1 The word which came to Jeremiah about all the Jews who were living in the land of Egypt, in Migdol and at Tahpanhes and at Noph and in the country of Pathros, saying,
2 The Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: You have seen all the evil which I have sent on Jerusalem and on all the towns of Judah; and now, this day they are waste and unpeopled;
3 Because of the evil which they have done, moving me to wrath by burning perfumes in worship to other gods, who were not their gods or yours or the gods of their fathers.
4 And I sent all my servants the prophets to you, getting up early and sending them, saying, Do not do this disgusting thing which is hated by me.
5 But they gave no attention, and their ears were not open so that they might be turned from their evil-doing and from burning perfume to other gods.
6 Because of this, my passion and my wrath were let loose, burning in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are waste and unpeopled as at this day.
7 So now, the Lord, the God of armies, the God of Israel, has said, Why are you doing this great evil against yourselves, causing every man and woman, little child and baby at the breast among you in Judah to be cut off till not one is still living;
8 Moving me to wrath with the work of your hands, burning perfumes to other gods in the land of Egypt, where you have gone to make a place for yourselves, so that you may become a curse and a name of shame among all the nations of the earth?
9 Have you no memory of the evil-doing of your fathers, and the evil-doing of the kings of Judah, and the evil-doing of their wives, and the evil which you yourselves have done, and the evil which your wives have done, in the land of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10 Even to this day their hearts are not broken, and they have no fear, and have not gone in the way of my law or of my rules which I gave to you and to your fathers.
11 So this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: See, my face will be turned against you for evil, for the cutting off of all Judah;
12 And I will take the last of Judah, whose minds are fixed on going into the land of Egypt and stopping there, and they will all come to their end, falling in the land of Egypt by the sword and by being short of food and by disease; death will overtake them, from the least to the greatest, death by the sword and by need of food: they will become an oath and a cause of wonder and a curse and a name of shame.
13 For I will send punishment on those who are living in the land of Egypt, as I have sent punishment on Jerusalem, by the sword and by need of food and by disease:
14 So that not one of the rest of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt and are living there, will get away or keep his life, to come back to the land of Judah where they are hoping to come back and be living again: for not one will come back, but only those who are able to get away.
15 Then all the men who had knowledge that their wives were burning perfumes to other gods, and all the women who were present, a great meeting, answering Jeremiah, said,
16 As for the word which you have said to us in the name of the Lord, we will not give ear to you.
17 But we will certainly do every word which has gone out of our mouths, burning perfumes to the queen of heaven and draining out drink offerings to her as we did, we and our fathers and our kings and our rulers, in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then we had food enough and did well and saw no evil.
18 But from the time when we gave up burning perfumes to the queen of heaven and draining out drink offerings to her, we have been in need of all things, and have been wasted by the sword and by need of food.
19 And the women said, When we were burning perfumes to the queen of heaven and draining out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes in her image and give her our drink offerings without the knowledge of our husbands?
20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women and all the people who had given him that answer,
21 The perfumes which you have been burning in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers and your kings and your rulers and the people of the land, had the Lord no memory of them, and did he not keep them in mind?
22 And the Lord was no longer able to put up with the evil of your doings and the disgusting things you did; and because of this your land has become a waste and a cause of wonder and a curse, with no one living in it, as at this day.
23 Because you have been burning perfumes, and sinning against the Lord, and have not given ear to the voice of the Lord, or gone in the way of his law or his rules or his orders; for this reason this evil has come on you, as it is today.
24 Further, Jeremiah said to all the people and all the women, Give ear to the word of the Lord, all those of Judah who are living in Egypt:
25 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said: You women have said with your mouths, and with your hands you have done what you said, We will certainly give effect to the oaths we have made, to have perfumes burned to the queen of heaven and drink offerings drained out to her: then give effect to your oaths and do them.
26 And now give ear to the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who are living in the land of Egypt: Truly, I have taken an oath by my great name, says the Lord, that my name is no longer to be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, By the life of the Lord God.
27 See, I am watching over them for evil and not for good: all the men of Judah who are in the land of Egypt will be wasted by the sword and by need of food till there is an end of them.
