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Jeremiah 44

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Judgment Declared Against Jews in Egypt 1–14

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The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews that dwelt in the land of Egypt, that dwelt at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Memphis, and in the country of Pathros, saying, ​
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Thus saith Jehovah 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 they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
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because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, that they knew not, neither they, nor ye, nor your fathers. ​
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Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. ​
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But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
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Wherefore my wrath and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as it is this day.
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Therefore now thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your own souls, to cut off from you man and woman, infant and suckling, out of the midst of Judah, to leave you none remaining; ​
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in that ye provoke me unto anger with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye are gone to sojourn; that ye may be cut off, and that ye may be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? ​
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Have ye forgotten the wickedness 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 committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
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They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
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Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, even to cut off all Judah.
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And I 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; in the land of Egypt shall they fall; they shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine; they shall die, from the least 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. ​
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For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence;
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so that none of the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or be left, to return into the land of Judah, to which they have a desire to return to dwell there: for none shall return save such as shall escape. ​

The People Defiantly Reject God’s Warning 15–19

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Then all the men who knew that their wives burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great assembly, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, ​
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As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of Jehovah, we will not hearken unto thee.
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But we will certainly perform every word that is gone forth out of our mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out 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 then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. ​
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But since we left off burning incense to the queen of heaven, and pouring out drink-offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. ​
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And when we 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, without our husbands? ​

Jeremiah Rebuts Their False Claims 20–23

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Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, even to all the people that had given him that answer, saying, ​
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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, did not Jehovah remember them, and came it not into his mind?
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so that Jehovah could not longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is this day. ​
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Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against Jehovah, and have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as it is this day.

Final Pronouncement of Destruction 24–30

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Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of Jehovah, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:
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Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and with your hands have fulfilled it, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink-offerings unto her: establish then your vows, and perform your vows.
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Therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith Jehovah, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, As the Lord Jehovah liveth. ​
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Behold, I watch over them for evil, and not for good; 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.
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And they that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine, or theirs. ​
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And this shall be the sign unto you, saith Jehovah, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
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Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 44

Verse 1

Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros — The word is for 'all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt', a wider group than the company that came to Tahpanhes (Jer 43:7). Migdol is named at the Exodus camp (Ex 14:2), Noph is Memphis (Moph in Hos 9:6), and Pathros is a district Isa 11:11 lists among the lands from which the LORD would recover his remnant.

Verse 3

gods whom they knew not — The LORD names the cause of the ruin as incense burned to other gods. The description is the one Moses gave in Deut 32:17, 'gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up', and in Deut 29:26. 'Knew' (yada) is the word of acquaintance, and the verse says the people, their present hearers and their fathers all lacked it.

Verse 4

rising early and sending them — Shakam again, 'daily rising up early and sending them' as in Jer 7:25, where the sending is dated 'since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt'. The plea, 'Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate', uses tow'ebah, the word of Deut 12:31, 'every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth'.

Verse 7

this great evil against your souls — The sin is against the sinner's own nephesh, as in Num 16:38, 'sinners against their own souls'. The list 'man and woman, child and suckling' is the one used of Amalek in 1 Sam 15:3, 'man and woman, infant and suckling'. Here it describes what idolatry was bringing on Judah, to 'leave you none to remain'.

Verse 8

provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands — This is the phrase of Jer 25:6–7, 'provoke me not to anger with the works of your hands'. 'Gone to dwell' is gur, to sojourn, the word of 42:22. 'A curse and a reproach' joins the series used of Judah in Jer 42:18, with 'execration' and 'astonishment', which is fulfilled here in a second land.

Verse 12

I will take the remnant of Judah — The 'remnant' (she'erith) that came to Jeremiah for guidance (Jer 42:2) is the one judged. 'Set their faces to go into Egypt' repeats Jer 42:15, 17, and 'from the least even unto the greatest' recalls the whole people who came near in 42:1. The sentence is the one given in advance: 'none of them shall remain or escape' (Jer 42:17).

Verse 14

none shall return but such as shall escape — 'Escape' is palit, a fugitive. 'Have a desire to return' is literally to lift up their nephesh, the idiom of Jer 22:27, 'to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return'. The exceptions are the few fugitives of v.28. The hope of returning to Judah is not met for those who went.

Verse 15

a great multitude — The answer comes from the men who 'knew that their wives had burned incense', and from the women, 'a great multitude', in Pathros as well as Tahpanhes. The husbands are named as knowing and consenting. The practice is the one Jeremiah had seen in Judah: 'the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough' (Jer 7:18).

Verse 17

whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth — This is the language of a vow, as in Deut 23:23, 'That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform'. The LORD turns it on them in v.25, 'We will surely perform our vows'. 'The queen of heaven' (meleketh hashamayim) occurs only in Jer 7:18 and 44:17–19, 25. They claim 'plenty of victuals' under her.

Verse 18

we have wanted all things — 'Wanted' is chaser, to lack, the word of Deut 2:7, 'thou hast lacked nothing'. The people assign their ruin to leaving off the worship of the queen of heaven. Josiah's reform had put down those who 'burned incense unto Baal… and to all the host of heaven' (2 Ki 23:5), and of Josiah the LORD said, 'then it was well with him' (Jer 22:15–16).

Verse 19

did we make her cakes — Kavvan, a sacrificial cake, occurs only here and in Jer 7:18. 'Without our men' appeals to the law of vows: a wife's vow stands when 'her husband heard it, and held his peace' (Num 30:6–7), but is void if he 'disallowed her' (Num 30:8). Their claim is that the men had consented to the vow, and Jeremiah accepts it in v.25.

Verse 20

to the men, and to the women — Jeremiah answers both groups, as both had answered him (v.15). His reply begins in v.21 with a question about the very worship in Judah that they cite: 'The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah… did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?' Verse 23 gives the cause of the ruin: 'Because ye have burned incense'.

Verse 22

the LORD could no longer bear — The verb is nasa, to bear or carry, the verb of Isa 1:14, 'I am weary to bear them'. The cause given is 'the evil of your doings' and 'the abominations'. 'A desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day' describes the land of Judah, as in Jer 25:18, and is shown to be the result of the people's own acts.

Verse 26

I have sworn by my great name — The LORD swears by himself, as in Gen 22:16, 'By myself have I sworn', and Amos 6:8. The oath is that his 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'. That oath-form was meant to be sworn by his name alone (Jer 12:16), not by Baal.

Verse 28

shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs — Qum is to stand, the verb of Isa 40:8, 'the word of our God shall stand for ever'. The test is the outcome: 'a small number' (metei mispar) of fugitives return to Judah, while the many who went to Egypt fall by sword and famine. Verse 29 gives a sign that 'my words shall surely stand against you for evil'.

Verse 30

Pharaohhophra king of Egypt — He is named only here in Scripture. The sign of v.29 is that he will be given 'into the hand of them that seek his life', the wording used of Zedekiah in Jer 34:21 and of Egypt in 46:26. Ezekiel says of Pharaoh king of Egypt, 'I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt' (Ezek 30:21).