Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
The Prophet Reproves the Jews' Hypocrisy. JEREMIAH XLIII, XLIV. He Foretellelh the Conquest oj Egypt.
2!)). answer yoii—i. e., through me. keep notliiug back —(1 Samuel 3. 18 ; Acts 20. 20.) 5. Lord be a tnie . . . witness—(Genesis 31. 50 ; P.salm 89. 37; Revelation 1. 5; 3.14; OF THE Fugitives. 2. Azariah—the author of the project of going into Egypt. A verj' different man from the Azariah in Babylon (Daniel 1. 7 ; 3. 12-18). proud—pride is the parent of disobedience and contempt of God. 3. Baruch —lie being the younger spake out the revelations which he received from Jeremiali more vehemently. From this cause, and from their knowing that he was in favour with the Chaldeans, arose their suspicion of him. Their perverse fickleness was astonishing. In ch. 42. they acknowledged the trustworthiness of Jeremiah, of which thej' had for so long so many proofs; yet here they accuse him of a lie. The mind of the unregenerate man is full of deceits. 5. remnant . . . retnmcd from all nations—(Ch. 40.-11, 12.) 6. the kisig's daughters—Zedekiah's (ch. 41. 10). 7. Tahpanhes—(Ch. 2. 16, note.) Daphne on the Tanitic brancli of the Nile, near Pelusium. They naturally came to It
19. 11.) 6. evU—not moral evil, which God cannot command (James 1. 13), but what may be disagreeable and hard to us. Piety obeys God, Avithout questioning, at all costs. See the Instance defective in this, that it obeyed only so far as was agreeable to itself (1 Samuel 15. 3, 9, 13-15, 20-23).
7. ten days— Jeremiah did not speak of himself, but waited God's time and revelation, showing the reality of his inspiration. Man left to himself would have given an immediate response to the people, who were impatient of delay. The delay was designed to test the sincerity of their professed willingness to obey, and that they should have full time to deliberate (Deuteronomy 8. 2). True obedience bows to God's time, as well as His way and first, being on the frontier of Egypt, towards Palestine. 9. stones—to be laid as the foundation beneath Nebuchadnezzar's throne (v. 10). clay—mortar, brick-kiln —bricks in that hot country are generally dried In the sun, not burned. The palace of Pharaoh was being built or repaired at this time; hence arose the mortar and brick-kiln at the entry. Of the same materials as Pharaoh's house was built of, the substructure of Nebuchadnezzar's throne should be constructed. By a visible sj-mbol implying that the throne of the latter shall be raised on the downfall of the former. Egypt at that time contended with Babylon for the empire of the East. 10. my sen-ant-God often makes one wicked man or nation a scourge to another (Ezekiel 29. 18, 19, 20). royal pavilion —the rich tapestry {lit., ornament) which hung round the throne from above. 11. such as are for death to death— will. 10. If ye . . . abide viz., under the Babylonian authority, to which God hath appointed that all should be subject (Daniel 2. 37, 38^ To resist was to resist God. bnlld . . . plant raetaphor for, I will firmly establish yon (ch.24. 6). I repent . . . of the evil—(Ch. 18. 8; Deuteronomy 32. 36.) I am satisfied with the punishment I have inflicted on you, if only you add not a new offence. [Geotius.] God is said to "repent," when he alters His outward ways of dealing. 12. show mercies—rather, T xvill excite (in him) feelings of mercy towards you. [Calvin.] cause yon to retnm—permit you to return to the peaceable enjoyment of the possessions from which you are wishing to withdraw through fear of the Chaldeans. By departing in disobedience they should incur the very evils they wished thereby to escape; and by staying they should gain the blessings which they feared to lose by doing so. 13. If ye say, &c.—avoived rebellion against God, who had often (Deuteronomy 17. 16), as now, forbidden their going i. e., the deadly plague. Some he shall cause to die by the plague arising from insutficient or bad food; others, by the sword; others he shall lead captive, according as God shall order it (ch. 15. 2, note). 12. houses of . . . gods—he shall not spare even the temple, such will be his fury. A reproof to the Jews, that they betook themselves to Egypt, a land whose own safety depended on helpless idols, burn . . . carry . . . cajjtives bum the Egyptian idols of wood, carr}/ to Babylon those of gold and other metals, array himself with tlie land, &c.—Isaiah 49. 18 has the same metaphor, as a shepherd, &c.—he shall become master of Egypt as speedily and easily as a shepherd, about to pass on with his flock to another place, puts on his garment. 13. images—statues or obelisks. Bethshemesh— i. e., the house of the sun, in Hebrew; called by the Greeks Heliopolls; by the Egyptians, On (Genesis 41. to Egypt, lest they should be entangled in its Idolatry. 14. where we shall see no war—here they betray their impiety In not believing God's promise {v. 10, 11), as if He were a liar (1 John 5. 10). 15. wholly set yonr faces— firmly resolve (Luke 9. 51) in spite of all warnings (ch. 44.
12). 16. sword, which ye feared, shall overtake yon The very evils we think to escape by sin, we bring on ourselves thereby. What our hearts are most set on often prove fatal to us. Those who think to escape troubles by changing their place will And them wherever they go (Ezekiel 11.8). The "sword" here is that of Nebuchadnezzar, who fulfilled the prediction in his expedition to Africa (according to Megasthenes, a heathen writer), 300 B. C. 17. allfhemen—excepting the "small number" mentioned (ch. 44. 14, 28), viz., those who were forced into Egypt against their will, Jeremiali, Baruch, Ac, and those who took Jeremiah's advice and fled from Egypt before the arrival of the Chaldeans. 18. As mine anger, &c.— As ye have already, to your sorrow, found me true to my word, so shall ye again (ch. 7. 20; 18.10). shall see this place no more-ye shall not return to Judea, as those shall who have been removed to Babylon. 19. I have admonished — lit., testified, i. c., solemnly admonished, having yourselves as my witnesses; so that If ye perish,' ye yourselves will have to confess that it was through your own fault, not through Ignorance, ye perished. 20. dissembled in yonr hearts—ratlier, " ye have used deceit against your (own) souls." It Is not God, but yourselves, wliom ye deceive, to your own ruin, by your own dis-
45); east of the Nile, and a few miles north of Memphis. Ephralin Syrus says, the statues rose to the height of sixty cubits; the base was ten cubits. Above there was a mitre of 1000 pounds weight. Hieroglyphics are traced around the only obelisk remaining in the present day, sixty or seventy foet high. On the fifth year after the overthrow of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar, leaving the siege of Tyre, undertook his expedition to Egypt (Josevnvs. Antiquities, 10.9,7). The Egyptians, according to the Arabs, have a tradition that their land was devastated by Nebuchadnezzar In consequence of their king having received the Jews under his protection, and that It lay desolate forty years. But see note, Ezekiel 29. 2, 13. shall lie burn—here the act Is attributed to Nebuchadnezzar, the Instrument, which in v. 12 is attributed to Qod. If eviin tlie temples be not spared, much less private houses. si nuilation (Galatians 0. 7). [Calvin.] But the words following accord best w\th English Version, ye hove dissembled in your hearts (v. 3, note) towards me, when ye sent me to consult God for you. 21. declared It—viz., tlie Divine
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
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