CHAPTER 42
1. Then all the captains of the forces, as well as Yochanan the son of Qareach, Y’zanyah the son of Hoshayah, and all the people, from the small to the great, approached
2. and said to Yirmeyahu, “Please let our request for favor fall before your face, and pray to YHWH your Elohim for us—for all these that are left, because we are [so] few; we are [only] as many as your eyes can see.
Pray for us: from a root word meaning “behind”; i.e., backing us up with added support. Your Elohim: They did not see Him as their own Elohim. We are so few: Aram./LXX, few out of [what were] many.
3. “Then YHWH your Elohim may make known to us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.”
Walk: also an idiom for “conduct our lives”. But as we will see, after what had just taken place, they felt unsafe where they were, and wished to go elsewhere.
4. So Yirmeyahu told them, “I have heard. Indeed, I will pray to YHWH your Elohim as you have said, and any word that YHWH may [provide in] reply, I will report to you; I will hold nothing back.”
Your Elohim: Yirmeyahu turns their words back upon them and affirms that He is their Elohim as well, if indeed they wish to know His will.
5. Then they told Yirmeyahu, “Let YHWH be a true and reliable witness between us, if we do not indeed act in accordance with anything that YHWH your Elohim may send to us,
6. “whether pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of YHWH our Elohim to whom we are dispatching you, in order that it may go well with us when we obey the voice of YHWH our Elohim.”
This is what the whole nation of Israel told Moshe (Ex. 19:8) and Yehoshua. (Yehosh. 1;17; 24:24)
7. Now at the end of ten days, the word of YHWH came to Yirmeyahu,
The fast of Gedalyah (41:1-3) falls on the third of the seventh month, and Yishma’el’s massacre was two days later (41:4), so we have reached the fifteenth of the month, which is the first day of the feast of Sukkoth. They may have even fasted on Yom Kippur in the intervening period in order to wait on YHWH’s answer.
8. and he summoned Yochanan the son of Qareach and all the captains of the forces who were with him, and all the people, from the small to the great,
9. and told them, “Thus says YHWH, Elohim of Israel, to whom you dispatched me to bring your plea for favor before Him:
10. “‘If you will indeed remain in this Land, then I will establish you and not overthrow you, and I will plant you and not uproot you, because I have been moved to compassion over the calamity that I have brought upon you.
They asked where they should walk, but He told them to stay where they, as Israel, belonged. This is one of the themes of Sukkoth. Establish: or build—another theme of the festival of Sukkoth, which began on this day. Plant you: Sukkoth is a festival that celebrates and thanks YHWH for the harvest. During it, rain for the next growing season is requested.
11. “‘You should not be afraid because of the presence of the king of Bavel, before whose face you
are [now] afraid. Do not be afraid of Him,” declares YHWH, “because I am with you to deliver you and to recover you from his hand,
12. “‘and I will assign tender mercies to you, so that he will have compassion on you, and allow you to return to your own Land.
Since He has brought them under Babylon’s rule as a punishment, He instructs them to go with this flow and not resist—to pay their taxes and suffer the economic consequences of their sin, and He will have mercy. But they must not go back to the religious system from which He delievered them.
13. “‘But if you say, “We will not remain in this Land, to avoid obeying the voice of YHWH your Elohim”,
14. “‘saying, “No, because we are going to go to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the shofar or be hungry for bread, and we will settle there”,
Sound of the shofar: a warning of an impending attack, and a call to arms. Egypt would have ulterior motives in welcoming them there, as it proved once before. And the church, which Egypt often represents, though it still holds many Israelites hostage, is not Israel’s ally. While it rejoices to see Yehudah back in the Land because of prophecy, it forecasts its own exemption from the coming trouble but judgment for the Jews unless they join its ranks. It is not a true protection from the economic system that threatens to enslave us (for the Beast will turn on the harlot, Rev. 17:16.) ; living out our role as Israel is. YHWH constantly warns against looking to Egypt as our security rather than to Him.
15. “‘then hear now the word of YHWH, O remnant of Yehudah! This is what YHWH [Master] of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says: If you indeed set your faces to go into Egypt, and you do go there to seek asylum,
16. “then it will turn out that the sword that you were afraid of will catch up with you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine that you were so concerned about will stick close behind you [all the way into] Egypt, and you will die there.
Stick close behind you: Aramaic, reach after you. Today many have left the land of Israel or hesitated to move there when they could because of the presence of terrorists, but now the terrorism is catching up with them in “safe” nations as well. If they based their decision on fear, that which they fear is what will rule them, for they in a real sense worshipping that thing, giving it a power that it would not otherwise have had, and it will therefore follow them wherever they go. If that is what they choose, that is where YHWH will leave them.
17. “‘And for all of the people who have set their faces to go into Egypt and seek asylum, it will turn out that they will die by the sword, the famine, or the plague, and they will have no survivor or fugitive from the face of the trouble that I am bringing on them,
18. “‘because this is what YHWH, [Master] of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says: “Just as My anger and My rage have been poured out on the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, in the same way My rage will be poured out on you as you enter Egypt. Then you will become a curse and a horror, something to be taken lightly, and an object of scorn, and you will never again see this place.”’
A horror: i.e., to others; LXX, under the power of others. An object of scorn: Aram., a disgrace.
19. “YHWH has spoken concerning you, O remnant of Yehudah; do not go into Egypt! Recognize [and] acknowledge that I have warned you today,
20. “because you have misled your own souls when you sent me to YHWH, saying, ‘Pray to YHWH your Elohim for us, and whatever YHWH may say, report it to us and we will carry it out.’
21. “So I have reported it to you today, but you have not listened to the voice of YHWH your Elohim or to anything for which He has sent me to you.
22. “So now know for certain that by the sword, by the famine, or by the plague you will die in the place where you desire to go for asylum.”
This is the sentence for asking a priest for a ruling, then not carrying it out. (Deut. 17:9-12)
CHAPTER 43
1. And it turned out that when Yirmeyahu had finished telling the people all the words of YHWH their Elohim, for which YHWH their Elohim had sent him to them—all these words,
2. then Azaryah the son of Hoshayah and Yochanan the son of Qareach and all the arrogant men spoke, telling Yirmeyahu, “You are telling a lie! YHWH our Elohim did not send you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to seek asylum there’,
They had fooled themselves into thinking they would do the right thing if YHWH only told them what it was (42:20), but they were already conveinced that they knew what that “right thing” was, and when His actual word did not line up with that, they assumed Yirmeyahu was being pressured to say what he said:
3. “because Barukh the son of Neriyah is inciting you against us in order to hand us over to the Khasdim to be killed or exiled to Bavel!”
Barukh was from a very influential family, and these leaders resented it, accusing him of being the one putting Yirmeyahu up to
4. So neither Yochanan the son of Qareach nor any of the chiefs of the forces nor any of the people obeyed the voice of YHWH [which had told them] to remain in the Land of Yehudah.
5. Rather, Yochanan the son of Qareach and all the chiefs of the forces took all who were left of Yehudah who had come back to the Land of Yehudah from all the nations into which they have been driven--
6. the men, the women, and the toddlers, the king’s daughters, and every soul that Nevuzar’adan, the captain of the guard, had allowed to remain with Gedalyah the son of Akhiqam, the son of Shafan, as well as Yirmeyahu the prophet and Barukh the son of Neriyah,
Yirmeyahu and Barukh, the only innocent ones in the situation, were taken along as hostages.
7. and they entered the land of Egypt, because they had not obeyed the voice of YHWH, and they came to Tachpanhes.
8. Now the word of YHWH came to Yirmeyahu at Tachpanhes, saying,
9. “Take large stones in your hand and conceal them in mortar at the brickyard at the entrance to Pharaoh’s house in Tachpanhes, in the sight of the men of Yehudah,
10. “and tell them, ‘Thus says YHWH [Master] of Armies, the Elohim of Israel: “Behold, I am sending [for] My servant, Nevukhadretzar, king of Bavel, and I will bring him [here] and set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will extend his adorning canopy over them.
Adorning canopy: a decorative shade over the royal throne. Aramaic, footstool. Yirmeyahu hid cornerstones for Nevukhadretzar’s throne-room under the bricks in Pharaoh’s courtyard. When Nevukhadretzar would come and strip away the courtyard, they would be revealed.
11. “‘When he has come and subjugated the land of Egypt, whoever is [appointed] for death [will go] to the death, whoever is [designated] for captivity, to the captivity, and whoever is [assigned] for the sword, to the sword [he will go].
If YHWH has marked you, you cannot escape no matter where you go, as Yonah learned!
12. “‘Then I will kindle a fire in the house of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and carry them away captive, and he will envelop the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will leave there unharmed.
Envelop: or, forcibly grasp; LXX, search. Unharmed: or, in peace, i.e., unscathed. The house of the gods of Egypt: the Church as it has become, co-opting the symbols that once belonged to Israel and making them subservient to pagan agendas.
13. ‘He will also break in pieces the upright stones of the House of the Sun which is in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians he will burn with fire.
Upright stones: pagan cultic pillars that were often phallic symbols; probably obelisks in the case of Egypt. House of the Sun: LXX, the pillars of Heliopolis which are in On. But the steeples of the “houses of Sun-day worship” are the successors to these “upright stones”.
CHAPTER 44
1. The word that came to Yirmeyahu for all the Jews living in the land of Egypt—those living at Migdol, at Tachpanhes, and in the land of Pathros:
2. “This is what YHWH [Master] of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says: ‘You have seen all the calamity that I have brought on Yerushalayim and on all the cities of Yehudah, and look! This day they are a ruin, and there is no one living in them
3. “‘because of the presence of their evil that they have done to provoke Me to anger—to go to burn incense to serve other elohim with whom they were not familiar—[neither] they, nor yourselves, nor your ancestors--
4. “‘while I kept sending you all My servants the prophets—starting early in order to send them to say, “Please do not do this repulsive thing that I have [always] hated!”
5. “‘But they neither obeyed nor held out their ear to turn back from their evil, so as to avoid burning incense to other elohim.
Other elohim: LXX, strange elohim.
6. “‘So My rage was being poured out and My anger was being kindled in the cities of Yehudah and in the open [squares] of Yerushalayim, and they have been laid waste and devastated as [it is] this day.’
7. “And now, this is what YHWH, the Elohim of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says: ‘Why are you doing [such] a tremendous disservice to your souls, by causing man, woman, child, and nursing baby to be cut off from within Yehudah, to not leave yourselves any remnant,
8. “‘by provoking Me to anger by the works of your hands, by burning incense to other elohim in the land of Egypt, where you have gone for asylum, so that I would have to cut you off and that you would become something to be taken lightly, and an object of scorn among all the nations of the earth?
