 I will ignite a fire in Egypt;
Syene 8 will writhe in agony,
Thebes will be broken down,
and Memphis will face enemies every day.
1 tn Heb “Declare in Egypt and announce in Migdol and announce in Noph [= Memphis] and in Tahpanhes.” The sentence has been restructured to reflect the fact that the first command is a general one, followed by announcements in specific (representative?) cities.
2 tn Heb “For the sword devours those who surround you.” The “sword” is again figurative of destructive forces. Here it is a reference to the forces of Nebuchadnezzar which have already destroyed the Egyptian forces at Carchemish and have made victorious forays into the Philistine plain.
3 tn Heb “inhabitants of daughter Egypt.” Like the phrase “daughter Zion,” “daughter Egypt” is a poetic personification of the land, here perhaps to stress the idea of defenselessness.
4 tn For the verb here see HALOT 675 s.v. II נָצָה Nif and compare the usage in Jer 4:7; 9:11 and 2 Kgs 19:25. BDB derives the verb from יָצַת (so BDB 428 s.v. יָצַת Niph meaning “kindle, burn”) but still give it the meaning “desolate” here and in 2:15 and 9:11.
5 tn Heb “Noph” (so KJV); most recent English versions substitute the more familiar “Memphis.”
6 tn Heb “the cornerstone.” The singular form should be emended to a plural.
7 tn Heb “I will put fear in the land of Egypt.”
8 tc The LXX reads “Syene,” which is Aswan in the south. The MT reads Sin, which has already been mentioned in v. 15.