Jeremiah 43

This chapter belongs to the latter part of the book of Jeremiah, which traces the course of the people who remained after the fall of Jerusalem. In Jeremiah 42 the people sought God's will and swore to obey it. Jeremiah delivered the answer that they were to remain in the land of Judah and not go to Egypt, and this chapter recounts the people's response to that answer.

Outline

• Verses 1–3: Azariah, Johanan, and all the proud men declare Jeremiah's words false and accuse Baruch of setting him against them so that they might be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans.
• Verses 4–7: Johanan and the captains of the forces lead the entire remnant, together with Jeremiah and Baruch, to Tahpanhes in Egypt.
• Verses 8–13: Jeremiah buries large stones at the entrance of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes and prophesies that Nebuchadnezzar will set his throne upon them, strike Egypt, and burn its temples.

Key Verses

• Jeremiah 43:2 "Thou speakest falsely": The people reject an unwelcome answer even after having sworn an oath.
• Jeremiah 43:7 "For they obeyed not the voice of the LORD": A verdict that summarizes the first half of the chapter.
• Jeremiah 43:10 "Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant": Even a foreign king is portrayed as an instrument for accomplishing God's will.

People and Places

• Jeremiah: The prophet, taken to Egypt against his will.
• Johanan: The son of Kareah, a captain of the forces who led the remnant after Gedaliah was assassinated.
• Azariah: The son of Hoshaiah. Some identify him with "Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah" in Jeremiah 42:1.
• Baruch: The son of Neriah and Jeremiah's scribe.
• Gedaliah: The son of Ahikam, appointed by Babylon as governor of Judah.
• Nebuzaradan: The captain of the Babylonian guard.
• Nebuchadnezzar: The king of Babylon.
• Tahpanhes: An Egyptian frontier city in the eastern Nile Delta.
• Beth-shemesh: Here an Egyptian city, commonly identified with Heliopolis (On).

Points for Reflection

The burying of the stones is a prophetic sign-act that embodies the word in physical action, like the linen girdle of chapter 13 and the yoke of chapter 27. A fragmentary Babylonian text is reported to record that Nebuchadnezzar attacked Egypt around his thirty-seventh regnal year (c. 568/567 BC), although interpretations differ on how this prophecy was fulfilled. The account that Jeremiah was stoned to death in Egypt is a later Jewish and Christian tradition; the biblical text does not record his death. This chapter is not directly quoted in the New Testament. The narrative continues in Jeremiah 44, which contains the word addressed to the Judeans in Egypt.