Глава 43

1–7. Disobedience of the Jews to the will of God. 8–13. Jeremiah's speech to the Jews in Egypt. Jeremiah 43:1–7. Justifying their obvious disobedience to the will of God, the leaders of the Jews tell Jeremiah that he was mistaken, that God did not tell him what he told the Jews. Therefore, they went to Egypt, taking Jeremiah and Baruch with them. Jer.43:1. When Jeremiah told all the people all the words of the Lord their God, all the words with which the Lord their God sent him to them, Jer.43:2. Then said Azariah the son of Hosaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the bold people said to Jeremiah: You speak lies; the Lord our God did not send you to say: “Do not go into Egypt to live there”; "All the Sassy People". The people, apparently, were on Jeremiah’s side, but were silent, and only a group of “impudent people,” who for some reason enjoyed special influence, did not want to recognize in the prophet, this time, the true herald of divine decisions. Jer.43:3. and Baruch the son of Neriah stirs you up against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, so that they will kill us or take us captive to Babylon. Why exactly Baruch, Jeremiah’s disciple, was credited with special participation by the “daring people” is unknown. It can be assumed that in view of the respect that Jeremiah enjoyed among the Jews at that time, the Jewish leaders did not want to blame the prophet himself, but found a “scapegoat” in the person of Baruch, Jeremiah’s faithful disciple and companion. Jer.43:6. husbands and wives and children and daughters of the king, and all those whom Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah; Jeremiah and Baruch were obviously given strict orders to follow Johanan. Jer.43:7. and they went to the land of Egypt, because they did not listen to the voice of the Lord, and they came to Taphnis. Jeremiah 43:8–13. To show how foolishly the Jews acted when they moved to Egypt, Jeremiah, at the command of God, must perform a symbolic action: bury several stones in soft clay near the palace of Pharaoh. By this, Jeremiah was supposed to visualize the invasion of the mighty Chaldeans into the weakened Egyptian kingdom and the complete defeat of Pharaoh Nebuchadnezzar. Jer.43:9. take in your hands large stones and hide them in crushed clay at the entrance to the house of Pharaoh in Taphnis, in the presence of the Jews, "Crumpled Clay". Heb. the word malat, put here, in the later Hebrew language (post-biblical) means “pavement” made of bricks. If we assume that Jeremiah, with several representatives of his people, stood in front of the Pharaoh’s palace at a time when the area in front of the palace was being paved with bricks, then it is very possible that, unnoticed, he could have placed several stones down here under the bricks. Jer.43:10. and say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I will set up his throne on these stones that I have hidden, and he will pitch his magnificent tent over him. Nebuchadnezzar will pitch his magnificent tent in this square in front of the palace of the pharaoh he defeated to try various cases (cf. 2 Kings 19.8). Jer.43:12. And I will light a fire in the churches of the gods of the Egyptians; and he will burn them, and take them captive, and will put on the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his clothes, and will go out from there calmly, Nebuchadnezzar, from whom the Jews felt safe, would cope with Egypt as easily and quickly as a shepherd wraps himself in his casing during bad weather. Jeremiah 43:13. and he will break in pieces the statues of Bethshemesh, which is in the land of Egypt, and he will burn the churches of the gods of Egypt with fire. Bethsamis is called Egyptian here in contrast to the Palestinian city of the same name. This is the city of On or Iliopolis (the city of the sun), which was located in lower Egypt and was famous for its church dedicated to the sun and high obelisks (inaccurately in Russian: statues). Among the latter, the “Cleopatra’s needles” are especially famous, of which one is now located in Alexandria, and the other in London. In the place where he was, one ancient obelisk still stands. Regarding the fulfillment of this prophecy, learned critics have long argued that Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt did not happen. But recently, sufficient data have been found that indicate that such an invasion actually took place. 1) One Egyptian inscription of a high official under the pharaoh Ofra (in our text - Wafrii) reports an attack by “the Syrians, the people of the north, the Asians” on upper Egypt, where they, having reached Syena (Elephantine), devastated the church of Khnum, but were kept from crossing the cataracts (waterfalls) by the pharaoh. Since for the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 29.17 et seq.) this seems to be a matter of the future (573–572), and Ophra reigned until 572–571, the said attack could only have taken place around 572. 2) In one Babylonian inscription, which also only recently became known, Nebuchadnezzar himself states that he is on the 37th year of his reign (568) he went to Egypt, defeated the king (Ama)-su, i.e. Amasis, and took rich booty. It is not incredible that he went to Egypt earlier, in 572. You might be interested in: