Jeremiah 43:9

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

⁸Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes: ⁹"In the sight of the Jews, pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh's palace at Tahpanhes.¹⁰Then say to them, 'This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them. ¹¹He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. ¹²I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn those temples and take their gods as captives. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will depart from there unscathed. ¹³He will demolish the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

great: Jeremiah 13:1-11, Jeremiah 18:2-12, Jeremiah 19:1-15, Jeremiah 51:63, Jeremiah 51:64, 1 Kings 11:29-31, Isaiah 20:1-4, Ezekiel 4:1-17, Ezekiel 5:1-17, Ezekiel 12:3-16, Hosea 12:10, Acts 21:11, Revelation 18:21

in the brickkiln: Exodus 1:14, 2 Samuel 12:31, Nahum 3:14

Reciprocal: Exodus 3:12 - token Jeremiah 25:19 - Pharaoh Jeremiah 44:30 - I will Jeremiah 46:14 - Migdol

Cross-References

Genesis 9:5
And surely I will require the life of any man or beast by whose hand your lifeblood is shed. I will demand an accounting from anyone who takes the life of his fellow man:

Genesis 31:39
I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night.

Genesis 42:37
Then Reuben said to his father, "You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you. Put him in my care, and I will return him."

Genesis 43:18
But the men were frightened that they had been taken to Joseph's house. "We have been brought here because of the money that was returned in our bags the first time," they said. "They intend to overpower us and take us as slaves, along with our donkeys."

Genesis 43:19
So they approached Joseph's steward and spoke to him at the entrance to the house.

Genesis 43:32
They served Joseph's brothers separately from him and the Egyptians who ate with him, because Egyptians would not eat with Hebrews, since that was detestable to them.

Genesis 43:33
They were seated before him in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at each other in astonishment.

1 Kings 1:21
Otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, I and my son Solomon will be counted as criminals."

Job 17:3
Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?

Psalms 119:122
Ensure Your servant's well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Take great stones in thine hand,.... In both his hands, as big as he could carry:

and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln; there was much clay in Egypt, through the overflowing of the Nile, and particularly at this place Tahpanhes, which had its name of Pelusiae from hence; and here was a brick kiln; not a place where bricks were burnt, but where they were foraged; and so here was the clay of which they were made, and in which these stones were to be hid:

which [is] at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes; this brick kiln stood not directly at the entrance into the king's palace, but at the door of a wall of a park or garden, which belonged to the palace, from whence there was an open way to it; here the stones were to be laid. Since a brick kiln so near a king's palace seems not agreeable, Gussetius h thinks מלבן signifies a poplar walk, from לבנה, a poplar tree, whose shade is very grateful, Hosea 4:13; to which the courtiers betook themselves at certain times, and walked in for pleasure;

in the sight of the men of Judah; not in the sight of the Egyptians, who would not understand the design of it, nor were they to be instructed by it; but in the sight of the Jews, who would at once imagine that something was intended, being used to such symbols, and would inquire the meaning of it; and which is explained in Jeremiah 43:10.

h Ebr. Comment. p. 470.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Brickkiln - Possibly, a pavement of brick. Jeremiah was to take a few large stones, such, nevertheless, as he could carry in his hand, and build with them, in the propylaea before the royal palace, something that would serve to represent the dais upon which the seat of kings was usually placed. By hiding them in the clay is meant plastering them over with mortar.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 43:9. Take great stones — This discourse seems to have been delivered about a year after the destruction of Jerusalem. They pretended that they dared not stay in Judea for fear of the Chaldeans. The prophet here assures them that Nebuchadnezzar shall come to Egypt, extend his conquests in that kingdom, and place his tent over the very place where these stones were laid up, and destroy them. How these prophecies were fulfilled, see at the end of Jeremiah 44:30.