11 and he hath come, and smitten the land of Egypt -- those who `are' for death to death, and those who `are' for captivity to captivity, and those who `are' for the sword to the sword.
And it hath come to pass, when they say to thee, Whither do we go out? that thou hast said unto them, Thus said Jehovah: Those who `are' for death -- to death, And those who are for the sword, to the sword, And those who are for famine, to famine, And those who are for captivity, to captivity.
`And I have seen after those dwelling in the land of Egypt, as I saw after Jerusalem, with sword, with famine, and with pestilence,
Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah, Lo, I am giving to Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon the land of Egypt, And he hath taken away its store, And hath taken its spoil, and taken its prey, And it hath been a reward to his force. His wage for which he laboured I have given to him, The land of Egypt -- in that they wrought for Me, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.
The burden of Egypt. Lo, Jehovah is riding on a swift thick cloud, And He hath entered Egypt, And moved have been the idols of Egypt at His presence, And the heart of Egypt melteth in its midst. And I armed Egyptians against Egyptians, And they fought, each against his brother, And each against his neighbour, City against city, kingdom against kingdom. And emptied out hath been in its midst the spirit of Egypt. And its counsel I swallow up, And they have sought unto the idols, And unto the charmers, And unto those having familiar spirits, And unto the wizards. And I have delivered the Egyptians Into the hand of a hard lord, And a strong king doth rule over them, An affirmation of the Lord, Jehovah of Hosts. And failed have waters from the sea, And a river is wasted and dried up. And they have turned away the flowings, Weak and dried up have been brooks of the bulwark, Reed and flag have withered. Exposed things by the brook, by the edge of the brook, And every sown thing of the brook, hath withered, It hath been driven away, and is not. And lamented have the fishers, And mourned have all casting angle into a brook, And those spreading nets on the face of the waters have languished. And ashamed have been makers of fine flax, And weavers of net-works. And its foundations have been smitten, All making wages `are' afflicted in soul. Only, fools `are' the princes of Zoan, The counsel of the wise ones of the counsellors of Pharaoh hath become brutish. How say ye unto Pharaoh, `A son of the wise am I, a son of kings of antiquity?' Where `are' they now, thy wise ones? Yea, let them tell to thee, I pray thee, And they know what Jehovah of Hosts hath counselled against Egypt! Foolish have been princes of Zoan, Lifted up have been princes of Noph, And they have caused Egypt to err, The chief of her tribes. Jehovah hath mingled in her midst A spirit of perverseness, And they have caused Egypt to err in all its work, As a drunkard erreth in his vomit. And there is no work to Egypt, That head or tail, branch or reed, may do. In that day is Egypt like women, And it hath mourned, and been afraid, Because of the waving of the hand of Jehovah of Hosts, That He is waving over it. And the land of Judah hath been to Egypt for a cause of staggering, Every one who doth mention it, for himself feareth, Because of the counsel of Jehovah of Hosts, That He is counselling against it. In that day there are five cities in the land of Egypt, Speaking the lip of Canaan, And swearing to Jehovah of Hosts, `The city of destruction,' is said of one. In that day there is an altar to Jehovah In the midst of the land of Egypt, And a standing pillar near its border to Jehovah, And it hath been for a sign and for a testimony, To Jehovah of Hosts in the land of Egypt, For they cry unto Jehovah from the face of oppressors, And He sendeth to them a saviour, Even a great one, and hath delivered them. And known hath been Jehovah to Egypt, And the Egyptians have known Jehovah in that day, And done sacrifice and present, And vowed a vow to Jehovah, and completed `it'. And Jehovah hath smitten Egypt, smiting and healing, And they have turned back unto Jehovah, And He hath been entreated of them, And hath healed them. In that day is a highway out of Egypt to Asshur, And come in have the Assyrians to Egypt, And the Egyptians into Asshur, And the Egyptians have served with the Assyrians. In that day is Israel third, After Egypt, and after Asshur, A blessing in the heart of the earth. In that Jehovah of Hosts did bless it, saying, `Blessed `is' My people -- Egypt, And the work of My hands -- Asshur, And Mine inheritance -- Israel!'
Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, And his heads, and all his people,
This `is' the portion of a wicked man from God. And an inheritance appointed him by God.
