Chapter XLIV
will. I . . . but ye—antltliesis. / have done my part;
Ver. 1-30. Jeremiah Reproves the Jews fob their Idolatry in Egypt, and Denounces God's Judgments ON them and Egypt alike. 1. MIgdol—meaning a tmver. A city east of Egypt, towards the Red Sea (Exodns
br/t ye do not yours. It Is no fault of mine that ye act not rightly. 23. sojourn—/or a <inie, until they could return
to their country. They expected, therefore, to be restored, In spite of God's prediction to the contrary.
14. 2; Numbers 33. 7). Nopit—Memphis, now Cairo (ch. 2.
10). Pathros— Upper Egypt (Isaiah 11. II). 2. evil . . . upon .lerusalem — If I spared not my own sacred cit.v, much loss shall ye be safe In Egypt, which I loathe. 3. they went — Iniiilying perverse assiduity: ihey went out
CHAPTER XLIII.
Ver. 1-13. The Jews carry Jekemiah and Baruch INTO P'OYPT. JEKEMIAII KOUETELLS BY A TYPE THE CONQUEST OF EGYPT BY NEBUCHADNEZZAK, AND THE FATK
of their way to burn Incense (one species of Idolatry put
for all kinds), &c. 4. (2 Cliionlcles 30. 15.) 7. now—aaer
54a
The Ohslinaey of the Jews. JEEEMIAH XLV. Jerewiah Comforts Baruch.
have both spoken with . . . mouths, and fuIAIled 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, ac. I have sworn— I, too have made a vow which I will fulfil. Sitice ye will not hear me speaking and warning, hear me swearing, by my great name i. e., by myself (Genesis 22. 16), the greatest by whom God can swear (Hebrews 6. 13, 14). my name shall no more be named—The Jews, heretofore, amidst all their idolatry, had retained tlie form of appeal to the name of God and the law, the distinctive glory of their nation; God will allow this no more (Ezekiel 20. 39) : there shall be none left there to profane His name thus any more. 27. watch over . . . for evil— (Ch. 1. 10; Ezekiel 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 ch. 31. 28 ; .32.. 41. 28. small ivumhcr—{Notes, v. 14, 28; and ch. 42. 17; Isaiah 27. 13) ; cf. "all-consumed" {v. 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 assei-tioii that they expected all goods from their gods (v. 17), &c. "Mine;" by whieli I predict ruin to them. "Theirs;" by which tliey give themselves free scope in iniquity, shall gtAnd (Psalm .33. 11.) 29. tlils . . . sign unto you—the calamity of Pharaoh-hophra {Note, v. 30) shall be a sign to you tliat as he shall fall before his enemy, so you shall subsequentlj' fall before Nebuchadnezzar (Matthew 24. 8). [Grotius.] Calvin makes the " sign" to he simultaneous with the event signified, not antecedent to it, as in Exodus 3. 12. The Jews believed Egypt impregnable, so shut in was it by natural barriers. Tire 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 wnZo 2/om," 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, Ac. ; tiie words are accurately chosen, so as not to refer to Nebuchadnezzar, who is not mentioned till the end ol the verse, and in connection with Zedekiali (Ezekiel 20.
so many warnings, commit . . . tlilg . . . evtl against yonr sohIs—(Cli. 7. 19 ; Numbers 16. 3S ; Proverbs 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 com-
pelled by fear, but of your own accord, when I forbade you, and when it was free to you to stay in Judea. that ye miglit cut yourselves oft—they, as it were, purposely courted their own ruin. 9. Have you forgotten how the
unckednesses of your fathers were the source of the greatest calamities to you? tlieiiwives-the Jewish queens were great promoters of idolatry (1 Kings 11. 1-8; 15. 13; 16. 31).
tJie land of .ludalk-they defiled the land which was holy unto God. 10. They . . . yon— 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
lit., contrile lV.<a]n\ Hi. 17). neither . . . feared—(Proverbs
28. U.) 11. cut off all Judah—i. e., all the idolaters ; v. 28 shows tliat some returned to Judea (cf. ch. 42. 17). 14. none
. . . sliall escape . . . that they sliould return, &c.—The Jews had gone to Egypt vjith the idea that a return to Judea, which t)iey thought hopeless to their brethren in Babylon, would be an easy matter to themselves in Egypt
the exact reverse sliould happen in the case of each respectively. The Jews wliom God sent to Babylon were there weanei from idolatry, and were restored ; those who went to Egypt by their perverse will were hardened in idolatry, and perislied tliere. have a desire lit., lift up their .loul, i. p., their hopes (cf. ch. 22. 27, Margin; Deuteronomy 24. lo). none shall retnrn tout sucit as sliall escape viz., the "small number" {v. 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 {Note, cli.
42. 17). CaI/Vin less probably refers the words to the return of the exiles in Babylon, which the Jews in Egj'pt regarded as hopeless. 15. their Avives—the idolatry began With them (1 Kings 11. 4 ; 1 Timothy 2. 14). Their husbands' connivance implicated tliem in the guilt. 16. we will not—(Ch. 6. 16.) 17. whatsoever . . . gocth . . . out of our . . . mouth— whatever vow we have uttered to our gods (u. 2.5; Deuteronomy 23. 23; Judges 11. 36). The source of all superstitions is that men oppose their own will and
fancies to God's commands, queen of heaven—(iVo/e, ch.
7.18.) Ashtarolh or Astarte. we . . . fathers . . . kings, &c.—The evil was restricted to no one class : all from the higliest to the lowest shared the guilt, then had we pleaUy-fools attribute their seeming prosperity to God's connivance at their sin: but see Proverbs 1. 32; Ecclesiastes 8. 11-13. Iti fact, God had often chastised them for their idolatry (see Judges 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 (Deuteronomy 8. 3; John 6. 27). So Esau (Hebrews 12. 16). 18. They impute their calamities to their service of God, but these are often marks of His favour, not of wratli, to do His people good at their latter end (Deuteronomy 8. 16). 19. Make . . . cakes to worship her—MAUUKit translates, "to form her image." Ch-escentshaped cakes v/cve ottered to the moon. Vulgate supports English Version, without Jjer men— The women mentioned, V. 15, "a great multitude" here speak : we have not engaged in secret night-orgies which might justly be regarded ui)favourably by our husbands: our sacred rites have l>een 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 sliield themselves under tlie complicity of otliers. Instead of helping one anotiier towards heaven, husband and wife often rii)en 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 (v. 22), as was foretold (ch. 25. 11, 18, 38). as. law—the moral precepts, statutes—the ceremonial. t««Umonie8— the judicial (Daniel 9. 11, 12). 25. Ye . . .
3; 30. 21). Amasis' civil war with Hophra pioneered the way for Nebuchadnezzar's invasion in the twentythird year of his reign (Josbphus, Antiquities, 10. 11).
CHAPTEE XLV.
Ver. 1-5. Jeremiah comforts Bakuch. After the completion of the prophecies and histories appertaining to the Jewish people and kings, Jeremiah subjoins one referring to an individual, Baruch ; even as there are subjoined to the epistles of Paul addressed to chui'ches, epistles to individuals, some of which were prior in date to the former. Afterwards follow the prophecies referring toother nations, closing tlie book. [Grotius.] The date of the events here told is eigtiteen years before tlie taking of the city; this chapter in point of time follows ch. 36. Baruch seems to have been regularly employed by Jeremiah to commit his prophecies to writing (ch. 36. 1, 4, 32). 1. these words—his prophecies from the thirteenth year of Josiah to the fourth of Jehoialiim. 3. Tltou didst say, &c.—Jeremiah does not spare his disciple, but unveils his
Jeremiah Forclelleth the Overthrow JEREMIAH XLVI. of the E<jyptians by Nebuchadnezzar.
fiiult, t(2., fear for his I'.fe hy reason of the suspicions which lie incurred in tlie eyes of his countrymen (cf. ch.
