1Slovo, které se stalo k Jeremjášovi o všech Judejcích, bydlících v egyptské zemi, bydlících v Migdólu, v Tachpanchésu, v Memfidě a v zemi Patrósu: 2Toto praví Hospodin zástupů, Bůh Izraele: Viděli jste všechno zlo, které jsem přivedl na Jeruzalém a na všechna judská města. Hle, jsou z nich dnes trosky a nikdo v nich nebydlí 3kvůli jejich zlu, které páchali, aby mě rozzlobili, když chodili obětovat a sloužit jiným bohům, které neznali oni, ani vy, ani vaši otcové. 4Posílal jsem vám všechny své otroky proroky, stále znovu jsem je posílal se slovy: Nečiňte tuto odpornou věc, kterou nenávidím. 5Ale neposlouchali a nenakláněli ucho, aby se odvrátili od svého zla a neobětovali jiným bohům. 6Moje zloba a můj hněv se rozlily a vzplály v judských městech a v jeruzalémských ulicích. Staly se troskami a zcela opuštěnými místy, jak je tomu dnes. 7A nyní toto praví Hospodin, Bůh zástupů, Bůh Izraele: Proč pácháte tak velké zlo svým duším, aby vám byl vyhlazen muž i žena, dítě i kojenec zprostřed Judy a nezůstal vám ostatek? 8Abyste mě rozzlobili dílem svých rukou, obětujete jiným bohům v egyptské zemi, kam jste přišli pobývat jako cizinci? Abyste byli vyhlazeni? Abyste se stali kletbou a potupou mezi všemi národy země? 9Cožpak jste zapomněli na zlé skutky svých otců, zlé skutky judských králů, zlé skutky jejich žen, na své vlastní zlé skutky i zlé skutky svých žen, které páchali v judské zemi a na ulicích Jeruzaléma? 10Dodnes se nepokořili, nebáli a nežili podle mého zákona a podle mých ustanovení, která jsem předložil vám a vašim otcům. 11Proto takto praví Hospodin zástupů, Bůh Izraele: Hle, jsem rozhodnut uvést na vás zlo a vyhladit celého Judu. 12Vezmu ostatek Judy, ty, kteří se rozhodli jít do egyptské země pobývat tam jako cizinci. V egyptské zemi všichni zahynou, padnou mečem a hladem. Zahynou od nejmenšího do největšího, zemřou mečem a hladem. Stanou se prokletím, předmětem hrůzy, kletbou a potupou. 13Tak jako jsem navštívil Jeruzalém, navštívím ty, kteří bydlí v egyptské zemi, mečem, hladem a morem. 14Neunikne ani nepřežije nikdo z ostatku Judy, z těch, kteří přijdou pobývat do egyptské země jako cizinci; nenavrátí se do judské země, kam se jejich duše touží vrátit bydlet; ale nevrátí se, jen pár utečenců. 15Nato všichni muži, kteří věděli, že jejich ženy obětovaly jiným bohům a všechny ženy, které stály ve velkém shromáždění a všechen lid, který bydlel v egyptské zemi, v Patrósu, Jeremjášovi odpověděli slovy: 16Co se týče slova, které jsi k nám mluvil v Hospodinově jménu, nebudeme tě poslouchat, 17nýbrž jistě splníme všechno, co vyšlo z našich úst; budeme obětovat královně nebes a lít jí úlitby tak, jak jsme to dělávali my i naši otcové, naši králové a naše knížata v judských městech a na ulicích Jeruzaléma. Nasytili jsme se chlebem, bylo nám dobře a zlo jsme neviděli. 18Ale od té doby, co jsme přestali obětovat královně nebes a lít jí úlitby, jsme měli nedostatek ve všem a hynuli jsme mečem a hladem. 19A když jsme obětovaly královně nebes a lily jí úlitby, cožpak jsme jí pekly koláče, abychom ji zobrazily, a lily jí úlitby bez vědomí svých mužů? 20Jeremjáš všemu lidu, mužům, ženám a všemu lidu, který mu toto odpovídal, řekl: 21Cožpak si Hospodin nepamatoval oběti, které jste pálili v judských městech a na ulicích Jeruzaléma vy, vaši otcové, vaši králové, vaše knížata a lid země, a nepřišlo mu to na mysl? 22Hospodin už nemohl snést vaše zvrácené činy a ohavnosti, které jste páchali. Proto se vaše země stala troskami, hroznou pustinou, kletbou, bez obyvatel, jak je tomu dnes. 23Protože jste pálili oběti, protože jste hřešili proti Hospodinu a neposlouchali jste Hospodina, nežili jste podle jeho zákona, jeho ustanovení a jeho varování, proto vás postihlo toto zlo, jak je tomu dnes. 24Potom Jeremjáš všemu lidu a všem ženám řekl: Slyšte Hospodinovo slovo, všichni Judejci, kteří jste v egyptské zemi: 25Toto praví Hospodin zástupů, Bůh Izraele: Vy i vaše ženy jste svými ústy vyslovili a svýma rukama pak naplnili slova: Jistě splníme svoje sliby, které jsme učinili, že budeme obětovat královně nebes a lít jí úlitby. Jen si svoje sliby plňte, jen si svoje sliby uskutečňujte. 26Proto slyšte Hospodinovo slovo, všichni Judejci, kteří bydlíte v egyptské zemi: Hle, přísahám při svém velikém jménu, praví Hospodin: V celé egyptské zemi se už nestane, že by bylo vzýváno mé jméno ústy nějakého Judejce, který říká: Jakože živ je Panovník Hospodin. 27Hle, bdím nad nimi ke zlu a ne k dobru. Všichni Judejci, kteří jsou v egyptské zemi, budou hynout mečem a hladem až budou úplně zničeni. 