John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Jeremiah 41:1



INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 41



This chapter relates the event of the conspiracy against Gedaliah Johanan and the princes had informed him of, to which he gave no credit; but it proved true. An account is given of the murder of Gedaliah, and of the Jews and Chaldeans with him; and of the perpetrators of it, Jer 41:1; and of the chief of them, Ishmael's treacherous dealing with fourscore men that came from several parts to the house of God to offer sacrifice, who all perished by his hands, excepting ten, Jer 41:4; and of the rest of the people at Mizpah being carried away, in order to be captives among the Ammonites,

Jer 41:10; and of Johanan, and the rest of the captives, hearing of all this, and coming out to fight with Ishmael; upon which the people deserted him, and he fled to the Ammonites, Jer 41:11; and of Johanan and the people settling in the way to Egypt, to flee there on occasion, should the Chaldeans fall on them for what was done to the governor, which they feared, Jer 41:16.



Ver. 1. Now it came to pass in the seventh month,.... The month Tisri, which answers to part of our September, and part of October; according to the Jewish {b} chronicle, it was on the third day of this month, fifty two days after the destruction of the temple, that Gedaliah was slain; on which day a fast was kept by the Jews, after their return from captivity, on this occasion, called the fast of the seventh month, Zec 7:5; though, according to Kimchi and Ben Melech, this event happened on the first day of the month, the beginning of the new year; but the fast was kept the day following, because the first day was a festival. Josephus {c} says it was thirty days after Johanan had departed from Gedaliah, having given him information of the conspiracy against him:



[that] Ishmael the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed royal: not the son of King Zedekiah, but one of the remoter branches of the family; whether Elishama his father was the same with Elishama the scribe is not certain, Jer 36:12; the Jews have a tradition that he descended from Jerahmeel, whose wife, Atarah, was the daughter of a Heathen king, and was a proselyte, which Kimchi on the place relates; see 1Ch 2:26; this circumstance, of his being akin to the royal family, is mentioned, to show that he envied the governor, and bore him a grudge for the honour he had, thinking that he had a better title to it, as being of the seed royal:



and the princes of the king, even ten men with him; some of the nobles of Zedekiah, who fled with him from Jerusalem, and deserted him when he was pursued and taken, and ever since had remained in the land; even ten of these joined with Ishmael in the conspiracy against Gedaliah, whom they bore an ill will to, for going over to the Chaldeans, and envying the power he was now possessed of. Some think these were ten ruffians, besides the princes of the king, since it may be rendered, "and the princes of the king, and ten men with him"; whom Ishmael and the princes took with them, as fit persons to assassinate the governor; and, besides, it is thought that eleven men were not sufficient to slay the Jews and the Chaldeans, as afterwards related; though it may be observed, that Ishmael, and these ten princes, did not come alone, as it can hardly be imagined they should, but with a number of servants and soldiers with them: these



came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah: they had been with him before, to whom he had swore, and given them assurance of security; and they departed from him to their respective cities, seemingly satisfied; and now return, to pay him a friendly visit, as they pretended:



and there they did eat bread together at Mizpah; had a feast, and kept holiday together, it being a new moon, the first day of the month, and the beginning of the new year too; so that it was a high festival: and perhaps this season was fixed upon the rather, to cover their design, and to perpetrate it; pretending they came to keep the festival with him, and who, no doubt, liberally provided for them; for bread here is put for all provisions and accommodations.



{b} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 26. p. 76. {c} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 4.







Jeremiah 41:2



Ver. 2. Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him,.... After they had eat and drank well, they rose up from their seats at table:



and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword,

and slew him; they all drew their swords and thrust at him, and were assisting in the murder of him; though it is probable that it was Ishmael that gave him the mortal wound, since the phrase, "and slew him", is singular. Josephus {d} says that Gedaliah prepared a splendid table, and made a sumptuous entertainment for them, and being drunk himself, which they observed, took the opportunity and slew him, and all at table with him:



whom the king Babylon had made governor over the land; which mentioned; both to aggravate the crime they were guilty of, and to observe the reason of it, and what it was that prompted them to it; for so the words may be rendered, "because the king of Babylon had made him governor over the land" {e}.



{d} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 4. {e} dyqph rva "quia illum praefecerat", Vatablus. So Ben Melech.





Jeremiah 41:3



Ver. 3. Ishmael also slew all the Jews that were with him, [even] with Gedaliah, at Mizpah,.... Not only those that were at table, but that were in the city also. Josephus {f} says, that having slain those that were at the feast with him, he went out in the night, and slew all the Jews in the city, and the soldiers that were left by the Babylonians in it; but this cannot be understood of all the individuals there, or of the main body of the people, for they were carried captive by him,

Jer 41:9; but of those that opposed him, or were able to avenge the death of their governor, and he might suspect would do it:



and the Chaldeans that were found there, [and] the men of war; or, "even the men of war" {g}; this describes more particularly who they were that were slain, those of the Jews, and especially the Chaldeans, who were in military service; either the bodyguards of the governor, or the city guards, or both, whom Ishmael thought it advisable to cut off, lest they should fall upon him, and revenge the death of Gedaliah, and prevent his further designs.



{f} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 4. {g} hmxlmh yvna ta "[inquam] viros belli", Schmidt; "bellatores scilicet", Piscator.







Jeremiah 41:4



Ver. 4. And it came to pass, the second day after he had slain Gedaliah,.... That is, the day following, for it was in the night, as Josephus relates, as before observed, the murder was committed:



and no man knew [it]; not any out of the city, or in remote parts; for those that were in the city must be sensible of it; but as yet the report of it had not reached the neighbourhood, and much less distant parts; this is observed on account of the following story, and to show how easily the persons after mentioned were drawn in by Ishmael.





Jeremiah 41:5



Ver. 5. That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria,.... Places in the ten tribes, and which belonged to the kingdom of Israel; so that it seems even at this distance of time, though the body of the ten tribes had been many years ago carried captive, yet there were still some religious persons sons remaining, and who had a great regard to the temple worship at Jerusalem:



[even] fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves; as mourners for the destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity of the people. The two first of these rites, shaving the beard, and rending of clothes, were agreeably to the law; but that of cutting themselves, their flesh with their nails, or knives, was forbidden by it, Le 19:28; so that these people seemed to have retained some of the Heathenish customs of the places where they lived; for the king of Assyria had placed colonies of Heathens in Samaria, and the cities of it, 2Ki 17:24; these came



with offerings and incense in their hands: a meat offering made of fine flour, as the word signifies; and incense, or frankincense, which used to be put upon such an offering, Le 2:1;



to bring [them] to the house of the Lord; but the temple was now destroyed; wherefore either they thought there was a tabernacle or sanctuary erected at Mizpah for divine service and sacrifice; or they intended to offer these offerings on the spot where the temple of Jerusalem stood; and where they hoped to find an altar, if only of earth, and priests to sacrifice; though the Jewish commentators, Jarchi and Kimchi, observe, that when they first set out, they had not heard of the destruction of the temple, but heard of it in the way; and therefore came in a mourning habit; but before knew nothing of it; and therefore brought offerings with them, according to the former; but, according to the latter, they had heard before they set out of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the captivity of the people; but not of the burning of the temple, until they were on their journey.





Jeremiah 41:6



Ver. 6. And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went forth to Mizpah to meet them,.... Hearing there was such a number of men upon the road to Jerusalem, in such a habit, and upon such a design, he thought it advisable to go out and meet them, and stop them, and decoy them into the city, and there destroy them; lest, if they should have got any hint of what had been done by him, they should spread it, and raise the country upon him, before he had executed his whole design:



weeping all along as he went; pretending equal concern for the destruction of the land, city, and temple, as they had:



and it came to pass, as he met them; when he came up to them, and some discourse had passed between them:



he said unto them, come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; as if he was alive, and for whom he had a great respect, and whose character was well known to these men; and thought that this would be an inducement to come along with him: this he said either to try them, whether they had heard anything upon the road of the death of him; or as an argument to come into the city, suggesting the governor would gladly receive, and liberally entertain them. This looks as if their design was not to come to Mizpah, but to go on their way to Jerusalem, had they not been met with by him, and had he not thus solicited them.





Jeremiah 41:7



Ver. 7. And it was [so], when they came into the midst of the city,.... Where Gedaliah's house was, to which he invited them; and as they went in, he shut up the court, as Josephus {h} says, and slew them, as it here follows:



that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, [and cast them] into the midst of the pit; when he had slain them, the fourscore men he had enticed into the city, except ten of them, he cast their dead bodies into a pit near at hand:



he, and the men that [were] with him; Ishmael and the ten princes, with what servants they brought with them; these were all concerned in the death of these men.



{h} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 4.





Jeremiah 41:8



Ver. 8. But ten men were found among them, that said unto Ishmael, slay us not,.... They begged for their lives, using what follows as an argument to prevail upon him:



for we have treasures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of honey; not that they had then a stock upon the ground at this time; for this being the seventh month, not only the barley and wheat harvests had been over long ago, but the rest of the fruits of the earth were gathered in: but this either means storehouses of such things in the field; or else that these things were hid in cells under ground, the land having been invaded, to secure them from the enemy, as is common to do in time of war; and so Josephus says {i}, they promised to deliver to him things hid in the fields, household goods, clothes, and corn:



so he forbore, and slew them not among their brethren; but saved them, and kept and carried them with him, in order to take these hidden treasures, which lay in his way to Ammon; for between Gibeon, where he was found, Jer 41:12; and Ammon, lay Samaria, Sichem, and Shiloh; at least it was not far out of his way to take that course; and thus he appears to be a covetous man, as well as a cruel one.



{i} Ibid. (Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 4.)





Jeremiah 41:9



Ver. 9. Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies,.... Not only of those seventy men of Samaria, &c. but



of the men whom he had slain because of Gedaliah; because of their attachment to him: or, "by the hand of Gedaliah" {k}; not by him, as an instrument; unless, as Jarchi observes, because he rejected the advice of Johanan, and provided not for his safety, and his people, it was as if they were slain by him {l}; rather the sense is, that they were slain by the side of him, or in the, place where he was, or along with him {m}; see a like phrase in Jer 38:10; now both the one and the other were cast into one pit: and this



[was] that which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel; which was either a ditch that was cast up against the wall that went round the city; or a large pit or well in the midst of it, to hold water in it; and this was made by King Asa, either when he built and fortified Mizpah, 1Ki 15:22; or, as the Targum here, when Baasha king of Israel besieged it; which he made that he might be provided for with water during the siege; or to hide himself in it; or stop the enemy from proceeding any further, should he enter:



[and] Ishmael the son of Nethaniah filled it with [them that were] slain; which shows it rather to be a pit or well within the city than a ditch about it; since it was filled with the slain, with those that were slain with Gedaliah, and those seventy other persons; and by which he made the well useless to the inhabitants hereafter.



