deos) et captivos abducet et involvet terram Aegypti, quemadmodum involvere solet
JOHN CALVIN the Jews never thought that the Chaldeans could so easily penetrate into them. For, first, that country is situated in a plain; and, secondly, in the midst of lakes: and it is in part surrounded by the Nile and the Red Sea. As, then, Egypt was on every side so well fortified, they thought that there would be there a quiet nest for them. But
God declares that King Nebuchadnezzar would become the conqueror of the whole land; and he removes all objections when he says, ---
Those for death, to death; those for captivity, to captivity; those for the sword, to the sword; as though he had said, ``Were Egypt ever so populous, yet the immense multitude of men will avail nothing, for they shall be conquered by their enemy; for some shall perish by the sword, and some by various kinds of death, and some shall be driven into exile; and Egypt shall be destroyed, as though no one stood up in its defense.'' We hence see that this was added, that the Prophet might shake off the false confidence of the Jews. To the same purpose are the two following verses.
Jeremiah 43:12
12. And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of
Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.
12. Et accendam ignem in aedibus deorum Aegypti; et comburet eas (vel, ipsos deos) et captivos abducet et involvet terram Aegypti, quemadmodum involvere solet pastor vestem suam; et egredietur illinc in pace.
He goes on with the same subject; and he ascribes to God the kindling of the fire, that the Jews might know that the war would be conducted by a divine power, and that Nebuchadnezzar would not come except through God's providence. For though, as it has been said, he had his own reasons, yet God, by his wonderful power, led him, as it were, by the hand, to punish the Egyptians. They, indeed, deserved such a destruction, because they had by their fiat-teries deceived the miserable Jews, and had corrupted them. Besides, their allurements had been very ruinous, for through them the aid of God had been despised, and all the prophecies rejected. As then they had been the authors of all kinds of evils to the Jews, we hence infer that they deserved a dreadful vengeance; and this had been in due time made known to the
Jews, but they did not believe it. Then the Prophet fully confirms what had been declared in his former prophecies.
I will kindle a fire, says God, in the temples of the gods of Egypt And he mentions temples, that the Jews might understand that no part of the land would be safe or secure from destruction: for it often happens that when the cruelty of enemies rages greatly, the temples are spared; for religion commands respect, and honor has been given also to idols, so that their temples have often remained untouched, when enemies have wholly overthrown all other things. But it is probable, that the
Chaldeans had so great a presumption and pride, that they wished to destroy all the temples, that there might be no religion anywhere except among themselves. And some also among the Persians had this barbarity, as Xerxes, who, when he entered into Greece, and some parts of Asia, burnt and destroyed all the temples, and said also in derision, that all the gods in Greece were taken captive, and were shut up