Jeremiah 2:16

Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(16) Also the children of Noph . . .—We pass from the language of poetry to that of history, and the actual enemies of Israel appear on the scene, not as the threatening danger in the north, but in the far south. The words indicate that the prophet set himself from the first, as Isaiah had done (Isaiah 31:1), against the policy of an Egyptian alliance. The LXX. translators, following, we must believe, an Egyptian tradition, identify the Hebrew Noph with Memphis in northern Egypt; later critics, with Napata in the south. Its conjunction with Tahapanes, the Daphnæ of the Greeks, which was on the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile, and on the frontier, seems in favour of the former view.

Have broken.—More accurately, shall feed on, lay waste, depasture, so as to produce baldness. Baldness among the Jews, as with other -Eastern nations, was a shame and reproach (Isaiah 3:24; Isaiah 15:2; Isaiah 22:12; 2Kings 2:23), and was therefore a natural symbol of the ignominy and ruin of a people.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:14-19 Is Israel a servant? No, they are the seed of Abraham. We may apply this spiritually: Is the soul of man a slave? No, it is not; but has sold its own liberty, and enslaved itself to divers lusts and passions. The Assyrian princes, like lions, prevailed against Israel. People from Egypt destroyed their glory and strength. They brought these calamities on themselves by departing from the Lord. The use and application of this is, Repent of thy sin, that thy correction may not be thy ruin. What has a Christian to do in the ways of forbidden pleasure or vain sinful mirth, or with the pursuits of covetousness and ambition?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Noph, i. e., Napata, a town situated in the extreme south of Egypt. Some take it to be Memphis (see Isaiah 19:13 note).

Tahapanes - Daphne Pelusii, a bordertown toward Palestine.

Have broken the crown of thy head - literally, shall depasture the crown of thy head; i. e., make it bald; baldness was accounted by the Jews a sign of disgrace 2 Kings 2:23, and also a mark of mourning Isaiah 15:2; Isaiah 22:12. The Egyptians in slaying Josiah, and capturing Jerusalem, brought ruin, disgrace, and sorrow upon the Jews.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

16. Noph … Tahapanes—Memphis, capital of Lower Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile, near the pyramids of Gizeh, opposite the site of modern Cairo. Daphne, on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, near Pelusium, on the frontier of Egypt towards Palestine. Isa 30:4 contracts it, Hanes. These two cities, one the capital, the other that with which the Jews came most in contact, stand for the whole of Egypt. Tahapanes takes its name from a goddess, Tphnet [Champollion]. Memphis is from Man-nofri, "the abode of good men"; written in Hebrew, Moph (Ho 9:6), or Noph. The reference is to the coming invasion of Judah by Pharaoh-necho of Egypt, on his return from the Euphrates, when he deposed Jehoahaz and levied a heavy tribute on the land (2Ki 23:33-35). Josiah's death in battle with the same Pharaoh is probably included (2Ki 23:29, 30).