{k} whyldg dyb "in manu Gedaliae", Montanus, Vatablus. {l} So T. Bab. Nidda, fol. 61. 1. {m} "Ad latus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "in loco", some in Munster; "cum Gedalia", De Dieu, Gataker.







Jeremiah 41:10



Ver. 10. Then Ishmael carried away captive all the residue of the people that [were] in Mizpah,.... All that were not slain by him, that remained after the slaughter he had made, chiefly the unarmed people; they being men of war who fell by his sword:



[even] the king's daughters; whether they were the daughters of Zedekiah, Jehoiakim, or Jehoiakim, says Kimchi, we know not; but it is most likely that they were the daughters of Zedekiah the last king, and who was just taken and carried captive; and so Josephus {n} expressly calls them; these the king of Babylon regarded not, because they could neither fight, nor claim the kingdom; only the sons of the king, whom he slew before his eyes; though it may be these were not his daughters by his lawful wife, but by his concubines, and so were not properly of the royal family, and less regarded:



and all the people that remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam; that were not slain, or carried captive by the Chaldeans; but were left at Mizpah, under the care and government of Gedaliah:



and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive: so that those who escaped one captivity fell into another, and even by the hand of one of their own countrymen:



and departed to go over to the Ammonites; he went from Mizpah with these captives, in order to carry them to the king of Ammon, and make them his slaves; who had put him upon this enterprise out of hatred to the Jews, and to enrich himself with their spoils. Some render it, "to go over with the Ammonites" {o}; which they suppose the ten men to be that came along with him and the princes, to commit the barbarities they did.



{n} Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 4.) {o} Nwma ynb la "cum filiis Ammon", Schmidt.







Jeremiah 41:11



Ver. 11. But when Johanan the son of Kareah,.... The same that is mentioned Jer 40:8; and who had informed Gedaliah of Ishmael's designs against him, but he would not believe him:



and all the captains of the forces that [were] with him; his brother Jonathan, Seraiah, the sons of Ephai, and Jezaniah, Jer 40:8;



heard of all the evil that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done; in murdering Gedaliah, and those that were with him, destroying seventy other persons he had decoyed, and carrying captive the rest of the people at Mizpah; for though Ishmael kept all this a secret as much as he could, for fear of these forces, and that he might get off clear to Ammon; yet, by some means or another, these captains came to hear of it, who, probably, were not at a great distance from Mizpah.





Jeremiah 41:12



Ver. 12. Then they took all the men,.... All the soldiers that were under their command; this they did at once, believing the report to be true, as they had reason to do; since they knew of Ishmael's designs, and had given notice and warning of them to Gedaliah, though he would not listen to them:



and went to fight with Ishmael the son of Nethaniah: resolving to give him battle, and to revenge the innocent blood he had shed, and rescue the captives out of his hands he was carrying to the Ammonites:



and found him by the great waters that [are] in Gibeon; taking this road to the country of Ammon, though it was not quite the direct road; either to avoid the forces of Johanan; or rather for the sake of the hid treasure at Shechem, or Shiloh, or Samaria, the ten men had promised him for their lives. These great waters were the same with the pool at Gibeon, where the servants of Ishbosheth and the servants of David met, and sat one on one side, and the other on the other; and where twelve young men on each side slew one another, and from thence called Helkathhazzurim, 2Sa 2:12; and the Targum calls it



"the pool of many waters, which were in Gibeon.''



Josephus {p} calls it a fountain in Hebron; which perhaps should be read Gibeon.



{p} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 5.





Jeremiah 41:13



Ver. 13. Now it came to pass, [that], when all the people which [were] with Ishmael,.... That is, those which he had brought captives from Mizpah; not those that came with him thither:



saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that [were] with him, they were glad; looking upon them as their deliverers; hoping by their means to be preserved from being carried captives to the king of Ammon.





Jeremiah 41:14



Ver. 14. So all the people that Ishmael had carried away captive from Mizpah cast about,.... Or turned about, and wheeled off from Ishmael, and deserted him at once; not at all regarding his authority, nor fearing his menaces or his power; being in sight of the captains and their forces, they were determined to join, and put themselves under their protection, knowing them to be their friends, and that they, came to deliver them:



and returned, and went unto Johanan the son of Kareah; turned their backs on Ishmael, and marched directly to Johanan, and the captains of the forces under them.





Jeremiah 41:15



Ver. 15. But Ishmael the son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men,.... Of the ten he brought with hin}, Jer 41:1; two of them being slain in this skirmish, or taken by Johanan, or they fled another way:



and went to the Ammonites; who had put him upon, or however encouraged and assisted him in, his wicked attempts; though he returned to them not according to their wishes, nor with that honour and glory he thought to have done.





Jeremiah 41:16



Ver. 16. Then took Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that [were] with him,.... After Ishmael had made his escape, whom they did not think fit to pursue, and the people had committed themselves to their care and protection; and having brought them to Mizpah again, they took them from thence, as follows:



all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah from Mizpah, after [that] he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam: those whom he had rescued from Ishmael, and had returned to Mizpah, be persuaded to go with him from thence; who are more particularly described, as follows:



[even] mighty men of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, whom he had brought again from Gibeon; or "men, [even] men of war" {q}; warlike men, soldiers; by which it appears that Ishmael must have more than ten men with him when he came to Mizpah, as well to do what he did there, as likewise to carry away such a number of captives, among which were mighty men, men of war, some of whom he had slain, besides women and children, to which are added eunuchs, not mentioned before, such as the king of Judah had in his court; see Jer 38:7; but these were of no account with the Chaldeans; and therefore they left them behind with the poor of the land; perhaps Ebedmelech might be among them, whose safety and protection is promised, because of his kindness to Jeremiah, Jer 39:15. The Targum calls them princes: these were brought back by Johanan from Gibeon, where he met with Ishmael, to Mizpah; from whence they had been carried, and whom he took from thence again.



{q} hmxlmh yvna Myrbg "mares, viros belli", Schmidt; "nempe vires bellatores", Piscator.







Jeremiah 41:17



Ver. 17. And they departed,.... From Mizpah, Johanan, and the captains of the forces, and all the people rescued from Ishmael:



and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem: so called perhaps from Chimham, the son of Barzillai the Gileadite, to whom David or Solomon might give this place to dwell in, 2Sa 19:37 1Ki 2:7. The Targum is express for the former, calling it



"the habitation which David gave to Chimham, the son of Barzillai the Gileadite;''



and as it was near Bethlehem, it might be a part of the patrimony which belonged to David, as a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite; which he might give to Chimham, out of respect to his father Barzillai, who showed kindness to him when he was obliged to flee from Absalom; which, though it returned to David's family in the year of jubilee, as all inheritances did, yet might continue to be called after the name of Chimham, in commemoration of the royal grant of it to him. Josephus {r} calls the name of the place Mandra. The reason why Johanan and those with him pitched on this place was, because it lay in the way



to go to enter into Egypt; where they had an inclination to go; having still a friendly regard to that people, and a confidence in them, as appears by some following chapters; and that they might be ready and at hand to flee thither, should the Chaldeans come against them, which they feared.



{r} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 5.







Jeremiah 41:18



Ver. 18. Because of the Chaldeans,.... Which clause some think should have been joined to Jer 41:17. This is a reason given why they departed from Mizpah, and dwelt at the habitation of Chimham in the way to Egypt; and which is explained in the next words:



for they were afraid of them; at least this they pretended, that the Chaldeans would come upon them, and cut them off, and revenge themselves on them:



because Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land; no doubt it was provoking to them to hear that the viceroy or deputy governor of the king of Babylon was slain in this manner; and still more so, as there were many Chaldeans slain with him; but there was no reason to believe that the king of Babylon would carry his resentment against the Jews with Johanan, or take vengeance on them, who had so bravely appeared against the murderers, and had rescued the captives out of their hands: this seems only a pretence for their going into Egypt; for though they were promised safety in Judah by the Prophet Jeremiah, yet they were still for going into Egypt, as the following chapters show.



 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Jeremiah 42:1



INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH CAHPTER 42



This chapter contains a request of the Jews to Jeremiah, to pray to the Lord for them to direct them, and the Lord's answer to it. The request is made by the captains and all the people, Jer 42:1; which Jeremiah undertook to present to the Lord, Jer 42:4; they promising to go according to the direction that should be given, Jer 42:5. After ten days an answer is returned, and the prophet calls the captains and people together to hear it, Jer 42:7; the purport of which was, that if they continued in the land of Judah, it would be well with them, and they would be safe, Jer 42:9; but if they went into Egypt, they should die by the sword, famine, and pestilence, and be a curse and reproach, and never see their own land more, Jer 42:13; they are charged with dissimulation and disobedience, Jer 42:19; and the chapter is concluded with an assurance of their perishing by the above judgments in the place they were desirous of dwelling in,

Jer 42:22.



Ver. 1. Then all the captains of the forces,.... Having taken up their residence at the habitation of Chimham, in their way to Egypt, where they were desirous of going, and being afraid of the Chaldeans, as they pretended:



and Johanan the son of Kareah; or, "even Johanan" {s}; especially and particularly he, the principal captain and chief spokesman in this affair:



and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah; said to be the son of a Maachathite,

Jer 40:8;



and all the people from the least even unto the greatest: a phrase expressive of the universality of them in the strongest terms:



came near; that is, to Jeremiah; who either was at Mizpah when Gedaliah was slain, but preserved by the Lord; and though carried captive by Ishmael with the rest, was rescued by Johanan; and now along with him: or rather after he had been with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and made a short stay there, he went to Anathoth, and there abode till now; and when Johanan took those that were left at Mizpah, he gathered together all the rest of the Jews in different places to him, in order to go to Egypt, and among the rest the Prophet Jeremiah; for it can hardly be thought, had he been at Mizpah when Ishmael was there, he would have escaped without a miracle.



{s} Nnxwyw "imprimis Johanan", Schmidt; "nempe Johanan", Piscator, Grotius.







Jeremiah 42:2



Ver. 2. And said unto Jeremiah the prophet,.... That is, some one of them, as the mouth of the whole body, very probably Johanan:



let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee; they treat the prophet with great respect, and are very humble and submissive, as if they were very hearty and sincere in their request:



and pray for us unto the Lord thy God; as if they were conscious of their own inability to pray for themselves, and of their unworthiness to call God their God; and as if they had a high opinion of, he prophet, as having an interest in God, and great power with him in prayer, whom he could not well deny anything:



[even] for all this remnant; this poor remnant, this handful of people, left of the sword, famine, and pestilence, left in the land by the Chaldeans, and who had escaped the cruelty of Ishmael; and for whom it might be hoped the Lord would still have a regard, since he had so mercifully and wonderfully preserved them:



for we are left [but] a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us; the number of the people had been very large, but by the judgments of the sword, famine, and pestilence, and captivity, they were greatly reduced; here was their whole number before the prophet; his eyes beheld them, and the condition they were in: this they said to move his compassion, and very likely to suggest to him how improbable it was that they should ever be able to continue in their own land; but that it would be better to put themselves under the protection of a neighbouring nation, Egypt, whither they were inclined to go; and hoped to have a word from the Lord by the prophet, to direct them thither.





Jeremiah 42:3



Ver. 3. That the Lord thy God may show us the way wherein we may walk,.... Not the way of their duty as to religious worship, or their moral conversation, which was the way of God's commandments, and had been shown them, and they knew it; but which way they should steer their course for their safety; they had departed from Mizpah of themselves, and had taken up their dwelling at Geruthchimham, in the way to Egypt; whither they had set their faces, and where their hearts were, only they wanted the Lord's sanction for it, pretending they would be directed by him:



and the thing that we should do; the steps they should take in order to proceed; and what they should do before they left their own country, and went into another.







Jeremiah 42:4



Ver. 4. Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard [you],.... He took notice of what they said to him, and found himself disposed to comply with their request, and readily granted it:



behold, I will pray unto the Lord your God, according to your words; be an intercessor for them; use his interest with his God, and their God; and, on account of relation, might expect to be heard; whom he would humbly entreat to direct what they should do, as they desired:



and it shall come to pass, [that] whatsoever thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare [it] unto you; I will keep nothing back from you; but faithfully make known the whole mind and will of God, just as it is delivered, be it in what way soever: and though it is not expressed, he might suggest that he had some doubt on his mind whether they would obey it or not; and that he expected they would be open and free in declaring themselves on that point; since he had so readily complied with their request, and was determined to act the faithful part to them; hence the following reply:







Jeremiah 42:5



Ver. 5. Then they said to Jeremiah, the Lord be a true and faithful witness between us,.... Which is the form of an oath; a solemn appeal to God, as a witness to what they were about to say, and to the sincerity of their hearts in it; who is true to his word, and faithful to his promises and threatenings; and who bears a true and faithful testimony, and will do what is just and right; and yet these people never intended to perform what they promised; which is a most shocking piece of atheism in a professing people; and who, at this very time, could not but observe the judgments of God upon their nation, city, and temple:



if we do not even according to all things for the which the Lord thy God shall send thee to us; they promise to do everything the Lord should signify by the prophet as his will; and, if they did not, wish the severest judgments of God might fall upon them.





Jeremiah 42:6



Ver. 6. Whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil,.... Not morally good, or evil; for nothing but what is good, and not evil, in this sense, can come from God; but whether pleasantly or profitably good or evil; whether agreeable or disagreeable, pleasing or displeasing, advantageous or not; whether it seemed to them good or evil, be it what it would in their opinion and esteem:



we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee; this was well spoken, had they been sincere in it; and had they implored and depended on the grace of God to have enabled them to obey; but they spoke not in the uprightness of their hearts; and, did they, it was with too much confidence of their own strength, and the power of their free will:



that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God; they spoke as if they knew their own interest; for so it was, that it was well or ill with those people, as they obeyed or disobeyed the voice of the Lord; and yet they acted not according to it; and, what was worse still, did not intend it. What a wretched scene of hypocrisy is here!





Jeremiah 42:7



Ver. 7. And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah. Abarbinel thinks it was on the tenth day of the seventh month, the day of atonement, that the answer was returned; but it is clear, from the context, that it was ten days from the time the Jews applied to the prophet to inquire of the Lord for them, and he promised to do it, that this word came from the Lord to him; not that he was praying all this while, as some think; but, having spread the case before the Lord, he waited for an answer; which was deferred, that it might have the greater weight with it when it came; and that it might appear that it was not of the prophet himself, a device of his own; and chiefly this was to mortify these people, who were impatient of an answer; and whose hypocrisy the Lord knew; and whose disobedience he foresaw; and therefore did not think fit to give the answer directly, but keep them in suspense awhile.





Jeremiah 42:8



Ver. 8. Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah,.... That is, Jeremiah, as soon as he had received the answer from the Lord, called to Johanan; who, after the death of Gedaliah, was a person of the greatest authority, and had the command of the people, to come unto him, and hear what it was: he either called to him vocally and by name; or he sent a proper messenger to him, to meet him at some convenient place, to receive it; and not him only, but



all the captains of the forces which [were] with him, and all the people, from the least even unto the greatest; they were all convened together, as it was proper they should, to hear the word of the Lord; and the rather, since they all joined in a request to the prophet,

Jer 42:1.





Jeremiah 42:9



Ver. 9. And said unto them, thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel,.... That had chosen Israel; had a favour for that people, and bestowed many blessings on them, and continued in a covenant relation to them; and therefore what he said should be regarded by them. This preface is made by the prophet, to show that what he was about to say was not of himself, and in his own name; but was from the Lord, and who bore a good will to them; and therefore whatever he said should be taken in good part, and as what was best for them:



unto whom ye sent me, to present your supplication before him; or, "to cause your supplication to fall before him" {t}; to make it in the most humble and submissive manner; and which carries in it other arguments to engage them to obey the word of the Lord he brought to them; both because they had sent him to the Lord on this errand, to get a word from him; and by him had entreated him for it, in the most suppliant manner. The word from the Lord follows:



{t} wynpl Mktnxt lyphl "ut cadere facerem preces vestras coram ipso", Schmidt.





Jeremiah 42:10



Ver. 10. If ye will still abide in this land,.... In the land of Judea, their native country, where they had always lived, and where they continued when their brethren were carried captive; and yet they thought of going out of it, which the Lord knew; and therefore to encourage them to abide in it, and not think of departing into Egypt; that if they would take up their residence in it, and determine to continue there, he thus promises them:



then will I build you, and not pull [you] down: and I will plant you,

and not pluck [you] up; that is, they should be firm and stable, happy and prosperous; and abound with all kind of blessings, and increase in numbers, wealth, and riches. The metaphors are taken from building houses, and planting fields and vineyards:



for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you; not that he had done any unjust thing to them; or that he changed his mind concerning them; but that he had compassion on them, and would change his way and course of providence towards them, according to his unchangeable will.





Jeremiah 42:11



Ver. 11. Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid,.... Lest he should revenge the death of Gedaliah upon them, which was a groundless fear; see Jer 41:18; or that they should be dealt hardly with by him, and be cruelly oppressed, and not able to live in subjection to him; see Jer 40:9;



be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: who, being omniscient, knew they were; and, being omnipotent, a greater King than the king of Babylon, the King of king?, they had no reason to fear anything from him, since they were under his protection:



for I [am] with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand; from his avenging and oppressing hand; though they were not to be delivered as yet from subjection to him, or being tributaries to him; which they might be, and yet dwell in peace and safety.





Jeremiah 42:12



Ver. 12. And I will show mercies unto you,.... Bestow blessings of goodness upon them, out of pure mercy and compassion to them, and not according to their merits; or I will cause others to show mercy to them, even the king of Babylon, as follows: God shows mercy to men when he stirs up the compassion of others towards them:



that he may have mercy upon you; and not avenge the death of Gedaliah, or any way cruelly oppress them, but show them all the favour they could wish for or expect under such a government, and in such circumstances; giving them vineyards and fields, and allowing them to gather the fruits of them, and enjoy them:



and cause you to return to your own land: this is said, not of the captives in Babylon, as Kimchi and Abarbinel, since these were not to return till seventy years were ended; and when they did, it was not by the order and direction of the king of Babylon, but of the king of Persia: this is said of those who, from the time that Jerusalem had been besieged, had deserted their houses and fields, but should have liberty to return to them; or of those who more lately had been carried captive by Ishmael, from the places where they had settled, but should be returned to them again, and live peaceably and comfortably there under the government and protection of the king of Babylon.





Jeremiah 42:13



Ver. 13. But if ye say, we will not dwell in this land,.... Or continue any longer in it, but go into Egypt:,



neither obey the voice of the Lord your God; or, "so as not to hearken to" or "obey", &c. {u}; for they did not say in so many words that they would not obey the voice of the Lord; they had promised they would; but resolving, against his declared will, that they would not abide in the land, but go into Egypt, was interpretatively saying they would not obey his voice.



{u} emv ytlbl "ita ut non auscultetis", Piscator, Cocceius; "ut non obediatis", Pagninus, Schmidt; "ut non audiatis", so some in Vatablus.







Jeremiah 42:14



Ver. 14. Saying, no, but we will go into the land of Egypt,.... It was all one as if they had said, no, we will not obey the voice of the Lord to continue in our own land; we are determined to go into Egypt, induced by the following reasons:



where we shall see no war; either internal, or with a foreign enemy; as both of late in their own land, and which they feared would be again; but promised themselves exemption from both in the land of Egypt, and therefore coveted to dwell there:



nor hear the sound of the trumpet; neither hear of wars nor rumours of wars; not the sound of the trumpet in the armies of the enemy, or among themselves, to gather together and prepare for battle; or, as Jarchi thinks, the sound of the trumpet blown by the watchman, giving notice to the people of the approach of an enemy:



nor have hunger of bread; as they had had while Judea was invaded and Jerusalem besieged, and a foreign army in the land; and though they had no reason to fear this now, yet they thought they should be more out of the danger of it in Egypt, a fruitful country, overflowed by the Nile:



and there will we dwell; in peace, prosperity, and safety: this was their resolution, to go and abide there; and this their confidence, that such would be their happy state.





Jeremiah 42:15



Ver. 15. And now therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Judah,.... A small remnant indeed, a few that were left in the land; who ought therefore to have admired the distinguishing goodness of Providence in preserving them in it; where they should have continued and made use of their privilege, to the glory of God and their mutual good:



thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; the Lord of armies above and below, the Lord God omnipotent, and so able to protect them in their land; and who had a peculiar favour to Israel, and stood in a particular relation to them, and therefore would do it, of which they had no reason to doubt; but, disobliging him, what judgments might they not expect?



if you wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt: are resolved upon it, and are actually engaged in it; turning their faces from Judea towards Egypt, and obstinately pursuing it, nor can be reclaimed from it: the phrase expresses their resolution, impudence, and obstinacy:



and go to sojourn there: to be sojourners and strangers there, as their fathers had been before; the remembrance of which was enough to set them against going into Egypt any more.





Jeremiah 42:16



Ver. 16. Then it shall come to pass,.... That the various judgments following should come upon them:



[that] the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; that is, the sword; of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, which they feared they should fall by in Judea; this should come after them in Egypt, and there overtake them, as it did; Egypt being destroyed by the king of Babylon, as it was foretold it should, Jer 46:25;



and the famine, whereof you were afraid, shalt follow close after you there in Egypt; the famine they were afraid would come upon them in Judea, should pursue them, overtake them, seize on them, and cleave unto them, in Egypt; thus the evils they thought to escape, by moving from one place, should befall them in another; there is no fleeing from the presence, power, and hand of God:



and there ye shall die; either by the sword, or by famine, or by pestilence, as in the Jer 42:17.







Jeremiah 42:17



Ver. 17. So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there,.... Not all that went into Egypt, but all that were resolutely set upon it; that were obstinately bent to go there, and did go, contrary to the express command of God; for otherwise there were some that were forced to go against their wills, as Jeremiah, Baruch, and no doubt others:



they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; three of the Lord's sore judgments; some should die by one, and some by another, and some by a third; all should die by one or the other:



and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them; that is, none of those who wilfully, and of their own accord, went down to Egypt; they all perished there, none could escape the hand of God, or the evil he determined to bring upon them; which is to be understood of the above judgments.





Jeremiah 42:18



Ver. 18. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,....

See Gill on "Jer 42:15";



as mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; like a large hasty shower of rain; or rather like melted metal, which suddenly and swiftly runs, and spreads itself, and burns and consumes with a violent heat; such was the wrath of God on Jerusalem, in the destruction of it by the Chaldeans:



so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt; as soon as they had well got there, quickly after they were settled there; for it was in the time of the then present king of Egypt, Pharaohhophra, and by the then present king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, that the destruction of Egypt was, in which these Jews suffered:



and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; men should be astonished at the hand of God upon them, reproach them for their sins; and when they made any imprecation on themselves, it would be in this form, if it be so, let the same calamities come upon me as upon the Jews in Egypt:



and ye shall see this place no more; and so their case would be worse than their brethren in Babylon; who, after a term of years were expired, would return to their own land, which these would never see any more.







Jeremiah 42:19



Ver. 19. The Lord hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah,.... Or, "unto you" {w}; by the mouth of the prophet; or, "against you" {x}; that which was contrary to their inclination and will, as follows:



go ye not into Egypt: this was the express command of God:



know certainly that I have admonished you this day; not to go into Egypt: or, "have testified unto you" {y}; the will of God concerning this matter; and therefore they could not plead ignorance.



{w} Mkyle "alloquitur vos", Junius & Tremellius; "ad vos", so some in Vatablus. {x} "Contra vos", Calvin. {y} Mkb ytdyeh "contestatus sum vos", Montanus, Piscator, Cocceius.





Jeremiah 42:20



Ver. 20. For ye dissembled in your hearts,.... Did not honestly and faithfully declare their intentions; they said one thing with their mouths, and meant another in their minds; they pretended they would act according to the will of God, as it should be made known to them by him, when they were determined to take their own way. Some render it, "ye have deceived [me] in your hearts" {z}; the prophet, so Kimchi; by that which was in their hearts, not declaring what was their real intention and design: or, "ye have deceived your souls" {a}; you have deceived yourselves and one another; I have not deceived you, nor the Lord, but you have put a cheat upon your own souls: or, "you have used deceit against your souls" {b}; to the hurt of them, to your present ruin and everlasting destruction:



when ye sent me unto the Lord your God; the prophet did not go of himself, they desired him to go:



saying, pray for us unto the Lord our God; to be directed in the way they should go; so that the prophet did nothing but what they desired him to do:



and according to all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do [it]; they pressed him to a faithful declaration of the will of God to them, and promised they would act according to it. Now he had done all this; he had been wire God, prayed unto him as they requested, and had brought them his mind and will, and made a faithful relation of it, and yet they did not attend to it; so that the deceit was not in him, but in them, as follows:



{z} Mkytwvpnb Mtyeth "seduxistis [me] animis vestris", so some in Vatablus; "fefellistis me", Munster. So Ben Melech. {a} "Fecistis errare animas vestras", Pagninus; "fefellistis", Calvin. {b} "Seduxeritis vos contra animas vestras", Schmidt.







Jeremiah 42:21



Ver. 21. And [now] I have this day declared [it] unto you,.... The whole will of God, and had not kept back anything from them:



but ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God; or, "ye will not obey" {c}; the prophet knew they would not obey the command of the Lord not to go into Egypt, either by his conversation with them during the ten days the answer of the Lord was deferred, by which he plainly saw they were determined to go into Egypt; or by their countenances and behaviour, while he was delivering the Lord's message to them; by what he observed in them, he knew what was said was not agreeable to them, and that their mind was to go into Egypt: or he had this, as others think, by divine revelation; though without that he knew the cast of this people, and what a rebellious and disobedient people they were, and had been, never obeying the voice of the Lord:



nor any [thing] for which he hath sent me unto you: not anyone particular thing respecting this present affair; nor indeed any of his prophecies had they regarded, with which he had been sent to them before.



{c} Mtemv alw "et tamen non vultis parere", Vatablus.





Jeremiah 42:22



Ver. 22. Now therefore know certainly,.... Or, "in knowing know" {d}; they might assure themselves of this, that it would certainly come to pass, and most justly and deservedly; since it was at their own request the prophet sought the mind of the Lord for them, and had faithfully related it to them, and they had promised to observe it; wherefore, should they go into Egypt, as their inclination scented to be entirely that way, they must expect what follows:



that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; by one or other of these, or all of them; some by one, and some by another, as before threatened; evils they thought to escape by going thither, but which should surely follow them, and overtake them:



in the place whither ye desire to go [and] to sojourn; that is, in Egypt, to which they had a strong inclination, where they greatly desired to be, pleased themselves with the thoughts of, and which they chose of their own will and pleasure for their habitation.



{d} wedt edy "sciendo scietis", Schmidt; "sciendo sciatis", Pagninus, Montanus.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Jeremiah 43:1



INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 43



This chapter contains the answer of the princes and people to the prophet's message; a relation of their going into Egypt; and a prophecy of the destruction of that land. The persons that gave the answer are described, some by name, and all by their character; and the time of their giving it is mentioned, in which they charge the prophet with a falsehood; impute the whole to an instigation of Baruch, and an ill design of his, and so were disobedient to the command of God,

Jer 43:1; and went into Egypt, and carried all with them, of every rank, age, and sex, and even Baruch, and the prophet too, and came to Tahpanhes, the seat of the kings of Egypt, Jer 43:5; upon this a prophecy is delivered out, concerning the destruction of that country, which is signified by a symbol explained; the person, the instrument of it, is mentioned by name, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; the devastation he should make is expressed by slaying with the sword, and carrying into captivity; by burning the temples of their gods, and breaking their images in pieces, Jer 43:8.



Ver. 1. And it came to pass, [that] when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people,.... The princes and the people, the whole body of them, who had desired the prophet to seek the Lord for them, and whom he called together to relate his answer, and declare his will; see Jer 42:1; they heard him out, and that was as much as they did; for as soon as he had done, they rose up and contradicted him: however, he faithfully declared



all the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God sent him to them, [even] all the words; which are related in the preceding chapter, which were the words of the Lord, and so ought to have been regarded; and the rather, as they were the words of their God, whom they professed, and which he had sent his prophet to declare unto them; and who had kept back nothing, but had made known the whole; he had told the truth, and nothing but the truth, and all the truth.







Jeremiah 43:2



Ver. 2. Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah,.... Perhaps the same with Jezaniah, or a brother of his, Jer 42:1; he is mentioned first, it may be, because he was the contriver of this scheme to go into Egypt, advised unto it, and was most for it it. The Septuagint and Arabic versions call him the son of Maaseiah;



and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men; the great men among them, who are commonly proud of their greatness; of their descent, family and blood; of their wealth and riches, and posts of honour; perhaps the captains of the forces are meant, who elsewhere are mentioned along with Johanan, Jer 40:13; these were men full of themselves, had a high opinion of their own wisdom, and were prudent in their own eyes; and could not bear to be contradicted or advised by the prophet, nor even by the Lord himself; and are justly, by the Targum, called wicked men; and so the Syriac version renders it; their pride was the cause of their rebellion against God, and disobedience to him, and of their ungenteel and insolent behaviour to the prophet



saying unto Jeremiah, thou speakest falsely: or, "a lie" {e}; it being contrary to their minds: so the prophets of the Lord, the ministers of the word, and even the word of God itself, are charged with falsehoods, when contrary to men's sentiments and lusts;



the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say, go not into Egypt to sojourn there; they did not care to own it was the word of the Lord, Whatever convictions of it they had in their minds; because they would not openly appear to be fighters against God, whom they professed to be their God; but deny that the prophet was sent by him with any such message to them; when they had all the reason to believe by former prophecies, which had had their fulfilment, that Jeremiah was a true prophet of the Lord, and that he had acted a very faithful part in the present affair: they themselves had sent him to the Lord to pray for them; he had done so, and the Lord had returned an answer by him; of which they had no reason to doubt, but their pride would not allow them to receive it.



{e} rqv "mendacium", Schmidt.







Jeremiah 43:3



Ver. 3. But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us,.... First they charge the prophet with a lie, and deny his mission from the Lord; and now to lessen the prophet's crime they charged him with, they lay the blame on Baruch, as if he, out of ill will to them, had instigated the prophet to deliver such a message; which is not at all likely, that he should be prevailed upon by a younger person, and his secretary, to take such a step: nor can it be thought that Baruch should have any interest to serve by it; and, besides, both he and the prophet were too good men, the one to instigate, and the other to be instigated, to declare a falsehood in the name of the Lord. The end proposed, they suggest, was



for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon; either that he or the prophet might deliver them into the hands of the Chaldeans, to be put to death by them, or be carried captive; which is not at all probable, it being inconsistent with that piety and humanity which were conspicuous in them both, and with their conduct, who chose rather to abide in their own land, with this small and despicable handful of people, than to go and live in the court of Babylon, where good care would have been taken of them.





Jeremiah 43:4



Ver. 4. So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people,.... The generality of them, at least, all agreed together, were of the same mind, and in the same sentiment and practice: and so



obeyed not the voice of the Lord, to dwell in the land of Judah; it was the command of the Lord they should dwell there, and not go into Egypt; but they would not believe this was the voice of the Lord, only a scheme concerted between the prophet and Baruch; or which the former was instigated to deliver as the word of the Lord by the latter, and therefore would not give heed unto it; though the truth of the matter was, it was contrary to their inclination and resolution, and therefore, though they had reason to believe it was the will of God they should abide in their own land, yet they were determined they would not, but go into Egypt, as they, did.





Jeremiah 43:5



Ver. 5. But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces,.... Who were united in their resolution to go into Egypt, contrary to the declared will of God:



took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah; both such who were left in the land, when the rest were carried captive into Babylon, more particularly mentioned in Jer 43:6; and those, who upon the invasion of the land, and siege of Jerusalem, had fled to other countries, but now were returned from thence, in order to settle in it; having heard that a governor from among the Jews was appointed over it; as from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and other countries; see Jer 40:11; these, some of their own accord, others through persuasion, and others by force, went along with, or were taken and carried by the above captains into Egypt.







