Jeremiahchapter 43
13 verses · KJVJeremiah book hub →
Key verse
But 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.
It stands in scene A of the chapter, verses 1 to 7.
The chapter
Chapter summary
Azariah, Johanan, and the proud men answer flatly, Thou speakest falsely; Jehovah hath not sent thee: 'Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us.' They take the entire remnant, the men, women, children, king's daughters, and Jeremiah and Baruch with them, and go down into Egypt as far as Tahpanhes, the very journey God forbade. There Jeremiah performs one more sign in the sight of the men of Judah: he hides great stones in mortar in the brickwork at the entry of Pharaoh's palace, and announces that Nebuchadnezzar will set his throne on those stones and spread his royal pavilion over them, coming to Egypt with death, captivity, and sword, and burning the temples of Egypt's gods.
Context
Prophecy · Jeremiah · Jeremiah overview
Where the chapter sits
Jeremiah 43 falls in Jerusalem's fall narrated (chapters 34–45). Zedekiah's vacillation; Jehoiakim burns the scroll (36); siege and fall (39); assassination of Gedaliah; flight to Egypt with the remnant.
Before it: Book of consolation, chapters 30–33. After it: Oracles against the nations, chapters 46–51.
The whole shape of Jeremiah→The world behind this chapter
Jeremiah 43The history
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 rest of the history, and what it meant to them
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.
What it meant to them
The first hearers were being told that a border is not a hiding place. The stones set in the pavement were a marker laid down in advance, so that when the Babylonian army arrived the refugees would know why.
The accusation thrown at Baruch, that he had put Jeremiah up to it, to hand them over to the Babylonians, is worth noticing. When people are determined, they do not argue with the message; they invent a motive for the messenger.
Sources cited
- Kenneth A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament
- Walton, Matthews and Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
A. Thou Speakest Falsely: the Flight Down into Egypt
1. (vv. 1-3)
a.when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking: Jeremiah had just delivered the Lord's answer to Johanan's own inquiry, safety in the land against ruin in Egypt, and the ink is barely dry before Azariah and Johanan brand it a lie: Thou speakest falsely, the Lord our God hath not sent thee. The charge does not stop at Jeremiah but lands on Baruch, that Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, the world's usual explanation for an unwelcome word, that someone else must be pulling the prophet's strings. The bench notes the irony: forty years earlier Jeremiah stood trial for a sermon at the temple gate, and here at the close of his public ministry the same accusation is renewed in exile's antechamber.
Jeremiah 43:1, 1 voiceWhat preachers and commentators have said about these verses, in their own words.
Jeremiah 43:1
“These captains belonged to the party who had all along resisted Jeremiah’s counsels, and had led Zedekiah astray. Now however that events had proved that the prophet’s counsels had been wise and true, they cannot for shame find fault with him, but they affirm that he is under the influence of Baruch, a traitor who has sold himself to the Chaldaeans, and seeks only the hurt of the people. These captains belonged to the party who had all along resisted Jeremiah’s counsels, and had led Zedekiah astray.”
Jeremiah 43:2, 2 voices
Jeremiah 43:2
“Azariah--the author of the project of going into Egypt; a very different man from the Azariah in Babylon (Da 1:7; 3:12-18). proud--Pride is the parent of disobedience and contempt of God.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 43:2
“Note, The reason why men deny the scriptures to be the word of God is because they are resolved not to conform to scripture-rules, and so an obstinate infidelity is made the sorry subterfuge of a wilful disobedience. If God had spoken to them by an angel, or as he did from Mount Sinai, they would have said that it was a delusion.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 43:3, 3 voices
Jeremiah 43:3
“He says that the whole people obstinately persevered in their wicked design, so that he effected nothing by his warning and protest. Now this stupidity of the people was monstrous; for they had found out by experience the fidelity of the Prophet for many years; and further, they had gone to him because they believed that he was a faithful and an approved servant of God.”
John Calvin· Commentaries (1554)reformed
Jeremiah 43:3
“Baruch--He being the younger spake out the revelations which he received from Jeremiah more vehemently. From this cause, and from their knowing that he was in favor with the Chaldeans, arose their suspicion of him. Their perverse fickleness was astonishing.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Jeremiah 43:3
“When men will persist in sin they represent those that would turn them from it as designing men for themselves, nay, as ill-designing men against their neighbours. It is well for persons who are thus misrepresented that their witness is in heaven and their record on high.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
2. (vv. 4-7)
a.So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the Lord: The verdict is stated twice for weight, obeyed not the voice of the Lord, and the flight south sweeps up everyone within reach, the king's daughters left in Gedaliah's own care now carried along with the rest. Jeremiah and Baruch themselves are taken, prophet and scribe led captive by the very company that claimed to be asking the Lord's will only a few verses before. The bench reads verse 7's closing clause, for they obeyed not the voice of the Lord, as the narrator's own judgment stamped on the whole company's arrival at Tahpanhes, the border town, so the company's last miles stand condemned before Egypt is even reached.
Jeremiah 43:4, 1 voice
Jeremiah 43:4
“All the people - Many, nevertheless, would be unwilling agents, compelled to do what their unscrupulous leaders forced upon the community.”
Jeremiah 43:5, 1 voice
Jeremiah 43:5
“All the remnant of Judah that were returned - In this way, the utter depopulation of the land was completed. Thus was fulfilled the predictions of Jer 24:8-10, and the sole hope of the nation now centered in the exiles at Babylon Jer 24:5-7.”
