Jeremiah43chapter 43

Tahpanhes sat on the eastern edge of the delta, the first significant Egyptian town on the road from Canaan, with a fortress and a garrison. It is generally identified with the mound of Tell Defenneh, where a large mudbrick platform structure was excavated in the nineteenth century. Foreign mercenaries and traders were settled in that frontier zone by Egyptian kings as a matter of policy.

The prophet is ordered to take large stones and set them in mortar in the brick pavement at the entrance of Pharaoh's house — a paved forecourt or platform outside an official residence — with the men of Judah watching. He announces that Nebuchadnezzar will set his throne on those stones and spread his royal canopy over them.

That was not an idle boast. A broken Babylonian text records a campaign by Nebuchadnezzar against Egypt in his thirty-seventh year, around 568 BC. The chapter also foretells that he will burn the temples of Egypt's gods and clean out the land the way a shepherd picks lice off his cloak — a homely and slightly contemptuous picture of a thorough job.

One more thing to notice: Johanan and the commanders do not simply travel to Egypt. They take the whole remnant with them, including Jeremiah and Baruch, who go under duress. The prophet who told them not to go is carried into the exile he warned against.