Jeremiah 43:6



Ver. 6. [Even] men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters,.... This, according to the supplement of our version, explains who they were that were taken and had into Egypt, persons of every sex, age, and rank; though rather these words design and describe persons distinct from the former, that came out of other countries; see

Jer 41:10;



and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan: even the poor of the land to till it; and to whom he gave fields and vineyards, and committed them to the care and government of Gedaliah, when the rest were carried captive to Babylon; and now these, in some sort, may be said to be carried captive by their own brethren into Egypt:



and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah; whom they forced with them, partly to punish them, and partly to give countenance to their conduct; but not without the will of God, who so ordered it in his providence, that they might have the prophet with then, to reprove them for their sins, and warn them of their danger and ruin, and so leave them inexcusable.





Jeremiah 43:7



Ver. 7. So they came into the land of Egypt,.... They set out from the habitation of Chimham, where they were, Jer 41:17; and proceeded on their journey, till they entered the land of Egypt:



for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord; to continue in Judea, and not to go into Egypt; and though the prophet of the Lord, who was with them, might, as they went along, advise them to go back, they regarded him not, but still went on:



thus came they [even] to Tahpanhes; the same with Hanes, Isa 30:4; and might be so called, as here, from a queen of Egypt of this name,

1Ki 11:19. The Septuagint version, and others after that, call it Taphnas. It is thought to be the Daphnae Pelusiae of Herodotus {f} It was a seat of the king of Egypt, as appeals from Jer 43:9; and no less a place would these proud men stop at, or take up with, but where the king's palace was. Tyrius {g} calls it Tapium, and says it was in his time a very small town.



{f} Enterpe, sive l. 2. c. 30, 107. {g} Apud Adrichem. Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, p. 125.







Jeremiah 43:8



Ver. 8. Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, at Tahpanhes,.... Where he was with the rest the captains carried thither with them; and as soon as he and they had got here, the word of the Lord came unto him, declaring the destruction of this place, and of the whole land. Here Jerom says the prophet was stoned to death;



saying; as follows:





Jeremiah 43:9



Ver. 9. Take great stones in thine hand,.... In both his hands, as big as he could carry:



and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln; there was much clay in Egypt, through the overflowing of the Nile, and particularly at this place Tahpanhes, which had its name of Pelusiae from hence; and here was a brick kiln; not a place where bricks were burnt, but where they were foraged; and so here was the clay of which they were made, and in which these stones were to be hid:



which [is] at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes; this brick kiln stood not directly at the entrance into the king's palace, but at the door of a wall of a park or garden, which belonged to the palace, from whence there was an open way to it; here the stones were to be laid. Since a brick kiln so near a king's palace seems not agreeable, Gussetius {h} thinks Nblm signifies a poplar walk, from hnbl, a poplar tree, whose shade is very grateful, Ho 4:13; to which the courtiers betook themselves at certain times, and walked in for pleasure;



in the sight of the men of Judah; not in the sight of the Egyptians, who would not understand the design of it, nor were they to be instructed by it; but in the sight of the Jews, who would at once imagine that something was intended, being used to such symbols, and would inquire the meaning of it; and which is explained in Jer 43:10.



{h} Ebr. Comment. p. 470.





Jeremiah 43:10



Ver. 10. And say unto them,.... The men of Judah, now in Egypt:



thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel;

See Gill on "Jer 42:15";



behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; as all men are by creation, and as he was in a very eminent sense, being an instrument in his hand of executing his designs, both on the Jews and other nations; him he would send for, and take to perform his counsel; secretly work upon and dispose his mind to such an undertaking, and lay a train of providences, and, by a concourse of them, bring him to Egypt to do his will:



and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; which he had ordered the prophet to hide, and which he did by him; signifying, that the king at Babylon should come with his army against this city, and should take it, and set up his throne, and keep his court here:



and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them; his tent; he shall place here his beautiful one, as the word {i} signifies; this should be set up where these stones were laid, as if they were designed for the foundation of it, though they were only a symbol of it; and would be a token to the Jews, when accomplished, of the certainty of the divine prescience, and of prophecy, with respect to future events, even those the most minute and contingent.



{i} wryrpv "teutorium elegans", Montanus, Vatablus; "pulchrum", Munster. So Ben Melech.





Jeremiah 43:11



Ver. 11. And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt,.... Here is a various reading: the "Cetib", or textual writing, is, "when it cometh, it shall smite"; which Kimchi rightly interprets of the camp or army of Nebuchadnezzar; and the "Keri", or marginal reading, which we follow, is, "when he cometh, he shall smite"; that is, the king of Babylon; both are to be received: when Nebuchadnezzar should come with his army to Tahpanhes, he would not only take that, but go through the land of Egypt, and subdue and destroy the inhabitants of it, all that dwelt in it, sojourners as well as natives; and so the Jews that were come hither to dwell, against the express command of God, to whom this prophecy was delivered, and to whom it has a particular respect:



[and deliver] such [as are] for death to death; who are appointed to death, either by pestilence or famine; that is, he shall oblige them to flee to, or block them up in, places where they shall perish by one or other of these:



and such [as are] for captivity to captivity: such as are designed to be carried captive, these shall be taken by him, and carried captive into Babylon, and the provinces of it:



and such [as are] for the sword to the sword; who are destined to fall by the sword, these should be slain by the sword of Nebuchadnezzar, and his soldiers; so that, what by one way or another, a general destruction should be made.







Jeremiah 43:12



Ver. 12. And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt,.... Not only men should not be spared, but their gods also, and their temples should be burnt, as was usually done when cities were taken and destroyed: this is ascribed to God, to his wrath and vengeance; idolatry being a sin highly displeasing to him; though the Chaldeans were the instruments of it, yet it being done by the order, direction, and providence of God, it is rightly attributed to him:



and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives; that is, Nebuchadnezzar shall do this; he shall burn their temples, and carry away their idols of gold and silver; so Kimchi, who adds, or the sense is, he shall carry captive their worshippers; but rather the meaning is, he shall burn their idols, such as are made of wood, or any base matter, not worth saving; and he shall carry away with him their idols, such as are made of gold and silver, or any precious matter:



and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment. The Targum is,



"he shall spoil the land of Egypt.''



The meaning is, that he shall load and cover himself and his army with the spoil of the land of Egypt, as a shepherd covers himself with his garment; and he shall do it as easily as a shepherd puts on his coat; and as completely he shall roll up all the spoil, wealth, and riches of the land, and carry it off, even as a shepherd rolls up the covering of his tent; and, as Kimchi's father observes, as well as puts on his garment, and leaves nothing behind him, when he removes from place to place; and as he is unmindful of his clothes, or what he wears in the heat of the day; but at night, when he returns home from keeping his sheep, puts on his clothes, the best he has; so should the king of Babylon and his army return richly laden with the spoil of Egypt, when he should leave it. Or the sense rather is, he shall cover the land of Egypt with his forces, as a shepherd is covered and wrapped up in his garment against the inclemency of the weather; or else, as Bochart {k} suggests, the destruction of Egypt may be compared to an old worn out garment, or such a mean and sordid garment as shepherds wear:



and he shall go forth from thence in peace: there shall be none to molest and disturb him, to stop him and take away the spoil from him, or hinder his return to his own country; whither he should go in safety, and with great booty.



{k} Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 44. col. 456.





Jeremiah 43:13



Ver. 13. He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that [is] in the land of Egypt,.... Or, "of Heliopolis", as the Septuagint; the "city of the sun"; and so "Bethshemesh" here signifies the "house of the sun"; either it designs the temple of the sun, or the city where it was worshipped; as Heliopolis was famous for the worship of the sun, and for a magnificent temple in it, built for that purpose, and where abundance of persons resorted on that account, as Herodotus {l} observes; here were many images of the sun; and these now should be broke to pieces, when this city should become the city of destruction, as is foretold it should by Isaiah, Isa 19:18; where the Targum expressly calls it the city Bethshemesh, that is to be destroyed;

See Gill on "Isa 19:18". This is the same city that was formerly called On, and had a priest in Joseph's time, Ge 41:45;



and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire; which is repeated, that it might be taken notice of, and for the confirmation of it; though the words may be rendered, so as to remove the tautology, "and with the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn [it] with fire" {m}; that is, Bethshemesh, or "the house of the sun", that shall not escape, being a principal temple. The gods they worshipped were Mnevis and Apis, which were oxen consecrated to the sun and moon {n}. So says Porphyry {o}, speaking of the Egyptians,



"they consecrate oxen to the sun and moon: that which is sacred to the sun at Heliopolis is called Mnevis, and is the greatest of them: it is very black, because much sun makes human bodies black; and the hairs of its tail, and of its whole body, contrary to other oxen, turn upwards, as the sun makes its course contrary to the pole; its testicles are the largest, because by the heat of the sun venereal desires are excited; hence the sun is said to make nature fruitful. To the moon they dedicate Taurus (or the bull), which they call Apis, and is blacker than others, bearing the signs of the sun and moon, because the light of the moon is from the sun; and the sign of the sun is the blackness of its body, and also the beetle that is under its tongue;''



and these were the images and gods of Bethshemesh or Heliopolis, that were to be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Of his expedition into Egypt, whereby this prophecy was fulfilled, not only Josephus makes mention, but some Heathen writers gave plain hints of it. The Jewish historian says {p}, that Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, led his army into Coelesyria, and took it; and made war with the Ammonites and Moabites; and, having subdued these nations, made a push into Egypt, in order to destroy that, and slew the king of it: and Berosus says {q}, that



"Nebuchadnezzar having settled his affairs in Egypt, and other countries; and having committed to his friends the captives of the Jews, Phoenicians, Syrians, and the nations about Egypt, went to Babylon:''



and Megasthenes {r} relates, that



"he conquered the greatest part of Lybia (or Africa) and Iberia;''



or, as it is elsewhere {s} expressed,



"he led his army into Lybia and Iberia; and, having subdued these, carried colonies of them to the right of Pontus.''



{l} Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 59. {m} So Schmidt. {n} Vid. Aelian. de Animal. l. 11. c. 11. {o} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 3. c. 13. p. 117. {p} Joseph. Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. {q} Apud Josph. Antiqu. ib. c. 11. sect 1. & contra Apion. l. 1. sect. 19. & Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 40. p. 455. {r} Apud Joseph. Antiqu. ib. & contra Apion. l. 1. sect. 20. {s} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 41. p. 456.



 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Jeremiah 44:1



INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 44



This chapter contains a sermon of Jeremiah's to the Jews in Egypt, reproving them for their idolatry there; their answer to it, expressing their resolution to continue in their idolatrous practices; and a denunciation of judgments upon them, of which a sign is given. The sermon begins with observing to them the destruction of Jerusalem, and the causes of it, idolatry and contempt of the prophets, Jer 44:1; then follows an expostulation with the present Jews for doing the same things, and exposing themselves and their posterity to the same punishment, Jer 44:7; upon which they are threatened with the sore judgments of God that should come upon them, and cut them off in general, Jer 44:11; yet such were the impudence and obstinacy of this people, that they declared they would not hearken to the prophet, but persist in their idolatry; it having been better with them when they practised it than when they left it, Jer 44:15; to which the prophet replies by observing, that for the idolatry of their fathers their land was become a desolation and a curse, as at this day,

Jer 44:20; and assures them that destruction would come from the Lord upon them, which he had swore to, Jer 44:24; and a sign of it is given; the delivery of the king of Egypt into the hand of the king of Babylon, Jer 44:29.



