46:14 Noph. Noph is the same city as Memphis, originally lower Egypt’s great capital, near which the pyramids and sphinx were erected. Although it remained a great city for many centuries, it eventually became “waste and desolate,” as Jeremiah had predicted (Jeremiah 46:19; see note on Ezekiel 30:13). Modern Cairo, ten miles away, was partially built from the stones of Memphis.

46:14 Tahpanhes. Tahpanhes and Migdol were also cities of Egypt, to which the Jewish refugees had fled (Jeremiah 44:1). The Babylonians did indeed overtake them there, as Jeremiah had warned when he had urged them to stay in their land (Jeremiah 42:15-19).