Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 43:13

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 43:13. He shall break also the images of Beth-shemesh — בית שמש beith shemesh is, literally, the house or temple of the sun; which was worshipped here, and whose images are said to have been of solid gold. These Nebuchadnezzar was to break and carry away; and the houses of the gods-all the temples of Egypt, he was to burn with fire. Beth-shemesh is the same as Heliopolis.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

The move to Egypt (43:1-13)

In flatly rejecting Jeremiah’s advice, the people gave proof that they had already made up their minds to go to Egypt. In spite of all his previous prophecies’ being proved true, they accused him of being a liar (43:1-2). They also turned against Baruch, who had apparently given similar advice against going to Egypt. They accused him of being a Babylonian agent and of influencing Jeremiah against them (3). They then left for Egypt, forcibly taking Jeremiah and Baruch with them (4-7).
On arriving in Egypt, Jeremiah warned the Judeans that they would still not escape Babylon. He illustrated this by burying two stones in the pavement outside one of Pharaoh’s palaces. On these stones, Jeremiah foretold, Babylon would build its throne; that is, Babylonian power would spread to Egypt (8-10). Babylon would overpower Egypt with the ease that a shepherd picks insects off his coat. Egypt’s temples would be burnt and its people taken captive (11-13).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

PROPHECY AGAINST THE GODS OF EGYPT

"And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captive: and shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and shall go forth from thence in peace. He shall also break the pillars of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of Egypt shall he burn with fire."

"As a shepherd putteth on his garment" Keil gave special attention to the words thus rendered and gave as his opinion that they are properly translated thus: "As easily as any shepherd in the open field wraps himself in his cloak," adding that, "Other explanations of the word are far-fetched and lexically untenable."FK, p. 150.

We would like to call attention to the preposterous mistranslation of this passage in the Good News Bible. "As a shepherd picks his clothes clean of lice, so the king of Babylon will pick the land of Egypt clean." Such words are simply not in the text. James Moffatt's Translation of the Bible (1929) didn't do any better: "He shall scour the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks vermin out of his plaid."

"Bethshemesh" The Revised Standard Version renders this place Heliopolis on the probability that they might be the same. If that identity is correct, the Egyptian temple of the Sun God was located there.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Images - Rather, pillars (compare the Isaiah 19:19 note), obelisks.

Beth-shemesh - Heliopolis, famous for its obelisks.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

WE stated yesterday why Jeremiah spoke especially of the temples of the gods, even that the Jews might understand that nothing would escape destruction: for even the cruel-est enemies have usually withheld their hands from the temples of gods. If sanctity and religion would not preserve the temples, what then would become of private houses? He intimates, in short, that such would be the ruin of Egypt, that no part would escape.

But as Heliopolis was then in the greatest repute, he says, that the statues of all the gods in that city would be broken, for there the gods were especially worshipped. All heathen writers call it Heliopolis, to which the Hebrew word corresponds; for Bethsemes means the city of the sun; and Heliopolis means the same. As then this was the chief place where the gods of Egypt were found, the Prophet, in order to shew that the ruin of the whole land would be extreme, says that no temple would be there inviolate. So also Isaiah says, when speaking of the ruin of Egypt,

“Behold, God will come into Egypt, and will cut down before him all the idols.”
(Isaiah 19:1)

He spoke of God’s coming, because, under his guidance it was, that Nebuchadnezzar led there his army, as it has been stated. God did not, indeed, appear from heaven, but the army of Nebuchadnezzar was a living representation of God’s power, when he punished the Egyptians. Now, he says, that when God came there armed, and carried on a warlike expedition, all the idols would be destroyed; for God would thus shew that the gods in whom the Egyptians trusted were false, that they were mere fictions, which could give no help when things came to an extremity. Now follows, —

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 43

So it came to pass, when Jeremiah was through speaking to all of the people the words of Jehovah their God, then spake Azariah, and Johanan, and all of the proud men, saying to Jeremiah, You're speaking falsely: Jehovah our God has not sent you to say, Don't go to Egypt to dwell there ( Jeremiah 43:1-2 ):

Now here they came and said, "Please pray to God, we beg you, pray to God for us, you know. Whatever God tells us we'll do whether it's good or evil. Please make supplication to God." Now Jeremiah lays it out to them, they say, "Oh, you're lying. God didn't tell you to say that to us."

