Jeremiah 41
Summary for Jer 41:1-2: 41:1-2 a in midautumn: These events took place three months after the fall of Jerusalem.• While they were eating together: With this attack, Ishmael viciously violated Gedaliah’s hospitality.
Summary for Jer 41:4-5: 41:4-5 b The murderers kept their deed secret until the next day, when men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria to the north arrived on their way south to the ruins of Jerusalem. Their appearance and the offerings they carried indicated that they were on their way to plead for mercy from the Lord (Lev 2:1 c; 14:2-9 d). The annual Festival of Shelters was held at this time of year at the Temple (Lev 23:33-36 e), and the eighty worshipers were probably unarmed.
41:8 f The surviving ten men had quick wits and saved their lives by promising to provide what Ishmael’s men needed most: wheat, barley, olive oil, and honey.
41:9 g dug by King Asa when he fortified Mizpah: See 2 Chr 16:1-6 h. That passage does not refer to cisterns, but the need for water and grain storage would have required such structures, and several cisterns have been found in the ruins of the city.
41:10 i Some of the king’s daughters somehow escaped being killed or taken into exile.
Summary for Jer 41:11-12: 41:11-12 j Johanan and his companions learned of Gedaliah’s death in time to attack Ishmael’s party at the pool near Gibeon, which was only a few miles south of Mizpah.
41:16 k Johanan had with him a variety of important people, including soldiers, women, children, and court officials.
Summary for Jer 41:17-18: 41:17-18 l The group led by Johanan headed south, past the ruins of Jerusalem to Geruth-kimham, a small village near Bethlehem. During this trip, the leaders decided that they would be safe from Babylonian reprisals if they fled to Egypt. The Babylonians were cruel, and no one trusted them to seek out the true culprit in Gedaliah’s death.
Jeremiah 42
Summary for Jer 42:1-3: 42:1-3 m The party of Judean guerrillas and the people they had rescued (41:16 n) came to Jeremiah with what sounded like a sincere request for guidance.42:4 o The first phrase, All right (literally I heard), indicates that Jeremiah questioned the sincerity of the Judean group led by Johanan. Still, the prophet agreed to pray for divine guidance and to give them the full content of the Lord’s answer.
Summary for Jer 42:5-6: 42:5-6 p Perhaps these people sensed that Jeremiah doubted their sincerity. They responded by making a solemn oath: They committed to obey the Lord’s instructions and to submit to punishment if they failed to keep the oath. They were confident that the Lord’s answer would be what they wanted to hear.
Summary for Jer 42:10-12: 42:10-12 q The Lord replied that he wanted the people to stay in Judea and settle down, and he would plant them in the land (see 1:10 r). Judea’s time of judgment was over.
• For I am with you and will save you: The Lord was calling the remnant of Judea to trust him for protection against the king of Babylon.
Summary for Jer 42:13-22: 42:13-22 s Jeremiah had already prophesied Egypt’s destiny; it would be destroyed by the Babylonians (46:2-26 t). This remnant of Judah would walk into the path of the Lord’s judgment if they continued on to Egypt.
42:21 u Like their ancestors, this group of people from Judah trusted in the Egyptians to protect them, rather than in the Lord.
Jeremiah 43
Summary for Jer 43:1-7: 43:1-7 v Johanan and the rest of the people betrayed their oath (42:20 w) when they chose not to trust in the Lord’s answer through Jeremiah.43:3 x It is not known why Baruch was blamed.
43:7 y The city of Tahpanhes (2:16 z; Ezek 30:18 aa), now known as Tell Dafneh, guarded the road entering Egypt at its northeast corner.
43:10 ab Nebuchadnezzar: Cp. 42:2-22 ac; Ezek 29:19-20 ad. According to an Akkadian inscription, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt in 568–567 BC, less than twenty years after Jeremiah’s message.
Summary for Jer 43:12-13: 43:12-13 ae In the ancient Near East, temples and idols were regarded as power centers, so successful invaders usually destroyed them.
43:13 af The sacred pillars were highly prized by the ancient Egyptians.
• in the temple of the sun: Or in Heliopolis. The sun was the supreme deity of the Egyptian religion. The ruins of this city are about six miles northeast of modern Cairo.
Jeremiah 44
44:1 ag After their arrival in Egypt, the refugees of Judah scattered throughout the country. Migdol was a fortress near Tahpanhes in the northeastern corner of Egypt. Memphis was the original capital of Egypt. It became the religious center of northern Egypt, and its ruins are located on the west side of the Nile River, about thirteen miles southwest of Cairo. Some refugees had already moved to southern Egypt, following the Nile River upstream.44:2 ah Jeremiah’s message appealed to the common knowledge he and his audience shared about the calamity that had wiped out Judah and Jerusalem.
44:3 ai Since the Exodus, worship of false gods had been forbidden in Israel.
44:9 aj These Judean refugees had learned nothing; they had already forgotten their former sins and how God had judged them.
44:11 ak The Lord pronounced a death sentence, backed by the authority of his own name.
44:12 al Unlike those exiled to Babylon, to whom the Lord had given hope (see 33:7-18 am; Ezek 34:12-15 an; 36:24-31 ao), this remnant of Judah had no future.
Summary for Jer 44:15-19: 44:15-19 ap The people did not accept Jeremiah’s pronouncement of judgment; they had abandoned even the pretense of serving the Lord (42:1-3 aq) and were completely committed to idolatry. 44:15 ar This group of Judeans had probably gathered to observe a pagan festival.
44:17 as The Judean refugees imagined that they had freedom. They apparently believed that obedience to the Lord entailed bondage and that their pagan worship was the way to fulfillment.
• The Queen of Heaven was worshiped under a variety of names throughout the ancient Near East. In Assyria and Babylon she was called “Ishtar,” and the Canaanites called her “Astarte.” In the Old Testament, she is usually called “Ashtoreth” and associated with Baal. Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth and built shrines for her, but Josiah eventually destroyed those shrines (2 Kgs 23:13 at; see 1 Kgs 11:5 au). Ashtoreth was associated with the planet Venus and with all types of reproduction among plants and animals, so she was a popular idol among farmers and herdsmen. Offerings of incense, food, and liquids were regarded as magical triggers that would induce reproduction and prosperity.
44:18 av These Judeans believed that worshiping the Queen of Heaven provided prosperity and that ceasing to worship her would cause war and famine (cp. Hos 2:8 aw). Their mindset was completely pagan.
Summary for Jer 44:20-30: 44:20-30 ax This group of Judeans in Egypt had severed themselves from all meaningful relationship with the one true God of Israel; they were condemned to death.
Summary for Jer 44:20-23: 44:20-23 ay The destruction of Judah and Jerusalem had not been due to the Lord’s inability to provide prosperity; rather, he could no longer bear all the disgusting things the people were doing.
Summary for Jer 44:24-25: 44:24-25 az The Lord released the people to serve the Queen of Heaven; they would bear the consequences of their decision (cp. Rom 1:24 ba, 28 bb).
Summary for Jer 44:26-28: 44:26-28 bc The Judeans in Egypt were now forever free of covenant obligations to the Lord. They were also banned from covenant protection. They chose to sever their relationship with the one true God of Israel, so they retained no privileges—they could not pray or make oaths in God’s name. Still, the Lord would not be absent from their lives, because he would see to it that disaster plagued them. Those who individually turned to the Lord in repentance would enjoy salvation and blessings. Even in Egypt, a small remnant of people trusted in the Lord (e.g., Jeremiah and Baruch).
44:30 bd Pharaoh Hophra was killed by his enemies in Egypt in 570 BC.
• This verse concludes the record of Jeremiah’s forty-year ministry. Nothing is known about where, when, or how Jeremiah died.
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