28 And those who get away safe from the sword will come back from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, a very small number; and all the rest of Judah, who have gone into the land of Egypt and are living there, will see whose word has effect, mine or theirs.
29 And this will be the sign to you, says the Lord, that I will give you punishment in this place, so that you may see that my words will certainly have effect against you for evil:
30 The Lord has said, See, I will give up Pharaoh Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hands of those who are fighting against him and desiring to take his life, as I gave Zedekiah, king of Judah, into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, his hater, who had designs against his life.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 44
Commentary on Jeremiah 44 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 44
Jer 44:1-30. Jeremiah Reproves the Jews for Their Idolatry in Egypt, and Denounces God's Judgments on Them and Egypt Alike.
1. Migdol—meaning a "tower." A city east of Egypt, towards the Red Sea (Ex 14:2; Nu 33:7).
Noph—Memphis, now Cairo (Jer 2:16).
Pathros—Upper Egypt (Isa 11:11).
2. evil … upon Jerusalem—If I spared not My own sacred city, much less shall ye be safe in Egypt, which I loathe.
3. they went—implying perverse assiduity: they went out of their way to burn incense (one species of idolatry put for all kinds), &c.
4. (2Ch 36:15).
7. now—after so many warnings.
commit … this … evil against your souls—(Jer 7:19; Nu 16:38; Pr 8:36). It is not God whom you injure, but yourselves.
8. in … Egypt—where they polluted themselves to ingratiate themselves with the Egyptians.
ye be gone—not compelled by fear, but of your own accord, when I forbade you, and when it was free to you to stay in Judea.
that ye might cut yourselves off—They, as it were, purposely courted their own ruin.
9. Have you forgotten how the wickednesses of your fathers were the source of the greatest calamities to you?
their wives—The Jews' worldly queens were great promoters of idolatry (1Ki 11:1-8; 15:13; 16:31).
the land of Judah—They defiled the land which was holy unto God.
10. They … you—The third person puts them to a distance from God on account of their alienating themselves from Him. The second person implies that God formerly had directly addressed them.
humbled—literally, "contrite" (Ps 51:17).
neither … feared—(Pr 28:14).
11. Behold, I will set my face against you for evil—(See on Le 17:10).
and to cut off all Judah—that is, all the idolaters; Jer 44:28 shows that some returned to Judea (compare Jer 42:17).
14. none … shall escape … that they should return, &c.—The Jews had gone to Egypt with the idea that a return to Judea, which they thought hopeless to their brethren in Babylon, would be an easy matter to themselves in Egypt: the exact reverse should happen in the case of each respectively. The Jews whom God sent to Babylon were there weaned from idolatry, and were restored; those who went to Egypt by their perverse will were hardened in idolatry, and perished there.
have a desire—literally, "lift up (their) soul," that is, their hopes (compare Jer 22:27, Margin; De 24:15, Margin).
none shall return but such as shall escape—namely, the "small number" (Jer 44:28) who were brought by force into Egypt, as Jeremiah and Baruch, and those who, in accordance with Jeremiah's advice, should flee from Egypt before the arrival of the Chaldeans (see on Jer 42:17). Calvin less probably refers the words to the return of the exiles in Babylon, which the Jews in Egypt regarded as hopeless.
15. their wives—The idolatry began with them (1Ki 11:4; 1Ti 2:14). Their husbands' connivance implicated them in the guilt.
16. we will not—(Jer 6:16).
17. whatsoever … goeth … out of our … mouth—whatever vow we have uttered to our gods (Jer 44:25; De 23:23; Jud 11:36). The source of all superstitions is that men oppose their own will and fancies to God's commands.
queen of heaven—(See on Jer 7:18); Ashtaroth or Astarte.
we … fathers … king, &c.—The evil was restricted to no one class: all from the highest to the lowest shared the guilt.
then had we plenty—Fools attribute their seeming prosperity to God's connivance at their sin: but see Pr 1:32; Ec 8:11-13. In fact, God had often chastised them for their idolatry (see Jud 2:14); but it is the curse of impiety not to perceive the hand of God in calamities.
victuals—Men cast away the bread of the soul for the bread that perisheth (De 8:3; Joh 6:27). So Esau (Heb 12:16).