But Baruch ( Jeremiah 43:3 )

That conspirator, he's the one that advised you to tell us this stuff in order that he might deliver us over as captives to the Babylonians.

that they might put us to death, and carry us away to Babylon. So Johanan, and the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah. But [all of these people] that had returned from these nations, that were with them; Even men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah, along with Jeremiah, and Baruch ( Jeremiah 43:3-6 ).

And it would seem according to Josephus that they forced Jeremiah to come and Baruch. They sort of kidnapped them. Took them by force.

So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes ( Jeremiah 43:7 ).

This, of course, to me is one of those sad and tragic scriptures. It ranks really as one of the most tragic of all the passages in the Word of God. For it is always tragic when a man returns to that from which God has once delivered him. He goes back to Egypt. Egypt is a type of our life in sin, a life after the flesh and the bondage to our flesh. And whenever a man or a nation returns to that place from which God had once delivered them, that is always a sad and a tragic day. Nine hundred years earlier God had delivered their fathers out of the horrible, cruel oppression of their Egyptian slavery and bondage. And now the sad day that they return. The reason for their return-fear, a lack of faith and trusting in God to sustain them in the land. And the fear of the retaliation of the Babylonians against them drove them back to Egypt. The lack of faith, which resulted in their disobedience. "And so they obeyed not the voice of the Lord and thus they came to Tahpanhes."

Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, Take great stones in your hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of all of the men of Judah; and say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. And when he comes, he will smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword. And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself in the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garments; and he shall go forth from thence in peace. He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire ( Jeremiah 43:8-13 ).

So God said, "Take these great stones and put them in this clay pit where they had taken out the clay to make the bricks in the sight of all of the people, and say unto them, 'Over the top of these stones Nebuchadnezzar is going to build a pavilion of his court and he's going to set right here ruling over Egypt, destroying Egypt and their gods.' You come down here to escape Nebuchadnezzar, you're not going to escape him. You try to run from your problems, you can't run from your problems." God always wants us to face our problems with His strength and with His help. Never to run. A person never successfully runs away from a problem. We need to deal with the issues squarely with the help of the Lord. God will give us the strength. God will give us the help.

Flinders Petrie, famous archaeologist, several years ago now, I think it was in the 1920's, was excavating in Egypt Tell Defenneh. And as he was excavating there in Tell Defenneh, he came across this big pavement, pavilion, paved pavilion which was next to the ruins of the palace. And he dug under the bricks of this pavilion and found these very stones that Jeremiah had buried. These stones are now in a museum, the last I heard, in Cairo. The very stones that Jeremiah buried were found by Petrie as a witness to the truth of God's Word. Because Nebuchadnezzar did come down; he did conquer Egypt. He set his throne right there above the stones that Jeremiah buried. God's Word came to pass. God's Word will always come to pass. You can trust that God will keep His Word always.

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Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Jeremiah’s prediction of Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion of Egypt 43:8-13

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Nebuchadnezzar would also break down the obelisks that stood at On (Gr. Heliopolis), the Egyptian city of the sun about five miles northeast of modern Cairo. And he would burn the temples of the gods of Egypt. Heliopolis was the site of the famous temple of Amon-Re, the sun god, which people approached by passing between two rows of obelisks. [Note: Thompson, p. 671.] Only one of these obelisks still stands on the site. One of them is now in Central Park in New York City, and another is on the Thames Embankment in London. Both are wrongly called "Cleopatra’s Needle." [Note: Graybill, p. 686.] Egyptian obelisks were sacred monuments that honored various pagan gods. As Moses, the servant of the Lord, had humiliated the gods of Egypt at the Exodus, so Nebuchadnezzar, a Gentile servant of the Lord, would humiliate them again.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that [is] in the land of Egypt,.... Or, "of Heliopolis", as the Septuagint; the "city of the sun"; and so "Bethshemesh" here signifies the "house of the sun"; either it designs the temple of the sun, or the city where it was worshipped; as Heliopolis was famous for the worship of the sun, and for a magnificent temple in it, built for that purpose, and where abundance of persons resorted on that account, as Herodotus l observes; here were many images of the sun; and these now should be broke to pieces, when this city should become the city of destruction, as is foretold it should by Isaiah, Isaiah 19:18; where the Targum expressly calls it the city Bethshemesh, that is to be destroyed;

