The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 44
Chapter XLIV · Vol. III, pp. 1285–1287
1 Jeremiah expresseth the desolation of Judah for their idolatry. 11 He prophesieth their destruction, who commit idolatry in Egypt. 15 The obstinacy of the Jews. 20 Jeremiah threateneth them for the same, 29 and for a sign foretelleth the ruin of the king of Egypt.
1 The worda that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at bMigdol,1 and at cTahpanhes,2 and at 3Noph,4 and in the country of 5Pathros,6 saying,
A.M. cir. 3416. B.C. cir. 588.
a ch.1.2; 26.12,15. Eze.2.7; 3.17.
b Ex.14.2. ch.46.14.
1 A city of Egypt, situated near the west shore of the Red Sea, near the place where the Israelites encamped previous to their passing the sea into the wilderness, Ex.14.2.—C.
c ch.43.7. Eze.30.18.
2 See note on ch.43.7.—C.
3 Eze.30.13,16. Is.19.13, or Memphis, now Cairo, Ho.9.6.
4 Or Memphis, the capital of Middle Egypt, on the west side of the Nile, nearly opposite the modern Cairo. It was famous for its temple, in which was kept the famous ox-god Apis. It was first ravaged by Nebuchadnezzar, afterwards completely ruined by Cambyses. It was afterwards rebuilt by the Grecian kings; and, at the commencement of the Christian era, was next in importance to Alexandria. It was again destroyed by the Saracens, and scarce a vestige of its glory remains.—C.
5 Is.11.11. Eze.30.14. Ge.10.14. Whether it be the north or south part of Egypt, is not agreed.
6 A city of Upper Egypt, and was situated, according to Ptolemy, in the neighbourhood of the celebrated Thebes. There is not even a ruin to mark its site—so fully and so fearfully have the divine judgments been executed.—C.
2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day dthey are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein;7
d ch.4.7,20; 25.11; 34.22; xxxix.lii. 2 Ki.xxv. 2 Ch.xxxvi. La.i.-v. Eze.v.-xxiv. Mi.3.12.
7 He does not say, that no man lives therein; but, no man 'dwelleth,' as in a peaceful and settled residence.—C.
3 Becausee of their wickedness which they have committed, to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
4 Howbeit gI sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early, and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this habominable thing that I hate.
g ch.7.13,25; 25.3,4; 26.5; 29.19; 32.33. 2 Ch.36.15. Zec.7.7.
h Eze.16.36,37.
5 Buti they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to jburn no incense unto other gods.
i 2 Ch.36.16. ch.7.24. De.29.19. Ps.81.11. Is.48.4. Zec.7.11,12.
j ver.17,21; ch.19.13.
6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger kwas poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
k ch.42.18; xxxix.lii. See on ver.2. Ne.13.18. Da.9.12. Zec.1.5,6. 1 Co.10.11.
7 Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, lWherefore commit ye this great evil against nyour souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of8 Judah, oto leave you none to remain;
8 In that pye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye qmight be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
p Is.3.8. 1 Co.10.22. He.3.16. De.32.15-21. ch.2.9-28; 25.6,7.
q ch.42.18; 24.9; 18.16; 26.6; 29.18.
9 Have ye forgotten rthe wickedness9 of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
10 They are not humbled1 even unto this day, sneither have they tfeared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you, and before your fathers.
1 Heb. contrite, Ps.51.17. Is.57.15; 66.2. 2 Ki.22.19.
s De.29.4. Ho.11.2,7. Eze.xx.xvi.xxiii. Zec.7.11,12.
t Pr.14.16. Ec.8.12,13. Mal.4.2.
11 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I uwill set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
12 And vI will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed,2 and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the xleast even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine; and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
v See on ch.42.15-18.