18. They impute their calamities to their service of God, but these are often marks of His favor, not of wrath, to do His people good at their latter end (De 8:16).
19. make … cakes to worship her—Maurer translates, "to form her image." Crescent-shaped cakes were offered to the moon. Vulgate supports English Version.
without our men—The women mentioned (Jer 44:15); "a great multitude" here speak: we have not engaged in secret night orgies which might justly be regarded unfavorably by our husbands: our sacred rites have been open, and with their privity. They wish to show how unreasonable it is that Jeremiah should oppose himself alone to the act of all, not merely women, but men also. The guilty, like these women, desire to shield themselves under the complicity of others. Instead of helping one another towards heaven, husband and wife often ripen one another for hell.
21. The incense … did not the Lord remember—Jeremiah owns that they did as they said, but in retort asks, did not God repay their own evil-doing? Their very land in its present desolation attests this (Jer 44:22), as was foretold (Jer 25:11, 18, 38).
23. law—the moral precepts.
statutes—the ceremonial.
testimonies—the judicial (Da 9:11, 12).
25. Ye … have both spoken with … mouths, and fulfilled with … hand—ironical praise. They had pleaded their obligation to fulfil their vows, in excuse for their idolatry. He answers, no one can accuse you of unsteadiness as to your idolatrous vows; but steadfastness towards God ought to have prevented you from making, or, when made, from keeping such vows.
ye will surely accomplish … vows—Jeremiah hereby gives them up to their own fatal obstinacy.
26. I have sworn—I, too have made a vow which I will fulfil. Since ye will not hear Me speaking and warning, hear Me swearing.
by my great name—that is, by Myself (Ge 22:16), the greatest by whom God can swear (Heb 6:13, 14).
my name shall no more be named—The Jews, heretofore, amidst all their idolatry, had retained the form of appeal to the name of God and the law, the distinctive glory of their nation; God will allow this no more (Eze 20:39): there shall be none left there to profane His name thus any more.
27. watch over … for evil—(Jer 1:10; Eze 7:6). The God, whose providence is ever solicitously watching over His people for good, shall solicitously, as it were, watch for their hurt. Contrast Jer 31:28; 32:41.
28. small number—(see on Jer 44:14; and Jer 42:17; Isa 27:13); compare "all-consumed" (Jer 44:27). A band easily counted, whereas they were expecting to return triumphantly in large numbers.
shall know—most of them experimentally, and to their cost.
whose words … mine, or theirs—Hebrew, "that from Me and them." Jehovah's words are His threats of destruction to the Jews; theirs, the assertion that they expected all goods from their gods (Jer 44:17), &c. "Mine"; by which I predict ruin to them. "Theirs"; by which they give themselves free scope in iniquity.
shall stand—(Ps 33:11).
29. this … sign unto you—The calamity of Pharaoh-hophra (see on Jer 44:30) shall be a sign to you that as he shall fall before his enemy, so you shall subsequently fall before Nebuchadnezzar (Mt 24:8) [Grotius]. Calvin makes the "sign" to be simultaneous with the event signified, not antecedent to it, as in Ex 3:12. The Jews believed Egypt impregnable, so shut in was it by natural barriers. The Jews being "punished in this place" will be a sign that their view is false, and God's threat true. He calls it "a sign unto you," because God's prediction is equivalent to the event, so that they may even now take it as a sign. When fulfilled it would cease to be a sign to them: for they would be dead.
30. Hophra—in Herodotus called Apries. He succeeded Psammis, the successor of Pharaoh-necho, who was beaten by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, on the Euphrates. Amasis rebelled against, and overcame him, in the city Sais.
them that seek his life—Herodotus, in curious accordance with this, records that Amasis, after treating Hophra well at first, was instigated, by persons who thought they could not be safe unless he were put to death, to strangle him. "His enemies" refer to Amasis, &c.; the words are accurately chosen, so as not to refer to Nebuchadnezzar, who is not mentioned till the end of the verse, and in connection with Zedekiah (Eze 20:3; 30:21). Amasis' civil war with Hophra pioneered the way for Nebuchadnezzar's invasion in the twenty-third year of his reign [Josephus, Antiquities, 10.11].