The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV

by John MacArthur

  39:5 Riblah in…Hamath. Nebuchadnezzar’s command headquarters were 230 mi. to the N of Jerusalem. pronounced judgment. He dealt with the king as a common criminal. The king had violated his oath (cf. 2 Chr. 36:13; Ezek. 17:13–19).

  39:6–10 Cf. 52:12–16; 2 Kin. 25:8–12.

  39:7 put out Zedekiah’s eyes. This reconciles 32:4 with Ezek. 12:13.

  39:11, 12 Jeremiah’s prophecies were known to Nebuchadnezzar through defectors (v. 9; 38:19), and also through Jews taken to Babylon with Jeconiah (cf. 40:2).

  39:14 take Jeremiah from the court. This was given as a general summary, whereas 40:1–6 gave more detail concerning the prophet who was first carried to Ramah (40:1) with the other captives before being released (40:2–5). “Gedaliah”was a former supporter of Jeremiah (26:24) and chief among the defectors, loyal to Nebuchadnezzar, so was made governor (40:5) over the remnant left in the land.

  39:15–18 Cf. 38:7–13, and see note there.

  Jeremiah 40

  40:2, 3 The pagan captain understood the judgment of God better than the leaders of Judah.

  40:4, 5 The captain did exactly as Nebuchadnezzar had told him in 39:12.

  40:5, 6 Jeremiah chose to go to Gedaliah, the newly appointed governor at Mizpah several mi. N of Jerusalem. Gedaliah was soon to be assassinated (cf. 41:1–3).

  40:7 captains…in the fields. The leaders of Judah’s army scattered in fear.

  40:9–12 God had tempered the severity of judgment by allowing a remnant to prosper.

  40:13–16 Johanan. This man’s fair warning to Gedaliah of Ishmael’s death plot went unheeded.

  Jeremiah 41

  41:1–4 In the second month after the city of Jerusalem had been burned, the careless governor entertained Ishmael’s group and invited a massacre.

  41:5 eighty men. Most likely, this group had come in mourning over the destruction of Jerusalem, and so servants (v. 8) were led to slaughter. He did amazing damage with only 10 men (v. 1). Eventually they must have acquired more to do than what is described in v. 10.

  41:9 Asa. He ruled Judah (ca. 911–873 B.C.). Cf. 1 Kin. 15:16–22.

  41:12–15 went to fight with Ishmael. Johanan heard of Ishmael’s murders and taking people captive, and brought men to stop him. They freed the captives (vv. 13, 14), but Ishmael and his men escaped (v. 15).

  41:12 pool…Gibeon. Cf. 2 Sam. 2:13.

  Jeremiah 42

  42:1, 2 Jeremiah. He probably was one carried off from Mizpah, freed, and dwelt with Johanan (41:16).

  42:1–6 pray for us. The remnant in Judah asked Jeremiah to pray to God and find His will on what they should do. They promised to obey (v. 6).

  42:7–12 After 10 days of prayer Jeremiah reported God’s Word, telling them to remain in the land under God’s protection (v. 10).

  42:10 I relent. By this God means “I am satisfied with the punishment inflicted if you do not add new offenses.”

  42:13–19 The prophet gave explicit warning (v. 19) not to go to Egypt where they would be exposed to corrupting paganism.

  42:20 They were hypocrites who already desired Egypt.

  Jeremiah 43

  43:1–7 when Jeremiah…stopped speaking. The incorrigible, disobedient leaders accused him of deceit and forced Jeremiah and the remnant to go to Egypt, despite the fact that all his prophecies regarding Babylon had come to pass. In so doing, they went out of God’s protection into His judgment, as all who are disobedient to His Word do.

  43:3, 6 Baruch. The faithful recorder of chap. 36 was still with Jeremiah, kept safe as God promised him at least 20 years earlier (45:5; cf. 605 B.C. in v. 1).

  43:7 Tahpanhes. A location in the eastern delta region of Egypt.

  43:9–13 Take large stones. Stones, placed in the mortar of the brick pavement in the courtyard entrance of the Pharaoh’s house, signaled the place where the conquering king of Babylon would bring devastation on Egypt and establish his throne. This was fulfilled in an invasion ca. 568/67 B.C.

  43:12 as a shepherd puts on his garment. A very simple and easy task describes how quickly and easily Nebuchadnezzar will conquer Egypt.

  43:13 sacred pillars of Beth Shemesh. Heb. “house of the sun.” This refers to a temple for the worship of the sun. Located N of Memphis, E of the Nile, these pillars were said to be 60–100 ft. high.

  Jeremiah 44

  44:1 The word that came. The unrelenting iniquity of the Jews called for yet another prophecy of judgment on them in Egypt.

  44:2–6 The prophet summarized what had occurred in Judah as a basis for what he predicted coming on the refugees in Egypt.

  44:7, 9, 10 Incredibly, after being spared death in Judah, they pursued it by their sin in Egypt.

  44:11–14 Ironically, the Jews taken to Babylon were weaned from idolatry and restored to their land; those taken to Egypt for their obstinate idolatry, perished there.