Isaiah 19:18- :. This is the same city that was formerly called On, and had a priest in Joseph's time, Genesis 41:45;

and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire; which is repeated, that it might be taken notice of, and for the confirmation of it; though the words may be rendered, so as to remove the tautology, "and with the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn [it] with fire" m; that is, Bethshemesh, or "the house of the sun", that shall not escape, being a principal temple. The gods they worshipped were Mnevis and Apis, which were oxen consecrated to the sun and moon n. So says Porphyry o, speaking of the Egyptians,

"they consecrate oxen to the sun and moon: that which is sacred to the sun at Heliopolis is called Mnevis, and is the greatest of them: it is very black, because much sun makes human bodies black; and the hairs of its tail, and of its whole body, contrary to other oxen, turn upwards, as the sun makes its course contrary to the pole; its testicles are the largest, because by the heat of the sun venereal desires are excited; hence the sun is said to make nature fruitful. To the moon they dedicate Taurus (or the bull), which they call Apis, and is blacker than others, bearing the signs of the sun and moon, because the light of the moon is from the sun; and the sign of the sun is the blackness of its body, and also the beetle that is under its tongue;''

and these were the images and gods of Bethshemesh or Heliopolis, that were to be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Of his expedition into Egypt, whereby this prophecy was fulfilled, not only Josephus makes mention, but some Heathen writers gave plain hints of it. The Jewish historian says p, that Nebuchadnezzar, five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, led his army into Coelesyria, and took it; and made war with the Ammonites and Moabites; and, having subdued these nations, made a push into Egypt, in order to destroy that, and slew the king of it: and Berosus says q, that

"Nebuchadnezzar having settled his affairs in Egypt, and other countries; and having committed to his friends the captives of the Jews, Phoenicians, Syrians, and the nations about Egypt, went to Babylon:''

and Megasthenes r relates, that

"he conquered the greatest part of Lybia (or Africa) and Iberia;''

or, as it is elsewhere s expressed,

"he led his army into Lybia and Iberia; and, having subdued these, carried colonies of them to the right of Pontus.''

l Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 59. m So Schmidt. n Vid. Aelian. de Animal. l. 11. c. 11. o Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 3. c. 13. p. 117. p Joseph. Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. q Apud Josph. Antiqu. ib. c. 11. sect 1. & contra Apion. l. 1. sect. 19. & Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 40. p. 455. r Apud Joseph. Antiqu. ib. & contra Apion. l. 1. sect. 20. s Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 41. p. 456.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      8 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,   9 Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brick-kiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;   10 And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.   11 And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.   12 And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.   13 He shall break also the images of Beth-shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.

      We have here, as also in the next chapter, Jeremiah prophesying in Egypt. Jeremiah was now in Tahpanhes, for there his lords and masters were; he was there among idolatrous Egyptians and treacherous Israelites; but there, 1. He received the word of the Lord; it came to him. God can find his people, with the visits of his grace, wherever they are; and, when his ministers are bound, yet the word of the Lord is not bound. The spirit of prophecy was not confined to the land of Israel. When Jeremiah went into Egypt, not out of choice, but by constraint, God withdrew not his wonted favour from him. 2. What he received of the Lord he delivered to the people. Wherever we are we must endeavour to do good, for that is our business in this world. Now we find two messages which Jeremiah was appointed and entrusted to deliver when he was in Egypt. We may suppose that he rendered what services he could to his countrymen in Egypt, at least as far as they would be acceptable, in performing the ordinary duties of a prophet, praying for them and instructing and comforting them; but only two messages of his, which he had received immediately from God, are recorded, one in this chapter, relating to Egypt itself and foretelling its destruction, the other in the next chapter, relating to the Jews in Egypt. God had told them before that if they went into Egypt the sword they feared should follow them; here he tells them further that the sword of Nebuchadnezzar, which they were in a particular manner afraid of, should follow them.

