Ch. Jeremiah 43:8-13. Prophecy of Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Egypt

Du. considers this passage as “evidently a wholly worthless Midrash.” Erbt deals at length with this statement, and in an eloquent passage (pp. 73 ff.) maintains that the prophet’s action here is the outcome of an internal conflict, brought about by the charge made against him in Jeremiah 43:2 f. Recent torture of soul resulted in this oracle from God, preceded by the action here related. The devastation, which he foretells, shall be wrought by the very person from whom his countrymen thought to escape by leaving Palestine for Egypt. Had they remained at home, Nebuchadnezzar would have been friendly to them. Through their action, opposed to the Divine command, they will be involved in the fate of Egypt.

The section may be summarized as follows.

Jeremiah 43:8-13. While Jeremiah was in Tahpanhes, he received the Divine command to hide great stones at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house there, and say, as he did so, to the men of Judah, that Jehovah will place the king of Babylon’s throne over those stones, and that Nebuchadnezzar’s coming will result in death and captivity. He will burn and carry away the Egyptian gods. He will deal with Egypt as a shepherd deals with his garment, and he will break down the obelisks of Beth-shemesh.

8. in Tahpanhes] The exiles would be compelled to halt at this frontier-fortress (now Tell Defneh) in order to secure permission to sojourn in the country, and obtain if possible such recognition from the king as would help to supply them with means of subsistence.

9. hide them in mortar in the brickwork] mg. lay them with mortar in the pavement (or square). The MT. is questionable here. The words for “in the mortar” and “in the brickwork” resemble each other, the first occurring nowhere else. The LXX read simply “in the fore-court,” which is not justified by the Hebrew as we have it. Aq. Symm. Theod. have “in secret,” omitting one of the consonants of the Hebrew word for “in mortar,” and this probably gives us the true meaning, viz. secretly, in the brickwork. The incident (so Erbt and Co.) perhaps occurred at night. This is not inconsistent with the words “in the sight of the men of Judah,” for cp. Ezekiel 12:7.

in the brickwork] If we keep the text as it stands, the word, which elsewhere means a brick-mould, may here mean something quadrangular (see mg.). It is perhaps “the large oblong brick pavement close to the palace fort built by Psammetichus I (b.c. 664–610), which was excavated by Prof. Petrie at Tell Defneh in 1886.” Dr., p. 258, who adds references to Petrie and Maspero.

10. Nebuchadrezzar] Erbt (p. 72) points out that up to this time Jeremiah in his utterances seems to have avoided naming the king.

my servant] See on Jeremiah 25:9.

and will set] LXX (better) he will set.

his royal pavilion] rather, as mg. glittering, as this appears to be the meaning of the root, though the actual word occurs only here. It refers either to the richly decorated carpet on which the throne was to be placed or to the canopy over it.

11. to death] See on Jeremiah 15:2.

12. I will kindle] LXX (better) he will kindle.

array himself … garment] The Heb. verb means to roll up, or to wrap round, as a garment, but interpretations of the figure here used differ: viz. (a) Nebuchadnezzar shall have no more difficulty in carrying off the spoil of Egypt than the shepherd has in rolling up his possessions in his garment and carrying them off (so Erbt); (b) the king of Babylon will take possession of the land itself, as easily as the shepherd wraps himself in his garment (so apparently R.V.), a figure, however, which is too violent to be probable. The LXX reading (so Co.), however unacceptable to modern taste, has a good deal to be said for its likelihood as expressive of the prophet’s attitude towards Babylon and Egypt respectively; i.e. for Nebuchadnezzar the utter devastation of the land of Egypt will be as easy a matter as it is for the shepherd to cleanse his garment by removing one by one the vermin which infest it.

13. Beth-shemesh] Probably Heliopolis or On. The reference of the v. is to the temple of the sun, at the city called by the Greeks Heliopolis (city of the sun), about six miles N.E. of Cairo. The temple had in front of it an avenue of obelisks, one of which remains in situ. It was erected by Thothmes III (c. b.c. 1500). “Cleopatra’s Needle,” placed on the Thames Embankment in 1878, is another.

the houses … with fire] A fragmentary inscription of Nebuchadnezzar states that he invaded Egypt in the 37th year of his reign (b.c. 568), and defeated king Amasis (b.c. 570–526) with slaughter of men and horses. See Dr.’s note.