19 And when we burned incense H6999 to the queen H4446 of heaven, H8064 and poured out H5258 drink offerings H5262 unto her, did we make H6213 her cakes H3561 to worship H6087 her, and pour out H5258 drink offerings H5262 unto her, without H1107 our men? H582
And he said, H559 Who H4310 told H5046 thee that thou wast naked? H5903 Hast thou eaten H398 of the tree, H6086 whereof I commanded thee H6680 that thou shouldest not H1115 eat? H398 And the man H120 said, H559 The woman H802 whom thou gavest H5414 to be with me, H5978 she H1931 gave H5414 me of the tree, H6086 and I did eat. H398
Unto the woman H802 he said, H559 I will greatly H7235 multiply H7235 thy sorrow H6093 and thy conception; H2032 in sorrow H6089 thou shalt bring forth H3205 children; H1121 and thy desire H8669 shall be to thy husband, H376 and he shall rule H4910 over thee. And unto Adam H121 he said, H559 Because thou hast hearkened H8085 unto the voice H6963 of thy wife, H802 and hast eaten H398 of the tree, H6086 of which H834 I commanded thee, H6680 saying, H559 Thou shalt not eat H398 of it: cursed H779 is the ground H127 for thy sake; in sorrow H6093 shalt thou eat H398 of it all H3605 the days H3117 of thy life; H2416
And if she had at all an husband, H376 when she vowed, H5088 or uttered H4008 ought out of her lips, H8193 wherewith she bound H631 her soul; H5315 And her husband H376 heard H8085 it, and held his peace H2790 at her in the day H3117 that he heard H8085 it: then her vows H5088 shall stand, H6965 and her bonds H632 wherewith she bound H631 her soul H5315 shall stand. H6965
Neither shalt thou make marriages H2859 with them; thy daughter H1323 thou shalt not give H5414 unto his son, H1121 nor his daughter H1323 shalt thou take H3947 unto thy son. H1121 For they will turn away H5493 thy son H1121 from following H310 me, that they may serve H5647 other H312 gods: H430 so will the anger H639 of the LORD H3068 be kindled H2734 against you, and destroy H8045 thee suddenly. H4118
Therefore G1161 Herodias G2266 had a quarrel G1758 against him, G846 and G2532 would G2309 have killed G615 him; G846 but G2532 she could G1410 not: G3756 For G1063 Herod G2264 feared G5399 John, G2491 knowing G1492 that he G846 was a just G1342 man G435 and G2532 an holy, G40 and G2532 observed G4933 him; G846 and G2532 when he heard G191 him, G846 he did G4160 many things, G4183 and G2532 heard G191 him G846 gladly. G2234 And G2532 when a convenient G2121 day G2250 was come, G1096 that G3753 Herod G2264 on his G846 birthday G1077 made G4160 a supper G1173 to his G846 lords, G3175 G2532 high captains, G5506 and G2532 chief G4413 estates of Galilee; G1056 And G2532 when the daughter G2364 of the said G846 Herodias G2266 came in, G1525 and G2532 danced, G3738 and G2532 pleased G700 Herod G2264 and G2532 them that sat with him, G4873 the king G935 said G2036 unto the damsel, G2877 Ask G154 of me G3165 whatsoever G3739 G1437 thou wilt, G2309 and G2532 I will give G1325 it thee. G4671 And G2532 he sware G3660 unto her, G846 Whatsoever G3754 G3739 G1437 thou shalt ask G154 of me, G3165 I will give G1325 it thee, G4671 unto G2193 the half G2255 of my G3450 kingdom. G932 And G1161 she went forth, G1831 and said G2036 unto her G846 mother, G3384 What G5101 shall I ask? G154 And G1161 she said, G2036 The head G2776 of John G2491 the Baptist. G910 And G2532 she came in G1525 straightway G2112 with G3326 haste G4710 unto G4314 the king, G935 and asked, G154 saying, G3004 I will G2309 that G2443 thou give G1325 me G3427 by and by G1824 in G1909 a charger G4094 the head G2776 of John G2491 the Baptist. G910 And G2532 the king G935 was G1096 exceeding sorry; G4036 yet for G1223 his oath's sake, G3727 and G2532 for their sakes which G3588 sat with him, G4873 he would G2309 not G3756 reject G114 her. G846 And G2532 immediately G2112 the king G935 sent G649 an executioner, G4688 and commanded G2004 his G846 head G2776 to be brought: G5342 and G1161 he went G565 and beheaded G607 him G846 in G1722 the prison, G5438
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 44
Commentary on Jeremiah 44 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 44
Jer 44:1-30. Jeremiah Reproves the Jews for Their Idolatry in Egypt, and Denounces God's Judgments on Them and Egypt Alike.
