1. word that came—the heading of a new part of the book (the forty-first through forty-fourth chapters), namely, the prophecies to the Jews in Judea and Egypt after the taking of the city, blended with history. The prophecy does not begin till Jer 42:7, and the previous history is introductory to it.

     2. The Babylonians were in some measure aware, through Jeremiah's prophecies (Jer 39:11), that they were the instruments of God's wrath on His people.

     3. ye—(See on Jer 40:1). His address is directed to the Jews as well as to Jeremiah. God makes the very heathen testify for Him against them (De 29:24, 25).

     4. look well unto thee—the very words of Nebuchadnezzar's charge (Jer 39:12).

     5. while he was not yet gone back—parenthetical. When Jeremiah hesitated whether it would be best for him to go, Nebuzara-dan proceeded to say, "Go, then, to Gedaliah," (not as English Version, "Go back, also"), if thou preferrest (as Nebuzara-dan inferred from Jeremiah's hesitancy) to stop here rather than go with me.

     6. Mizpah—in Benjamin, northwest of Jerusalem (Jer 41:5, 6, 9). Not the Mizpah in Gilead, beyond Jordan (Jud 10:17). Jeremiah showed his patriotism and piety in remaining in his country amidst afflictions and notwithstanding the ingratitude of the Jews, rather than go to enjoy honors and pleasures in a heathen court (Heb 11:24-26). This vindicates his purity of motive in his withdrawal (Jer 37:12-14).

     7. captains . . . in the fields—The leaders of the Jewish army had been "scattered" throughout the country on the capture of Zedekiah (Jer 52:8), in order to escape the notice of the Chaldeans.

     8. Netophathite—from Netophah, a town in Judah (2Sa 23:28).

     9. Fear not—They were afraid that they should not obtain pardon from the Chaldeans for their acts. He therefore assured them of safety by an oath.

     10. Mizpah—lying on the way between Babylon and Judah, and so convenient for transacting business between the two countries.

     11. Jews . . . in Moab—who had fled thither at the approach of the Chaldeans. God thus tempered the severity of His vengeance that a remnant might be left.

     13. in the fields—not in the city, but scattered in the country (Jer 40:7).

     14. Baalis—named from the idol Baal, as was often the case in heathen names.

     16. thou speakest falsely—a mystery of providence that God should permit the righteous, in spite of warning, thus to rush into the trap laid for them! Isa 57:1 suggests a solution.

     1. seventh month—the second month after the burning of the city (Jer 52:12, 13).

     2. slew him whom the king of Babylon had made governor—This assigns a reason for their slaying him, as well as showing the magnitude of their crime (Da 2:21; Ro 13:1).

     3. slew all the Jews—namely, the attendants and ministers of Gedaliah; or, the military alone, about his person; translate, "even (not 'and,' as English Version) the men of war." The main portion of the people with Gedaliah, including Jeremiah, Ishmael carried away captive (Jer 41:10, 16).

     4. no man knew it—that is, outside Mizpah. Before tidings of the murder had gone abroad.

     5. beards shaven, &c.—indicating their deep sorrow at the destruction of the temple and city.

     6. weeping—pretending to weep, as they did, for the ruin of the temple.

     7. and cast them into . . . pit—He had not killed them in the pit (compare Jer 41:9); these words are therefore rightly supplied in English Version.

     8. treasures—It was customary to hide grain in cavities underground in troubled times. "We have treasures," which we will give, if our lives be spared.

     9. because of Gedaliah—rather, "near Gedaliah," namely, those intercepted by Ishmael on their way from Samaria to Jerusalem and killed at Mizpah, where Gedaliah had lived. So 2Ch 17:15, "next"; Ne 3:2, Margin, literally, as here, "at his hand." "In the reign of Gedaliah" [CALVIN]. However, English Version gives a good sense: Ishmael's reason for killing them was because of his supposing them to be connected with Gedaliah.

     10. the king's daughters— (Jer 43:6). Zedekiah's. Ishmael must have got additional followers (whom the hope of gain attracted), besides those who originally set out with him (Jer 41:1), so as to have been able to carry off all the residue of the people. He probably meant to sell them as slaves to the Ammonites (see on Jer 40:14).

     11. Johanan—the friend of Gedaliah who had warned him of Ishmael's treachery, but in vain (Jer 40:8, 13).

     12. the . . . waters— (2Sa 2:13); a large reservoir or lake.

     13. glad—at the prospect of having a deliverer from their captivity.

     14. cast about—came round.

     16. men of war—"The men of war," stated in Jer 41:3 to have been slain by Ishmael, must refer to the military about Gedaliah's person; "the men of war" here to those not so.

     17. dwelt—for a time, until they were ready for their journey to Egypt (Jer 42:1-22).

     18. afraid—lest the Chaldeans should suspect all the Jews of being implicated in Ishmael's treason, as though the Jews sought to have a prince of the house of David (Jer 41:1). Their better way towards gaining God's favor would have been to have laid the blame on the real culprit, and to have cleared themselves. A tortuous policy is the parent of fear. Righteousness inspires with boldness (Ps 53:5; Pr 28:1).

     2. Jeremiah—He probably was one of the number carried off from Mizpah, and dwelt with Johanan (Jer 41:16). Hence the expression is, "came near" (Jer 42:1), not "sent."

     3. They consulted God, like many, not so much to know what was right, as wishing Him to authorize what they had already determined on, whether agreeable to His will or not. So Ahab in consulting Micaiah (1Ki 22:13). Compare Jeremiah's answer (Jer 42:4) with Micaiah's (1Ki 22:14).

     4. I have heard—that is, I accede to your request.

     5. Lord be a true . . . witness— (Ge 31:50; Ps 89:37; Re 1:5; 3:14; 19:11).

     6. evil—not moral evil, which God cannot command (Jas 1:13), but what may be disagreeable and hard to us. Piety obeys God, without questioning, at all costs. See the instance defective in this, that it obeyed only so far as was agreeable to itself (1Sa 15:3, 9, 13-15, 20-23).

     7. ten days—Jeremiah did not speak of himself, but waited God's time and revelation, showing the reality of his inspiration. Man left to himself would have given an immediate response to the people, who were impatient of delay. The delay was designed to test the sincerity of their professed willingness to obey, and that they should have full time to deliberate (De 8:2). True obedience bows to God's time, as well as His way and will.

     10. If ye . . . abide—namely, under the Babylonian authority, to which God hath appointed that all should be subject (Da 2:37, 38). To resist was to resist God.

     12. show mercies—rather, I will excite (in him) feelings of mercy towards you [CALVIN].

     13. if ye say, &c.—avowed rebellion against God, who had often (De 17:16), as now, forbidden their going to Egypt, lest they should be entangled in its idolatry.

     14. where we shall see no war—Here they betray their impiety in not believing God's promise (Jer 42:10, 11), as if He were a liar (1Jo 5:10).

     15. wholly set your faces—firmly resolve (Lu 9:51) in spite of all warnings (Jer 44:12).

     16. sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you—The very evils we think to escape by sin, we bring on ourselves thereby. What our hearts are most set on often proves fatal to us. Those who think to escape troubles by changing their place will find them wherever they go (Eze 11:8). The "sword" here is that of Nebuchadnezzar, who fulfilled the prediction in his expedition to Africa (according to MEGASTHENES, a heathen writer), 300 B.C.

     17. all the men—excepting the "small number" mentioned (Jer 44:14, 28); namely, those who were forced into Egypt against their will, Jeremiah, Baruch, &c., and those who took Jeremiah's advice and fled from Egypt before the arrival of the Chaldeans.

     18. As mine anger, &c.—As ye have already, to your sorrow, found Me true to My word, so shall ye again (Jer 7:20; 18:16).

     19. I have admonished—literally, "testified," that is, solemnly admonished, having yourselves as My witnesses; so that if ye perish, ye yourselves will have to confess that it was through your own fault, not through ignorance, ye perished.

     20. dissembled in your hearts—rather, "ye have used deceit against your (own) souls." It is not God, but yourselves, whom ye deceive, to your own ruin, by your own dissimulation (Ga 6:7) [CALVIN]. But the words following accord best with English Version, ye have dissembled in your hearts (see on Jer 42:3) towards me, when ye sent me to consult God for you.

     21. declared it—namely, the divine will.

     22. sojourn—for a time, until they could return to their country. They expected, therefore, to be restored, in spite of God's prediction to the contrary.

     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).

     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. In the forty-second chapter they acknowledged the trustworthiness of Jeremiah, of which they had for so long so many proofs; yet here they accuse him of a lie. The mind of the unregenerate man is full of deceits.

     5. remnant . . . returned from all nations— (Jer 40:11, 12).

     6. the king's daughters—Zedekiah's (Jer 41:10).

     7. Tahpanhes—(See on Jer 2:16); Daphne on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, near Pelusium. They naturally came to it first, being on the frontier of Egypt, towards Palestine.

     9. stones—to be laid as the foundation beneath Nebuchadnezzar's throne (Jer 43:10).

     10. my servant—God often makes one wicked man or nation a scourge to another (Eze 29:18, 19, 20).

     11. such as are for death to death—that is, the deadly plague. Some he shall cause to die by the plague arising from insufficient or bad food; others, by the sword; others he shall lead captive, according as God shall order it (see on Jer 15:2).

     12. houses of . . . gods—He shall not spare even the temple, such will be His fury. A reproof to the Jews that they betook themselves to Egypt, a land whose own safety depended on helpless idols.

     13. images—statues or obelisks.

     1. Migdol—meaning a "tower." A city east of Egypt, towards the Red Sea (Ex 14:2; Nu 33:7).

     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. (2Ch 36:15).

     7. now—after so many warnings.

     8. in . . . Egypt—where they polluted themselves to ingratiate themselves with the Egyptians.

     9. Have you forgotten how the wickednesses of your fathers were the source of the greatest calamities to you?

     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.

     11. Behold, I will set my face against you for evil—(See on Le 17:10).

     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.

     15. their wives—The idolatry began with them (1Ki 11:4; 1Ti 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; De 23:23; Jud 11:36). The source of all superstitions is that men oppose their own will and fancies to God's commands.

     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 (De 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.

     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, 18, 38).

     23. law—the moral precepts.

     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.

     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.

     27. watch over . . . for evil— (Jer 1:10; Eze 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; 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.

     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 (Mt 24:8) [GROTIUS]. CALVIN makes the "sign" to be simultaneous with the event signified, not antecedent to it, as in Ex 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.