Jeremiah 40-44

Whom the Remnant of Jews Repair. Johanan Warns Gedaliah of Ishmael's Conspiracy in Vain.

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. bound in chains--Though released from the court of the prison (see on Jer 39:14), in the confusion at the burning of the city he seems to have been led away in chains with the other captives, and not till he reached Ramah to have gained full liberty. Nebuzara-dan had his quarters at Ramah, in Benjamin; and there he collected the captives previous to their removal to Babylon (Jer 31:15). He in releasing Jeremiah obeyed the king's commands (Jer 39:11). Jeremiah's "chains" for a time were due to the negligence of those to whom he had been committed; or else to Nebuzara-dan's wish to upbraid the people with their perverse ingratitude in imprisoning Jeremiah [Calvin]; hence he addresses the people (ye ... you) as much as Jeremiah (Jer 40:2, 3).

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.

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).

look well unto thee--the very words of Nebuchadnezzar's charge (Jer 39:12). all the land is before thee ... seemeth good--(Ge 20:15, Margin). Jeremiah alone had the option given him of staying where he pleased, when all the rest were either carried off or forced to remain there.

the prison and to have been taken to Ramah, still in chains, and then committed in freedom to Gedaliah. dwelt among the people--that is, was made free. 15-18. Belonging to the time when the city was not yet taken, and when Jeremiah was still in the court of the prison (Jer 38:13). This passage is inserted here because it was now that Ebed-melech's good act (Jer 38:7-12; Mt 25:43) was to be rewarded in his deliverance.

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. victuals--(Isa 33:16). reward--rather, "a present." This must have been a seasonable relief to the prophet, who probably lost his all in the siege.

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).

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.

Netophathite--from Netophah, a town in Judah (2Sa 23:28). Maachathite--from Maachathi, at the foot of Mount Hermon (De 3:14).

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. serve--literally, "to stand before" (Jer 40:10; Jer 52:12), that is, to be at hand ready to execute the commands of the king of Babylon.

Mizpah--lying on the way between Babylon and Judah, and so convenient for transacting business between the two countries. As for me ... but ye--He artfully, in order to conciliate them, represents the burden of the service to the Chaldeans as falling on him, while they may freely gather their wine, fruits, and oil. He does not now add that these very fruits were to constitute the chief part of the tribute to be paid to Babylon: which, though fruitful in corn, was less productive of grapes, figs, and olives [Herodotus, 1.193]. The grant of "vineyards" to the "poor" (Jer 39:10) would give hope to the discontended of enjoying the best fruits (Jer 40:12).

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.

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

Baalis--named from the idol Baal, as was often the case in heathen names. Ammonites--So it was to them that Ishmael went after murdering Gedaliah (Jer 41:10). slay--literally, "strike thee in the soul," that is, a deadly stroke. Ishmael--Being of the royal seed of David (Jer 41:1), he envied Gedaliah the presidency to which he thought himself entitled; therefore he leagued himself with the ancient heathen enemy of Judah. believed ... not--generous, but unwise unsuspiciousness (Ec 9:16).

Go--not literally, for he was in confinement, but figuratively. before thee--in thy sight.

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.

the men of whom thou art afraid--(Jer 38:1, 4-6). The courtiers and princes hostile to thee for having delivered Jeremiah shall have a danger coming so home to themselves as to have no power to hurt. Heretofore intrepid, he was now afraid; this prophecy was therefore the more welcome to him.

life ... for a prey--(See on Jer 21:9; Jer 38:2; Jer 45:5). put ... trust in me--(Jer 38:7-9). Trust in God was the root of his fearlessness of the wrath of men, in his humanity to the prophet (1Ch 5:20; Ps 37:40). The "life" he thus risked was to be his reward, being spared beyond all hope, when the lives of his enemies should be forfeited ("for a prey").

Ammonites. Johanan Pursues Him, Recovers the Captives, and Purposes to Flee to Egypt for Fear of the Chaldeans.

seventh month--the second month after the burning of the city (Jer 52:12, 13). and the princes--not the nominative. And the princes came, for the "princes" are not mentioned either in Jer 41:2 or in 2Ki 25:25: but, "Ishmael being of the seed royal and of the princes of the king" [Maurer]. But the ten men were the "princes of the king"; thus Maurer's objection has no weight: so English Version. eat bread together--Ishmael murdered Gedaliah, by whom he was hospitably received, in violation of the sacred right of hospitality (Ps 41:9).