  44:14 except those who escape. A small number (v. 28) who fled before the arrival of Babylonian armies were spared.

  44:15 wives. The idolatry apparently began with the women.

  44:17–19 queen of heaven. See note on 7:18. This is a title Roman Catholicism erroneously attributes to Mary, the mother of Jesus, in a blending of Christianity with paganism. The Jews’ twisted thinking credits the idol with the prosperity of pre-captivity Judah, further mocking the goodness of God.

  44:20–23 Jeremiah set the record straight, saying the idol was not the source of their prosperity, but it was the cause of their calamity.

  44:24–28 Jeremiah repeated the doom stated in vv. 11–14.

  44:29, 30 sign. The “sign” of punishment was described in v. 30 as the strangulation of Pharaoh Hophra in 570 B.C. by Amasis, which paved the way for Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion in the 23rd year of his reign (568/67 B.C.).

  Jeremiah 45

  45:1 fourth year of Jehoiakim. The year was 605 B.C. (chap. 36), when the recording of God’s messages to Jeremiah was in view.

  45:3 Woe is me now! Baruch felt anxiety as his own cherished plans of a bright future were apparently dashed; even death became a darkening peril (cf. v. 5). Also, he was possibly pressed by human questionings about God carrying through with such calamity (cf. v. 4). Jeremiah spoke to encourage him (v. 2).

  45:4 say to him. God will judge this whole nation (the Jews).

  45:5 you seek great things. Baruch had his expectations far too high and that made the disasters harder to bear. It is enough that he be content just to live. Jeremiah, who once also complained, learned by his own suffering to encourage complainers.

  Jeremiah 46

  46:1 against the nations. Jeremiah had already proclaimed that all the nations at some time are to “drink the cup” of God’s wrath (25:15–26). In chaps. 46–51 God selected certain nations and forecast their doom. Likely given to Jeremiah at different times, the prophecies were collected according to the nations, not the chronology.

  46:2–26 Against Egypt. Cf. Is. 19, 20; Ezek. 29–32. Verses 2–12 depict Pharaoh Necho’s overthrow by the Babylonians at Carchemish by the Euphrates River in 605 B.C., in which Egypt lost all its territory W of the river.

  46:3–6 Here was a derisive call to Egypt to ready itself for defeat.

  46:10 the day of the LORD. While this phrase often refers to an eschatological judgment on earth (such as in Zeph. 1:7; Mal. 4:5; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10), it also may refer to a historical day. In this case it refers to the Egyptian defeat (cf. Lam. 2:22). See note on Is. 2:12.

  46:11 Gilead. See note on 8:20–22.

  46:13–26 Babylon’s invasion of Egypt, 15 or 16 years before the destruction of Jerusalem is here detailed (601 B.C.; cf. v. 13). Having spent 13 years in a siege of Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar was promised Egypt as a reward for humbling Tyre (cf. Ezek. 29:17–20).

  46:18 Tabor…Carmel. As those two mountains rise above the hills of Palestine, so Nebuchadnezzar will be superior.

  46:20, 21 a very pretty heifer…fat bulls. Fat and untamed, ready to kill.

  46:26 Afterward. Forty years
after Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest of Egypt, it threw off the Babylonian yoke but never regained its former glory (Ezek 29:11–15).

  46:27, 28 do not fear…Jacob. Though Israel has been scattered to the nations, the nations will receive their judgments, and the Lord will restore Israel (repeated from 30:10, 11) from dispersion to its own land (as in Jer. 23:5–8; 30–33). No matter what judgments fall on Israel, they will not be destroyed, as Paul reiterates in Rom. 11:1, 2, 15, 25–27.

  Jeremiah 47

  47:1–5 against the Philistines. Cf. Is. 14:29–32; Ezek. 25:15–17; Amos 1:6–8; Zeph. 2:4–7. Although Egypt’s Pharaoh Hophra conquered the Philistines (who lived on the coastal plain of Palestine) in Gaza and Phoenicia around 587 B.C. (v. 1), Babylon appears to be the conqueror in this scene, (“out of the N”) at the same time as the invasion of Judah (588–586 B.C.; cf. 39:1, 2).

  47:6, 7 sword of the LORD. Cf. Judg. 7:18, 20.

  Jeremiah 48

  48:1 Against Moab. Various sites of unknown location in Moab are to be destroyed (vv. 1–5). The judgment is framed in similar words or some of the same words as in other passages (Is. 15:1–9; 16:6–14; 25:10–12; Ezek. 25:8–11; Amos 2:1–3; Zeph. 2:8–11). Desolation overtook different parts of Moab at various times, but Babylon in 588–586 B.C. or 582–581 B.C. is likely the main destroyer (cf. 48:40). The Moabites were Lot’s descendants (cf. Gen. 19:37), who lived E of the Dead Sea and often fought with Israel.

  48:7 Chemosh. He was the leading god of Moab (cf. Num. 21:29; Judg. 11:24; 1 Kin. 11:7; 2 Kin. 23:13).

  48:10 Cursed is he. God’s aim to judge Moab was so intense that He pronounced a curse on whatever instrument (army) He would use should they carry it out “deceitfully,” i.e., “carelessly,” or “with slackness,” or “being remiss” (Prov. 10:4; cf. 12:24).