Ver. 1. The word which came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt,.... Or, "unto all the Jews" {t}; the word came to him, that it might be delivered to them; or, "against all the Jews" {u}; they having gone into Egypt contrary to the will of God, and committing idolatry; and the word or sermon is full of threatenings and judgments denounced upon them:



which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros: this prophecy was delivered after the Jews were come to Tahpanhes, or Daphne; see Jer 43:7; and had divided themselves, and were settled in different parts of the kingdom: some continued at Tahpanhes, where were the king's court and palace: others went to Migdol, a place near the Red sea, just at the entrance into Egypt, from the land of Canaan, Ex 14:2; called, by Herodotus, Magdolus {w}; and by Adrichomius {x} said to be distant about a mile and a quarter from Pelusium, or Sin, the strength of Egypt, Eze 30:15; others took up their residence at Noph, generally thought to be the city of Memphis. The Targum calls it Mappas; the same which is now called Grand Cairo; or, however, this city is near the place where Memphis stood: others dwelt in the country of Pathros, which perhaps had its name from Pathrusim, a son of Mizraim, Ge 10:13. It is thought by Bochart and others to be the country of Thebais in Egypt, the same with the Nomos Phanturites, or Phaturites, of Pliny {y}; and in this country Jeremiah seems to have been when this word came to him,

Jer 44:15; and from hence sent or carried it to the other places: saying; as follows:



{t} Mydwhyh lk la "ad omnes Judaeos", V. L. Castalio, Cocceius, Schmidt; "erga omnes", Pagninus, Montanus. {u} "Contra omnes Judaeos", Junius & Tremellius; "de, [vel] contra", Piscator. {w} Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 159. {x} Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 121. {y} Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 9.







Jeremiah 44:2



Ver. 2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,.... In which manner the prophecies of this book are frequently prefaced; see

Jer 42:15;



ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; they saw it with their bodily eyes; they could not but serve it in their minds; nay, had an experimental knowledge of it; they suffered it in part themselves, and must be convicted in their own consciences that it was from the hand of the Lord:



and, behold, this day they [are] a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein; lie waste, at this very time; the walls are broken down the houses are demolished; the goods in them carried off; no inhabitants left, or very few, to rebuild the cities, till the land, and dwell therein.





Jeremiah 44:3



Ver. 3. Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger,.... The cause of this desolation was the wickedness they were guilty of; whereby they provoked the anger of God to bring this destruction on them. Sin is always provoking unto God; and though it may not be done on purpose to provoke him, which it sometimes seems to be; yet it eventually does, and is always the cause of punishment: God never punishes man without a cause, or for anything but sin:



in that they went to burn incense, [and] to serve other gods: the particular wickedness they were guilty of, and which was the cause of their ruin, was burning incense to idols, and worshipping them, than which nothing is more provoking to God: and it was an aggravation of their sin, that they were gods



whom they knew not, [neither] they, you, nor your fathers; what they were; from whence they were; their original, and perhaps not their names; however, did not know that they were gods; nor could they prove them to be such; nay, might know that they were not: and now, since this was the sin which brought on the destruction they were eyewitnesses of, it should have been a caution to them that they went not into the same idolatrous practices, which yet they did not avoid; taking no warning from such awful instances of the divine displeasure.





Jeremiah 44:4



Ver. 4. Howbeit, I sent unto you all my servants the prophets,.... As many as he raised up, and employed in the work and service of prophesying; and these were many; and as many as they were, he sent them to them, one after another, to warn them of their sin and danger; but all to no purpose; which was a further aggravation of their wickedness: nay, though he was



rising early, and sending [them]; was very early in his messages to them; gave them timely warning, and let slip no opportunity of admonishing them; and this he did constantly; see Jer 7:13;



saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate; all sin is abominable in itself, and hateful to God, especially idolatry; and therefore should not be done; it should be abominable to men, and hateful to them, because it is so to God; and after such a remonstrance as this, to commit it must be very aggravating and provoking.





Jeremiah 44:5



Ver. 5. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear,.... To the prophets sent unto them; to God by the prophets; to the words of his mouth, particularly to the above pathetic expostulation with them; at least, if they heard the words said, they did not attend unto them; they had not such an effect upon them, nor were they wrought upon by them, so as



to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods; to turn from their sins in general, and from their idolatry in particular; one instance of which is given, and which is put for the whole of idolatrous worship.





Jeremiah 44:6



Ver. 6. Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth,.... Like melted metal, scalding lead, liquefied pitch, or anything of a bituminous and sulphurous nature, which spreads, is consuming, and very intolerable; see Jer 42:18;



and was kindled in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; which, like a fire, burnt up and destroyed these cities, and particularly the large and spacious city of Jerusalem:



and they are wasted [and] desolate, as at this day; now lie in ruins, as may be seen by everyone; the thing is notorious; this is their present case; they are become desolate, and so continue.





Jeremiah 44:7



Ver. 7. Therefore now thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel,.... The same epithets as before, Jer 44:2; with an addition, that his words might carry more weight with them:



wherefore commit ye [this] great evil against your souls; the sin of idolatry, which is a great evil; a sin against God; a giving the glory to another, that belongs to him and not only so, but is against the souls of men; pernicious and ruinous to them, which brings destruction, even eternal wrath and damnation, on them; and this is an interesting argument why it should not be committed; nay, it was not only against God, and against themselves, but against their families, and the interest of them:



to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain; not that they did this great evil or committed idolatry with this intention, to ruin their families and posterity; but so it was eventually; hereby they provoked the Lord to anger, to cut off the men that offered incense to idols; and the women their wives, whom they allowed so to do; and their children, who were brought up in the same practices; so that they would have none to succeed them, to bear their name, and inherit their land; unless God should be merciful, and not deal according to their deserts; for such was the nature of their crime, as to deserve an utter extirpation of them.







Jeremiah 44:8



Ver. 8. In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands,.... Their sinful actions, particularly their idolatry, by worshipping images, the works of men's hands; and though it was the queen of heaven they worshipped, which their hands made not, yet it was before images they did that; besides, the things they did to her were the worlds of their hands, as sacrificing, pouring out drink offerings, and as follows:



burning incense; which they did, not only to her, but



to other gods in the land of Egypt; where they were very numerous:



whither ye be gone to dwell; against the express will and command of God:



that ye might cut yourselves off; as from the worship of God, so from being his people, and from being under his care and protection, and from all privileges temporal and spiritual:



and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? not that this was their view, end, and design, but this was the event so it was, that they were looked upon as an accursed people of God and man, and their names were taken up for a proverb and a reproach everywhere.





Jeremiah 44:9



Ver. 9. Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers,.... And what judgments it brought upon them; meaning not their more remote ancestors in the wilderness, and the idolatry they committed, and the punishment inflicted upon them for it; but more near, such who lived a little before the destruction of Jerusalem, and whose sins had brought on that; and therefore could not be easily forgotten by them; or, if they were forgotten, it argued great stupidity:



and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives; by whom they were drawn into idolatry, particularly Solomon; and it is in the original text, "the wickedness of his wives" {z}; and Dr. Lightfoot thinks respect is had to Solomon's wives; but it may be understood distributively of everyone of their wives, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it {a}:



and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which you have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem? where they had built altars, and worshipped strange gods, they, and their wives, as well as those who were carried captive; and which were the cause of all those evils that came upon them; these, being recent things, could not be forgotten by them; or however should have been remembered, and that so as to have deterred them from going into such practices again, as they now did in Egypt.



{z} wyvn twer "mala mulierum ejus", Schmidt; "et mala foeminarum ejus", Cocceius; "uxorum ejus", V. L. Montanus. {a} "Et mala uxorum cujusque illorum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.







Jeremiah 44:10



Ver. 10. They are not humbled [even] unto this day,.... Not contrite under a sense of their sins, nor truly penitent for them; not humbled before God nor man, so as to acknowledge them, mourn over them, and forsake them. The Targum is,



"they cease not unto this day;''



that is, from committing the same things; which shows they had no true humiliation and contrition for them. This is to be understood, not of the Jews in Babylon only, but chiefly of those in Egypt; there being a change of person from you to they; the Lord not vouchsafing to speak to them who were so obdurate and impenitent, but of them, and to some other, as the prophet, concerning them:



neither have they feared; the Lord; neither his goodness nor his judgments; or served and worshipped him with reverence and godly fear, as became them:



nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you, and before your fathers; a full proof this that they neither had true repentance for their sins, nor the fear of God in their hearts; for, had they, these would have led them to obedience to the divine will.







Jeremiah 44:11



Ver. 11. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,.... Because of these sins of idolatry, impenitence, and disobedience:



I will set my face against you for evil; to bring the evil of punishment upon them, for the evil of sin committed by them: this the Lord determined with himself, and resolved to do; which the phrase, "setting [his] face against [them]", is expressive of, by way of retaliation for their setting their faces to go down to Egypt, as well as of his wrath and indignation against them:



and to cut off all Judah; not the whole tribe of Judah; not those that were in Babylon, which were by far the greatest number of that tribe; but those that were in Egypt.







Jeremiah 44:12



Ver. 12. And I will take the remnant of Judah,.... Such as remained of that tribe in the land of Judea after the captivity: and not all of them, but such



that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there: who were bent upon going thither, notwithstanding all the remonstrances made to them to the contrary; and were gone thither, and were now actually sojourners there: this describes such persons who wilfully, and of their own accord, went thither; and excepts those who were over-persuaded or over-powered to go along with them:



and they shall all be consumed, [and] fall in the land of Egypt; not by natural death, one after another; but by the judgments of God, as follows:



they shall [even] be consumed by the sword [and] by the famine; by the sword of the king of Babylon; and by famine, occasioned by a foreign army and sieges:



they shall die; from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and to express the universality of the destruction; that it should reach to persons of every age, state and condition, rank and degree, young and old, high and low, rich and poor:



and they shall be an execration, [and] an astonishment, and a curse,

and a reproach; See Gill on "Jer 42:18".







Jeremiah 44:13



Ver. 13. For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt,.... Or "visit"; in a way of wrath and vengeance; meaning not the native inhabitants of Egypt; though these should be punished, and in whose punishment the Jews would be involved; but here it means the Jews that dwelt in Egypt, who went thither contrary to the will of God, and there settled:



as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; signifying that the same punishment that came upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and other cities of Judea, should come upon these Jews in Egypt, and as sure as they came upon them; even those which they thought to have escaped, by leaving Judea, and going to Egypt.





