Jeremiah 44:12-22

12 'And I will ¹take away the remnant of Judah who have set their mind on entering the land of Egypt to reside there, and they will all ²meet their end in the land of Egypt; they will fall by the sword and meet their end by famine. Both small and great will die by the sword and famine; and they will become a ³curse, an object of horror, an imprecation and a reproach.

13 'And I will ⁴punish those who live in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, with the sword, with famine and with pestilence.

14 'So there will be ⁵no refugees or survivors for the remnant of Judah who have entered the land of Egypt to reside there and then to return to the land of Judah, to which they are ⁶longing * to return and live; for none will ⁷return except * a few refugees.' "

15 Then ⁸all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women who were standing by, as a large assembly, including all the people who were living in Pathros in the land of Egypt, responded to Jeremiah, saying,

16 "As for the ⁹message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, ¹⁰we are not going to listen to you!

17 "But rather * we will certainly ¹¹carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the ¹²queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as ¹³we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had ¹⁴plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune.

18 "But since * we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have ¹⁵lacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine."

19 "And," said the women, "when we were ¹⁶burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it ¹⁷without * our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?"

Calamity for the Jews

20 Then Jeremiah said to all the people, to the men and women -even to all the people who were giving him such an answer -saying,

21 "As for the ¹⁸smoking sacrifices that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the ¹⁹streets of Jerusalem, you and your forefathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD ²⁰remember them and did not all this come into His mind?

22 "So the LORD was ²¹no longer able to endure it, ²²because * of the evil of your deeds, because * of the abominations which you have committed; thus your land has become a ²³ruin, an object of horror and a curse, without an inhabitant, as it is this day.

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Jeremiah 44:12-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 44

This chapter contains a sermon of Jeremiah's to the Jews in Egypt, reproving them for their idolatry there; their answer to it, expressing their resolution to continue in their idolatrous practices; and a denunciation of judgments upon them, of which a sign is given. The sermon begins with observing to them the destruction of Jerusalem, and the causes of it, idolatry and contempt of the prophets, Jer 44:1-6; then follows an expostulation with the present Jews for doing the same things, and exposing themselves and their posterity to the same punishment, Jer 44:7-10; upon which they are threatened with the sore judgments of God that should come upon them, and cut them off in general, Jer 44:11-14; yet such were the impudence and obstinacy of this people, that they declared they would not hearken to the prophet, but persist in their idolatry; it having been better with them when they practised it than when they left it, Jer 44:15-19; to which the prophet replies by observing, that for the idolatry of their fathers their land was become a desolation and a curse, as at this day, Jer 44:20-23; and assures them that destruction would come from the Lord upon them, which he had swore to, Jer 44:24-28; and a sign of it is given; the delivery of the king of Egypt into the hand of the king of Babylon, Jer 44:29,30.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 23

1. Jer 42:15-18, 22
2. Isaiah 1:28; Jeremiah 16:4; Jeremiah 44:7
3. Isaiah 65:15; Jeremiah 18:16; Jeremiah 24:9; Jeremiah 26:6; Jeremiah 29:18; Jeremiah 42:18; Zechariah 8:13
4. Jeremiah 11:22; Jeremiah 44:27, 28
5. Jeremiah 22:10; Jeremiah 44:27
6. Jeremiah 22:26, 27
7. Isaiah 4:2; Isaiah 10:20; Jeremiah 44:28; Romans 9:27
8. Proverbs 11:21; Isaiah 1:5; Jeremiah 5:1-5
9. Jeremiah 43:2
10. Proverbs 1:24-27; Jeremiah 11:8, 10; Jeremiah 13:10
11. Numbers 30:12; Deuteronomy 23:23
12. 2 Kings 17:16; Jeremiah 7:18
13. Nehemiah 9:34; Jeremiah 32:32; Jeremiah 44:21
14. Exodus 16:3; Hosea 2:5-9; Philippians 3:19
15. Numbers 11:5, 6; Jeremiah 40:12; Malachi 3:13-15
16. Jeremiah 7:18
17. Numbers 30:6, 7; Jeremiah 44:15
18. Ezekiel 8:10, 11
19. Jeremiah 11:13; Jeremiah 44:9, 17
20. Psalms 79:8; Isaiah 64:9; Jeremiah 14:10; Hosea 7:2; Amos 8:7
21. Isaiah 7:13; Isaiah 43:24; Malachi 2:17
22. Jeremiah 4:4; Jeremiah 21:12; Jeremiah 30:14
23. Genesis 19:13; Psalms 107:33, 34; Jer 25:11, 18, 38; Jeremiah 29:18; Jeremiah 42:18; Jeremiah 44:12

Footnotes 17

[a]. Lit "face"
[b]. Lit "be finished"
[c]. Lit "lifting up their soul"
[d]. Or "incense"
[e]. Lit "and"
[f]. Lit "word"
[g]. Or "so as to burn"
[h]. Or "incense"
[i]. Lit "bread"
[j]. Lit "evil"
[k]. Or "incense"
[l]. Lit "been finished"
[m]. Or "incense"
[n]. Lit "to pour"
[o]. Lit "to make an image of her"
[p]. Or "incense"
[q]. Lit "heart"