back in "dismay." The prophet sees this in prophetic vision, fled apace—lit., /led ajUght, i. e., flee precipitately, look not back—they do not even dare to look back at their pursuers. 6. L.ct not—equivalent to the strongest negation. Let not any of the Egyptian warriors think to escape by swiftness or by might, toward the north— /. e., in respect to Egypt or Judea. In the northward region, by the Euphrates (see i'. 2). 7. as a flood—(Ch. 47. 2; Isaiah 8. 7, 8; Daniel 11. 22.) The figure is appropriate ia addressing Egyptians, as the Nile, their great river, yearly overspreads their lands with a turbid, muddy flood. So their army, swelling with arrogance, sliall over.spread the region south of Euphrates; but it, like the Nile, shall retreat as fast as it advanced. 8. Answer to the question in V. 7. waters . . . moved like tl»e rivers—tlie rise of the Nile is gentle; but at the mouth it, unlik« most rivers, is much agitated, owing to the sandbanks impeding its course, and so it rushes into the sea like a cataract. 9. Ironical exhortation, as in v. 3. The Egyptians, owing to the heat of their climate and abstinence from animal food, were physically weak, and therefore employed mercenary soldiers. Ethiopians— J/cforew), Cash; Abyssinia and Nubia. lilbyans— /"/iit^, Mauritania, west of Egypt (cf. Genesis 10. 6). shield—the Libyans borrowed from Egypt the use of the long shield extending to the feet. (XenoPHOJJ, Cyr., 6. and 7.) Lydians—not the Lydians west of Asia Minor (Genesis 10.22; Ezekiel 30. 5), but the Ludim, an African nation descended from Egypt (Mizraim) (Genesis 10. 13; Ezekiel 30. 5; Nahum 3. 9). handle and bend the bow—the employment of two verbs expresses the manner of bending the bow, viz., the foot being pressed on the centre, and the hands holding the ends of it. 10. vengeance—for the slaughter of Josiah (2 Kings 23. 29). sword sikall devonx- . . , be . . . di'iink—poetical personification (Deuteronomy 32. 42). a sacrifice—(Isaiah 34. 6; Ezekiel 39. 17.) The slaughter of the Egyptians is represented as a sacrifice to satiate His righteous vengeance. 11. Gllead . . . balm {Note, ch. 8. 22); viz., for curing the wounds ; but no medicine will avail, so desperate shall be the slaughter, virgin—Egypt is so called on account of her effeminate luxury, and as having never yet been brought under foreign yoke, thoii shalt not be cured
06. 17), as if he was a favourer of the Chaldeans (cli. 43. 3), and Instigator of Jeremiah; also ingratitude in speaking
(if his "grief," Ac, whereas he ought to deem himself highly blessed in being employed by God to record Jeremiah's prophecies, added—rescued from tlie peril of my
first writing (ch. 36. 26). I am again involved in a similar
peril. lie upbraids God as dealing harshly with him. I laiiifed— rather, 7 am ivcary. 110 rest—no quiet restingpiaee. 4. that wlilcli 1 Iiave bnllt . . . planted I will pluck lip— (Isaiah 5. 5.) Tliis whole nation (the Jews) which I founded and planted with such extraordinary care and lavour, I will overthrow. 5. seekest tliou great things for thyself—thou art over-fastidious and selfseeking. When my own peculiar people, a "whole" nation ic. 4), and the temple, are being given to ruin, dost
II10U expect to beexenipt from all hardship? Baruch liad
l al.sed his expectations too high in this world, and this made his distresses harder to be borne. The frowns of the world would not disquiet ns, if we did not so eagerly covet its smiles. What folly to seek great things for ourselves here, where every thing is little, and nothing certain! all flesh—the whole Jewish nation and even foreign peoples (ch. 25. 2G). b«it tliy life . . . for a prey esteem it enougli at sucli a general crisis that thy life shall be granted thee. Be content with this boon of life which I will rescue from imminent death, even as when
all things are given up to plunder, if one escape wiUi aught, he has a something saved as his "prey" (ch. 21. 9).
It is striking how Jeremiah, who once used such complaining language himself, is enabled now to minister the counsel requisite for Baruch when falling into the same sin (ch. 12. 1-5; 15. 10-lS). This is part of God's design in suU'ering His servants to be tempted, that their temptations may adapt them lor ministering to their fellow-servants when tempted.