Jeremiah 44:14



Ver. 14. So that none of the remnant of Judah,.... Which were left in the land of Judea after the captivity:



which are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain; escape either the sword, or the famine, or the pestilence, or remain in the land of Egypt, or in the land of the living; so general should be the destruction:



that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire to return there; or, "have lift up their souls {b} to return there": most earnestly desire it, and have raised hopes and expectations of it; for it seems that those Jews that went into Egypt did not go with a design to settle there for ever; but to return to their own land, when there should be better times, and more safety and security there; particularly when they thought the affair of the death of Gedaliah would be no further inquired into:



for none shall return but such as shall escape; out of the hands of Johanan, and the rest of the captains; and should get out of the land of Egypt before the Chaldeans came into it. Some understand this of those that should escape out of Babylon; that none should return to Judea but those of that captivity, who should be released by the proclamation of Cyrus. Jarchi interprets it of Jeremiah and Baruch, whom Nebuchadnezzar removed to Babylon, when Egypt fell into his hands, in the twenty seventh year of his reign, as is related in the Jewish chronicles {c}.



{b} Mvpn ta Myavnm "elevant, [vel] elevantes animam, suam", Pagninus, Vatablus, Calvin; "attolunt animam suam", Schmidt. {c} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 26. p. 77.







Jeremiah 44:15



Ver. 15. Then all the men which knew that their wires had burnt incense unto other gods,.... Which was a rite God appointed to be used in his worship; and is here put for the whole of religious worship, which was given to idols by the Jewish women; this their husbands knew of, and winked at, and did not restrain them from it, as they should; they seem to be themselves irreligious persons, a sort of atheists, who had no regard for the true God, nor any other gods, and cared not who were worshipped:



and all the women that stood by; the wives of the men that stood by their husbands, and other women that stood and heard Jeremiah's sermon, and were conscious to themselves of being guilty of what they were charged with by him:



a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt,

in Pathros; in that part of Egypt so called, which was Thebais: here it seems Jeremiah was with that part of the people that took up their residence there; and by this it appears there was a large number of them, men and women, and who were all become idolaters, or connivers at, and encouragers of, such as were: these



answered Jeremiah, saying, one in the name of the rest made a reply, as follows:





Jeremiah 44:16



Ver. 16. [As for] the word that thou has, spoken unto us in the name of the Lord,.... Which they did not believe that it came from the Lord, but was a device of the prophet's, and a lie, as in Jer 43:2; and if it did come from the Lord, their impudence was risen to such a pitch, that they were determined not to regard it:



we will not hearken unto thee: to thy words; neither to thy exhortations, reproofs, or menaces, even though thou comest and speakest in the name of the Lord. This, and what follows, is an unparalleled instance of the pride, obstinacy, enmity, and rebellion of the carnal mind against God.





Jeremiah 44:17



Ver. 17. But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth out of our own mouth,.... And not what went out of the mouth of God, or his prophet: but whoever they had resolved on within themselves to do, and had declared with their mouths they would, or had vowed with their lips; so Abarbinel interprets it of a vow; this they were determined to perform, let God and his prophet say what they would:



to burn incense unto the queen of heaven; which, according to Abarbinel, was the moon, which is the queen of heaven, as the sun is king; it was called by the Heathens Coelestis and Urania: but there are some that think that some great star in heaven, that is king over the rest, is meant; so the Targum renders it, the star of heaven; which they understand of the sun, as Kimchi observes; the sun being much worshipped in Egypt; but Kimchi himself derives the word for "queen", here used, not from the root which signifies "to reign"; but from another, which signifies "to work"; and so renders it, "the work", or "frame of heaven"; the sun, moon, and stars; and so the Syriac version is "the host of heaven"; See Gill on "Jer 7:18"; and to this deity, be it what it will, they burned incense; and they were determined to continue it, and all other idolatrous rites and practices particularly:



and to pour out drink offerings unto her; which was another part of ceremonial worship, which the true God required of the people of Israel; but were here resolved to give it to another god:



as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem; they plead custom and prescription, antiquity and authority; the examples of ancestors and kings; the general practice of their nation, both in the metropolis of it, and in its several cities, where it not only universally obtained, but was visibly and openly done; and, more, they plead the temporal advantage of it:



for [then] had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil: had fulness of bread, and of all provisions; health, peace, and safety; and no judgment was upon them, seen or felt by them; the sword, famine, or pestilence. The goddess Coelestis, or the moon, which seems to be here meant, was, as Tertullian {d} says "pluviarum pollicitatrix", "the promiser of rains" and so of all good things: or, "were merry" {e}, as the Heathens were at their new moons, when they indulged to their cups, and lived jovially; hence that of Horace {f}.



{d} Apolog. c. 23. {e} Mybwj hyhgw "et eramus hilares", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {f} "Da lunae propere novae, Da noctis mediae, [poculum]". Carmin. l. 3. Ode 19.







Jeremiah 44:18



Ver. 18. But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven,.... Or were restrained from it, as the Targum, through the force of the prophet's sermons, or by the authority of their governors: this Abarbinel thinks was in the times of Jehoiakim, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah; but perhaps it only regards some space of time in the latter part of Zedekiah's reign, a little before the destruction of Jerusalem, when they refrained from their idolatry; fearing the wrath of God, and what was coming upon them; though Kimchi is of opinion that they never ceased; but they would say, when any evil came upon them, it was because they ceased to burn incense to the queen of heaven, of were not so ready to it as at first:



and to pour out drink offerings to her: another part of worship they performed to her but for a while left off: and from that time they say,



we have wanted all [things], and have been consumed by the sword, and by the famine; wanted all the necessaries of life, meat and drink, and clothing and a habitation to dwell in; and multitudes were destroyed by the sword of the king of Babylon; and others perished with famine during the siege; these evils they imputed to their cessation from idolatry, when it was the very thing that brought them on them.





Jeremiah 44:19



Ver. 19. And when we burnt incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her,.... Which they owned they did, and which they were not ashamed of, and were determined to go on with; and were only sorry that they had at any time omitted such service:



did we make cakes to worship her; or, "to make her glad" {g}, as Kimchi; interpreting the word by an antiphrasis; it having a contrary signification, to grieve or to make sorrowful; and from hence idols have their name sometimes, because in the issue they bring grief and trouble to their worshippers; hence some render it, "to make her an idol" {h}; or them, the cakes, an idol; these had, as Jarchi says, the likeness of the idol impressed upon them:



and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men? they own they did these things but not without the knowledge and consent at least, if not with the presence, of their husbands; hence these words seem to be the words of the women. Some indeed think they speak all along, from

Jer 44:16; or one in the name of the rest; it may be one of Zedekiah's daughters; but however, if the men spoke what is said in the preceding verses, the women, being provoked, could hold their peace no longer, but broke in, and uttered these words; though some render the last clause, "without our principal men" {i}; and so take them to be the words of the people in general; who urge, in their own defence, that what they did they did with the direction, approbation, and leading example of their kings and governors.



{g} hbuehl "ad exhilarandum illud", Calvin; "ad laetificaudum eam", Munster, Pagninus. {h} "Idolificando", Piscator; so Ben Melech; "ut faciamus illas idolum", Cocceius. {i} wnyvna ydelbmh "absque praestantibus viris nostris", Junius & Tremellius.





Jeremiah 44:20



Ver. 20. Then Jeremiah said unto all the people,.... Immediately, being influenced, directed, and assisted by the Spirit of God; though what he says, in Jer 44:21; he does not declare as coming from the Lord; but what was upon his mind, and was a full refutation of all that had been said: and which he delivered



to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him [that] answer; in which they all agreed, though delivered by one; and to which he made a reply:



saying; as follows:







Jeremiah 44:21



Ver. 21. That incense that ye burnt in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem,.... To false gods, to the queen of heaven, to the host thereof:



ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land; on which account they pleaded antiquity, authority, and the general consent of the people, as on their side, which the prophet allows; but it all signified nothing:



did not the Lord remember them, and came it [not] into his mind? either the incense they offered up to strange gods, or the persons that did it? did he take no notice of these idolatrous practices, and of these idolaters? he did; he laid up these things in his mind; he showed a proper resentment of them, and in due time punished for them.





Jeremiah 44:22



Ver. 22. So that the Lord could no longer forbear,.... He did forbear a long time, and did not stir up all his wrath, but waited to see if these people would repent of their sins, and turn from them; during which time of his forbearance, things might be well with them, as they had said, and they enjoyed peace and plenty; but persisting in their sins, and growing worse and worse, he could bear with them no longer, but brought down his judgments upon them. The reason is expressed,



because of the evil of your doings, [and] because of the abominations which ye have committed; the incense they had burnt; the drink offerings they had poured out to idols; and such like idolatrous practices, which were evil in themselves, contrary to the law and will of God, and abominable unto him:



therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse,

without an inhabitant, as at this day; the land of Israel, wasted by the Chaldeans, and left uncultivated, was like a barren wilderness, to the astonishment of all that passed through it, who had known what a fruitful country it had been; the curse of God being apparently on it, and scarce an inhabitant left in it; which was the case at this present instant, as the Jews, to whom the prophet directs his discourse, well knew; and to whom he appeals for the truth of it: now all this was for the sins, particularly the idolatry, they had been guilty of; as is further explained in Jer 44:23.





Jeremiah 44:23



Ver. 23. And because ye have burnt incense,.... Not to Jehovah, but to the queen of heaven; which they owned they did, and determined they would; asserting it was better with them when they did it than when they omitted it; for which reason the prophet particularly mentions it, and assigns it as the cause of the present ruin and destruction of their land, city, and temple:



and because ye have sinned against the Lord; by worshipping idols; all sin is against the Lord, but especially idolatry:



and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord; by his prophets, who cautioned them against idolatry, reproved them for it, and told them what would be the consequence of it; but this they hearkened not unto, which was an aggravation of their sin:



nor walked in his law; the moral law, according to it; which is a rule of walk and conversation:



nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; as not in the moral law, so neither in the ceremonial law, and the rites of that; nor in the judicial law, and the testifications of the will of God in either of them:



therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day: that is, the desolation on their land, as in Jer 44:23;

See Gill on "Jer 44:23".





Jeremiah 44:24



Ver. 24. Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women,.... To all the people in general, and to the women in particular, who had a principal concern in these idolatrous practices:



hear the word of the Lord, all Judah that [are] in the land of Egypt; all of the tribe of Judah that were in Egypt; not in Pathros only, but in other parts of Egypt; this distinguishes them from those of Judah that were in Babylon, and in other provinces; and tacitly points at their sin in going to Egypt, which was the leading step to then fresh acts of idolatry they had been guilty of; these are called upon to hear the word of the Lord: what the prophet had said before was what was upon his mind without immediate inspiration, or as a direct message from the Lord; but what follows is.