28Ti, kteří unikli meči, se z egyptské země do země judské navrátí v malém počtu, a celý ostatek Judy, ti, kteří přišli do egyptské země pobývat jako cizinci, poznají, čí slovo se naplní, zda moje, anebo jejich. 29A toto vám bude znamením, je Hospodinův výrok, že vás navštívím na tomto místě, abyste poznali, že se jistě naplní má slova o vás ke zlému: 30Toto praví Hospodin: Hle, dávám faraona Chofru, egyptského krále, do ruky jeho nepřátel a do ruky těch, kdo usilují o jeho život, tak jako jsem dal judského krále Sidkijáše do ruky babylonského krále Nebúkadnesara, jeho nepřítele, který usiloval o jeho život.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 JEREMIAH REPROVES THE JEWS FOR THEIR IDOLATRY IN EGYPT, AND DENOUNCES GOD'S JUDGMENTS ON THEM AND EGYPT ALIKE. (Jer. 44:1-30)
Migdol--meaning a "tower." A city east of Egypt, towards the Red Sea (
Exod 14:2;
Num 33:7).
Noph--Memphis, now Cairo (
Jer 2:16).
Pathros--Upper Egypt (
Isa 11:11).
2 evil . . . upon Jerusalem--If I spared not My own sacred city, much less shall ye be safe in Egypt, which I loathe.
3 they went--implying perverse assiduity: they went out of their way to burn incense (one species of idolatry put for all kinds), &c.
4 (
2Chr 36:15).
7 now--after so many warnings.
commit . . . this . . . evil against your souls-- (
Jer 7:19;
Num 16:38;
Pro 8:36). It is not God whom you injure, but yourselves.
8 in . . . Egypt--where they polluted themselves to ingratiate themselves with the Egyptians.
ye be gone--not compelled by fear, but of your own accord, when I forbade you, and when it was free to you to stay in Judea.
that ye might cut yourselves off--They, as it were, purposely courted their own ruin.
9 Have you forgotten how the wickednesses of your fathers were the source of the greatest calamities to you?
their wives--The Jews' worldly queens were great promoters of idolatry (
1Kgs 11:1-8;
1Kgs 15:13;
1Kgs 16:31).
the land of Judah--They defiled the land which was holy unto God.
10 They . . . you--The third person puts them to a distance from God on account of their alienating themselves from Him. The second person implies that God formerly had directly addressed them.
humbled--literally, "contrite" (
Ps 51:17).
neither . . . feared-- (
Pro 28:14).
11 Behold, I will set my face against you for evil--(See on
Lev 17:10).
and to cut off all Judah--that is, all the idolaters;
Jer 44:28 shows that some returned to Judea (compare
Jer 42:17).
14 none . . . shall escape . . . that they should return, &c.--The Jews had gone to Egypt with the idea that a return to Judea, which they thought hopeless to their brethren in Babylon, would be an easy matter to themselves in Egypt: the exact reverse should happen in the case of each respectively. The Jews whom God sent to Babylon were there weaned from idolatry, and were restored; those who went to Egypt by their perverse will were hardened in idolatry, and perished there.
have a desire--literally, "lift up (their) soul," that is, their hopes (compare
Jer 22:27, Margin;
Deut 24:15, Margin).
none shall return but such as shall escape--namely, the "small number" (
Jer 44:28) who were brought by force into Egypt, as Jeremiah and Baruch, and those who, in accordance with Jeremiah's advice, should flee from Egypt before the arrival of the Chaldeans (see on
Jer 42:17). CALVIN less probably refers the words to the return of the exiles in Babylon, which the Jews in Egypt regarded as hopeless.
15 their wives--The idolatry began with them (
1Kgs 11:4;
1Tim 2:14). Their husbands' connivance implicated them in the guilt.
16 we will not-- (
Jer 6:16).
17 whatsoever . . . goeth . . . out of our . . . mouth--whatever vow we have uttered to our gods (
Jer 44:25;
Deut 23:23;
Judg 11:36). The source of all superstitions is that men oppose their own will and fancies to God's commands.
queen of heaven--(See on
Jer 7:18); Ashtaroth or Astarte.
we . . . fathers . . . king, &c.--The evil was restricted to no one class: all from the highest to the lowest shared the guilt.
then had we plenty--Fools attribute their seeming prosperity to God's connivance at their sin: but see
Pro 1:32;
Eccl 8:11-
Eccl 8:13. In fact, God had often chastised them for their idolatry (see
Judg 2:14); but it is the curse of impiety not to perceive the hand of God in calamities.
victuals--Men cast away the bread of the soul for the bread that perisheth (
Deut 8:3;
John 6:27). So Esau (
Heb 12:16).
18 They impute their calamities to their service of God, but these are often marks of His favor, not of wrath, to do His people good at their latter end (
Deut 8:16).
19 make . . . cakes to worship her--MAURER translates, "to form her image." Crescent-shaped cakes were offered to the moon. Vulgate supports English Version.
without our men--The women mentioned (
Jer 44:15); "a great multitude" here speak: we have not engaged in secret night orgies which might justly be regarded unfavorably by our husbands: our sacred rites have been open, and with their privity. They wish to show how unreasonable it is that Jeremiah should oppose himself alone to the act of all, not merely women, but men also. The guilty, like these women, desire to shield themselves under the complicity of others. Instead of helping one another towards heaven, husband and wife often ripen one another for hell.
21 The incense . . . did not the Lord remember--Jeremiah owns that they did as they said, but in retort asks, did not God repay their own evil-doing? Their very land in its present desolation attests this (
Jer 44:22), as was foretold (
Jer 25:11,
Jer 25:18,
Jer 25:38).
23 law--the moral precepts.
statutes--the ceremonial.
testimonies--the judicial (
Dan 9:11-
Dan 9:12).
25 Ye . . . have both spoken with . . . mouths, and fulfilled with . . . hand--ironical praise. They had pleaded their obligation to fulfil their vows, in excuse for their idolatry. He answers, no one can accuse you of unsteadiness as to your idolatrous vows; but steadfastness towards God ought to have prevented you from making, or, when made, from keeping such vows.
ye will surely accomplish . . . vows--Jeremiah hereby gives them up to their own fatal obstinacy.
26 I have sworn--I, too have made a vow which I will fulfil. Since ye will not hear Me speaking and warning, hear Me swearing.
by my great name--that is, by Myself (
Gen 22:16), the greatest by whom God can swear (
Heb 6:13-
Heb 6:14).
my name shall no more be named--The Jews, heretofore, amidst all their idolatry, had retained the form of appeal to the name of God and the law, the distinctive glory of their nation; God will allow this no more (
Ezek 20:39): there shall be none left there to profane His name thus any more.
27 watch over . . . for evil-- (
Jer 1:10;
Ezek 7:6). The God, whose providence is ever solicitously watching over His people for good, shall solicitously, as it were, watch for their hurt. Contrast
Jer 31:28;
Jer 32:41.
28 small number--(see on
Jer 44:14; and
Jer 42:17;
Isa 27:13); compare "all-consumed" (
Jer 44:27). A band easily counted, whereas they were expecting to return triumphantly in large numbers.
shall know--most of them experimentally, and to their cost.
whose words . . . mine, or theirs--Hebrew, "that from Me and them." Jehovah's words are His threats of destruction to the Jews; theirs, the assertion that they expected all goods from their gods (
Jer 44:17), &c. "Mine"; by which I predict ruin to them. "Theirs"; by which they give themselves free scope in iniquity.
shall stand-- (
Ps 33:11).
29 this . . . sign unto you--The calamity of Pharaoh-hophra (see on
Jer 44:30) shall be a sign to you that as he shall fall before his enemy, so you shall subsequently fall before Nebuchadnezzar (
Matt 24:8) [GROTIUS]. CALVIN makes the "sign" to be simultaneous with the event signified, not antecedent to it, as in
Exod 3:12. The Jews believed Egypt impregnable, so shut in was it by natural barriers. The Jews being "punished in this place" will be a sign that their view is false, and God's threat true. He calls it "a sign unto you," because God's prediction is equivalent to the event, so that they may even now take it as a sign. When fulfilled it would cease to be a sign to them: for they would be dead.
30 Hophra--in HERODOTUS called Apries. He succeeded Psammis, the successor of Pharaoh-necho, who was beaten by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, on the Euphrates. Amasis rebelled against, and overcame him, in the city Sais.
them that seek his life--HERODOTUS, in curious accordance with this, records that Amasis, after treating Hophra well at first, was instigated, by persons who thought they could not be safe unless he were put to death, to strangle him. "His enemies" refer to Amasis, &c.; the words are accurately chosen, so as not to refer to Nebuchadnezzar, who is not mentioned till the end of the verse, and in connection with Zedekiah (
Ezek 20:3;
Ezek 30:21). Amasis' civil war with Hophra pioneered the way for Nebuchadnezzar's invasion in the twenty-third year of his reign [JOSEPHUS, Antiquities, 10.11].
After the completion of the prophecies and histories appertaining to the Jewish people and kings, Jeremiah subjoins one referring to an individual, Baruch; even as there are subjoined to the epistles of Paul addressed to churches, epistles to individuals, some of which were prior in date to the former. Afterwards follow the prophecies referring to other nations, closing the book [GROTIUS]. The date of the events here told is eighteen years before the taking of the city; this chapter in point of time follows the thirty-sixth chapter. Baruch seems to have been regularly employed by Jeremiah to commit his prophecies to writing (
Jer 36:1,
Jer 36:4,
Jer 36:32).
