Synopsis of the Chapter
The Jews, disobedient to God and Jeremiah, accusing Jeremiah of lying, break their oath to God and flee, dragging Jeremiah with them into Egypt, where (verse 8) he predicts in Tahpanhes the destruction of Egypt together with the Jews by Nebuchadnezzar.
Verse 3 ¶
3. But Baruch the son of Neriah incites you — because Baruch seemed to them bolder and more spirited than the gentle Jeremiah, exhausted by so many imprisonments and hardships; for they knew that Baruch had read the prophecy before the princes, which Jeremiah himself did not dare to read to them, chapter XXXVI, verse 6. Furthermore, they had seen that Baruch, equally with Jeremiah, had been released by the Chaldeans during the destruction of the city and treated kindly. Moreover, he had written to the Jews in Babylon not to think of returning but to settle there and pray for the life of Nebuchadnezzar and his son Belshazzar, Baruch I, 11. Therefore these suspicious and rash men concluded that Baruch was on the side of the Chaldeans and was suggesting to Jeremiah that he prophesy to these remaining Jews that they must stay in Judea, so as to subject them to the Chaldean yoke. They followed human prudence, which dictated that it was safer to flee to Egypt than to expose themselves to the danger of the Chaldeans in Judea. But it was otherwise in the counsel of God, who catches the self-reliant rebels in their own prudence.
Verse 7 ¶
7. Tahpanhes. — It was a capital city of Egypt and the residence of Pharaoh, where Moses performed his wonders, namely in the field of Zoan, that is Tanis or Tahpanhes, Psalm LXXVII, 43. See the notes on Numbers XIII, 23.
9. Under the brick pavement. — Note: Because Egypt is muddy from the flooding and silting of the Nile, it abounds in brickwork; hence some wish the principal city of Egypt to be called Pelusium, as if from πηλεύσειν, that is, brickwork; although others think Pelusium was named after Peleus, the father of Achilles, because he founded this city.
Symbolically, therefore, this wall signifies Egypt: under it Jeremiah is here commanded to place large stones, so that with them sunk into the ground and set with lime and mortar, he would as it were lay the foundation of the royal throne that Nebuchadnezzar would place there. By this symbol he signifies that Nebuchadnezzar would impose his throne and scepter upon Egypt and subjugate it to himself, meaning: O Jews, you who think yourselves prudent but are unbelieving and rebellious toward God, you think that against God's will you can hide and be safe under the brick wall of Egypt; but you are mistaken, for Nebuchadnezzar will come, who will take this wall and lay it beneath himself and his throne, and will kill you first of all. Secondly, it alludes to the servitude in Egypt under Moses, meaning: You flee to Egypt; but recall that you served there in a harsh and almost iron furnace, making bricks from mud, and know that in like manner you will be punished there by Nebuchadnezzar with either death or servitude.
At the entrance of Pharaoh's house — meaning: The royal gate and house that now belongs to Pharaoh will become the palace of Nebuchadnezzar; and this on your account, for he will pursue you even into Egypt; and so you will be the cause why the Egyptians likewise fall into his hands; for the punishment of your sins, the calamity and captivity, wherever you go, you will drag with you.
10. Behold, I will send — messengers to summon Nebuchadnezzar. These messengers were the thoughts and inspirations about pursuing the Jews and seizing Egypt that were cast into the mind of Nebuchadnezzar, says Maldonatus.
Verse 11 ¶
11. Those destined for death (that is, those I have appointed, Nebuchadnezzar himself will deliver), to death. Those for captivity (I have appointed, he will deliver), to captivity. — See the commentary on chapter XV, 2.
12. And he will carry them away captive — he will take the golden and silver gods of the Egyptians to Babylon; or 'them,' namely the Egyptians, for they are implicitly included in the word 'Egypt' that preceded.
He will wrap himself in the land of Egypt. — The word 'terra' (land) is not in the nominative case, as if to say: The land of Egypt will be clothed and fortified with its own defenses, as Hugo interprets; or with Nebuchadnezzar's soldiers, as Lyranus interprets. Rather, it is in the ablative case. The sense, therefore, is: Nebuchadnezzar will clothe himself with all the spoils and riches of Egypt, just as a shepherd, when he leads his sheep to pasture in rain and cold, clothes himself with his cloak — besides which he has no other wealth or garments, but carries with him his shelter and his home, as Virgil says of the Scythians. Meaning: In the same way, Nebuchadnezzar will depart from Egypt laden with spoils, and will carry off all the riches of Egypt. For a king covers and clothes himself with his kingdom, whether his own or one he has conquered; and since a king is also a shepherd, he puts on the kingdom as a shepherd puts on his cloak. So say the Hebrews. Hence the Chaldean translates: He will wrap himself in the land of Egypt (that is, the king of Babylon), as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment.
The Septuagint translates differently: He will search through the land of Egypt, as a shepherd picks lice from his garment — that is, so carefully and diligently that he leaves not a single one. For shepherds rarely remove their garments; hence they contract vermin, which they pick through in the fields, for they have abundant leisure, says Theodoret.
Verse 13 ¶
13. And he will break the obelisks of the House of the Sun. — The Septuagint renders: the obelisks of Heliopolis. For Heliopolis is so called in Greek, meaning: City of the Sun, because in it the Sun was worshipped in its own temple, whose priest was Potiphar, Genesis XLI, 45. Note: The Phoenicians and Egyptians were the first of all peoples to worship the sun, moon, and stars as gods, as the causes of the generation and destruction of all things. 'For, as Catullus says, breezes caress plants' and every living thing, 'the sun strengthens, the rain nourishes.' The Egyptians depicted the Sun in youthful form, with a round face, standing in a ship carried by a crocodile, as Pierius notes, Hieroglyphics XLIX. By the ship they signified the movement of the Sun through the waters, that is, through the heavens made of water; by the crocodile, rainwater, whose cause is the sun. Heliopolis, moreover, was properly devoted to the Sun alone, and because the sun is unique, hence they attributed to the phoenix — which is said to have first appeared in that city and to dwell there — as a unique hieroglyphic to the unique Sun, just as the sun is a hieroglyphic of the one God; and perhaps for this reason the phoenix was invented by them — not a real bird, but a symbolic one — so that by this hieroglyphic they might signify the celestial and swift motion of the unique Sun, as I said on Genesis VII, 2.