have broken—rather, shall feed down the crown, &c., that is, affect with the greatest ignominy, such as baldness was regarded in the East (Jer 48:37; 2Ki 2:23). Instead of "also," translate, "even" the Egyptians, in whom thou dost trust, shall miserably disappoint thy expectation [Maurer]. Jehoiakim was twice leagued with them (2Ki 23:34, 35): when he received the crown from them, and when he revolted from Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki 24:1, 2, 7). The Chaldeans, having become masters of Asia, threatened Egypt. Judea, situated between the contending powers, was thus exposed to the inroads of the one or other of the hostile armies; and unfortunately, except in Josiah's reign, took side with Egypt, contrary to God's warnings.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Noph and Tahapanes; two of the king of Egypt’s principal seats. Concerning Noph, sometimes called Memphis, now Cairo, see on Isaiah 19:13. Concerning Tahapanes, see Ezekiel 30:18, probably taking its name from Tahpenes, queen of Egypt, 1 Kings 11:19; called also Hanes: See Poole "Isaiah 30:4". And the inhabitants and natives of these cities are called here their children, Isaiah 37:12. Broken the crown of thy head: they that take the Hebrew word in the notion of breaking understand this of destroying whatever is chief or principal among them, either of persons or things; wounds in the head being most dangerous. Or, defiling the chief of the land, either by their corporal adulteries, and so take the word under the notion of knowing, as Genesis 19:5; or spiritual, namely, idolatries, Jeremiah 44:17, or their cruel, tyrannical oppressions, trampling upon all their glory, expressed by riding over their heads, and that universally, in a most insulting manner. But the word may be better taken in the notion of feeding, as the word is used Jeremiah 3:15, i.e. they have fed upon her most fruitful and pleasant, the top and head of all her pastures, that lay in the southern borders towards Egypt; see Jeremiah 13:18-20; thus depriving them of all way of subsistence, Jeremiah 12:10. In short, they shall make havoc of all that is excellent in thee, Isaiah 28:4. The sum is, Thy league, O Judea, with Egypt against the Chaldeans will be the cause of thy total ruin. For the kings of Judah had not rebelled against the Babylonians, but to gratify the Egyptians, in expectation of help from them.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes,.... These were cities in Egypt. Noph is the same with Moph in Hosea 9:6 and which we there rightly render Memphis; as Noph is here by the Targum, Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; and was formerly, as Pliny (g) says, the palace of the kings of Egypt. It is the same that is now called Alcairo, or Grand Cairo. According to Herodotus (h), it was built by Menes, the first king of Egypt; and who also makes mention of a city of Egypt, called Momemphis (i). Tahapanes is the same with Hanes in Isaiah 30:4, and here, in the Arabic version, is called Daphnes; and is thought by some to be the same with Daphnae Pelusiae, a city in Egypt. This Tahapanes was the metropolis of Egypt, and the seat of their kings; mention is made of Pharaoh's house in it, in Jeremiah 43:9, now the inhabitants of these, called the children of them, and who are put for the people of Egypt in general, were the allies of the Jews, and in whom they trusted for help, when attacked by their enemies, Isaiah 30:2 and yet

even these have broken the crown of thy head; which is interpreted, by the Targum, of slaying their mighty men, and spoiling their goods; perhaps it had its accomplishment when Pharaohnecho king of Egypt came out against the king of Assyria, and Josiah king of Judah went out to meet him, and was slain by him at Megiddo; and his son Jehoahaz he put in bonds, and carried him to Egypt, and put his brother upon the throne, and took tribute of gold and silver of him, 2 Kings 23:29.

(g) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 9. (h) L. 2. vel Euterpe, c. 99. (i) lb. c. 163, 169.

Geneva Study Bible

Also the children of {z} Noph and Tahapanes have {a} broken the crown of thy head.

(z) That is, the Egyptians, for these were two great cities in Egypt.

(a) Have grievously vexed you at various times.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

16. also] even. The sense is, those in whom thou most trustedst.

Noph] Memphis, formerly the capital of Lower (i.e. Northern) Egypt, the word Noph representing some colloquial Semitic or Egyptian pronunciation of the name. Its site was near what is now Cairo.

Tahpanhes] now Tell Defneh, the Greek Daphnae Pelusii, which Herodotus mentions (Jeremiah 2:30) as a town in which a garrison was maintained against the Syrians and Arabians. It bears an important part in the history contained in the later chapters of Jeremiah. Johanan and the other captains went there in spite of the prophet’s directions (Jeremiah 43:7). It was on the eastern branch of the Nile, and commanded the road to Palestine, thus being a frontier post of great importance. The towns of Noph and Tahpanhes would both be well known to the Jews even in Josiah’s day, the former as a capital city, the latter from its position. The two places occur again in conjunction in Jeremiah 44:1, Jeremiah 46:14. The pyramids and extensive necropolis still draw multitudes of visitors to Memphis. The site of Tahpanhes has been excavated by Dr Flinders Petrie with interesting results relating to Ptolemaic and Roman times. See HDB. s.v.