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).

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).

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

beards shaven, &c.--indicating their deep sorrow at the destruction of the temple and city. cut themselves--a heathen custom, forbidden (Le 19:27, 28; De 14:1). These men were mostly from Samaria, where the ten tribes, previous to their deportation, had fallen into heathen practices. offerings--unbloody. They do not bring sacrificial victims, but "incense," &c., to testify their piety. house of ... Lord--that is, the place where the house of the Lord had stood (2Ki 25:9). The place in which a temple had stood, even when it had been destroyed, was held sacred [Papinian]. Those "from Shiloh" would naturally seek the house of the Lord, since it was at Shiloh it originally was set up (Jos 18:1).

weeping--pretending to weep, as they did, for the ruin of the temple. Come to Gedaliah--as if he was one of Gedaliah's retinue.

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. the pit--the pit or cistern made by Asa to guard against a want of water when Baasha was about to besiege the city (Jer 41:9; 1Ki 15:22). The trench or fosse round the city [Grotius]. Ishmael's motive for the murder seems to have been a suspicion that they were coming to live under Gedaliah.

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. slew ... not--(Pr 13:8). Ishmael's avarice and needs overcame his cruelty.

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.

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).

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

the ... waters--(2Sa 2:13); a large reservoir or lake. in Gibeon--on the road from Mizpah to Ammon: one of the sacerdotal cities of Benjamin, four miles northwest of Jerusalem, now Eljib.

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

cast about--came round.

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. eunuchs--The kings of Judah had adopted the bad practice of having harems and eunuchs from the surrounding heathen kingdoms.

dwelt--for a time, until they were ready for their journey to Egypt (Jer 42:1-22). habitation to Chimham--his "caravanserai" close by Beth-lehem. David, in reward for Barzillai's loyalty, took Chimham his son under his patronage, and made over to him his own patrimony in the land of Beth-lehem. It was thence called the habitation of Chimham (Geruth-Chimham), though it reverted to David's heirs in the year of jubilee. "Caravanserais" (a compound Persian word, meaning "the house of a company of travellers") differ from our inns, in that there is no host to supply food, but each traveller must carry with him his own.

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).

to Going to Egypt, Promising Obedience to His Will. Their Safety on Condition of Staying in Judea, and Their Destruction in the Event of Going to Egypt, Are Foretold. Their Hypocrisy in Asking for Counsel Which They Meant Not to Follow, if Contrary to Their Own Determination, Is Reproved.

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." Let ... supplication be accepted--literally, "fall" (see on Jer 36:7; Jer 37:20). pray for us--(Ge 20:7; Isa 37:4; Jas 5:16). thy God--(Jer 42:5). The Jews use this form to express their belief in the peculiar relation in which Jeremiah stood to God as His accredited prophet. Jeremiah in his reply reminds them that God is their God ("your God") as well as his as being the covenant people (Jer 42:4). They in turn acknowledge this in Jer 42:6, "the Lord our God." few of many--as had been foretold (Le 26:22).

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).

I have heard--that is, I accede to your request. your God--Being His by adoption, ye are not your own, and are bound to whatever He wills (Ex 19:5, 6; 1Co 6:19, 20). answer you--that is, through me. keep nothing back--(1Sa 3:18; Ac 20:20).

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

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).

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.

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. build ... plant--metaphor for, I will firmly establish you (Jer 24:6). I repent ... of the evil--(Jer 18:8; De 32:36). I am satisfied with the punishment I have inflicted on you, if only you add not a new offense [Grotius]. God is said to "repent," when He alters His outward ways of dealing.

show mercies--rather, I will excite (in him) feelings of mercy towards you [Calvin]. cause you to return--permit you to return to the peaceable enjoyment of the possessions from which you are wishing to withdraw through fear of the Chaldeans. By departing in disobedience they should incur the very evils they wished thereby to escape; and by staying they should gain the blessings which they feared to lose by doing so.