2 Contrary to God's unambiguous command, they had gone to Egypt to escape destruction; but there, for their disobedience, they are to suffer vengeance in those very forms which they had hoped to escape. 'They who will not be ruled by God's word, must be broken by his rod. And if men will prefer their own projects to God's promises and providence, it is just that they should meet with disappointments.'—I.
x Ho.4.6.
13 For I will punish3 them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:
3 Heb. visit, ch.11.22; 12.21; 43.11.
14 So that none of the remnant of Judah, which are ygone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have a desire4 to return to dwell there; zfor none shall return but such as shall aescape.5
y Is.30.1-3.
4 Heb. lift up their soul.
z ch.4.27; ver.27,28; ch.42.1,8,17.
a ch.51.50. Is.4.2; 10.20; 37.32; 45.20; 66.20.
5 Such as take heed to this prophetic warning, and escape from their idolatrous friends. C.——Henderson's translation is preferable, and appears to give the true sense:—'For they shall not return, except it be as fugitives.'—P.
15 Then ball the men which knew that their wives6 had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
b Ne.13.26. Ge.19.4. 2 Ch.28.22. Is.1.5. ch.5.3. Mat.7.13. 2 Ti.3.13.
6 The women, it would seem, had been principally engaged in this species of idolatry, but not without the concurrence of their husbands. We have not seen the women in determined rebellion before. Here, however, they make a common cause with their rebellious spouses, and boldly defend their flagrant idolatry.—I.
16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, cwe will not hearken unto thee.
c Ex.5.2. ch.6.16,17; 7.24,26; 18.18; 38.4.
17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goethd forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen7 of heaven, and to pour out8 drink-offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for ethen had we plenty of victuals,9 and were well, and saw no evil.
d Ps.12.4. ver.25. Nu.30.2,12. De.23.23. Ju.11.36.
7 Or, frame, ch.7.18; 19.13; 32.29. 2 Ki.17.16.
8 In Georgia, and other parts of the East, before feasting, it is customary to go out and raise the eyes to the naked heavens, and pour out a cup of wine upon the ground. The Hindoos pour out drink-offerings to the moon. So uniform and so permanent is idolatry.—C
e Ho.2.5-9. Is.48.5. Eze.16.49. ch.22.15.
9 Heb. bread.
18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
19 And when we1 burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink-offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink-offerings unto her,2 without our 3men?4
1 Women, ver.15; ch.7.18.
2 The Jews, following the example of the Phœnicians and other peoples of ancient Syria, worshipped the moon, or Astarte, under the name of the queen of heaven. The 'cakes' offered to her were crescent-shaped, and ornaments of the same shape were, and are still, worn as amulets and charms by Syrian females.—P.
3 Or, husbands, Ge.3.16. Ac.13.50.
4 By the Mosaic law women were prohibited from making a vow without consent of their husbands (Nu. 30.1-16); but the women here plead the consent of their husbands to their idolatrous practices, and intimate that no other had a right to interfere or control their actions. See ver. 25.—C.
20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, gdid not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?
g 2 Ki.23.26. Ho.2.13. Am.8.7.
22 So that the LORD hcould no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed, therefore is your land ia desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
23 Becausej ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor kwalked in his law, nor lin his statutes, nor nin his testimonies; therefore othis evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
j 1 Co.10.20. 2 Co.6.16. See on ver.8.
k Ps.119.150.
l Ps.119.155.
n Ps.78.56.
o 1 Ki.9.9. Ne.13.18. Da.9.11,12.
24 Moreover,p Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all qJudah that are in the land of Egypt;
p Is.28.10,13. Re.2.29. Mat.11.15; 13.9.
q ch.43.7.
25 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives rhave both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows5 that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her: ye will surely saccomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.
r ver.15-19. Job 15.5. ch.3.5. Mat.14.9. Ju.11.35,36. Is.28.15.
5 They insist on the obligation of their unlawful vows as binding the conscience, and not to be dispensed with, just as Herod did in the case of his unlawful oath, Mat. 14. 9. Although the women were here the principal actors, yet the men would still be considered as having a principal share in the guilt, since they had homologated the acts of the women, by not preventing them.—I.
s Job 34.22. Ja.1.14,15.