9. “‘Have you forgotten [the] wickednesses of your ancestors and [the] wickednesses of the kings of Yehudah and [the] wickednesses of his wives and your own wickednesses and [the] wickednesses of your wives, which they have perpetrated in the land of Yehudah and the streets of Yerushalayim?
His wives: probably King Shlomo’s in particular, since it was they who first started the pattern of bringing in pagan customs.
10. “‘They have not been pressed into contrition even to this day, nor have they shown [Me] respect or walked in My Torah or [within] My prescribed limits that I set before you and before your ancestors.
Pressed into contrition: or, crushed; LXX, ceased.
11. “‘Therefore, this is what YHWH [Master] of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says: “Here I am, setting My face against you for calamity and to cause all of Yehudah to be cut off,
Setting my face: an idiom for being resolved to go through with something no matter what.
12. “‘“and I will take the remnant of Yehudah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to find asylum there, and they will all be finished off in the land of Egypt and will fall by the sword. By the famine they will be finished off, from the least important to the most important. By the sword and by the famine they will die, and they will come to be a curse and a horror, something to be taken lightly, and an object of scorn,
13. “‘“and I will bring punishment upon those who remain in the land of Egypt, just as I have brought punishment upon Yerushalayim—by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague--
14. “‘“and there will not be a fugitive or a survivor for the remnant of Yehudah who are going into Egypt for asylum or [any] to return to the land to Yehudah to which they are longing with a passion to return [and] settle, because no one will return unless they escape.”’”
Longing with a passion: literally, are lifting up their soul; LXX, hope in their hearts.
15. Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other elohim and all the women who remained—a great assembly--and all the people who had settled in the land of Egypt (in Pathros), answered Yirmeyahu, saying,
All the people: that is, those of the people of Yehudah. Their wives: Women were priestesses of this cult, as was later a common custom among Greek and Roman temples. Most oracles were women, and this was the context for Paul’s limitations on women. Women had now become responsible for Yehudah’s spirituality, for they are more spiritually sensitive than men, and where men do not lead, women will fill the void, taking things into their own hands like Chavvah (Eve). But they lean to the side of compassion over judgment, and therefore are not always as discerning of evil inroads. (See Yehezqel 8:14) A goddess seems more giving than a judging Elohim who sometimes wages war. Yet since YHWH pronounced the sentences against Adam and Chavvah, when women rule over men, it causes the nation to err. (Yeshayahu 3:11) As in the case of Vashti (Esther 1), the Messiah’s bride is now claiming to know better than He, though He has already made a ruling on the issues where she wants the policy changed. Her usurper is known as “mother Church”.
16. “[As for] the word that you have spoken to us in the name of YHWH, none of us will listen to you,
They listened to their wives rather than YHWH’s prophet. In the same type of situation, Ezra told the men of Israel they had to divorce such wives.
17. “because we will certainly carry out every word that proceeds from our mouth about burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and to have libations poured out to her just as we, our ancestors, our kings, and our rulers have been doing in the cities of Yehudah and the open plazas of Yerushalayim, and we had more than enough bread, were well-to-do, and saw no trouble.
Queen of Heaven: Thus they were under Babylonian influence anyway. This is the goddess which was confused with the virgin Mary after Constantine tried to merge all the religions in his empire into one. In fact, only a few years ago Mary was officially recognized by Rome as being the Queen of Heaven. This in itself should be enough warning to disentangle oneself from any of her influence. This goddess held special appeal for women, and we are seeing the same trend toward goddess-worship today.
18. “But since we quit burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out libations to her, we have been lacking in everything, and have been brought to an end by the sword and by the famine.
19. “And when we were burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out libations to her, did we make cakes in her shape [to sacrifice] to her or pour out libations to her apart from our men?”
I.e., did they do any of this without their husbands’ knowledge or permission? Cakes in her shape: Recently a cake mold was found at Mari (a Mesopotamian city with linguistic connections to Hebrew) in the shape of a nude woman making a sensual gesture, identified by archaeologists as being dedicated to the Queen of Heaven.
20. Then Yirmeyahu told all the people, on account of the strong men and the women and all the people who had answered him [this] word,
21. “Hasn’t YHWH remembered the incense that you, your ancestors, your kings, your leaders, and the people of the land burned in the cities of Yehudah and the open plazas of Yerushalayim? Indeed, it has come up in His heart,
People of the Land: an idiom for the common people.
22. “and YHWH can no longer bear with the presence of the wickedness of your practices or the disgusting things you have done, so your Land has become a ruin, an appalling wasteland, and something to be taken lightly due to having no inhabitants, as [it is] this day.
23. “In face [of the fact] that you have burned incense and that you have sinned against YHWH and have not obeyed YHWH’s voice, His Torah, His prescribed limits, and you did not walk in His repeated warnings, that is why this calamity has come upon you [unexpectedly], as [it is] this day.”
Repeated warnings: or testimonies. This was the correct explanation for why things had stopped going well for them; it had nothing to do with them stopping their sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven.
24. Yirmeyahu also said to the whole nation and to all the women, “Listen to the word of YHWH, anyone from Yehudah who is in the land of Egypt!
25. “This is what YHWH [Master] of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says: ‘You and your wives have both been promising with your mouths and bringing [it] to completion with your hands, saying, “We will carry out our vows that we have made to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out libations to her!” You certainly have been making your vows binding, and you have indeed been carrying out your vows.
26. “‘Therefore, listen to the word of YHWH, every Jew who is seeking asylum in the land of Egypt! Look! I have sworn by My great Name,’ says YHWH, ‘“If My Name will ever be called upon again by the mouth of any man of Yehudah in the whole land of Egypt, saying, ‘[As] the Master YHWH lives!’”
He will punish those who are outside His will, yet still flippantly call on His Name. Yet when we left our “Egypt”, His Name was again revealed to us and He has allowed us to begin using it again.
27. “‘Here I am, keeping [My] attention on them [constantly] for calamity and not for [what is] pleasant, and all the men of Yehudah who are in the land of Egypt will be consumed by the sword or by the famine until they are finished off.
28. “‘But [some] men—few in number—who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the Land of Yehudah. Then the whole remnant of Yehudah who have gone into the land of Egypt to seek asylum will know whose word will endure—Mine or theirs!
29. “‘And this will be the token’, declares YHWH, ‘that I am bringing punishment upon you in this place, in order that you may understand that My words will indeed be proven to be valid in regard to you—unto calamity!’
30. “This is what YHWH says: ‘Look! I am handing Pharaoh Hafra over to his enemies and to those who are seeking his life, just as I handed Tzidqiyahu, king of Yehudah, over to Nevukhadretzar, king of Bavel, his enemy and the one who was seeking his life.’”
CHAPTER 45
1. The word that Yirmeyahu the prophet had said to Barukh the son of Neriyah, when he had written these words on a document from Yirmeyahu’s dictation, in the fourth year of Yehoyaqim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Yehudah:
This is a flashback chronologically. Yehoyaqim had taxed Yehudah to pay tribute to Egypt (2 Kings 23:35), which may be why the people of Yehudah now expected to find refuge in that land. Nevukhadnetzar made Yehudah a vassal state, then after three yearsYehoyaqim rebelled against him. Perhaps this was the fourth year Yirmeyahu mentions here, because 2 Kings 24 tells us that at this time YHWH brought on Yehudah the destruction the prophets had foretold.
2. “This is what YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, says to you, Barukh:
3. “‘You said, “Alas for me now, because YHWH has added sorrow to my pain! I grew weary when I was groaning, but have found no rest!”’
4. “This is what you must tell him: ‘This is what YHWH says: “As I have built up, I am tearing down, and what I have planted, I am uprooting. Indeed, the Land itself belongs to Me.
5. “‘“And you—are you asking for better things for yourself? Don’t ask for them, because indeed I am bringing calamity on all flesh,” declares YHWH. “But I will give you your life as spoils in regard to any place where you may go.”’”
I.e., everyone is going to suffer during this time, even those who were wealthy and influential, and even those who have been obedient. He should not expect to be exempt, but YHWH did reward him for siding with Yirmeyahu, telling him that no matter what happened to him, he would not be killed, and that was one less thing to be concerned about. The fullness of wrath would not fall on him. He should be thankful for this, because such a promise was not given to many of his close relatives. In the coming years great devastation will come upon the whole world (greater than ever before), and we should not expect to escape it completely. But for those “called according to His purposes” who keep following Him and reject the Babylonian system, He has promised both a reward and a place in Y’shua’s Kingdom.
CHAPTER 46
1. The word of YHWH that came to Yirmeyahu about the nations--
LXX, At the beginning of the reign of Tzidqiyahu, there came this word concerning Elam.
2. for Egypt, about Pharaoh-Necho the king of Egypt, who came over the river Ferath at Karkemish, whom Nevukhadretzar king of Bavel conquered in the fourth year of Yehoyaqim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Yehudah:
Ferath: Gk., Euphrates.
3. “Prepare the shield and the siege-buckler, and come near for battle!
Siege-buckler: a shield large enough to hide behind if being shot at from a city wall.
4. “Harness up the horses and mount [them], O horsemen, and take your stand with your helmets! Polish the spears, and put on the coats of armor!
5. “Why have I seen them dismayed and turning back? Even their valiant ones are beaten down, and have fled [for] refuge without looking back. Terror [was] all around,” declares YHWH.
6. “The swift will not escape, nor will the valiant be delivered. On the north side of the River Ferath they have stumbled and fallen.
Natural advantages have no bearing on the outcome when YHWH decides what is to be.
7. “Who is this that rises up like the Nile, whose waters surge to and fro like the rivers?
8. “Egypt rises up like the Nile, and [its] waters surge to and fro like the rivers. He says, ‘I will go up and overwhelm the Land; I will destroy the city and those who live in it!’
9. “Come up, you horses, and [drive like] madmen, you chariots, and let the valiant ones of Kush and Put, who are skillful in the use of the shield, come forth, along with the Ludites, who wield and bend the bow [with their feet].
Kush and Put: inhabitants of what are now Ethiopia and Libya. Ludites: a Semitic people that inhabited north Africa.
10. “And that day belongs to the Master YHWH of Armies—a day of vengeance to avenge Himself because of His adversaries, and the sword will devour and be glutted, and drink its fill of their blood, because the Master YHWH of Armies has a slaughter in the land of the north toward the River Ferath.
11. “Go [ahead] up to Gil’ad and fetch a salve, O virgin daughter of Egypt, [but] in vain have you made numerous remedies; there is no healing for you[r wound].
I.e., even if you obtain the best medicines, they will not serve your purpose. YHWH is somewhat sarcastic here, daring them to try their best to get around His judgment.
