Jeremiah 44:24

Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(24-28) Hear the word of the Lord . . .—The appeal to the experience of the past is followed by a prediction of the future, addressed to the wives as well as to the husbands. The new sin would lead to a new punishment. A tone of irony is perceptible in the words, “Ye will surely accomplish your vows.” That, at all events, was a promise they were likely to keep, however faithless they might have shown themselves in keeping their vows to the God of their fathers. But the Lord of Israel meets that vow by another. By that “great name” (Genesis 22:16) of the Lord God (Jehovah Adonai), which they had slighted and profaned, He declares that it shall be profaned no more by the Egyptian exiles, not because they, of their own accord, would cease to use it, but because none of them should be left there. The small remnant that survived the sword and the famine should return to Judah as a witness of the judgment that had fallen on them, and of the truth of the prophet’s warning. The words of Jehovah should stand, while those of men should fail.

Benson Commentary

Jeremiah 44:24-28. Jeremiah said, Hear all Judah that are in the land of Egypt — That is, all you men and women that belong to Judah, and are now come to dwell in Egypt; ye and your wives have spoken — The Hebrew word תדברנה, rendered have spoken, is of the feminine gender, and implies that the women were first and principally concerned in this idolatry, and that the men’s guilt lay chiefly in conniving at them, and suffering themselves to be seduced by them; saying, We will surely perform our vows, &c. — They insist on their unlawful vows as obligations in conscience, which could not be dispensed with, just as Herod did on his unlawful oath, Matthew 14:9 : as if, though to burn incense to the queen of heaven were a sin, yet their having vowed to do it were sufficient to justify them in the doing of it; whereas no man can, by his vow, make that lawful to himself, much less his duty, which God had before made sin. Ye will surely accomplish your vows, &c. — You are resolved upon it, and there is no moving you from your resolution. Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord — Hear what is God’s resolution. Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord — I also have made a solemn vow, in opposition to that wicked one of yours, and have confirmed it by an oath. I have sworn and will not repent: That my name shall no more be named by any man of Judah in the land of Egypt, &c. — “These Jews seem to have joined the worship of the true God with that of idols, as the Samaritans did before them, 2 Kings 17:33. Thereupon God declares he will not receive any such polluted worship at their hands, (compare Ezekiel 20:39,) nor suffer his name to be any longer profaned by such hypocrites, but will consume them by a sudden and general destruction” — Lowth. Behold, I will watch over them for evil — God here represents himself as one who would be solicitous and industrious to bring evil upon them, as men, who are so in any business, watch all opportunities for doing it: as if he had said, No opportunity shall be let slip to bring some judgment upon them, until there be an end of them, and they be quite rooted out. Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return, &c. — A very few, next to none in comparison of the great number that shall return out of the land of the Chaldeans: see note on Jeremiah 44:14. And all the remnant of Judah shall know whose words shall stand, mine or theirs — They said they should recover themselves when they returned to worship the queen of heaven. God says they shall hereby ruin themselves: and now the event will show who was in the right. The contest between God and sinners is, whose word shall stand, whose will shall be done, who shall prevail? Sinners say, We shall have peace, though we go on in sin: God says, Ye shall have no peace. And when God judges, he will overcome: his word shall stand, and not the sinner’s.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

44:20-30 Whatever evil comes upon us, it is because we have sinned against the Lord; we should therefore stand in awe, and sin not. Since they were determined to persist in their idolatry, God would go on to punish them. What little remains of religion were among them, would be lost. The creature-comforts and confidences from which we promise ourselves most, may fail as soon as those from which we promise ourselves least; and all are what God makes them, not what we fancy them to be. Well-grounded hopes of our having a part in the Divine mercy, are always united with repentance and obedience.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Earnest as was the preceding expostulation, Jeremiah sees that it has produced no effect. He therefore utters his last warning, and with this last resistance to the sins of a debased and godless people, his earthly ministry closed.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

23. law—the moral precepts.

statutes—the ceremonial.

testimonies—the judicial (Da 9:11, 12).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

That is, all you men and women that belong to Judah, and are now come to inhabit in the land of Egypt.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women,.... To all the people in general, and to the women in particular, who had a principal concern in these idolatrous practices:

hear the word of the Lord, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt; all of the tribe of Judah that were in Egypt; not in Pathros only, but in other parts of Egypt; this distinguishes them from those of Judah that were in Babylon, and in other provinces; and tacitly points at their sin in going to Egypt, which was the leading step to then fresh acts of idolatry they had been guilty of; these are called upon to hear the word of the Lord: what the prophet had said before was what was upon his mind without immediate inspiration, or as a direct message from the Lord; but what follows is.

