Deuteronomy 17:16

17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, ¹  for the Lord has said you must never again return that way.

Isaiah 30:1-4

Egypt Will Prove Unreliable

30:1 “The rebellious ²  children are as good as dead,” ³  says the Lord,

“those who make plans without consulting me, ⁴ 

who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, ⁵ 

and thereby compound their sin. ⁶ 

30:2 They travel down to Egypt

without seeking my will, ⁷ 

seeking Pharaoh’s protection,

and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ⁸ 

30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,

and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

30:4 Though his ⁹  officials are in Zoan

and his messengers arrive at Hanes, ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 31:1-3

Egypt Will Disappoint

31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, ¹¹ 

those who rely on war horses,

and trust in Egypt’s many chariots ¹² 

and in their many, many horsemen. ¹³ 

But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel ¹⁴ 

and do not seek help from the Lord.

31:2 Yet he too is wise ¹⁵  and he will bring disaster;

he does not retract his decree. ¹⁶ 

He will attack the wicked nation, ¹⁷ 

and the nation that helps ¹⁸  those who commit sin. ¹⁹ 

31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;

their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.

The Lord will strike with ²⁰  his hand;

the one who helps will stumble

and the one being helped will fall.

Together they will perish. ²¹ 

Isaiah 36:6-9

36:6 Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him! 36:7 Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar.’ 36:8 Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. 36:9 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. ²² 

Jeremiah 37:5-7

37:5 At that time the Babylonian forces ²³  had temporarily given up their siege against Jerusalem. ²⁴  They had had it under siege, but withdrew when they heard that the army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt. ²⁵ ) 37:6 The Lord gave the prophet Jeremiah a message for them. He told him to tell them, ²⁶  37:7 “The Lord God of Israel says, ‘Give a message to the king of Judah who sent you to ask me to help him. ²⁷  Tell him, “The army of Pharaoh that was on its way to help you will go back home to Egypt. ²⁸ 

[17:16]  ¹ tn Heb “in order to multiply horses.” The translation uses “do so” in place of “multiply horses” to avoid redundancy (cf. NAB, NIV).

[30:1]  ² tn Or “stubborn” (NCV); cf. NIV “obstinate.”

[30:1]  ³ tn Heb “Woe [to] rebellious children.”

[30:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “making a plan, but not from me.”

[30:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “and pouring out a libation, but not [from] my spirit.” This translation assumes that the verb נָסַךְ (nasakh) means “pour out,” and that the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה (massekhah) means “libation.” In this case “pouring out a libation” alludes to a ceremony that formally ratifies an alliance. Another option is to understand the verb נָסַךְ as a homonym meaning “weave,” and the cognate noun מַסֵּכָה as a homonym meaning “covering.” In this case forming an alliance is likened to weaving a garment.

[30:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “consequently adding sin to sin.”

[30:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”

[30:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”

[30:4]  ⁹ sn This probably refers to Judah’s officials and messengers.

[30:4]  ¹⁰ sn Zoan was located in the Egyptian delta in the north; Hanes was located somewhere in southern region of lower Egypt, south of Memphis; the exact location is debated.

[31:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”

[31:1]  ¹² tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”

[31:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”

[31:1]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[31:2]  ¹⁵ sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.

[31:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”

[31:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”

[31:2]  ¹⁸ sn That is, Egypt.

[31:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”

[31:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”

[31:3]  ²¹ tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”

[36:9]  ²² tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 8-9 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 6. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”

[37:5]  ²³ tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for the rendering “Babylonian.” The word “forces” is supplied in the translation here for the sake of clarity.

[37:5]  ²⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[37:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “And the army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt and the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard a report about them and they went up from besieging them.” The sentence has been restructured and reworded to give greater emphasis to the most pertinent fact, i.e., that the siege had been temporarily lifted. The word “temporarily” is not in the text but is implicit from the rest of the context. It is supplied in the translation here to better show that the information in vv. 4-5 is all parenthetical, providing a background for the oracle that will follow. For the meaning “given up their siege against” (Heb “had taken themselves away from against”) see BDB 749 s.v. עָלָה Niph.1.c(2); 759 s.v. עַל IV.2.b.

[37:6]  ²⁶ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying.”

[37:7]  ²⁷ tn Or “to ask me what will happen.” The dominant usage of the verb דָּרַשׁ (darash) is to “inquire” in the sense of gaining information about what will happen (cf., e.g., 1 Kgs 14:5; 2 Kgs 8:8; 22:7-8) but it is also used in the sense of “seeking help” from (cf., e.g., Isa 31:1; 2 Chr 16:12; 20:3). The latter nuance appears appropriate in Jer 20:2 where Zedekiah is hoping for some miraculous intervention. That nuance also appears appropriate here where Zedekiah has sent messengers to ask Jeremiah to intercede on their behalf. However, it is also possible that the intent of both verbs is to find out from God whether the Egyptian mission will succeed and more permanent relief from the siege will be had.

[37:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “will go back to its land, Egypt.”