12. “Nations have heard of your disgrace, and your outcry has filled the Land, because the valiant one has stumbled against the valiant one; both of them have fallen down together.”
He is prophesying about Egypt, but speaking to Israel, so that when YHWH does what He says, they will have evidence that He is in control.
13. The word YHWH spoke to Yirmeyahu the prophet [about] the coming of Nevukhadretzar the king of Bavel to cause the land of Egypt to be conquered:
14. “Report it in Egypt, and let it be heard in Migdol! Let it also be heard in Nof and in Takhpanhes! Say, ‘Station yourself and get ready, because the sword will devour [everything] around you.
Migdol: a tower on the border between Upper and Lower Egypt. Nof: LXX, Memphis.
15. “‘Why is your mighty [man] lying prostrate? He could not remain standing, because YHWH pushed him [down].
Your mighty man: LXX, Apis (the bull-god of Egypt). This is reminiscent of what occurred when the Filistines put the Ark of the Covenant in their temple of Dagon. (1 Shmu’el 5:3) Did YHWH use an earthquake this time?
16. “‘He has greatly increased [his] stumbling; each one was knocked down against his fellow, and they said, “Get up and let’s go back to our kinsmen and our native land, away from the presence of the sword that treats [us] violently!’
17. “‘They proclaimed there, “Pharaoh, king of Egypt is [nothing but] an uproar! He has passed the appointed time.”
I.e., is past his prime; he is no longer “a man whose time has come”. He is no longer a threat.
18. “‘[As] I live,’ declares the King, YHWH of Armies is His Name, ‘[as surely] as Tavor is among the mountains and Karmel is by the sea, he will come.
19. “‘Prepare yourself utensils of captivity, O [woman who] inhabits [the] daughter of Egypt, because Nof will become an appalling wasteland and be left desolate since no one lives there.
20. “‘Egypt is a very beautiful heifer, but a stinging insect has come out of the north.
YHWH was not flippant about destroying Egypt; He felt as though it cost Him something to redeem Israel. (Yeshayahu 43:3) He does not enjoy seeing the wicked die, but would rather they change their ways. (Y’hezq’El 33:11)
21. “‘Those whom she has hired are in her midst like tied-up calves, because they too have turned away and fled together; they could not remain because the day of their distress has come upon them, the time of their being called to account.
Tied-up: they cannot escape, though they try to run.
22. “‘Its sound will proceed like a serpent when they march in an army and come to her with axes like woodcutters.
Its sound: LXX, Their voice is as that of a hissing serpent.
23. “‘They have cut down her forest,’ declares YHWH, ‘though it cannot be detected, because they are more numerous than a [swarm of] locusts, and cannot be counted.
24. “‘The daughter of Egypt has dried up; she will be handed over to the people of the north.’
Dried up: or become ashamed. He is a jealous Elohim, and Egypt was His wife’s illegitimate lover. (Ex. 20:5) This is the second time the Egyptians came against Babylon.
25. “YHWH of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says, ‘Here I am, bringing punishment upon the chief architect of Thebes, upon Pharaoh, upon Egypt and its gods and its kings—upon Pharaoh and upon those who rely on him [for safety],
The chief architect of Thebes: Heb., Amun-No. Amun was the name of one of the gods of Egypt, and No means “disruption”.
26. “‘and I have handed them over to those who intently seek their lives—into the hand of Nevukhadretzar, king of Bavel, and into the hand of his servants, but later it will indeed be inhabited as in the days of antiquity,’ declares YHWH.
27. “‘But don’t you fear, My servant Yaaqov, and do not go to pieces, O Israel, because here I am, rescuing you from afar off, and your seed from the land of their captivity, and Yaaqov will return and be undisturbed and [totally] at ease, and there will be no one causing him to tremble.
He addresses them as Yaaqov—his name as an individual—because, like Yaaqov, who often faced frightening situations, and had to learn not to feed the fear if he wanted to accomplish his goals. How do we acquire the ability to put away our fears? The key is in the Torah counterpart to this passage about the destruction of Egypt (Ex. 10:1-2), which tells us to relay the story of what YHWH has done to our children. As we pass it on to them, it confirms in us, too, the confidence that He can continue to do the same. But then he addresses Israel—the people as a whole—for the larger our numbers, the less we tend to fear for our lives and the more we tend to be discouraged when serving YHWH, because there are so many stubborn or slack people in Israel. It gave Moshe more confidence when the people got behind him than when they opposed him.
28. “‘You must not be afraid, My servant Yaaqov,’ declares YHWH, ‘because I am with you, for I will bring about an annihilation of the nations into which I have driven you, but I will not bring you to a complete end, though I correct you in due measure and do not exempt you from punishment.’”
Israel has had to be displaced while YHWH rearranges the “chesspieces” of the other nations, but He assures them that they will not sustain crippling damage in the process, but only enough to be beneficial to them. (Compare Psalm 76:10.) There will be no place to turn but back to YHWH—and no power structure left to prevent their return.
CHAPTER 47
1. The word of YHWH that came to Yirmeyahu the prophet toward the Philistines, before Pharaoh attacked Azzah:
Azzah: known in English as Gaza, due to a Greek transliteration.
2. “This is what YHWH says: ‘Behold, waters are rising out of the north, and are becoming an overflowing torrent, and will overrun the Land and all that fills it, the city and all its inhabitants. Then the men will cry for help, and the inhabitants of the Land will howl.
Waters: Though Philistia is on the seacoast, this is idiomatic of an army sweeping in like a flood, especially since it is sweeping in from the north, not the west (the word for which means “sea-ward” in Hebrew.
3. “At the noise of the stomping of his strong [horses’] hooves, at the rattling of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers will not turn their faces toward their sons because of the feebleness of their hands,
4. “because of the day that is coming to devastate the Philistines, and to cause there to be cut off from Tzur and Tzidon every support that is left, because YHWH is devastating the Philistines who are left [from] the coast of Kaftor.
Kaftor: the original home of the Philistines, probably Crete. Tzur and Tzidon: powerful “Phoenician” cities on on the coast of modern-day Lebanon. Every support: LXX, all their allies. Havoc is being wrought on the whole Land and the whole earth because of what Israel has done wrong. How significant is our every act when He has put us in a position of being a light to all nations.
5. “Baldness has come to Azzah; Ashqelon is undone. O remnant of their lowland, how long will you cut into yourself?
6. “’Alas, O sword of YHWH, how long will you not be pacified? Bring yourself back into your sheath! Give yourself a rest, and be still!’
7. “How can it be quiet, when YHWH has given it a commission against Ashqelon and against the seacoast? He has assigned it [to be] there.”
CHAPTER 48
1. To Moav, this is what YHWH [Master] of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says: “Alas for Nevo, because she has been devastated! Qiryathayim has been dried up and captured! The inaccessible fortress has been dried up and shattered.
Moav: the tribal land of one of Lot’s sons, across the Yarden River from Yerushalayim. Nevo: A city in Moav named for a Babylonian deity. Qiryathayim means “a pair of towns”.
2. There is no more boasting about Moav in Heshbon; they have plotted evil against it, to come and cut her off from being a nation. You too, Madmen! You will be made silent; a sword will go after you.
Madmen: a city whose name means “place of the dunghill”. Many other towns in Moav are mentioned throughout this chapter.
3. A cry of distress sounds forth from Khoronayim—great havoc and breakage!
Khoronayim: a town whose name means “a pair of great caves”.
4. Moav is crushed! Her little ones have caused an outcry to be heard,
5. because [at the] Ascent of Lukhith, they will go up, crying [with] tears, because on the slope [coming] down [from] Khoronayim, the oppressors have heard a cry of destruction:
6. “Run away! Let your souls escape, and be like a bare [tree] in the wilderness,
A bare tree: LXX, a wild donkey.
7. “because since you trust in your achievements and your treasure-stores, you too will be captured, and Khemosh will go out into exile, together with his priests and princes,
Because: The reason for all these punishments. Verse 27 gives another reason. Khemosh: the national deity of Moav, whose name meant “subduer”. YHWH was ousting him, too!
8. “and a despoiler will come to every city, and not a city will escape. The valley will also be destroyed and the plateau annihilated, as YHWH has said.”
The plateau: most of Moav which lies above the cliffs of the Great Rift Valley which drop off sharply to the west. The valley: possibly the Great Rift Valley, through which the Yarden River flows.
9. Give wings to Moav, so it may fly away, and its cities become a wasteland from no one living there!
LXX, Set marks on Moav, for she will be touched by a plague-spot.
10. Cursed is the one who does the work of YHWH carelessly, and cursed is the one who keeps his sword back from blood.
Carelessly: or, deceitfully, with treachery. The LXX equates the two phrases in this curse. Perhaps this refers to Israel’s responsibility to correct her cousin Moav for her errors, since Moav’s ancestor Lot had, after all, been Avraham’s nephew and learned about YHWH from him, but turned aside to another elohim.
11. Moav has been at peace [resting securely] since his youth, and he is [sitting] unagitated on his dregs, and has not been poured out from container to container (that is, he has not gone into exile), so his taste has grown flat within him, and his scent has not been changed.
Yirmeyahu uses the terminology of winemaking here. Agitation is necessary for it to ferment properly. Fresh wine cannot be put into a keg with old dregs still in it, or it becomes bitter. By being lax, Moav has missed becoming what it was supposed to become.
12. “Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares YHWH, “when I will send him those who will incline him and make him tip over, empty out his containers, and dash their bottles to pieces.
Since the wine turned out poorly, it was too late to merely turn the containers. It had to be poured out and thrown away. LXX: I will send him bad leaders, and they will lead him astray.
13. “Then Moav will be ashamed of Khemosh, just as Israel was ashamed of Beyth-El, in which they trusted.
14. “How can you say, ‘We are strong and men capable of battle?’
15. “Moav has been devasted, and her cities have gone up [in smoke], and its choice young men have gone down to the slaughter,” declares the King, whose Name is YHWH [Master] of Armies.
They still cannot see the cracks in their foundation, and think they are as strong as ever.
16. The [day of] Moav’s calamity is near to come, and his trouble is [arriving] in a great hurry.
17. Mourn for him, all you who are around him, and anyone who knows his name, say, “How [is it that] the prevailing staff, the rod of splendor, is broken?”
Mourn for: LXX, shake the head at.
18. Come down from your [place of] importance and sit in thirst, O [woman who] inhabits the daughter of Dibon, because the despoiler of Moav has come upon you; he has made your fortifications a ruin!
Daughter: when referring to a city, it means one of the villages or hills surrounding it. Thirst: LXX, a moist place.