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.

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).

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

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.

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.

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). shall see this place no more--Ye shall not return to Judea, as those shall who have been removed to Babylon.

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.

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.

declared it--namely, the divine will. I ... but ye--antithesis. I have done my part; but ye do not yours. It is no fault of mine that ye act not rightly.

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.

Foretells by a Type the Conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, and the Fate of the Fugitives.

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). proud--Pride is the parent of disobedience and contempt of God.

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.

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

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

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.

stones--to be laid as the foundation beneath Nebuchadnezzar's throne (Jer 43:10). clay--mortar. brick-kiln--Bricks in that hot country are generally dried in the sun, not burned. The palace of Pharaoh was being built or repaired at this time; hence arose the mortar and brick-kiln at the entry. Of the same materials as that of which Pharaoh's house was built, the substructure of Nebuchadnezzar's throne should be constructed. By a visible symbol implying that the throne of the latter shall be raised on the downfall of the former. Egypt at that time contended with Babylon for the empire of the East.

my servant--God often makes one wicked man or nation a scourge to another (Eze 29:18, 19, 20). royal pavilion--the rich tapestry (literally, "ornament") which hung round the throne from above.

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).

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. burn ... carry ... captives--burn the Egyptian idols of wood, carry to Babylon those of gold and other metals. array himself with the land, &c.--Isa 49:18 has the same metaphor. as a shepherd, &c.--He shall become master of Egypt as speedily and easily as a shepherd, about to pass on with his flock to another place, puts on his garment.

images--statues or obelisks. Beth-shemesh--that is, "the house of the sun," in Hebrew; called by the Greeks "Heliopolis"; by the Egyptians, "On" (Ge 41:45); east of the Nile, and a few miles north of Memphis. Ephraim Syrus says, the statue rose to the height of sixty cubits; the base was ten cubits. Above there was a miter of a thousand pounds weight. Hieroglyphics are traced around the only obelisk remaining in the present day, sixty or seventy feet high. On the fifth year after the overthrow of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar, leaving the siege of Tyre, undertook his expedition to Egypt [Josephus, Antiquities, 10.9,7]. The Egyptians, according to the Arabs, have a tradition that their land was devastated by Nebuchadnezzar in consequence of their king having received the Jews under his protection, and that it lay desolate forty years. But see on Eze 29:2; Eze 29:13. shall he burn--Here the act is attributed to Nebuchadnezzar, the instrument, which in Jer 43:12 is attributed to God. If even the temples be not spared, much less private houses.

and Denounces God's Judgments on Them and Egypt Alike.

Migdol--meaning a "tower." A city east of Egypt, towards the Red Sea (Ex 14:2; Nu 33:7). Noph--Memphis, now Cairo (Jer 2:16). Pathros--Upper Egypt (Isa 11:11).

evil ... upon Jerusalem--If I spared not My own sacred city, much less shall ye be safe in Egypt, which I loathe.

they went--implying perverse assiduity: they went out of their way to burn incense (one species of idolatry put for all kinds), &c.

(2Ch 36:15).

now--after so many warnings. commit ... this ... evil against your souls--(Jer 7:19; Nu 16:38; Pr 8:36). It is not God whom you injure, but yourselves.

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.

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 (1Ki 11:1-8; 15:13; 16:31). the land of Judah--They defiled the land which was holy unto God.

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--(Pr 28:14).

Behold, I will set my face against you for evil--(See on Le 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).

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; De 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.

their wives--The idolatry began with them (1Ki 11:4; 1Ti 2:14). Their husbands' connivance implicated them in the guilt.

we will not--(Jer 6:16).

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. 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 Pr 1:32; Ec 8:11-13. In fact, God had often chastised them for their idolatry (see Jud 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 (De 8:3; Joh 6:27). So Esau (Heb 12:16).

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).

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.

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).

law--the moral precepts. statutes--the ceremonial. testimonies--the judicial (Da 9:11, 12).

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.

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 (Ge 22:16), the greatest by whom God can swear (Heb 6:13, 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 (Eze 20:39): there shall be none left there to profane His name thus any more.

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.

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).

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.

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 (Eze 20:3; 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].