      I. This is foretold by a sign. Jeremiah must take great stones, such as are used for foundations, and lay them in the clay of the furnace, or brick-kiln, which is in the open way, or beside the way that leads to Pharaoh's house (Jeremiah 43:9; Jeremiah 43:9), some remarkable place in view of the royal palace. Egypt was famous for brick-kilns, witness the slavery of the Israelites there, whom they forced to make bricks (Exodus 5:7), which perhaps was now remembered against them. The foundation of Egypt's desolation was laid in those brick-kilns, in that clay. This he must do, not in the sight of the Egyptians (they knew not Jeremiah's character), but in the sight of the men of Judah to whom he was sent, that, since he could not prevent their going into Egypt, he might bring them to repent of their going.

      II. It is foretold in express words, as express as can be, 1. That the king, the present king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, the very same that had been employed in the destruction of Jerusalem, should come in person against the land of Egypt, should make himself master even of this royal city, by the same token that he should set his throne in that very place where these stones were laid, Jeremiah 43:10; Jeremiah 43:10. This minute circumstance is particularly foretold, that, when it was accomplished, they might be put in mind of the prophecy and confirmed in their belief of the extent and certainly of the divine prescience, to which the smallest and most contingent events are evident. God calls Nebuchadnezzar his servant, because herein he executed God's will, accomplished his purposes, and was instrumental to carry on his designs. Note, The world's princes are God's servants and he makes what use he pleases of them, and even those that know him not, nor aim at his honour, are the tools which his providence makes use of. 2. That he should destroy many of the Egyptians, and have them all at his mercy (Jeremiah 43:11; Jeremiah 43:11): He shall smite the land of Egypt; and, though it has been always a warlike nation, yet none shall be able to make head against him, but whom he will he shall slay, and by what sort of death he will, whether pestilence (for that is here meant by death, as Jeremiah 15:2; Jeremiah 15:2) by shutting them up in places infected, or by the sword of war or justice, in cold blood or hot. And whom he will he shall save alive and carry into captivity. The Jews, by going into Egypt, brought the Chaldeans thither, and so did but ill repay those that entertained them. Those who promised to protect Israel from the king of Babylon exposed themselves to him. 3. That he shall destroy the idols of Egypt, both the temples and the images of their gods (Jeremiah 43:12; Jeremiah 43:12): He shall burn, the houses of the gods of Egypt, but it shall be with a fire of God's kindling; the fire of God's wrath fastens upon them, and then he burns some of them and carries others captive, Isaiah 46:1. Beth-shemesh, or the house of the sun, was so called from a temple there built to the sun, where at certain times there was a general meeting of the worshippers of the sun. The statues or standing images there he shall break in pieces (Jeremiah 43:13; Jeremiah 43:13) and carry away the rich materials of them. It intimates that he should lay all waste when even the temple and the images should not escape the fury of the victorious army. The king of Babylon was himself a great idolater and a patron of idolatry; he had his temples and images in honour of the sun as well as the Egyptians; and yet he is employed to destroy the idols of Egypt. Thus God sometimes makes one wicked man, or wicked nation, a scourge and plague to another. 4. That he shall make himself master of the land of Egypt, and none shall be able to plead its cause or avenge its quarrel (Jeremiah 43:12; Jeremiah 43:12): He shall array himself with the rich spoils of the land of Egypt, both beautify and fortify himself with them. He shall array himself with them as ornaments and as armour; and this, though it shall be a rich and heavy booty, being expert in war, and expeditious, he shall slip on with as much ease and in as little time, in comparison, as a shepherd slips on his garment, when he goes to turn out his sheep in a morning. And being loaded with the wealth of many other nations, the fruits of his conquests, he shall make no more of the spoils of the land of Egypt than of a shepherd's coat. And when he has taken what he pleases (as Benhadad threatened to do, 1 Kings 20:6) he shall go forth in peace, without any molestation given him, or any precipitation for fear of it, so effectually reduced shall the land of Egypt be. This destruction of Egypt by the king of Babylon is foretold, Ezekiel 29:19; Ezekiel 30:10. Babylon lay at a great distance from Egypt, and yet thence the destruction of Egypt comes; for God can make those judgments strike home which are far-fetched.