1. Migdol—meaning a "tower." A city east of Egypt, towards the Red Sea (Ex 14:2; Nu 33:7).
Noph—Memphis, now Cairo (Jer 2:16).
Pathros—Upper Egypt (Isa 11:11).
2. evil … upon Jerusalem—If I spared not My own sacred city, much less shall ye be safe in Egypt, which I loathe.
3. they went—implying perverse assiduity: they went out of their way to burn incense (one species of idolatry put for all kinds), &c.
4. (2Ch 36:15).
7. now—after so many warnings.
commit … this … evil against your souls—(Jer 7:19; Nu 16:38; Pr 8:36). It is not God whom you injure, but yourselves.
8. in … Egypt—where they polluted themselves to ingratiate themselves with the Egyptians.
ye be gone—not compelled by fear, but of your own accord, when I forbade you, and when it was free to you to stay in Judea.
that ye might cut yourselves off—They, as it were, purposely courted their own ruin.
9. Have you forgotten how the wickednesses of your fathers were the source of the greatest calamities to you?
their wives—The Jews' worldly queens were great promoters of idolatry (1Ki 11:1-8; 15:13; 16:31).
the land of Judah—They defiled the land which was holy unto God.
10. They … you—The third person puts them to a distance from God on account of their alienating themselves from Him. The second person implies that God formerly had directly addressed them.
humbled—literally, "contrite" (Ps 51:17).
neither … feared—(Pr 28:14).
11. Behold, I will set my face against you for evil—(See on Le 17:10).
and to cut off all Judah—that is, all the idolaters; Jer 44:28 shows that some returned to Judea (compare Jer 42:17).
14. none … shall escape … that they should return, &c.—The Jews had gone to Egypt with the idea that a return to Judea, which they thought hopeless to their brethren in Babylon, would be an easy matter to themselves in Egypt: the exact reverse should happen in the case of each respectively. The Jews whom God sent to Babylon were there weaned from idolatry, and were restored; those who went to Egypt by their perverse will were hardened in idolatry, and perished there.
have a desire—literally, "lift up (their) soul," that is, their hopes (compare Jer 22:27, Margin; De 24:15, Margin).
none shall return but such as shall escape—namely, the "small number" (Jer 44:28) who were brought by force into Egypt, as Jeremiah and Baruch, and those who, in accordance with Jeremiah's advice, should flee from Egypt before the arrival of the Chaldeans (see on Jer 42:17). Calvin less probably refers the words to the return of the exiles in Babylon, which the Jews in Egypt regarded as hopeless.
15. their wives—The idolatry began with them (1Ki 11:4; 1Ti 2:14). Their husbands' connivance implicated them in the guilt.
16. we will not—(Jer 6:16).
17. whatsoever … goeth … out of our … mouth—whatever vow we have uttered to our gods (Jer 44:25; De 23:23; Jud 11:36). The source of all superstitions is that men oppose their own will and fancies to God's commands.
queen of heaven—(See on Jer 7:18); Ashtaroth or Astarte.
we … fathers … king, &c.—The evil was restricted to no one class: all from the highest to the lowest shared the guilt.
then had we plenty—Fools attribute their seeming prosperity to God's connivance at their sin: but see Pr 1:32; Ec 8:11-13. In fact, God had often chastised them for their idolatry (see Jud 2:14); but it is the curse of impiety not to perceive the hand of God in calamities.
victuals—Men cast away the bread of the soul for the bread that perisheth (De 8:3; Joh 6:27). So Esau (Heb 12:16).