have broken] mg. fed on. The latter rendering represents the sense of the Hebrew verb according to the vowel points assigned it by the Massoretes, but the figure is too strange a one to be easily accepted. That of the text, on the other hand, would require different vocalisation (yĕro‘uk for yir‘uk), but in this case too the figure is over strong for the circumstances; seeing what is meant is nothing more than some affliction coming from Egypt. At any rate it is best to render by a future rather than a present tense. There is however a third way of pointing the word which is far from improbable, though it also involves the transposing of two consonants, viz. yĕ‘aruk, “will shave the crown of your head.” It is true that we must assume the existence of the Hebrew verb in that sense, but the supposition is scarcely a precarious one, as the Hebrew for ‘razor’ is apparently derived from this root. In that case the v. may be paraphrased thus: the Assyrians have ravaged thee. The Egyptians, to whom some of you are looking for help, will presently fleece you (as they did, 2 Kings 23:35). A shaven head was the sign of disgrace or of mourning (Jeremiah 47:5, Jeremiah 48:37; Isaiah 3:17; Isaiah 3:24; Isaiah 15:2; Isaiah 22:12).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 16. - Also the children of Noph, etc. This is the climax of the calamity. Noph, called Moph in the Hebrew text of Hosea 9:6, is generally identified with Memphis (after the Septuagint), which was called in the inscriptions Mennufr, or "the good abode," but may possibly be Napata, the Nap of the inscriptions, the residency of the Ethiopian dynasty (De Rouge'). Tahapanes. The Hebrew form is Takhpanes or Tahhpanhhes. This was a fortified frontier town on the Pelusiot arm of the Nile, called in Greek Daphnae (Herod., 2:20), or Taphnae (Septuagint here). Have broken, etc.; rather, shall break, or (for the pointing in the Hebrew Bible requires this change) shall feed off (or depasture). From this verse onwards, Judah is personified as a woman, as appears from the suffixes in the Hebrew. Baldness was a great mark of disgrace (2 Kings 2:23; Jeremiah 48:45). There is a striking parallel to this passage in Isaiah 7:18-20, where, in punishment of the negotiations of Ahaz with Assyria, the prophet threatens an invasion of Judah both by Assyria and by Egypt: and employs the very. same figure (see ver. 20). So here, the devastation threatened by Jeremiah is the punishment of the unhallowed coquetting with the Egyptian power of which the Jewish rulers had been recently guilty. The fact which corresponds to this prediction is the defeat of Josiah at Megiddo, and the consequent subjugation of Judah (2 Kings 23:29). The abruptness with which ver. 16 follows upon ver. 15 suggests that some words have fallen out of the text. Jeremiah 2:16

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Israel has had to submit to spoliation at the hands of the Egyptians too. The present reference to the Egyptians is explained by the circumstances of the prophet's times-from the fact, namely, that just as Israel and Judah had sought the help of Egypt against the Assyrians (cf. Hosea 7:11; 2 Kings 17:4, and Isaiah 30:1-5) in the time of Hezekiah, so now in Jeremiah's times Judah was expecting and seeking help from the same quarter against the advancing power of the Chaldeans; cf. Jeremiah 37:7. Noph and Tahpanes are two former capitals of Egypt, here put as representing the kingdom of the Pharaohs. nop נף, in Hosea 9:6 mop מף contracted from מנף, Manoph or Menoph, is Memphis, the old metropolis of Lower Egypt, made by Psammetichus the capital of the whole kingdom. Its ruins lie on the western bank of the Nile, to the south of Old Cairo, close by the present village of Mitrahenny, which is built amongst the ruins; cf. Brugsch Reiseberichte aus Egypten, 60ff., and the remarks on Hosea 9:6 and Isaiah 19:13. תחפנס, elsewhere spelt as here in the Keri תּחפּנחס - cf. Jeremiah 43:7., Jeremiah 44:1; Jeremiah 46:14, Ezekiel 30:18 -was a strong border city on the Pelusiac arm of the Nile, called by the Greeks Δάφναι (Herod. ii. 20), by the lxx Τάφναι; see in Ezekiel 30:18. A part of the Jews who had remained in the land fled hither after the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah 43:7. ,ירעוּך קדקד feed upon thy crown (lit., feed on thee in respect of thy crown), is a trope for ignominious devastation; for to shave one bald is a token of disgrace and sorrow, cf. Jeremiah 47:5; Jeremiah 48:37, Isaiah 3:17; and with this Israel is threatened in Isaiah 7:20. רעה, to eat up by grazing, as in Job 20:26 and Job 24:21; in the latter passage in the sense of depopulari. We must then reject the conjectures of J. D. Mich., Hitz., and others, suggesting the sense: crush thy head for thee; a sense not at all suitable, since crushing the head would signify the utter destruction of Israel. - The land of Israel is personified as a woman, as is shown by the fem. suffix in ירעוּך. Like a land closely cropped by herds, so is Israel by the Egyptians. In Jeremiah 6:3 also the enemies are represented as shepherds coming with their flocks against Jerusalem, and pitching their tents round about the city, while each flock crops its portion of ground. In Jeremiah 12:10 shepherds lay the vineyard waste.