That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations, For Egypt, concerning the force of Pharaoh-Necho king of Egypt, that hath been by the river Phrat, in Carchemish, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: `Set ye in array shield and buckler, And draw nigh to battle. Gird the horses, and go up, ye horsemen, And station yourselves with helmets, Polish the javelins, put on the coats of mail. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed -- They are turned backward, And their mighty ones are beaten down, And `to' a refuge they have fled, and not turned the face? Fear `is' round about -- an affirmation of Jehovah. The swift do not flee, nor do the mighty escape, Northward, by the side of the river Phrat, They have stumbled and fallen. Who is this? as a flood he cometh up, As rivers do his waters shake themselves! Egypt, as a flood cometh up, And as rivers the waters shake themselves. And he saith, I go up; I cover the land, I destroy the city and the inhabitants in it. Go up, ye horses; and boast yourselves, ye chariots, And go forth, ye mighty, Cush and Phut handling the shield, And Lud handling -- treading the bow. And that day `is' to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts A day of vengeance, To be avenged of His adversaries, And the sword hath devoured, and been satisfied, And it hath been watered from their blood, For a sacrifice `is' to the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, In the land of the north, by the river Phrat. Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt, In vain thou hast multiplied medicines, Healing there is none for thee. Nations have heard of thy shame, And thy cry hath filled the land, For the mighty on the mighty did stumble, Together they have fallen -- both of them!' The word that Jehovah hath spoken unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning the coming in of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, to smite the land of Egypt: `Declare ye in Egypt, and sound in Migdol, Yea, sound in Noph, and in Tahpanhes say: Station thyself, yea, prepare for thee, For a sword hath devoured around thee, Wherefore hath thy bull been swept away? He hath not stood, because Jehovah thrust him away. He hath multiplied the stumbling, Yea one hath fallen upon his neighbour, And they say: Rise, and we turn back to our people, And unto the land of our birth, Because of the oppressing sword. They have cried there: Pharaoh king of Egypt `is' a desolation, Passed by hath the appointed time. I live -- an affirmation of the King, Jehovah of Hosts `is' His name, Surely as Tabor `is' among mountains, And as Carmel by the sea -- he cometh in, Goods for removal make for thee, O inhabitant, daughter of Egypt, For Noph becometh a desolation, And hath been burnt up, without inhabitant. A heifer very fair `is' Egypt, Rending from the north doth come into her. Even her hired ones in her midst `are' as calves of the stall, For even they have turned, They have fled together, they have not stood, For the day of their calamity hath come on them, The time of their inspection. Its voice as a serpent goeth on, For with a force they go, And with axes they have come in to her, As hewers of trees. They have cut down her forest, An affirmation of Jehovah -- for it is not searched, For they have been more than the grasshopper, And they have no numbering. Ashamed hath been the daughter of Egypt, She hath been given into the hand of the people of the north. Said hath Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel: Lo, I am seeing after Amon of No, And after Pharaoh, and after Egypt, And after her gods, and after her kings, And after Pharaoh, and after those trusting in him, And I have given them into the hand of those seeking their life, And into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, And into the hand of his servants, And afterwards it is inhabited, As `in' days of old -- an affirmation of Jehovah.
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying: `Son of man, prophesy, and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Howl ye, ha! for the day! For near `is' a day, near `is' a day to Jehovah! A day of clouds, the time of nations it is. And come in hath a sword to Egypt, And there hath been great pain in Cush, In the falling of the wounded in Egypt, And they have taken its store, And broken down have been its foundations. Cush, and Phut, and Lud, and all the mixture, and Chub, And the sons of the land of the covenant with them by sword do fall, Thus said Jehovah: And -- fallen have supporters of Egypt, And come down hath the arrogance of her strength, From Migdol to Syene, by sword they fall in her, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah. And they have been desolated in the midst of desolate lands, And its cities are in the midst of wasted cities. And they have known that I `am' Jehovah, In My giving fire against Egypt, And broken have been all her helpers. In that day go forth do messengers from before Me in ships, To trouble confident Cush, And there hath been great pain among them, As the day of Egypt, for lo, it hath come. Thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have caused the multitude of Egypt to cease, By the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, He and his people with him -- the terrible of nations, Are brought in to destroy the land, And they have drawn their swords against Egypt, And have filled the land `with' the wounded. And I have made floods a dry place, And I have sold the land into the hand of evil doers, And I have made desolate the land, And its fulness, by the hand of strangers, I, Jehovah, have spoken. Thus said the Lord Jehovah: And -- I have destroyed idols, And caused vain things to cease from Noph, And a prince of the land of Egypt there is no more, And I give fear in the land of Egypt. And I have made Pathros desolate, And I have given fire against Zoan, And I have done judgments in No, And I have poured out My fury on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt, And I have cut off the multitude of No. And I have given fire against Egypt, Greatly pained is Sin, and No is to be rent, And Noph hath daily distresses. The youths of Aven and Pi-Beseth by sword do fall, And these into captivity do go. And in Tehaphnehes hath the day been dark, In My breaking there the yokes of Egypt, And ceased in her hath the excellency of her strength, She -- a cloud doth cover her, And her daughters into captivity do go. And I have done judgments in Egypt, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah.' And it cometh to pass, in the eleventh year, in the first `month', in the seventh of the month, hath a word of Jehovah been unto me, saying: `Son of man, The arm of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, I have broken, And lo, it hath not been bound up to give healing, To put a bandage to bind it, To strengthen it -- to lay hold on the sword. Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I `am' against Pharaoh, king of Egypt, And I have broken his arms, The strong one and the broken one, And have caused the sword to fall out of his hand, And scattered the Egyptians among nations, And I have spread them through lands, And strengthened the arms of the king of Babylon, And I have given My sword into his hand, And I have broken the arms of Pharaoh, And he hath groaned the groans of a pierced one -- before him. And I have strengthened the arms of the king of Babylon, And the arms of Pharaoh do fall down, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah, In My giving My sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, And he hath stretched it out toward the land of Egypt. And I have scattered the Egyptians among nations, And I have spread them through lands, And they have known that I `am' Jehovah!'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 43
Commentary on Jeremiah 43 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The march of the people to Egypt. - When Jeremiah had thus ended all the words which the Lord had announced to him for the people, then came forward Azariah (probably an error for Jezaniah, see on Jeremiah 42:1) the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and the rest of the insolent men, and said to Jeremiah, "Thou dost utter falsehood; Jahveh our God hath not sent thee unto us, saying, Ye must not go to Egypt to sojourn there; Jeremiah 43:3. But Baruch the son of Neriah inciteth thee against us, in order to give us into the hand of the Chaldeans, to kill us, and to take us captive to Babylon." אמרים is not the predicate to כּל־האנשׁים , but forms a resumption of ויּאמר , with which it thus serves to connect its object, Jeremiah, and from which it would otherwise be pretty far removed. Azariah (or, more correctly, Jezaniah) occupies the last place in the enumeration of the captains, Jeremiah 40:8, and in Jeremiah 42:1 is also named after Johanan, who is the only one specially mentioned, in what follows, as the leader on the march. From this we may safely conclude that Jezaniah was the chief speaker and the leader of the opposition against the prophet. To avoid any reference to the promise they had made to obey the will of God, they declare that Jeremiah's prophecy is an untruth, which had been suggested to him, not by God, but by his attendant Baruch, with the view of delivering up the people to the Chaldeans.
Thereupon Johanan and the other captains took "all the remnant of Judah, that had returned from all the nations whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah-the men and women and children, the king's daughters, and all the souls whom Nebuzaradan, chief of the body-guard, had committed to Gedaliah...and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah, - and went to the land of Egypt - for they did not hearken to the voice of Jahveh - and came to Tahpanhes." In this enumeration of those who were conducted to Egypt, Hitzig, Graf, and others distinguish two classes: (1) the men, women, children, etc., who had been in Mizpah with Gedaliah, and had been led to Gibeon, after the murder of the latter, by Ishmael, but had afterwards been brought to Bethlehem by Johanan and the other captains (Jeremiah 43:6, cf. Jeremiah 40:7; Jeremiah 41:10, Jeremiah 41:16); (2) those who had returned from the foreign countries whither they had fled, but who had hitherto lived in the country, scattered here and there, and who must have joined the company led by Johanan to Bethlehem during the ten days of halt at that resting-place (Jeremiah 43:5, cf. Jeremiah 40:11-12). There is no foundation, however, for this distinction. Neither in the present chapter is there anything mentioned of those who had been dispersed through the land joining those who had marched to Bethlehem; nor are the Jews who had returned from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and other countries to their own home distinguished, in Jer 40 and 41, as a different class from those who had been with Gedaliah in Mizpah; but on the other hand, according to Jeremiah 40:12, these returned Jews also came to Gedaliah at Mizpah, and gathered grapes and fruit. Besides, in these verses the distinction can only be made after the insertion into the text of the conjunction ו before את־הגּברים . To "all the remnant of Judah who had returned from the nations" belong the men, women, children, etc., whom Nebuzaradan had committed to the care of Gedaliah. The enumeration in Jeremiah 43:6 gives only one specification of the "whole remnant of Judah," as in Jeremiah 41:16. "And all the souls;" as if it were said, "and whoever else was still left alive;" cf. Joshua 10:28. Tahpanhes was a frontier town of Egypt on the Pelusian branch of the Nile, and named Δάφναι by the Greeks; see on Jeremiah 2:16. Here, on the borders of Egypt, a halt was made, for the purpose of coming to further resolutions regarding their residence in that country. Here, too, Jeremiah received a revelation from God regarding the fate now impending on Egypt.
Prediction regarding Egypt. - Jeremiah 43:8. "And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, Jeremiah 43:9. Take in thine hand large stones, and hide them in the clay in the brick-kiln, which is at the entrance to the house of Pharaoh in Taphanhes, in the eyes of the Jews; Jeremiah 43:10. And say to them: Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will place his throne over these stones which I have hidden, and he shall stretch his tapestry over them. Jeremiah 43:11. And he shall come and smite the land of Egypt, (he who is) for death, to death, - (he who is) for captivity, to captivity, - (he who is) for the sword, to the sword. Jeremiah 43:12. And I will kindle fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away; and he shall wrap the land of Egypt round him as the shepherd wraps his cloak round him, and thence depart in peace. Jeremiah 43:13. And he shall destroy the pillars of Beth-shemesh, which is in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire."