Jeremiah 43

Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the LORD their God had said, every word the LORD their God had sent him to tell them.

1And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,

2Then Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, "You are lying. The LORD our God did not send you to say, 'Do not go to Egypt to live there.'

2Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there:

NoteThe scene follows the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in 586 BC. The Babylonians appointed Gedaliah as governor over the survivors left in Judah; when he was assassinated, the remaining leaders feared Babylonian reprisals and wanted to escape to Egypt. "Arrogant" renders a Hebrew word for men who are insolent or presumptuous, those who push ahead regardless of what they have been told.

3No, Baruch son of Neriah is the one stirring you up against us. He wants us handed over to the Chaldeans, so they can kill us or carry us off as prisoners to Babylon."

3But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.

NoteBaruch son of Neriah was Jeremiah's scribe, the man who wrote down and read out his messages (see chapter 36); the accusation is that the secretary is putting words in the prophet's mouth. "Chaldeans" is the standard biblical term for the Babylonians, Chaldea was the region of southern Mesopotamia from which Babylon's ruling dynasty came.

4So Johanan son of Kareah, all the army commanders, and all the people refused to obey the LORD's command to stay in the land of Judah.

4So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah.

5Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army commanders took the whole group of Judah's survivors, the people who had come back to live in the land of Judah after being scattered among all the nations.

5But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;

NoteThese were people who had fled to neighboring countries such as Moab, Ammon and Edom during the Babylonian invasion and had come back once the fighting stopped, only to find themselves on the move again.

6They took the men, the women, the children, and the king's daughters, along with everyone Nebuzaradan, the commander of the guard, had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan. They also took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah.

6Even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.

NoteNebuzaradan was the Babylonian officer who oversaw the destruction of Jerusalem and decided who was deported and who stayed; "commander of the guard" was a senior military rank, not a bodyguard's post. The "king's daughters" are royal women of the house of Judah left behind after King Zedekiah was captured.

7So they went into the land of Egypt, because they did not obey the LORD. They traveled as far as the town of Tahpanhes.

7So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.

NoteTahpanhes was an Egyptian frontier town in the eastern Nile delta, the first sizeable settlement on the road in from Canaan. It had an Egyptian garrison and a royal residence, which is why a pharaoh's palace appears there in the next verses.

8Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes:

8Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,

9"Pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes. Do it while the men of Judah are watching.

9Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;

NoteProphets often delivered a message by acting it out in public as well as speaking it, so that onlookers would remember the scene when the event came. The Hebrew word translated "brick pavement" (or in older versions "brickkiln") occurs only here and its meaning is uncertain: it may be a paved forecourt of bricks, a brick terrace, or a place where bricks were molded or fired. The stones are hidden so that the spot is marked in advance.

10Then say to them: This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am going to send for my servant Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and bring him here. I will set his throne on these stones I have buried, and he will spread his royal canopy over them.

10And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.

Note"LORD of Armies" (older versions: "LORD of hosts") is a title picturing God as commander of heaven's forces. "Nebuchadrezzar" is a spelling of the king's name closer to the Babylonian original; "Nebuchadnezzar" elsewhere is the same man. A royal canopy was the awning or tent spread over a king's throne when he held court in the open on campaign, setting it up on this spot would mean the Babylonian king ruling from the doorway of Egypt's palace.

11He will come and attack the land of Egypt. Those meant for death will die, those meant for capture will be taken away, and those meant for the sword will fall by the sword.

11And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.

NoteThis is a set formula in Jeremiah for sorting a defeated population into fates (compare 15:2): "death" in such lists usually means death by plague or disease that follows a siege, as distinct from those killed in battle by the sword and those marched off alive as captives.

12I will set fire to the temples of Egypt's gods. Nebuchadrezzar will burn those temples and carry the gods away as prisoners. He will wrap the land of Egypt around himself the way a shepherd wraps his cloak around himself, and he will leave there unharmed.

12And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.

NoteConquering armies routinely carried off the statues of a defeated nation's gods as trophies, which is what "carry the gods away as prisoners" describes. The shepherd's cloak is a comparison whose exact point is debated: it may mean he will take Egypt as easily and casually as a shepherd throws on his coat, or that he will wrap the whole land around himself as completely as a cloak covers a man.

13He will also smash the stone pillars at Bethshemesh in the land of Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt."

13He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.

Note"Bethshemesh" is Hebrew for "house of the sun" and is the Hebrew name for the Egyptian city the Greeks called Heliopolis, known in Egypt as On, near modern Cairo, the center of worship of the sun god. The "stone pillars" are its obelisks, tall tapering stone shafts that stood at the temple entrances.