Jeremiah 43:6, 1 voice
Jeremiah 43:6
“Men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters - See the note on Jer 41:10 (note). It is truly surprising that the Chaldeans should have left behind any of the royal family of Judah! But, 1. Perhaps they knew not there were any. 2. If they did know, they might think, being children of concubines, they could not inherit. Or, 3. That being females, they were not eligible. And they had taken care to seize all Zedekiah’s sons, and slay them before his eyes.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 43:7, 1 voice
Jeremiah 43:7
“Came they even to Tahpanhes - This city was called Daphne by the Greeks, and was situated at the extremity of Lower Egypt, near to Heliopolis. It was called Daphne Pelusiaca. They halted at this place, most probably for the purpose of obtaining the king’s permission to penetrate farther into Egypt.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
B. Stones Hidden at Tahpanhes for Nebuchadnezzar's Throne
1. (vv. 8-11)
a.Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying: The word does not stop pursuing Jeremiah for having been dragged where he refused to go, and the sign commanded here stands with the marred girdle and the broken bottle as enacted rather than only spoken prophecy: great stones hidden in the clay of the pavement at Pharaoh's own house, in the sight of the men of Judah, a buried claim driven into Egyptian soil. Nebuchadnezzar is named the Lord's servant, the same title carried at 25:9 and 27:6, and is set to spread his royal pavilion over the very stones the refugees watched Jeremiah bury, so the empire's throne is planted on the doorstep of the refuge they fled toward. The threefold sentence of verse 11, death to death, captivity to captivity, sword to sword, reads to the bench as the same formula already used of Judah's own fall, Egypt now standing where Jerusalem stood.
Jeremiah 43:8, 2 voices
Jeremiah 43:8
“Then came the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, at Tahpanhes,.... Where he was with the rest the captains carried thither with them; and as soon as he and they had got here, the word of the Lord came unto him, declaring the destruction of this place, and of the whole land. Here Jerom says the prophet was stoned to death; saying; as follows:”
Jeremiah 43:8
“On arriving at the frontiers of Egypt, the captains would be compelled to halt in order to obtain the king’s permission to enter his country. Jeremiah therefore takes the opportunity to predict, first, the downfall of Egypt; and secondly, that of the false gods.”
Jeremiah 43:9, 3 voices
Jeremiah 43:9
“Brickkiln - Possibly, a pavement of brick. Jeremiah was to take a few large stones, such, nevertheless, as he could carry in his hand, and build with them, in the propylaea before the royal palace, something that would serve to represent the dais upon which the seat of kings was usually placed. By hiding them in the clay is meant plastering them over with mortar.”
Jeremiah 43:9
“He received the word of the Lord; it came to him. God can find his people, with the visits of his grace, wherever they are; and, when his ministers are bound, yet the word of the Lord is not bound. The spirit of prophecy was not confined to the land of Israel.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 43:9
“The foundation of Egypt's desolation was laid in those brick-kilns, in that clay. This he must do, not in the sight of the Egyptians (they knew not Jeremiah's character), but in the sight of the men of Judah to whom he was sent, that, since he could not prevent their going into Egypt, he might bring them to repent of their going.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 43:10, 1 voice
Jeremiah 43:10
“My servant - See Jer 25:9 note. That I have hid - i. e., that I have embedded in the mortar by the instrumentality of my prophet. Pavilion - Rather, canopy. It probably means the parasol held over kings, which had a tall and thick pole, grasped with both hands, and in the early times a somewhat small circular top.”
2. (vv. 12-13)
a.I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt: The judgment reaches past Egypt's army to its temples, the gods' own houses burned and their images carried captive, and Nebuchadnezzar is pictured wrapping himself in the conquered land as a shepherd puts on his garment, dominion given the plainest possible image of ownership. Beth-shemesh, house of the sun, is Heliopolis, On, the great sun-temple city named in Genesis 41:45 as Joseph's father-in-law's home, and its obelisks and images are marked for breaking by name, the same contempt Chemosh meets at Jeremiah 48:7. The bench reads the two verses as the sign-act's fulfilment stated in advance, the buried stones of verse 9 becoming, in the word given, an actual throne on actual ground.
Jeremiah 43:12, 2 voices
Jeremiah 43:12
“He shall burn them, and carry them away captives - Some of these gods, such as were of wood, he will burn; those of metal he will carry away. Some of them were of gold. See below. Shall array himself with the land of Egypt - Shall take all its wealth, and all its grandeur; shall take all its spoils. As a shepherd putteth on his garment - With as much ease, and with as little opposition; and with as full a confidence that it is now his own.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 43:12
“This destruction of Egypt by the king of Babylon is foretold, Ezek. xxix. Babylon lay at a great distance from Egypt, and yet thence the destruction of Egypt comes; for God can make those judgments strike home which are far-fetched.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 43:13, 3 voices
Jeremiah 43:13
“The city had two names. It was called both On and Heliopolis. Exodus also taught this, for it says that the children of Israel built cities for Pharaoh: Pithom, Raamses and On, which is Heliopolis. God calls Nebuchadnezzar his servant, not because he is a …”
Theodoret of Cyrus· written before 458· ON JEREMIAH 8:43patristic
Jeremiah 43:13
“He shall break also the images of Beth-shemesh - בית שמש beith shemesh is, literally, the house or temple of the sun; which was worshipped here, and whose images are said to have been of solid gold. These Nebuchadnezzar was to break and carry away; and the houses of the gods - all the temples of Egypt, he was to burn with fire. Beth-shemesh is the same as Heliopolis.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 43:13
“Beth-shemesh--that is, "the house of the sun," in Hebrew; called by the Greeks "Heliopolis"; by the Egyptians, "On" (Ge 41:45); east of the Nile, and a few miles north of Memphis. Ephraim Syrus says, the statue rose to the height of sixty cubits; the base was ten cubits. Above there was a miter of a thousand pounds weight.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Jeremiah 43. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Albert Barnes; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); John Calvin, Commentaries (1554); John Gill; Matthew Henry and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 8:43.
Keep studying
On this page
Studies1