Jeremiah — Chapter 43
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1When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God—everything that the LORD had sent him to say—
2Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to reside there.’
3Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, so that they may put us to death or exile us to Babylon!”
4So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces disobeyed the command of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah.
5Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the whole remnant of Judah, those who had returned to the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been scattered,
6the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah.
7So they entered the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the LORD, and they went as far as Tahpanhes.
8Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes:
9“In the sight of the Jews, pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes.
10Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them.
11He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.
12I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar will burn those temples and take their gods as captives. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will depart from there unscathed.
13He will demolish the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in the land of Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”
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 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:
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.
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.
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;
6Even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzar-adan 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.
7So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.
8Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
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;
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.
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.
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.
13He shall break also the images of Beth-shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.
1And it came to pass that, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of Jehovah their God, wherewith Jehovah their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
2then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: Jehovah our God hath not sent thee to say, Ye shall not go into Egypt to sojourn there;
3but Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captive to Babylon.
4So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of Jehovah, to dwell in the land of Judah.
5But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all the nations whither they had been driven, to sojourn in the land of Judah;
6the men, and the women, and the 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;
7and they came into the land of Egypt; for they obeyed not the voice of Jehovah: and they came unto Tahpanhes.
8Then came the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
9Take great stones in thy hand, and hide them in mortar in the brickwork, which is at the entry of Pharaoh`s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;
10and say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah 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.
11And he shall come, and shall smite the land of Egypt; such as are for death [shall be given] to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.
12And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captive: 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.
13He shall also break the pillars of Beth-shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire.
1Jeremiah finished telling all the people all these things the Lord their God had sent him to tell them.
2Then Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and other arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are telling a lie! The Lord our God did not send you to tell us, ‘You must not go to Egypt and settle there.’
3But Baruch son of Neriah is stirring you up against us. He wants to hand us over to the Babylonians so that they will kill us or carry us off into exile in Babylon.”
4So Johanan son of Kareah, all the army officers, and all the rest of the people did not obey the Lord’s command to stay in the land of Judah.
5Instead Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led off all the Judean remnant who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered.
6They also led off all the men, women, children, and royal princesses that Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard, had left with Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan; this included the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah.
7They went on to Egypt because they refused to obey the Lord, and came to Tahpanhes.
8At Tahpanhes the Lord’s message came to Jeremiah:
9“Take some large stones and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement at the entrance of Pharaoh’s residence here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching.
10Then tell them, ‘The Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says, “I will bring my servant King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones that I have buried. He will pitch his royal tent over them.
11He will come and attack Egypt. Those who are destined to die of disease will die of disease. Those who are destined to be carried off into exile will be carried off into exile. Those who are destined to die in war will die in war.
12He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt. He will burn their gods or carry them off as captives. He will pick Egypt clean like a shepherd picks the lice from his clothing. He will leave there unharmed.
13He will demolish the sacred pillars in the temple of the sun in Egypt and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.”’”
1When Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, with which Yahweh their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
2then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely. Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘You shall not go into Egypt to live there;’
3but Baruch the son of Neriah has turned you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death, and carry us away captive to Babylon.”
4So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, didn’t obey Yahweh’s voice, to dwell in the land of Judah.
5But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, who had returned from all the nations where they had been driven, to live in the land of Judah;
6the men, and the women, and the children, and the king’s daughters, and every person who 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;
7and they came into the land of Egypt; for they didn’t obey Yahweh’s voice: and they came to Tahpanhes.
8Then Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
9“Take great stones in your hand, and hide them in mortar in the brick work, which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;
10and tell them, Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne on these stones that I have hidden; and he will spread his royal pavilion over them.
11He will come, and will strike the land of Egypt; such as are for death will be put to death, and such as are for captivity to captivity, and such as are for the sword to the sword.
12I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt. He will burn them, and carry them away captive. He will array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment; and he will go out from there in peace.
13He will also break the pillars of Beth Shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and he will burn the houses of the gods of Egypt with fire.’”
Summary
Rejecting Jeremiah's word, the remnant, led by Johanan and other officers, accuses Jeremiah and Baruch of lying and forces them, along with the rest of the people, to go down into Egypt (vv. 1-7). Once in Tahpanhes, God instructs Jeremiah to bury large stones at the entrance of Pharaoh's palace as a sign, declaring that Nebuchadnezzar will one day set his throne on that very spot and extend his conquest over Egypt (vv. 8-11). The chapter closes with the warning that Babylon will also plunder Egypt's temples and idols, showing that the sword the remnant fled from will ultimately overtake them anyway (vv. 12-13).
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- Egypt (v.2, v.7, v.11): Land to the southwest; place of Israel's bondage and exodus.
- Babylon (v.3, v.10): Capital of the Babylonian empire; place of Judah's exile (modern Iraq).
Places on this map
- EgyptEgyptA ribbon of irrigated land along the Nile, ending in the Delta where Israel settled in Goshen. Rain-fed Canaan depended on weather; Egypt depended on a river that flooded on schedule, which made it the place everyone went when the harvest failed. Wikipedia
- Babylonnear Hillah, IraqOn the Euphrates about 55 miles south of modern Baghdad. Judah's exiles were marched roughly 900 miles to get here, the long way round the Arabian desert, which is why the journey took months and the return was a genuine undertaking rather than a short trip home. Wikipedia
Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Jeremiah -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- Calling God's Clear Answer a Lie (vv.1-2) — Having just received a specific answer from God through Jeremiah in the previous chapter, the leaders now flatly call it false. When God's answer isn't what you wanted to hear, do you argue with it or accept it?
- Blaming the Messenger for the Message (v.3) — Rather than accept the word, the leaders accuse Baruch of manipulating Jeremiah into saying it. When a hard truth confronts you, are you tempted to discredit the person delivering it instead of dealing with what was actually said?
- Dragged Into Someone Else's Disobedience (v.6) — Jeremiah doesn't choose to go to Egypt; the people force him along against his will. How does it change your view of sin to see that one person's disobedience can pull others into its consequences?
- No Outrunning What You're Fleeing (v.10) — Egypt feels like safety, far from Babylon, but God says Nebuchadnezzar's throne will be set up right there. What are you hoping a change of location or circumstance will fix, when what actually needs to change is your trust in God?