Jeremiah 44:30

30 Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will give ¹Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies ²and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave ³Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life."

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Jeremiah 44:30 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 44:30

Thus saith the Lord, behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king
of Egypt
Pharaoh was a common name of the kings of Egypt, who usually had some surname, by which they were distinguished; and the surname of the then present king of Egypt was Hophra; whom the Septuagint and others call Vaphres; and, Herodotus ^F12 Apries. The Targum renders it Pharaoh the broken; and the Syriac version Pharaoh the lame: now it is here predicted as a sign of the destruction of the Jews in Egypt, which should follow after, that God would deliver this king into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his
life;
either into the hands of his rebellious subjects, headed by Amasis, by whom he was kept alive for a while after taken, and then put to death, as Herodotus reports; or rather into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar; for Josephus says ^F13, that he, in the twenty third year of his reign, which was four or five years after the destruction of Jerusalem, having subdued the Syrians, Ammonites, and Moabites, entered Egypt in a hostile manner, and slew the then remaining king, and set up another; and this is confirmed by what follows: as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king
of Babylon, and that sought his life;
in like manner, and as sure as he had done the one, he would do the other; and he puts the Jews in mind of what he had done by him, and which they had full and certain knowledge of; and might from hence conclude that this also would be accomplished, here given as a sign of their own ruin; and which, when they saw come to pass, might know that it was at hand; and, indeed, the king of Egypt, in whom they trusted, being taken by his enemies, and his country wasted, they must in course fall a prey to the conqueror.

FOOTNOTES:

F12 Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 161, 162, 169. & Melpomene, sive l. 4. c. 159.
F13 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Jeremiah 44:30 In-Context

28 And those who escape the sword shall return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah, few in number; and all the remnant of Judah, who came to the land of Egypt to live, shall know whose word will stand, mine or theirs.

29 This shall be the sign to you, declares the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, in order that you may know that my words will surely stand against you for harm:

30 Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and sought his life."