19. O woman who inhabits Aroer, stand by the road and watch intently; ask the one who is fleeing and the one who is escaping: say, “What has been going on?”
20. Moav has been dried up, because it has been broken down. Cause a [great] howling, and cry out; report it in Arnon that Moav has been greatly despoiled!
Arnon: a river-canyon east of the Dead Sea very reminiscent of the Grand Canyon of Arizona.
21. Judgment, too, has come to the territory of the plateau; to Kholon and in Yahatz, as well as on top of Meufaath,
Kholon means “place of whirling sand”. Yahatz means “trodden down” and is the place where Israel had defeated Sikhon, king of the Emorites. Meufaath means “splendid height”.
22. and on Dibon, on Nevo, and on Beyth-Diblathayim,
23. on Qiryathayim, on Beyth-Gamul and on Beyth-Meon,
Beyth-Gamul means “house of recompense”. Meon is a name of one of the Ba’als.
24. on Q’rioth, on Botzrah, and on all the cities of the land of Moav, those far away and those nearby.
25. “Moav’s horn has been chopped off, and his foreleg is broken,” declares YHWH.
26. Make him drunken, because he has magnified himself over YHWH. So Moav will splash in his own vomit, and himself become a laughingstock,
27. because wasn’t Israel a laughingstock to you? Was he indeed found among thieves? Because as often as you spoke against him, you shook your head.
28. Inhabitants of Moav, abandon the cities and live in the rock, and be like the dove who builds her nest in the regions beyond the mouth of the pit!
The rock: Heb., sela, which, when used as a proper name, refers to Petra, a city south of Moav in Edomite territory, which indeed was built in the sides of cliffs.
29. We have heard of the haughtiness of Moav (he is extremely proud)—his loftiness, his majesty, and how elevated his heart is.
Compare Yeshayahu 15-16 and Amos 2.
30. “I have noticed his overflowing [arrogance],” declares YHWH, “and they have not accomplished as much as his idle boast [would have you believe].”
31. Therefore, on account of Moav, I will make a [great] howling, and I will cry for Moav—all of it; for the men of Qir-Khares, it will moan.
32. More than the weeping of Yaazer will I weep for you, O vine of Sivmah! Your tendrils have crossed a sea, reaching as far as the sea of Yaazer; a despoiler has pounced upon your summer [fruits] and your vintage.
Sivmah: a town in Moav whose name means “fragrance”, probably from the vineyards there. Vintage: LXX, grape-gatherers.
33. Joy and gladness [are what] has been gathered away from the [fruitful] plantation and from the land of Moav. I have put an end to the wine from the winepresses; no one will tread out [the grapes] with cheers: “Heydad!” No, [it will instead be] “Heydad!”
The fruitful plantation: or perhaps the proper name, Karmel, Israel’s best wine-producing area. Heydad: a cheer shouted when treading grapes, but also a battle cry; YHWH is saying that the latter is what will be heard instead of the former. (Compare Rev. 14:19; 19:15)
34. From the cry of Heshbon to El’aleh as far as Yahatz, they have extended their voice; from Tzoar as far as Khoronayim, a heifer three years old, because even the waters of Nimrim will be devastated.
A heifer three years old: the prime time to be slaughtered. (cf. Numbers 19) She is as large as she will get, but her meat has not yet begun to toughen. Nimrim: meaning “limpid” or “pure”, a brook in Moav 10 miles (16 km) north of the Dead Sea and 3 miles (5 km) east of the Jordan.
35. “For Moav I will indeed put an end,” declares YHWH, “to the one who has ascended to a cultic platform and the one who has burned incense to his gods.”
36. Therefore my heart will make a tumult for Moav like flutes, and my heart will make a tumult like flutes for the men of Qir-Heres, since indeed the abundant wealth it has produced has been lost.
37. For every head [will be] bald, and every beard cut back. There will be gashes on every pair of hands, and burlap on the hips.
Beard cut back: diminished, or possibly even shaved off, a cause for shame, because it symbolizes the diminishing of one’s importance and means he is to be taken less seriously. Gashes: or cuttings—a pagan mourning ritual. Burlap: also a symbol of mourning since it is rough, itchy, and very uncomfortable.
38. “On all the rooftops of Moav and in its wide-open [squares], it is all wailing, because I have broken Moav like a jar in which no enjoyment [is found],” declares YHWH.
39. “How it is shattered,” they will howl. “How Moav has turned his back in shame, and Moav has become a laughingstock and an object of horror to all those around it.”
40. Because this is what YHWH says: “Behold, he will dart like an eagle, and spread his wings toward Moav.
Spread his wings: to slow his quick dive so he can swoop directly onto his prey.
41. Q’rioth has been captured, and the mountain-fortresses have been taken, and the hearts of the valiant [men] of Moav have become like the heart of a woman because of [the] distress.
42. And Moav as a nation will be annihilated, because he has magnified himself over YHWH.
43. “Terror, the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of Moav,” declares YHWH.
Terror, the pit, and the snare: a word-play in Hebrew, in which they are pronounced pakhad, pakhat, and pakh.
44. “Whoever runs away from the presence of the terror will fall into the pit, and whoever comes up out of the pit will be caught in the snare, because I will bring it upon her—upon Moav—the year of their calling to account,” declares YHWH.
45. “Those who ran away stopped in the shadow of Heshbon because of the force, because a fire will come out from Heshbon, and a flame from within Sikhon, and will devour the edge of Moav, and the crown [of the head] of the sons of pompous noise.
46. “Woe to you, Moav! Khemosh’s nation has been lost, because your sons have been taken away into captivity, and your daughters into exile.
47. “Yet I will bring back the captives of Moav in the lattermost of days,” declares YHWH. Thus far is the sentence [regarding] Moav.
In the lattermost days: In the “time of the restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21), perhaps these ancient nations that descended from Avraham’s extended family will also be re-established as such. (See also 49:6, 39.)
CHAPTER 49
1. This is what YHWH says to the sons of Ammon: “Does Israel have no sons? Or does he have no successor? Why [then] does Malkham inherit Gad, and his people inhabit their cities?
Sons of Ammon: the descendants of Lot’s other son, Moav’s brother. The name of its capital, Rabbat-Ammon is still preserved in the name of Amman, the capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which is on the same site. Malkham: means “their king”, but refers to a particular Ammonite idol also known as Molekh. Gad: its tribal land east of the Yarden River and west of the territory of the Ammonites, who were making incursions into it. Though at this time the northern kingdom had already been carried away captive, YHWH still considered it the land deeded to their descendants, and one day soon it will be claimed as such again.
2. “Therefore, indeed, the days are coming,” declares YHWH, “when I will cause there to be heard a signal of war against Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, and it will come to be a tel, a desolation, and a fire will be kindled in her daughter [towns], and [it is] Israel [who] will come to possess his inheritance!”, says YHWH.
Tel: a mound covering the remains of a ruined city. There are many who likewise would claim Israel’s inheritance as their own, while Israel, to whom it was promised, still remains. YHWH’s answer to this attitude is that Israel will instead gain their inheritance!
3. Howl, O Heshbon, because Ay is despoiled! Cry out, daughters of Rabbah! Put on burlap. Wail and run to and fro among the hedgerows, because their king will go into exile, together with his priests and princes!
4. What are you boasting [about] among the valleys? Your valley is pining away, O apostate daughter who trusts in her treasures, [saying,] “Who will come into me?”
5. “Indeed, I will bring terror upon you,” declares YHWH, Master of Armies, “from all around you, and you will each be driven out before him, and there is no one to gather together those who run away.
6. “But afterwards I will certainly return the captives of the sons of Ammon,” declares YHWH.
7. This is what YHWH of Armies says to Edom: “Is there no longer wisdom in Theyman? Has advice been lost [by] the discerning? Has their wisdom been let go?
Theyman: descendants of Edom; the Hebrew name for the nation of Yemen today.
8. “Run away! Be turned back! Go deep [to make] your abode, inhabitants of Dedan! Because I will bring the calamity of Esau on him at the time I call him to account.
9. “If the grape-gatherers came to you, wouldn’t they leave behind some grapes to be gleaned? If thieves [come] at night, they [only] ruin [what is] enough for them.
10. “But I have laid Esau bare; I have uncovered his secret hiding places, and he will not be able to go any further inward. His seed is despoiled along with his brothers and neighbors, and he no longer exists!
11. “Leave! I will keep your orphans alive, and let your widows trust in Me.
12. “Because this is what YHWH says: ‘Behold, those whose decision was to not drink the cup, they have drunk it nonetheless, and are you the one to be held completely guiltless? You will not be exempt from punishment, but will drink [it] indeed.
Cup: often idiomatic for a severe ordeal (e.g., Mat. 26:39).
13. “Because I have sworn by Myself,” declares YHWH, “that Botzrah will become an appalling wasteland, a reproach, a desolation, and a trifling thing, and all its cities will become perpetual ruins.”
Wasteland: LXX, an impassable land.
14. I have heard a report from YHWH, and an ambassador is sent to the nations [to say], “Gather yourselves together and come against her, and rise up for battle!”
Ambassador: related to the Hebrew word for “distress”. (See note on v. 22.) This is a hint that this prophecy has a last days fulfillment as well as the immediate one in Yirmeyahu’s day.
15. “Because, as it turns out, I have made you insignificant among the nations, and held in contempt by humanity.
16. “[The fact that] you terrify [others] has deceived you, as has the presumptuousness of your heart, you who dwell in the retreats of the rock, who [capture and] hold the highest part of the hill. Even if you make your nest as high as the eagle [does], I will bring you down from there,” declares YHWH.
LXX, Your insolence has risen up against you. The fierceness of your heart has burst the holes of the rocks; it has seized upon the strength of a lofty hill…
17. “So Edom shall become an appalling wasteland. Everyone who crosses over it will be astonished and whistle at all the beatings it [has taken].
18. “Like the overthrow of S’dom and ‘Amorah and its neighboring area,” says YHWH, “not a man will settle there, nor will a son of Adam seek hospitality there.
19. “Behold, he will come up like a lion from the swelling of the Yarden toward the ‘permanent habitation’, but in an instant I will make him run away from it. And who is the choice [person] that I will appoint over it? Because who is like Me? And who will set an appointment for Me? And who is that shepherd who can remain standing in My presence?
Permanent habitation: in the rocks, which they thought nothing or no one could destroy. Swelling of the Yarden: perhaps its current, for the LXX translates it “the middle”.
20. “Therefore, listen to the purpose of YHWH, which He has devised against Edom, and the plans that He has thought up for the inhabitants of Theyman: What if the least significant [member] of the flock should draw them out? He would [still] make their habitations desrted on account of them.