26 Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, tI have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that umy name shall no more be named6 in the mouth of any man of Judah, in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.
t He.6.13. Ge.22.16. Am.6.8; 8.7, with ver.25.
u Am.6.10. Ps.50.16. Eze.20.39. Mal.1.9,10. Mat.3.9.
6 He would no longer bear with a people who worshipped him with their mouths, while their hearts were after their idols; but, in confirmation of his threatening, and as a terrible lesson to all idolaters, he would cut them off by a speedy and universal destruction.—C.
27 Behold, vI will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be xconsumed by the sword, and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
v ch.31.28; 1.12; 20.10. Eze.7.6.
x ver.12. 2 Ki.21.14.
28 Yety a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah; and all the remnant of Judah, zthat are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine or theirs.7
y ver.14. Le.26.44,45. Ps.94.12,14. Hab.3.2. Is.10.19-22; 27.13. Eze.11.16.
7 Heb. from me or them. [They have declared their determination of adhering to their vows and resolutions, ver. 16, 17, 25. Now they shall see whose words shall stand good and take effect, mine or theirs.—I.]
29 And this shall be aa sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
a Ex.4.1-9. Ju.6.36-40. 1 Sa.2.34. Is.20.3,4. Lu.2.12.
30 Thus saith the LORD, Behold, bI will give Pharaoh-hophra8 king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies,9 and into the hand of them that seek his life, cas I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon his enemy, and that sought his life.
b ch.46.25,26. Da.2.21; 4.34,35. Eze.29.3,19; 30.10,11,21.
8 Successor to Pharaoh-nechoh, mentioned 2 Ki.23.29. He is called Apries by Herodotus, who relates that he proudly boasted 'that he had so established his kingdom that it was not in the power of any god to dispossess him of it.' But this proud and ungodly boaster was conquered, imprisoned, and finally strangled. Herod. Euterpe, cxlix.—C.
9 His rebellious subjects or the Chaldeans.
c ch.39.5; 52.8-11. 2 Ki.25.4-7.
Notes
Ver. 6. There are those who object against the ascription of 'fury and anger' to God. The objections would disappear if they were not viewed as human passions, but as sources of the divine judgments. The ruin and desolation of idolatrous lands are visible facts; the justice that inflicts them, sets forth and measures 'the fury and anger' of the LORD. C.
Ver. 7. This is a very remarkable remonstrance:—'Why do ye commit great wickedness against yourselves?' The Jews are represented as their own worst enemies, as their own executioners in fact. How can this be? God's law is clear. The nation that rebels against him shall perish. The Jews knew the law. Yet they deliberately rebelled. They had repeated experience of it in their own past history; yet that did not restrain them. They rebelled again more grievously than before, and by that rebellion necessarily entailed upon themselves the judgment here referred to. P.
Reflections.—Dreadful is the malignity of sin; infinitely God hates it, and earnestly should his ministers warn against it. It is a dreadful token of a reprobate mind when, with judgments upon us or around us, we harden ourselves in sin, and a certain sign that almighty judgment is at hand to destroy us. They who will not be ruled by God's word, must be broken by his rod. And if men will prefer their own projects to God's promises and providence, it is just that they should meet with disappointments. No antiquity, authority, custom, or prosperity, can ever warrant what God forbids. And it is dreadful when the means which God uses to draw or drive us from our sins are perverted to harden us in them; or when those who should assist one another in the way to heaven are mutual tempters to and hardeners in sin. But God will effectually refute his obstinate opponents by the ruinous strokes of his wrath. Nor can a greater curse light upon sinners than to be given up to the devices of their own heart. Quickly will God ruin the created comforts and confidences which we put in his room. And indeed nothing is to us what we fancy it, but what he makes it.