Geneva Study Bible

Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

24. Here and in Jeremiah 44:25 we return to Baruch’s memoirs.

all Judah … Egypt] LXX, probably rightly, omit.

Jeremiah 44:24

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Announcement of the punishment for this idolatry. - Jeremiah 44:24. "And Jeremiah said unto all the people, and unto all the women, Hear the word of Jahveh, all of Judah that are in the land of Egypt; Jeremiah 44:25. Thus saith Jahve of hosts, the God of Israel: Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouth, and fulfilled it with your hands, saying, We will assuredly perform our vows which we have vowed, by burning incense to the queen of heaven, and by pouring out libations to her: ye will by all means perform your vows, and carry out your vows. Jeremiah 44:26. Therefore hear the word of Jahveh, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith Jahveh, truly my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah, saying, 'As the Lord Jahveh liveth,' in all the land of Egypt. Jeremiah 44:27. Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good; and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, till they are annihilated. Jeremiah 44:28. And those who escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, a small number; and all the remnant of Judah, that went to the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose word shall stand, mine or theirs. Jeremiah 44:29. And this shall be the sign to you, saith Jahveh, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely rise up against you for evil: Jeremiah 44:30. Thus hath Jahveh spoken, Behold, I will give Pharaoh-Hophra into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I have given Zedekiah the king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, who was his enemy, and sought his life."

After refuting the false assertion of the people, Jeremiah once more announces to them, on behalf of God, in the most solemn manner, the punishment of extermination by sword and famine in Egypt; this he does for the purpose of giving the greatest possible emphasis to his warning against persevering in idolatry. For substance, this announcement is similar to that of Jeremiah 44:11-14, but the expression is stronger. Even in the summary account of their offences, Jeremiah 44:25, the words are so chosen and arranged as to bring out clearly the determination of the people to persevere in worshipping the queen of heaven. "As for you and your wives, ye have spoken with your mouth and fulfilled it with your hand" (on the Vav consec. attached to תּדבּרנה, cf. Ewald, 344, b), i.e., ye have uttered vows and then carried them out; for ye say, We must keep the vows that we have vowed. It is to be observed that the verbs תּדבּרנה, and in the concluding portion תּקימנה and תּעשׂינה, are feminine, since the address chiefly applies to the wives, who clung most tenaciously to idolatry. In the clause 'הקים תּקימנה וגו, "ye will make your vows and perform them," there is unmistakeable irony, in which the reference is to the wilfulness of the people in this idolatry. This ἑθελοθρησκεία is shown by the inf. abs. הקים, which strengthens תּקימנה. "To establish vows," i.e., to make them, was not a thing commanded, but left to one's free determination. Hence, also, no appeal to the maxim that vows which have been made or uttered must be fulfilled, can justify the making of the vows. The form תּקימנה for תּקמנה is an unusual one; and the י which the Hirik takes after it is occasioned by the form הקים; cf. Ewald, 196, c. - The announcement of the punishment is introduced by a solemn oath on the part of God. Jahveh swears by His great name, i.e., as the one who has shown Himself God by His mighty deeds - who has the power of keeping His word. The name is, of course, only a manifestation of His existence. אם as a particle used in swearing equals certainly not. His name shall no more be named in the mouth of any Jew in the land of Egypt, i.e., be used in asseverations, because all the Jews in Egypt shall be exterminated. On the expression, "Behold, I will watch over them," etc., cf. Jeremiah 31:28 and Jeremiah 21:10. In Jeremiah 44:28, it is more exactly stated that only a few individuals shall escape the sword and return to Judah; thus, no one shall remain behind in Egypt. By this judgment, all the remnant of Judah that went to Egypt shall find out whose word - Jahveh's or theirs - will endure, i.e., prove true. ממּנּי properly depends on דבר, "the word from me or from them" (the people).