21. “The earth is shaken at the noise of their downfall; when they cried out, its sound was heard at the Reed Sea!
The Reed Sea: its nearest point is some 60 miles from Petra, which is in the area Edom inhabited. Shaken: LXX, scared.
22. “Indeed, he will come up and dart like the eagle, and spread his wings over Botzrah, and the hearts of the valiant [men] of Edom will in that day have become like the heart of a woman because of [the] distress.
Distress: sometimes the term refers to birth pangs (especially in the context of v. 24), and “in that day” signals a prophecy about the Messianic age. Thus this passage has an apocalyptic reference as well. Edom is considered the precursor of Rome, so we can surmise that it symbolizes either the Rome-based church system and/or the world empire that stems from the ancient Roman Empire, as described by Daniel.
23. For Damaseq: Khamath and Arpad are put to shame; because of a bad report they have heard, they have fainted away. There is anxiety on the sea; it is not able to quiet down.
The prophecy now turns to the Arameans (Syrians). Quiet down: LXX, rest.
24. Damaseq has lost heart; she has turned to run away, and panic has seized her—distress and pangs have taken hold of her as [with] a woman in childbirth.
25. “How is the city of praise not forsaken, the town of my rejoicing!
This must refer to Yerushalayim.
26. “So her young men [in their prime] will fall in her plazas, and all the men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares YHWH [Master] of Armies.
27. “And I will start a fire on the wall of Damaseq, and it will devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad.”
Ben-Hadad: Syria’s king during the time of Asa, king of Yehudah. (1 Kings 15:18, et al)
28. This is what YHWH says to Qedar, and to the dominions of Hatzor, which Nevukhadretzar, king of Bavel, attacked [and conquered]: “Get up, go to Qedar, and despoil the sons of the east!
Hatzor: the capital of 13 Kanaanite kingdoms which Yehoshua had captured, and by far the largest ruined city in Israel. After the northern kingdom had gone into captivity, however, it appears to have been claimed by Syria. Qedar: a nomadic people known for their black tents. (Song of Songs 1:5) Dominions of Hatzor: LXX, the queen of the palace.
29. “They will take possession of their tents and their flocks. They will carry off their drapes, their utensils, and their camels for themselves, and they will call out over them, ‘Terror from every side!’
30. “Run away! Shake yourself hard [to flee]! Go deep [to make] your abode, inhabitants of Hatzor,” declares YHWH, “because Nevukhadretzar, king of Bavel, has plotted a conspiracy against you, and has devised a scheme against you.
31. “Get up, go up to the prosperous nation that sits securely,” declares YHWH. “It has neither doors nor bars; they dwell in isolation.
Prosperous: or, at ease. Securely: confidently, without care.
32. “And their camels will become spoils, and the abundance of their possessions [will be] for plunder, and I have flung those who cut off the extremities to all the winds, so from all the regions beyond it I will bring [about] their calamity,” declares YHWH.
Those who cut off the extremities: of their beards or the hair on the sides of their heads; LXX, having their hair cut about their foreheads. Or perhaps, I have flung them to all the winds, to the farthest corners.
33. “Then Hatzor will come to serve as a lair of dragons, as a desolate place; not a man shall live there until [the] Age, nor will any son of Adam seek hospitality in her.”
Lair of dragons: Compare 9:11; 10:22; 51:37.
34. That which came--the word of YHWH to Yirmeyahu the prophet regarding Eylam, at the beginning of the reign of Tzidqiyahu, king of Yehudah, [and I] quote:
Eylam: a province east of Babylon and northeast of the lower Tigris River.
35. “This is what YHWH, [Master] of Armies, says: ‘Here I am, breaking the bow of Eylam, the choicest of their bravery,
36. “‘and I will bring to Eylam four winds from the four extremities of the skies, and I will fling them toward all these winds, and there will not be a nation where none of those expelled from Eylam have come,
Fling: LXX, disperse. Those expelled from Eylam: or possibly, the perpetual outcasts.
37. “‘and I will cause Eylam to be terrified in the face of their enemies and in the face of those who are seeking their life, and I will bring on them trouble--the fierceness of My anger,’ declares YHWH, ‘and I will send the sword after them until I have finished them off.
38. “‘Then I will place My throne in Eylam, and will cause the king and the princes to vanish from there,’ declares YHWH.
39. “‘But what will take place in the last days is that I will bring back the captives of Eylam,’ declares YHWH.”
CHAPTER 50
1. The word of YHWH, which He spoke against Bavel, against the land of the Khasdim, by the hand of Yirmeyahu the prophet:
2. “Report it among the nations, and make [sure] they hear it! Lift up a banner and make [sure] they hear it! Don’t let it be hidden! Say, ‘Bavel has been captured! Bel has withered! M’rodakh is shattered. Her [vexing] idols are dried up, her [rolling] images broken to pieces!’
Bavel (Babylon) has several levels of meaning in Scripture. First, of course, it refers to the city on the plain of Shinar that is 65 miles southwest of Baghdad in present-day Iraq. Once a great empire, it was overtaken by the Medes and Persians, but never destroyed outright in the way that most of this chapter and the next describe. Therefore, we know there is a yet-to-be-fulfilled aspect to it, to which the present war in Iraq may or may not relate. On another level, Bavel is seen throughout Scripture as a seat of rebellion against YHWH. M’rodakh itself (the name of one of Bavel’s gods) means “your rebellion”. The local language’s way of saying Nimrod’s name was Nin-mirud, which relates to this theme of rebellion, because he was the one who initiated this effort, a theme that Greek mythology later took up as “pushing back the oppressively-low heavens”. The Tower of Bavel was the salient example of trying to oust even YHWH from His throne. (See v. 24.) Also, the system exported from Bavel, which has spread into every part of the world, has a strongly economic emphasis, as seen in Rev. 18. Its fall seems to stem from the event of the leaders of the world government throw off all ties with the world religious system centered in Rome, of which many Protestant churches are also offshoots since they retained most of the practices added by Rome: e.g., Sunday worship, pagan-based holidays, and some theological emphases that are only marginal at best in Hebraic thought (Rev. 17-18:1). Bel: the Babylonian pronunciation of Ba’al, which means “husband” or “lord”—a title preserved inadvertently even by modern Christianity. There were many middle eastern deities known as Ba’al, each being “lord” of this or that. One in particular, Ba’al-Gad, bears an eerie resemblance to the title “Lord God”, and specifically means “Lord of Fortune or Luck”—again, having a tie to the wish for financial security. (Yeshayahu 65:11.) Therefore YHWH is saying He will destroy the elohim of both the literal and symbolic Babylon.
3. “Because a nation is coming upon her from the north which will lay her land waste, and there will not be an inhabitant in it; from man to beast, they will take flight and leave.
North: or, a hidden place.
4. “In those days and at that time,” declares YHWH, “the descendants of Israel will come, they and the descendants of Yehudah together, walking and weeping as they go, and YHWH their Elohim they will seek.
Note that both houses of Israel are involved, and that at this point they will join back together.
5. “They will ask the way to Tzion, [with] their faces [looking] there: ‘Come, let’s join ourselves to YHWH—an everlasting covenant [that] will not be forgotten!”
Unlike the first, which was forgotten by the Northern Kingdom especially.
6. “My people have become lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray! They have enticed them away [into apostasy on] the mountain. They have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten the place where they lay down.
Lost sheep: This is what Y’shua was alluding to when He spoke of the “lost sheep of the House of Israel”. (Mat. 15:24) But here it includes both houses of Israel (v. 7). From mountain to hill: from the highest place to a lower one, but Deut. 12:2 includes the hills as places the Gentiles worshipped their gods. So this refers to a turning from YHWH into idolatry, but it was those who were intended to lead them in the worship of YHWH who were responsible for misleading them. Note that another way to say “shepherds” is “pastors”.
7. “All who have found them have devoured them; their oppressors have said, ‘We’ve done nothing wrong, under which they have sinned against YHWH, the resting-place of righteousness—that is, the purification pool of their ancestors: YHWH!’
This excuse was heard over and over by every persecutor from the crusaders to the Nazis in reference to the tribe of Yehudah in particular.
8. “Run away from within Bavel, from the land of the Khasdim, and be like the rams [who go] before the flocks [to prepare the way]!
Khasdim means either “clod-breakers” or “those who increase”. The latter seems to fit more with Babylon’s theme of economic wealth, a system that thrives on the self-interest of its followers, unlike that of Israel, which functions properly only when self-interest is made secondary to being a unified bride for YHWH. While we presently have to work within this system to some extent, our hearts must not be focused there, and one not-too-distant day we will be required to pull out of it completely, when it becomes impossible to buy or sell if we do not receive its mark on our bodies. (Rev. 13) Precursors to this are already in place on many levels, through identification numbers without which we cannot buy or sell either. Soon it will reach the limits of the rebellion YHWH allows it, its cup will tip over, and we will need to make an all-or-nothing decision for or against it. We must be preparing our hearts for that day even now, for that is where the battle will be fought. It will not come about instantaneously, because the command YHWH gives here is contingent on there being time to respond properly if we have the foresight to do so. Like Moshe and Aharon, forerunners of Israel’s exodus from this system are already being called and trained to lead the rest out. Of course, the system will not be amused when it finds out how many there are whose chief loyalty is to YHWH and Israel and not to it. But let the final outcome strengthen you against whatever part of its wrath you may feel first:
9. “Because here I am, inciting and drawing up against Bavel an alliance of large nations from a land in the north, and they will take their places against her, and from there she will be captured. Their arrows are like [those] of a mighty man with expertise; they will not return empty [handed].
Perhaps this suggests the “Arrow” missiles Israel possesses being used against Iraq.
10. “And [the] Khasdim will come to be spoils [of war]; all who plunder her will be [more than] satisfied,” declares YHWH.
11. “Since you are glad, since you rejoice, O you who take My property as spoils, because you are frolicking [proudly] like a heifer in the grass, and neigh shrilly like an obstinate [animal].
Are frolicking: or, have grown fat.
12. “Your mother will be deeply disappointeded; the one who gave birth to you will be ashamed. Indeed, the last of the nations [will be] a wilderness, a land of drought, and an aravah.”
Aravah: a land of sparse vegetation, a transitional zone between arable land and desert.
13. Because of YHWH’s splintering wrath, she will not remain, but will be devastated—all of her! Everyone who crosses over her will be stunned and will whistle at all her wounds.
14. Get in your positions against Bavel, all you who bend the bow [with your feet]! Shoot at her! Do not spare [any] arrows, because she has sinned against YHWH.
15. Shout out [a battle cry] against her on every side! She has yielded up her hand; her supports have fallen! Her walls have been torn down, because it is the vengeance of YHWH. Avenge yourselves on her; as she has done, do so to her!