Jeremiah 44:25



Ver. 25. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,.... Which is an usual preface to prophecies coming from him:



saying; as follows:



ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand; they had said they would burn incense to the queen of heaven, and they had done it; they had been as good as their word, true to it, though in a bad thing: their words and works agreed, and so did the men and their wives: the women had before said they did not perform worship to the queen of heaven without their men; this is acknowledged by the Lord, and their confession is improved against them:



saying, we will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her; they thought, because they made a vow that they would do it, that it was therefore obligatory upon them, and this would be sufficient to justify them before God, and excuse it to him; whereas nothing that is sinful ought to be vowed or performed; and to vow and perform in such a case is doubly criminal: a vow cannot make that lawful which is unlawful; and the performance of it can never be a laudable action:



ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows; they were resolutely set upon it, and nothing would hinder their performance of it; this shows the obstinacy and firmness of their minds: though some think these words are spoken ironically.





Jeremiah 44:26



Ver. 26. Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt,.... See Gill on "Jer 44:24"; since you have made your vows, and will perform them, I will take an oath, and abide by it:



behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord; by his name Jehovah, which is incommunicable, and expressive of his eternity and immutability; or by himself, his name being himself, and than which he can swear by no greater, Heb 6:13;



that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, the Lord God liveth: this cannot be understood of the name of the Lord being called upon them, or of their being called by his name, and reckoned his people, which is the sense of Abarbinel; since this respects not a name by which they should be named, but which they should name; and intends their use of the divine name in an oath, of which this is a form, "the Lord God liveth": or as sure as the Lord lives, or by the living God, it is so and so; and especially as used in their vows to burn incense to the queen of heaven, they vowing by the living God that they would do so, which must be very abominable to him; and therefore he solemnly swears there should not be a Jew in all Egypt that should use it; the reason is, because everyone of them that did should be cut off, as follows:





Jeremiah 44:27



Ver. 27. Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good,.... To bring the evil of punishment upon them, the particulars of which are after mentioned, and not the blessings of goodness, as formerly; and this he would be as careful and diligent to bring about, as one that watches all opportunities to do hurt to another; and it must be dreadful to be under the vigilant avenging eye of God:



and all the men of Judah that [are] in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword, and by the famine, until there be an end of them; that is, the greatest part of them, excepting a few that shall escape, hereafter mentioned, particularly Jeremiah and Baruch; but as for the main body of such, who went of their own accord to Egypt, and settled, and fell: into the idolatry of the country; these should all perish one after another, till there were none of them left; either by the sword of the king of Babylon; or by famine, which his army and sieges would produce; or by pestilence, though not here mentioned, yet is in Jer 44:13.





Jeremiah 44:28



Ver. 28. Yet a small number that shall escape the sword,.... The sword of the king of Babylon, and the other judgments, and which would be but very few; "men of number" {k}, as in the Hebrew text, which might easily be numbered; Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah, and some few righteous persons among them, as Kimchi and Abarbinel observe:



shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah; they shall make their escape out of the land of Egypt, whither they did not go willingly; and, by one providence or another, shall come back to their native country, the land of Judea, When the rest will not; which must be a distinguishing your to them:



and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know what words shall stand, mine or theirs; those that are left of the sword, famine, and pestilence, shall know experimentally, by facts laid down, whose words have their effect and accomplishment, stand firm and sure; whether theirs, that promised impunity and safety, peace and prosperity, in their idolatrous practices; or the Lord's, which threatened with ruin and destruction. The Lord is true, and every man a liar; whatever devices are in a man's heart, the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.



{k} rpom ytm "viri numeri", Montanus, &c.





Jeremiah 44:29



Ver. 29. And this [shall be] a sign unto you, saith the Lord, that I will punish you in this place,.... In Egypt, as before threatened; and what follows is a confirming sign that so it would be; and which, when observed by some, gave the hint to them to make their escape; though others, being hardened in their idolatry, impenitence, and unbelief, continued, and perished:



that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil; which sign, when they should see, they might assure themselves that the threatenings of evil to them would certainly be accomplished, as sure as they saw the sign given, which is as follows:





Jeremiah 44:30



Ver. 30. Thus saith the Lord, behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt,.... Pharaoh was a common name of the kings of Egypt, who usually had some surname, by which they were distinguished; and the surname of the then present king of Egypt was Hophra; whom the Septuagint and others call Vaphres; and, Herodotus {l} Apries. The Targum renders it Pharaoh the broken; and the Syriac version Pharaoh the lame: now it is here predicted as a sign of the destruction of the Jews in Egypt, which should follow after, that God would deliver this king



into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; either into the hands of his rebellious subjects, headed by Amasis, by whom he was kept alive for a while after taken, and then put to death, as Herodotus reports; or rather into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar; for Josephus says {m}, that he, in the twenty third year of his reign, which was four or five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, having subdued the Syrians, Ammonites, and Moabites, entered Egypt in a hostile manner, and slew the then remaining king, and set up another; and this is confirmed by what follows:



as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that sought his life; in like manner, and as sure as he had done the one, he would do the other; and he puts the Jews in mind of what he had done by him, and which they had full and certain knowledge of; and might from hence conclude that this also would be accomplished, here given as a sign of their own ruin; and which, when they saw come to pass, might know that it was at hand; and, indeed, the king of Egypt, in whom they trusted, being taken by his enemies, and his country wasted, they must in course fall a prey to the conqueror.



{l} Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 161, 162, 169. & Melpomene, sive l. 4. c. 159. {m} Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7.



 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Jeremiah 45:1



INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 45



This chapter contains a prophecy, delivered to Baruch for his personal use. The time of it is expressed, Jer 45:1; a reproof is given him for his immoderate grief and sorrow, Jer 45:2; the destruction of the land of Judea is prophesied of; and therefore it was wrong in him to seek great things for himself at such a time; however, he is assured of his own safety, Jer 45:4.



Ver. 1. The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch the son of Neriah,.... Who was his amanuensis or scribe; and this word he spake not to him of himself, but in the name of the Lord, as coming from him; so the Targum calls it,



"the word of prophecy which Jeremiah the prophet prophesied concerning Baruch the son of Neriah:''



when he had written these words in a book at the mouth of Jeremiah; not what immediately precede, concerning the destruction of the Jews in Egypt; which were delivered out many years after the writing of the roll by Baruch here referred to; and which was done, as here said,



in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; which was eighteen years before the destruction of Jerusalem; so that this prophecy does not stand in order, which would more properly have followed the thirty sixth chapter; where we have an account of what Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah in a roll, and read to the people, and after that to the princes; which exposed him to danger, and caused the grief expressed by him in this chapter; but it being written to a private person, is postponed to this place:



saying; as follows:







Jeremiah 45:2



Ver. 2. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch. Whom he knew by name, had a great regard for, and honours with this prophecy; and, being an Israelite, both in a literal and spiritual sense, he addresses him as the God of Israel, and as being his covenant God; in whom he should put his trust, and from whom he might expect safety and protection in the worst of times; and to whose sovereign will, in all the dispensations of his providence, he ought to have humbly and patiently submitted.





Jeremiah 45:3



Ver. 3. Thou didst say, woe is me now!.... What will become of me? I am ruined and undone; this he said in his heart, if not with his lips, perhaps both ways; and when the king gave orders for the apprehending of him and the prophet, being provoked at the roll which he had wrote and read, Jer 36:26;



for the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow; caused him grief upon grief, sorrow upon sorrow, an abundance of it; for there was a variety of things which occasioned grief and sorrow; the trouble of his office, as secretary to the prophet; the reproach east upon him by the people for it; the grievous things contained in the prophecies he transcribed, concerning the ruin of his people and nation; the king's displeasure at the roll, and his burning it; to which was added the danger he was exposed unto for writing it; and especially, as he might apprehend, for writing it over again, after it was burnt; to which were annexed new threatenings, and such as personally concerned the king;



I fainted in my sighing; or "with" it; he sighed and groaned at what he saw coming upon his country, and particularly upon himself; it quite overcame his spirits; he sunk and swooned away: or "I laboured in my sighing" {n}; amidst his sighs and groans, he prayed to the Lord, and laboured in prayer, that he might be delivered from the evils he feared were coming upon him:



and I find no rest; from his grief, sorrow, and sighing; no cessation of that; no serenity and composure of mind; no answer of prayer from God. The Targum is,



"and I found not prophecy.''



And the Jewish commentators, as Jarchi, Kimchi, Abarbinel, and Abendana, from the ancient Midrashes, interpret this grief of Baruch to be on account of his not having the gift of prophecy bestowed on him, which he expected by being a servant of the prophet {o}; and represent him as saying, Joshua ministered to Moses, and the Holy Spirit dwelled upon him; Elisha ministered to Elijah, and the Holy Spirit rested upon him; how different am I from all the disciples of the prophets! "woe is me now!" &c.



{n} tyxnab ytegy "in gemitu meo", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Vatanblus, "in suspirio meo", Cocceius, Schmidt. {o} Vid. Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 32. p. 286.







Jeremiah 45:4



Ver. 4. Thus shalt thou say unto him,.... This is spoken to Jeremiah, and is an order from the Lord to him, what he should say in his name to Baruch:



the Lord saith thus, behold, [that] which I have built will I break down, and that which I have planted I will pluck up; the Jewish nation, both as to church and state; which the Lord had built up as a spacious and beautiful house to dwell in, and had planted as a vineyard, and set it with pleasant plants; but now would demolish this building, and destroy this plantation:



even this whole land; not a few cities only, or only Jerusalem the metropolis, but the whole land of Judea; no part of it but what should be left desolate. So the Targum,



"even the whole land of Israel, which is mine.''







Jeremiah 45:5



Ver. 5. Seekest thou great things for thyself? seek [them] not,.... Riches and wealth honour and esteem, peace and prosperity; these were not to be sought after and expected, when the whole nation would be involved in such a general calamity. Baruch perhaps expected that his reading the roll to princes would have been a means of preferring him at court, of advancing him to some post or office, in which he might have acquired wealth, and got applause, and lived in peace and plenty all his days; but this was not to be looked for; when, if he observed, the very roll he wrote and read contained in it prophecies of the general ruin of the nation. The Jews restrain this to the gift of prophecy they suppose Baruch sought after, which was not to be enjoyed out of the land of Canaan:



for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh; not upon every individual person in the world; but upon all the inhabitants of Judea, who should either die by the sword or by famine, or by pestilence, or be carried captive, or be in some distress or another:



but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest; suggesting that he should be obliged to quit his native place and country, and go from place to place; as he did, after the destruction of Jerusalem, along with the prophet; and even into Egypt with the Jews that went there; where his life would be in danger, and yet should be preserved; he should be snatched as a brand out of the burning, when Jerusalem was taken; and in other places, when exposed, though he should lose everything, yet not his life; which should be as dear to him as a rich spoil taken by the soldier, being a distinguishing mercy.



 

↑ Back to top