18. They impute their calamities to their service of God, but these are often marks of His favor, not of wrath, to do His people good at their latter end (De 8:16).
19. make … cakes to worship her—Maurer translates, "to form her image." Crescent-shaped cakes were offered to the moon. Vulgate supports English Version.
without our men—The women mentioned (Jer 44:15); "a great multitude" here speak: we have not engaged in secret night orgies which might justly be regarded unfavorably by our husbands: our sacred rites have been open, and with their privity. They wish to show how unreasonable it is that Jeremiah should oppose himself alone to the act of all, not merely women, but men also. The guilty, like these women, desire to shield themselves under the complicity of others. Instead of helping one another towards heaven, husband and wife often ripen one another for hell.
21. The incense … did not the Lord remember—Jeremiah owns that they did as they said, but in retort asks, did not God repay their own evil-doing? Their very land in its present desolation attests this (Jer 44:22), as was foretold (Jer 25:11, 18, 38).
23. law—the moral precepts.
statutes—the ceremonial.
testimonies—the judicial (Da 9:11, 12).
25. Ye … have both spoken with … mouths, and fulfilled with … hand—ironical praise. They had pleaded their obligation to fulfil their vows, in excuse for their idolatry. He answers, no one can accuse you of unsteadiness as to your idolatrous vows; but steadfastness towards God ought to have prevented you from making, or, when made, from keeping such vows.
ye will surely accomplish … vows—Jeremiah hereby gives them up to their own fatal obstinacy.
26. I have sworn—I, too have made a vow which I will fulfil. Since ye will not hear Me speaking and warning, hear Me swearing.
by my great name—that is, by Myself (Ge 22:16), the greatest by whom God can swear (Heb 6:13, 14).
my name shall no more be named—The Jews, heretofore, amidst all their idolatry, had retained the form of appeal to the name of God and the law, the distinctive glory of their nation; God will allow this no more (Eze 20:39): there shall be none left there to profane His name thus any more.
27. watch over … for evil—(Jer 1:10; Eze 7:6). The God, whose providence is ever solicitously watching over His people for good, shall solicitously, as it were, watch for their hurt. Contrast Jer 31:28; 32:41.
28. small number—(see on Jer 44:14; and Jer 42:17; Isa 27:13); compare "all-consumed" (Jer 44:27). A band easily counted, whereas they were expecting to return triumphantly in large numbers.
shall know—most of them experimentally, and to their cost.
whose words … mine, or theirs—Hebrew, "that from Me and them." Jehovah's words are His threats of destruction to the Jews; theirs, the assertion that they expected all goods from their gods (Jer 44:17), &c. "Mine"; by which I predict ruin to them. "Theirs"; by which they give themselves free scope in iniquity.
shall stand—(Ps 33:11).
29. this … sign unto you—The calamity of Pharaoh-hophra (see on Jer 44:30) shall be a sign to you that as he shall fall before his enemy, so you shall subsequently fall before Nebuchadnezzar (Mt 24:8) [Grotius]. Calvin makes the "sign" to be simultaneous with the event signified, not antecedent to it, as in Ex 3:12. The Jews believed Egypt impregnable, so shut in was it by natural barriers. The Jews being "punished in this place" will be a sign that their view is false, and God's threat true. He calls it "a sign unto you," because God's prediction is equivalent to the event, so that they may even now take it as a sign. When fulfilled it would cease to be a sign to them: for they would be dead.
30. Hophra—in Herodotus called Apries. He succeeded Psammis, the successor of Pharaoh-necho, who was beaten by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, on the Euphrates. Amasis rebelled against, and overcame him, in the city Sais.
them that seek his life—Herodotus, in curious accordance with this, records that Amasis, after treating Hophra well at first, was instigated, by persons who thought they could not be safe unless he were put to death, to strangle him. "His enemies" refer to Amasis, &c.; the words are accurately chosen, so as not to refer to Nebuchadnezzar, who is not mentioned till the end of the verse, and in connection with Zedekiah (Eze 20:3; 30:21). Amasis' civil war with Hophra pioneered the way for Nebuchadnezzar's invasion in the twenty-third year of his reign [Josephus, Antiquities, 10.11].