16. Cut off the sower from Bavel, and the one who wields the sickle at the time of harvest! From the face of the oppressing sword, each will turn to his people, and they will each hurry away to his own land.
To his own land: This means that most of the inhabitants of this land are not native, but are a “mixed people” (see v. 37)—which is the case with both Iraq and the chief nations that uphold the Babylonian system today (the United States, Briatin, and much of Europe). This is not to say that any of these nations is equated directly with Babylon prophetically, but their strength and military might is used by that system to keep its coffers safe. Their inhabitants have been gradually enslaved to that system, but when vast numbers of them surprise it by waking up and realizing they are truly descendants of Israel, they will undermine it.
17. A lamb scattered [from its flock] is Israel; lions have driven him away. The first to devour him was the king of Ashur, and this latest to gnaw on his bones is Nevukhadretzar, king of Bavel.
Again, here is an allusion to the “lost sheep of the House of Israel” and their relation of being oppressed by Bavel.
18. Therefore, this is what YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, has said: “Here I am, calling the king of Bavel to account, just as I called the king of Ashur to account.
19. “Then I will restore Israel to his home resting-place, and he will graze on Karmel, the Bashan, on the mountains of Efrayim, and the Gil’ad, and his soul will be satisfied!
20. “In those days and at that time,” declares YHWH, “Israel’s perversity will be searched for, but there will not be any! The sins of Yehudah, too, and they will not be [anywhere to be] found, because I will forgive those whom I keep alive [as a remnant].
21. “Against the land of M’rathayim, go up agains he, and toward the inhabitants of Peqod! Lay [them] waste and dedicate them for destruction behind them,” says YHWH, “and act in accordance with all I have ordered you [to do].
22. “A sound of war is in the land, and great breakage!
23. “How is [it that] the hammer of the whole earth chopped off and shattered? How is [it that] Bavel has become an object of appalment among the nations?
24. “I set a trap for you, and you have been captured, O Bavel, and you did not realize it! You were found out and seized, because you engaged yourself in meddling with YHWH!
Did not realize it: Even the day after the Medes (51:11) captured Bavel, most of the population did not realize the city had been taken, because few besides the king were killed.
25. “YHWH has opened His armory and brought out the weapons of His indignation, because this is the Master YHWH’s business in the land of the Khasdim.
26. “Come to her from the farthest extremities! Open her granaries! Pile her up as heaps, and dedicate her for destruction! Don’t let anything remain for her!
27. “Put all her young bulls to the sword; bring them down for the slaughter! Woe upon them, because the day of their being called to account has arrived!”
28. The voice of those who are running away and escaping from the land of Bavel, to report in Tzion the vengeance of YHWH our Elohim, the avenging of His Temple!
29. “Summon the archers against Bavel! All you who bend the bow [with your feet], encamp against her all around. Don’t let any of them escape! Repay her according to her actions; as she has done, do so to her, because she has been arrogant against YHWH—against the Holy One of Israel.
30. “So her young men [in their prime] will fall in the wide-open [squares], and men of war will be silenced in that day,” declares YHWH.
31. “Indeed, I am against you,” declares YHWH, the Master of Armies, “because your day has arrived—the time I will call you to account.
32. “Then the arrogant will stumble and fall, with no one to lift him up, and I will have a fire kindled in his cities, and it will consume everything around him.
33. This is what YHWH [Master] of Armies says: “The descendants of Israel are being defrauded along with the descendants of Yehudah, and all who captured them held tightly to them, and refused to release them.
Again, we see echoes of not being to buy or sell without expressing allegiance to this system. (Rev. 13) Like Pharaoh, it will not let us go when it realizes how depleted it would be if YHWH were allowed His claim on them. But…
34. “Their Redeemer is strong; YHWH [Master] of Armies is His Name! He will fight to plead their case, in order to bring rest to the Land, but make the inhabitants of Bavel perturbed.
35. “A sword is over the Khasdim,” declares YHWH, “and the inhabitants of Bavel and is [pointed] toward her princes and her wise [men].
36. “A sword is [pointed] toward those who contrive useless [plans], and they will come to act foolishly; a sword is [pointed] toward her champions, and they will go to pieces!
37. “A sword is [pointed] toward his horses and his chariots, and toward all the mixed people who are within her, and they will become like women. A sword is [pointed] toward her treasures, and they will be seized as plunder.
38. “A drought is [appointed] for her waters, because she is a land of carved images, and they rave over their dreadful idols!
Rave: the same Hebrew word that forms part of “HalleluYah”, i.e., show passion and enthusiasm that is worthy only of YHWH.
39. “Therefore, the beasts of the desert will settle there along with the howlers, and the daughters of the owl will live there, and it will never again be inhabited into perpetuity, nor will it ever be settled in until generation upon generation [have passed].
Compare 9:11; Rev. 18:2; Yeshayahu 34:11. Daughters of the owl: or, ostrich; LXX, young of the monster.
40. “As Elohim overthrew S’dom, Ghamorah, and her neighbors,” declares YHWH, “not a man will live there, nor will a son of Adam seek hospitality there!
41. “Look! An ethnic group is coming from the north, and a great nation, and many kings will be stirred up from the extreme recesses of the earth.
42. “They will hold tightly to the bow and the javelin; they are cruel and will show no mercy! Their voice will roar like the sea, and they will ride on horses, set in their positions like a man for the battle against you, O daughter of Bavel!
43. “The king of Bavel has heard the report of them; his hands have gone limp, and distress has taken hold of him, as well as pangs like a woman in labor!
One fulfillment of this was in Daniel 5:6, but the city of Bavel was not destroyed at that time, nor has it ever been; it has merely fallen into ruins. Therefore, there is a fuller reference point yet to come.
44. “Indeed, he will come up like a lion from the swelling of [the] Yarden to where there are pasturelands year-round, because in a moment I will make them run away from upon it, and who is a chosen one that I can appoint over her? Because who is like Me, and who will set an appointment for Me? Or who is this shepherd who will stand before Me?
Swelling of the Yarden: the time of its flooding, when the water is higher than usual, adding to the proof that this is no ordinary event. A chosen one: or, a youth.
45. “So listen to YHWH’s purpose that He has devised against Bavel, and His plans that He has come up with against the land of the Khasdim. If the least significant of the flock does not drag them away; if He will not make the pasture around them into a desert…”
46. From the noise of Bavel being captured, the earth is shaken and a cry of distress is heard among the nations!
CHAPTER 51
1. This is what YHWH says: “Here I am, stirring up a despoiling wind upon Bavel and toward those living in the heart of those who rise up against Me,
A despoiling wind: LXX, a deadly burning wind.
2. “and I will send to Bavel aliens who will scatter her and empty out her land, because in the day of trouble, they will be against her from all around.”
Aliens: LXX, fanners, i.e. winnowers.
3. Do not let the one who bends the bow [with his feet] bend it all the way, nor lift himself up within his armor! Neither may you spare her prime young men; dedicate all of her armed forces for destruction!
4. Then the mortally pierced will fall in the land of the Khasdim, and those thrust through in her streets.
5. Because neither Israel nor Yehudah has been widowed by his Elohim, by YHWH [Master] of Armies, though their Land was filled with guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
Widowed: LXX, forsaken.
6. Run away from within Bavel, and let [each] man save himself! Don’t be silent when she is perverse, because this is the time of vengeance for YHWH; He will finish repaying her!
Save himself: or, deliver his own soul! Don’t be silent when she is perverse: or, do not be caught up in her corruption, which agrees with Rev. 18:4.
7. Bavel is a golden cup in the hand of YHWH, that made the whole earth drunken. The nations have drunk of her wine; that is why the nations are raving like fools.
8. Bavel has fallen suddenly, and will be broken in pieces! Howl for her! Take salve for her pain, in case she may be [able to be] healed.
9. We repaired Bavel, but she was not healed. Forsake her, and let’s each go to his own country, because her judgment reaches to the sky, and is carried up to the thin clouds!
We repaired: or, we would have healed; LXX, we tried to heal. Christianity has tried for 2,000 years to “fix the world”, to redeem the economic system, to bring it under dominion, but it has not worked. It is therefore time to go back to being Israel and return to the Land of YHWH, where righteousness is truly at home.
10. YHWH has brought about vindication for us! Come, let’s recount in Tzion the achievement of YHWH our Elohim!
11. Polish up the arrows! Finish the shields! YHWH has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Maday. Because His invention is [being used] against Bavel to destroy it, since it is the vengeance fo YHHW, the avenging of His Temple.
Finish: LXX, gather. Maday: the Medes, a nation in alliance with Persia.
12. Lift up a rallying banner toward the walls of Bavel! Reinforce the guard-post; station the watchmen! Arrange those who lie in ambush, because YHWH has both planned and carried out what He spoke against the inhabitants of Bavel.
13. O you who dwell over many waters, abounding in treasures, your end is coming; [the] measure of your unjust profit [has been reached].
Unjust profit: the reason the Babylonian system keeps thriving is covetousness, a lust for power and position that Israel has no business with anyway (Rev. 20:17).
14. YHWH [Master] of Armies has sworn upon His own soul, “Indeed, I will fill you with humanity as with young locusts, and they will answer with a war-cry against you.”
With humanity: that is, an army. Young locusts: or, caterpillars.
15. --He who Makes the earth by His power, who causes the habitable world to be established by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
16. When He employs His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the skies, and He causes the mists to go up from the extremities of the earth. He has made the lightnings for rain, and brings the wind out from His treasuries.
17. Every human being is unreceptive to knowledge; every smelter is dried up by the carved image, because his cast metal image is a fraud, and breath is not in them.
Unreceptive to knowledge: or dull-hearted, too brutish even to see that the work of one’s own hands is not alive. We tend to trust in the hope that there is life in what has no life. “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” (Hos. 4:6; compare Prov. 29:18) Babylon’s secret to survival is to keep the public blind, withhold the information that could topple it easily, and to feed it a “knowledge” that dulls it to the more important truths through the idea that what is most important is physical possessions. Cast metal image: These idols were usually made of gold and silver, and today’s “gods” are no different, taking only a different form so the connection is not so obvious to the masses.
18. They are useless, the workmanship of delusions! At the time when they are called to account, they will vanish.
19. Yaaqov’s Share is not like these, because He is the one who forms everything, and the scepter of his possession—YHWH [Master] of Armies is His Name:
Yaaqov’s Share: While others may be placed under the jurisdiction of lesser spiritual rulers, Israel is allotted the privilege of answering directly to the Highest Elohim. With this comes greater responsibility to go through no others and have dealings with none but Him. (Exodus 20:3) Scepter of His possession: or, rod of His inheritance, i.e., stake marking the boundary of His property.
