Jeremiah 44:26

26 But also listen to what God has to say about it, all you who are from Judah but live in Egypt: 'I swear by my great name, backed by everything I am - this is God speaking! - that never again shall my name be used in vows, such as "As sure as the Master, God, lives!" by anyone in the whole country of Egypt.

Jeremiah 44:26 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 44:26

Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord, all Judah that dwell
in the land of Egypt (See Gill on Jeremiah 44:24); since you have made your vows, and will perform them, I will take an oath, and abide by it: behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord;
by his name Jehovah, which is incommunicable, and expressive of his eternity and immutability; or by himself, his name being himself, and than which he can swear by no greater, ( Hebrews 6:13 ) ; that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah
in all the land of Egypt, saying, the Lord God liveth:
this cannot be understood of the name of the Lord being called upon them, or of their being called by his name, and reckoned his people, which is the sense of Abarbinel; since this respects not a name by which they should be named, but which they should name; and intends their use of the divine name in an oath, of which this is a form, "the Lord God liveth": or as sure as the Lord lives, or by the living God, it is so and so; and especially as used in their vows to burn incense to the queen of heaven, they vowing by the living God that they would do so, which must be very abominable to him; and therefore he solemnly swears there should not be a Jew in all Egypt that should use it; the reason is, because everyone of them that did should be cut off, as follows:

Jeremiah 44:26 In-Context

24 Jeremiah kept going, but now zeroed in on the women: "Listen, all you who are from Judah and living in Egypt - please, listen to God's Word.
25 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the God of Israel, says: 'You women! You said it and then you did it. You said, "We're going to keep the vows we made to sacrifice to the Queen of Heaven and pour out offerings to her, and nobody's going to stop us!"'
26 But also listen to what God has to say about it, all you who are from Judah but live in Egypt: 'I swear by my great name, backed by everything I am - this is God speaking! - that never again shall my name be used in vows, such as "As sure as the Master, God, lives!" by anyone in the whole country of Egypt.
27 I've targeted each one of you for doom. The good is gone for good.
28 The few who get out of Egypt alive and back to Judah will be very few, hardly worth counting. Then that ragtag bunch that left Judah to live in Egypt will know who had the last word.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.