20. “You are a battle-axe to Me—weapons of war, because with you I will dash the nations to pieces, and with you I will despoil nations.
A series of pairs, each of which could not succeed without the other, are to be split up:
21. “Also, with you I will scatter the horse [from] its rider, and with you I will shatter the chariot and its rider.
22. “I will even pulverize [both] man and woman with you, and with you I will divide elder and lad, and with you I will break apart the young man [in his prime] from the virgin.
Pulverize: LXX, scatter.
23. “And with you I will scatter the shepherd and his flock, and I will divide with you the plowman from his team [of oxen], and with you I will break apart governors from subordinate rulers.
24. “Then I will repay to Bavel and to all the inhabitants of Khaldea all their evil that they have perpetrated against Tzion before your [very] eyes,” declares YHWH.
25. “Indeed, I am against you, O corrupt mountain,” declares YHWH, who brings about the destruction of the whole earth, “and I have stretched out My hand over you and will roll you down from the rocky cliffs, and I will make you into a burning mountain,
The unified Babylonian system, as depicted by the statue in Nevukhadretzar’s dream (Daniel 2:37-45), is an image—i.e., only a projection, a counterfeit, a shadow of something else that is more real: the “one new man” that is formed by all those who are called out from the nations, with Messiah as the Head—the restored “image of Elohim” that was lost at Adam’s fall. Interestingly enough, Y’shua is depicted there as a stone that will topple the other image, then turn into a mountain that fills the earth. He is also called the cornerstone (Psalm 118:22), unlike Bavel, which ends with a mere thud after its fall:
26. “and they will not take from you a stone [to use] as a cornerstone, or a stone for foundations, but you will be a perpetual wasteland,” declares YHWH.
27. Lift up a rallying banner in the Land! Blow a shofar among the Gentiles! Consecrate the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Askenaz against her; station a marshal against her. Bring the horses up like the bristling locusts!
Ararat: on the border between Turkey and Armenia. Minni: a region in Armenia. Ashkenaz: the Germanic peoples, but perhaps originally dwelling in the region of Bithynia in north central Turkey.
28. Consecrate nations against her along with the kings of the Maday, her governors, and all her subordinate rulers, as well as the whole land of his dominion!
29. Then the land will shake and writhe, because every plan of YHWH will be established against Bavel, to make the land of Bavel a wasteland since there is no inhabitant.
30. Bavel’s champions have stopped fighting; they have remained in their forts. Their bravery has dried up; they have become like women. They have burned their dwellings; the bars of her [gates] have been broken through.
31. [One] runner will rush to meet [another] runner, and [one] herald to meet [another] herald, to inform the king of Bavel, because his city is captured from outside
One runner…another: in relaying a message over a long distance.
32. and the fords are held, the marsh-reeds burned with fire, and the men of war terrified,
33. because this is what YHWH [Master] of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says: “The daughter of Bavel is like a threshing-floor; it is [the] season to tread her out. [Just] a little while longer, and a harvest-time will come for her!”
34. Nevukhadretzar, the king of Bavel, has devoured us, has noisily confused us, has displayed that we are an empty vessel, has swallowed us up like a dragon. He has filled his belly with our delicacies, and rinsed us out!
Has noisily confused us: LXX, airy darkness has come upon me.
35. She who dwells in Tzion will say, “The violence [done to] me and to my blood relative[s] is upon Bavel. Yerushalayim will say, “My blood [goes] toward the inhabitants of Khaldea.”
My blood goes toward: LXX, my blood shall be upon.
36. So this is what YHWH says: “Here I am, pleading your case, and I have taken revenge on your avenger, and I will dry up her sea and make her [water] source run dry.
37. “Then Bavel will become heaps of stones, a lair of dragons, a horror [that they] whistle [about], from there being no inhabitant.
38. “They will roar together like young [covering] panthers, and growl like lions’ cubs.
39. “I will set out their banquets while they are in heat, and have made them drunk so that they will [revel in] triumph and sleep a never-ending sleep, never to wake up,” declares YHWH.
It was on such a night of revelry that Belshazzar was killed and his kingdom overtaken. (Daniel 5)
40. “I will bring them down like lambs to the butcher, like rams with [prepared] he-goats.
41. “How [is it that] Sheshakh is captured? Indeed, what the whole earth adored is caught by surprise! How [is it that] Bavel has become stunningly deflowered among the nations?
Sheshakh: a code-name for Bavel in an encryption method of substituting one letter for another method by superimposing the reversed Hebrew alef-beth over the normally-ordered one. Caught by surprise: LXX, caught up in a snare.
42. “The sea has come up over Bavel; she is hidden [beneath] the [turbulent] multitude of its waves!
43. “Her cities have become an appalling wasteland, a drought-ridden land, a deserted plain, a land in which not a man dwells, and not [one] son of Adam passes through.
44. “And I will call Bel to account in Bavel, and I will bring what he has swallowed out from his mouth, and and the nations will no longer stream to him; indeed, the wall of Bavel has fallen!
45. “Get out from within her, My people! And let [each] man rescue his soul from YHWH’s fierce anger!
46. “And so your hearts will not be weakened, and you will not be afraid of the report that is heard in the Land, indeed, the report will come [both one] year and the year after, with violence in the Land, ruler against ruler.
Report: or rumor. Y’shua echoed this in His advance notice that we should not be afraid when we hear of wars and rumors of wars. (Mat. 24:6)
47. “Therefore, indeed, the days are coming when I will attend to the carved images of Bavel, and her whole land will be disconcerted, and all her mortally wounded will fall within her.
48. “Then the heavens and earth and all that is in them will give a ringing cry of joy over Bavel, because the plunderers will come to her out of the north,” declares YHWH.
Compare Rev. 18:20. North: or, the hidden place.
49. Though Bavel [caused] all the mortally wounded of Israel to fall, in the same way all the mortally wounded of the earth will [bring about] Bavel’s fall.
LXX: In Babylon the slain men of all the earth shall fall.
50. Those [of you] who have escaped the sword, move [away]! Don’t stand still! Remember YHWH from afar off, and let Yerushalayim come up into your mind!
Those who have escaped th sword: YHWH had said that a sword would follow Israel into its exile, and continue to devour many there. (42:16; 49:38) Those whom He sees fit to leave alive are the remnant of 50:22; 23:3. Let Yerushalayim come up into your mind: or, let Yerushalayim take precedence over your own heart (i.e., more important to us than our own private interests). Yerushalayim is a larger concept than the mere city, though it is meant to embody that as the “central headquarters” of YHWH’s revelation. The concept is that of a unified people, an Israel that acts as a single entity. Do not let the Babylonian system steal your heart, but let the only real alternative (and the true one) have all your allegiance. You cannot serve yourself; you will have to serve one or the other of these.
51. We are ashamed because we have heard taunting; disgrace has covered our faces, because strangers have come up into the holy parts of YHWH’s House.
Strangers: or, more particularly, those who are estranged, i.e., having once had a place in our midst but have left due to a falling-out.
52. “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” declares YHWH, when I will attend to her carved images, and throughout all her land the mortally wounded will groan in lament.
Carved images: or simply, idols, with all the figurative applications this term may have today, since Bavel represents the economic system that “deals in the bodies and souls of men”. (Rev. 18:13)
53. Though Bavel should climb up to the sky, and make the elevation of her strength inaccessible, plunderers from Me would come to her,” declares YHWH.
54. A noise of an outcry from Bavel, and [the sound] of great breakage from the land of the Khasdim!
55. [It is] because YHWH is devastating Bavel, and is causing the loud noise to disappear from her; when their waves have roared [turbulently] like many waters, [the] uproar of their noise will have been permitted,
56. because the plunderer has come upon her—upon Bavel—and her champions have been captured; their bows are broken in pieces, because the Hero of Recompense—YHWH—will fully pay them back.
Broken in pieces: LXX, their bows are useless.
57. “And I will intoxicate her princes, as well as her wise men, her governors, her subordinate rulers, and her valiant men, and they will sleep a never-ending sleep, never to wake up,” declares the King, [whose] Name is YHWH [Master] of Armies.
The King: i.e., the true champion--another jab at Nevukhadretzar’s pride.
58. This is what YHWH [Master] of Armies says: “The broad walls of Bavel will be utterly stripped away, and her tall gates will be set on fire, and the labor of the peoples will be for nothing, and the peoples [themselves] as if for the fire, though they have worn themselves out [building them].”
59. The word [by] which Yirmeyahu the prophet gave orders to Serayah, the son of Neriyah, the son of Makhseyah, when he went with Tzidqiyahu, king of Yehudah, into Bavel, in the fourth year of his reign: (Now Serayah was the ruler of the resting-place,
Ruler of the resting-place: i.e., “quarter-master”; LXX, “over the bounties”.
60. so Yirmeyahu wrote down in one book all the trouble that would come upon Bavel—that is, all these words that are written against Bavel.)
61. And Yirmeyahu told Serayah, “When you arrive in Bavel and have seen [it], then you must read out all of these words,
62. “and you must say, ‘O YHWH, You have spoken against this place to cause it to be cut off, so it will be without an inhabitant in it, either human or animal, because it will be an everlasting desolation.’
63. “Then when you have finished reading this book aloud, you must tie a stone onto it and throw it into the middle of the Ferath,
Ferath: i.e., the Euphrates.
64. “and say, ‘Bavel will sink just like this, and never rise, because of the trouble that I Myself am bringing on her.’ Then they will grow faint.
Up to this point are the words of Yirmeyahu. The following chapter is thus a scribal addendum for explanatory purposes only.
CHAPTER 52
1. Tzidqiyahu was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Yerushalayim. Now his mother’s name was Khamutal the daughter of Yirmeyahu from Livnah,
2. and he did what was evil in the eyes of YHWH, just like all that Yehoyaqim had done,
3. because it was on [account of] YHWH’s anger in Yerushalayim and Yehudah (until He had sent them away from His presence) that Tzidqiyahu had rebelled against the king of Bavel.
4. Then in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, Nevukhadretzar king of Bavel (himself and his army) came against Yerushalayim and encamped up against it, and built siege-walls against it on every side.
This is about two weeks before the season that would later be celebrated as Hanukkah.
5. So the city came under siege until the eleventh year of King Tzidqiyahu,
Came under siege: literally, came into the siege-enclosure.
6. when, in the fourth month, on the ninth of the month, the food shortage within the city became more severe, and there was no bread for the people of the Land.
7. Then the city was broken through, and all the men of war hurried out of the city at night by way of the gate between the double walls, which was above the king’s garden (though the Khasdim were up against the city all around) and went via the Aravah.
Double walls: LXX, between the wall and the outworks, i.e., an extra wall for added fortification. Aravah: the Great Rift Valley; the Yarden Valley at this point. Technically the term means “transitional zone” between arable land and desert.
8. But the Khasdim chased after the king and overtook Tzidqiyahu in the Aravah of Yericho, and his whole army was scattered from [being] with him.
9. When they had caught the king, they took him up to the king of Bavel at Rivlah in the territory of Khamath, where he pronounced sentences against him.
10. And the king of Bavel slaughtered Tzidqiyahu’s sons in his sight (and he also slaughtered all the princes of Yehudah in Rivlah).
11. Then he blinded the eyes of Tzidqiyahu, and the king of Bavel bound him in brass [fetters], led him away to Bavel, and committed him to the house of custody until the day of his death.
Blinded the eyes: YHWH was only doing what He had told Israel to do—requiring an eye for an eye (Ex. 21:24), since Tzidqiyahu had done evil in YHWH’s eyes (v. 2). YHWH also used this phrase “evil in his eyes” as a reason a man could put away his wife (Ex. 21:8), so here the king is legally the representative of all of Yehudah being put away for a time because when a king does evil, it blinds the people that he rules. Brass fetters: Brass is often symbolic in Scripture of the guilt resulting from sin and needing atonement. This was a sign that it was because of the sins of the kings of Israel that this was taking place. House of custody: perhaps a prison, but literally it means “house of visitation”, from a root word meaning to oversee or look after; LXX, grinding-house. Being accustomed to luxury, he may not have survived long in such conditions.
12. But in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month (the year being the nineteenth year of King Nevukhadretzar, king of Bavel), Nevuzar’adan (chief of the executioners who stood before the king of Bavel) arrived at Yerushalayim,
13. and burned the House of YHWH, the king’s house, all the houses of Yerushalayim—that is, every house of [any] size,
It was on the tenth of the fifth month again that the Romans burned the Temple in 70 C.E.
14. and the whole army of the Khasdim who were with the chief of the executioners pulled down all the walls of Yerushalayim on every side.
15. Now the poor women of the people and the rest of the people who remained in the city and the fallen who prostrated themselves toward the king of Bavel, Nevuzar’adan, chief of the executioners, carried into exile.
Prostrated themselves: bowed in surrender.
16. But some of the poor women of the Land Nevuzar’adan left behind to [be] vinedressers and tillers [of the soil].
17. The Khasdim even broke the bronze pillars that were in the House of YHWH, their pedestal-bases, and the bronze “sea” that was in the House of YHWH, and carried all the bronze from them into Bavel.
Broke: They were too large to be carried whole. YHWH also broke His true treasure (the people of Israel) into many pieces in order to preserve it. Sea: i.e., the laver, where the priests on duty washed their hands and feet between tasks. It is a picture of the “sea of glass” before the throne in heaven (Rev. 4:6). The whole temple was a copy of the true heavenly “temple”. (Heb. 8:5; 9:23-24) David had been shown a pattern of exactly how to build it. (1 Chron. 28:11-12)
18. They also took the pans, the shovels, the snuffers, the vessels for tossing [the blood], the spoons, the bronze implements with which [the priests] served,
19. and the chief of the executioners also took the pans to remove [the ashes from the altar], the cooking pots, the lampstands, spoons, and libation cups which were of gold and which were of silver, [respectively],
Spoons: LXX, censers (pans for carrying incense). It was the profaning of these utensils that cost Nevukhadretzar’s successor his throne and his empire. (Daniel 5:2ff)
20. the two pillars, [the] one sea, and twelve bronze bulls that were under the foundations that King Shlomo had made for YHWH’s House. The bronze of all these articles was not weighed.
Not weighed: LXX, without weight, probably meaning it was too much to weigh. Bronze bulls: or oxen. Were these not like the golden calf Aharon had made, angering Moshe and YHWH? In this case, none of them was intended as representing YHWH, nor were they worshipped. They were bound to the earth, and were of bronze, speaking of their imperfection. The clue as to their significance is the number twelve, which is the number of the tribes of Israel. Mystically it is the strength of the tribes of Israel that upholds the heavens. That is, it gives a reason for YHWH’s throne. The Infinite One needs nothing physical to sustain Him, but once He revealed Himself within an earthly context, if He had no kingdom to rule, He could not be a king.
21. [As for] the pillars, the standing-height of one pillar was eighteen cubits, and a twelve-cubit cable four fingers thick encircled it [completely], and it was hollow,
22. and on it was a capital of bronze. The height of one capital was five cubits, with ornamentation interwoven with pomegranates all around on the capital, all of bronze. And the second pillar corresponded to these, with pomegranates.
With pomegranates: LXX, eight pomegranates to a cubit for the twelve cubits.
23. And there were ninety-six pomegranates on a quadrant; all the pomegranates [numbered] a hundred over the interwoven ornamentation all around.
On a quadrant: literally, on the wind or on a spirit/breath. If there were 96 per side, there would be 384 on each column itself, plus 100 on each capital, making a total of 484 pomegranates in all on each pillar.
24. Now the chief of the executioners took Serayah the head priest, Tz’fanyah the second priest, and three threshold-guards.
Second priest: in rank; literally, the copy (Heb., mishneh), i.e., the one who would fill in for the head priest should he become ritually impure or otherwise unable to serve.
25. He also took from the city one eunuch who had been appointed overseer of the men of war, and seven men who attended to the king’s presence who were found in the city, a scribe of the captain of the force who mustered the people of the Land, and sixty men of the people of the Land who were found within the city.
Men who attended: LXX, men of renown. Literally, who saw the face of the king. People of the Land: an idiom for commoners, not particularly learned.
26. Then Nevuzar’adan, chief of the executioners, seized them and made them walk to the king of Bavel at Rivlah,
27. and the king of Bavel was beating them and putting them to death at Rivlah in the territory of Khamath; thus Yehudah was removed [into exile] from off his Land.
28. This is the nation that Nevukhadretzar removed [into exile] in the seventh year: 3,023 Jews.
29. In Nevukhadretzar’s eighteenth year, 832 [were removed] from Yerushalayim.
Apparently he “waited for the cream to rise to the top” to see who would turn out to be a natural leader among those still in the Land, then took those back home to enhance his kingdom, as he had with the first wave.
30. In Nevukhadretzar’s twenty-third year, Nevuzar’adan, chief of the executioners, removed 745 Jewish souls [into exile]—4,600 souls in all.
Literally, every soul was 4,600.
31. Now what came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Yehoyakhin, king of Yehudah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, Ewil-M’rodakh, king of Bavel, raised the head of Yehoyakhin, king of Yehudah, and brought him from the prison,
Ewil-M’rodakh means “soldier of [the god of] his rebellion”. Raised the head: the LXX adds, “and shaved him”, probably the best way to disinfect him after dwelling in such conditions.
32. and he promised him better things, and assigned his throne higher than the thrones of the kings who were with him in Bavel,
Thrones…with him: Nevukhadretzar was shrewd in allowing the kings he had conquered to maintain their own thrones, for then their people would not rebel against him. After all, he was still a king, and was allied with the greatest king of his day. Zealots are hard for an empire to deal with, as Rome well knew, so Babylon accommodated them, but in doing so, took away their teeth. Since Babylon has continued in the form of a worldwide financial system, we can see the same pattern. It does nfot wish to eliminate religion, only to profit from it and make it serve its purposes, having a say in how it is carried out. Religion today is an honored throne, but it is recognized so that it can be controlled. Until it is the whole system that religion calls into question, it is allowed to operate with some freedom. But once the façade is exposed, it has as little actual power as the Wizard of Oz, so it placates the religious so they will not see through the smokescreen.
33. and he exchanged his garments of confinement, and he continued to eat bread in his presence all the days of his life,
34. and as to his ration, a constant stipend was allotted to him from [what was] with the king of Bavel—something [each] day on its day all the days of his life until the day of his death.
Something each day: literally, a day’s word (matter, thing). In summary, the judgments spoken of throughout Yirmeyahu and this chapter in regard to the Kingdom of Yehudah took place because the Land was not given its sabbatical years and because the kings of Israel were evil. Israel’s purpose is to form a dwelling-place for YHWH. We stepped out of the 6 + 1 pattern, and because of this there were no building-blocks left, so it fell apart. The Temple service was no longer following His pattern either, so He let it be destroyed. But as Avraham’s descendants who are “like the dust of the earth” (or Land), we make up the mystical aspect of the Land of Israel. And we are in the days of the restoration of all things as the spirit of Eliyahu (YHWH is Elohim) returns before the Day of YHWH. How, then, can we reverse this pattern and re-establish the foundation? Through following the same Sabbath pattern. We need to line our individual lives up with the pattern, not try to make it fit our schedules. His Kingdom is there waiting, but we cannot experience it until we walk in His patterns. But when we do, we can participate in YHWH’s re-creation of His dwelling place, and thus the return to the Garden of Eden.
THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHET
Yirmeyahu
(Jeremiah)
INTRODUCTION: Yirmeyahu, traditionally called Jeremiah in English, was a priest, and therefore from the tribe of Levi, and a reluctant prophet due to his young age. He prophesied beginning almost 100 years after the fall of the Northern Kingdom (Israel), just after Yoshiyahu’s widespread reforms, and just prior to the fall of the Southern Kingdom (Yehudah). The reigns spanned were the fifth-last and (skipping the three-month reign of Yehoakhaz) the final three kings of the Southern Kingdom. (Yehoyachin is not mentioned in 1:3, but he reigned for three months between the reigns of Yehoyaqim and Tzidqiyahu.) The time frame was 628 B.C.E.—about 60 years after Yeshayahu’s death--and from 609 through 586 B.C.E. (2 Kings 22-25; 2 Chron. 34-36) During this time Yoshiyahu was killed for meddling in Pharaoh Nekho’s military affairs, his son Yehoachaz was taken to Egypt, Nevukhadnetzar of Babylon made Yehudah a vassal, Yehoyaqim rebelled and was then plagued with Chaldean, Aramean, Moavite, and Ammonite raiders, Nevukhadnetzar again besieged Yerushalayim, Yehoyaqim surrendered and was taken captive to Babylon along with the temple and royal treasures (to be imprisoned 37 years, then treated well by the Babylonians until he died, as per 52:31). Tzidqiyahu was installed in his place, until he too rebelled and Yerushalayim was burned and the walls broken down. This particular Yirmeyahu is also mentioned in the 2 Chronicles 36 account, but that this was a common name in his generation is evident from several others mentioned throughout the books of Kings, Chronicles, and Nechemyah, including the grandfather of King Yehoakhaz.