  48:11, 12 This wine making imagery is vivid. In the production of sweet wine, the juice was left in a wineskin until the sediment or dregs settled onto the bottom. Then it was poured into another skin until more dregs were separated. This process continued until the dregs were all removed and a pure, sweet wine obtained. Moab was not taken from suffering to suffering so that her bitter dregs would be removed through the purging of pain. Thus the nation was settled into the thickness and bitterness of its own sin. Judgment from God was coming to smash them.

  48:18–20 Dibon…Aroer. These places were on the Arnon River, but would be thirsty.

  48:24 Kerioth. Likely the city of Judas Iscariot. Cf. Josh. 15:25.

  48:25 horn…is cut off. An example of the OT use of “horn” as a symbol of military power, as an animal uses horns to hook, gouge, or ram. Moab is to be dehorned.

  48:26 Here is a vivid picture of humiliation.

  48:29 Suffering didn’t come to humble Moab (see note on vv. 11, 12), so she remained proud.

  48:47 I will bring back. God will allow a remnant of Moab to return to the land (cf. 12:14–17; 46:26; 48:47; 49:6, 39), through their descendants in the messianic era (“the latter days”).

  Jeremiah 49

  49:1–6 Against the Ammonites. Cf. Ezek. 25:1–7; Amos 1:13–15; Zeph. 2:8–11. These people descended from Lot (cf. Gen. 19:38) and lived N of Moab. Though Israel had people who were heirs to Transjordan, i.e., Gad, Reuben, and one half of Manasseh (cf. Josh. 22:1–9), the Ammonites, whose god was Milcham or Molech, were chided for having usurped the area (v. 1), when the northern kingdom was taken captive by Shalmaneser.

  49:2 an alarm of war. Nebuchadnezzar defeated Ammon in the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, around 582/81 B.C.

  49:4 flowing valley. Flowing with the blood of the slain. backsliding. See note on Prov. 14:14.

  49:6 I will bring back. As with Moab (cf. 48:47 and see note there), God promised that captives would have an opportunity to return. This was partially fulfilled under Cyrus, but will be more fully in the coming kingdom of Messiah (cf. 48:47).

  49:7–22 Against Edom. Cf. Is. 21:11, 12; Ezek. 25:12–14; Amos 1:11, 12; Obad. 1. This prophecy is closely related to Obadiah. These people descended from Esau (cf. Gen. 36:1–19) and lived S of the Dead Sea. Perpetual desolation is ahead for Edom (v. 13). God will make it bare (vv. 10, 18). The destroyer is probably Babylon in 588–586 B.C. or 582–581 B.C. as v. 19 has descriptions used of Babylon against Judah (lion, 4:7; flooding of the Jordan, 12:5). Also “fly like an eagle” (v. 22) is used of Babylon (Hab. 1:8). There is no prophecy of a future restoration.

  49:8 Esau. He was cursed for his godlessness and his punishment was perpetuated in his descendants (cf. Heb. 12:11, 17).

  49:9 See note on Obad. 5, 6.

  49:10 he is no more. Edom was politically extinct after the Roman conquest.

  49:11 This was because no adult men will be left to care for them.

  49:12 those…not to drink…have…drunk. This refers to the Jews who had a covenant relation to God. What will happen to a nation that has no such pledge?

  49:16, 17 Edom was situated in high and rugged mountains and thus convinced it was invincible. But the ruin will come and be irreversible.

  49:19–21 These words are repeated in 50:44–46, where they refer to Babylon.

  49:20 the least of the flock. The weakest of the Chaldeans shall drag them away captive.

  49:23–27 Against Damascus. Cf. Is. 17:1–3; Amos 1:3–5. Hamath, a city on the Orontes River that marked the northern limit of Solomon’s rule (2 Chr. 8:4),110 mi. N of Damascus in southern Syria, and Arpad, 105 mi. SW of the modern Aleppo in Northern Syria, were to fall, as well as Damascus, Syria’s capital. Nebuchadnezzar conquered them in 605 B.C.

  49:25 city of praise…My joy. Could be translated, “the city of renown,” famous due to its situation in a spacious oasis and its trade, as in Ezek. 27:18.

  49:27 palaces of Ben-Hadad. Here was the place where so many cruel evils against Israel were devised, thus the reason for its overthrow. The name is common among Syrian kings, meaning Son of Hadad, an idol, so it does not refer to the Ben-Hadad of 2 Kin. 13:3 and Amos 1:4.

  49:28–33 Against Kedar…Hazor. Cf. Is. 21:13–17. These areas in the Arabian desert E of Judah were to be laid waste (as a different Hazor was a few mi. NW of the Sea of Galilee). Kedar was an Ishmaelite tribe (cf. Gen. 25:13; Ezek. 27:21). The conqueror was Nebuchadnezzar in 599/98 B.C. as recounted in an ancient record, the Babylonian Chronicle. It was shortly after this that Babylon seized Jerusalem in 598/97 B.C.

  49:31 neither gates nor bars. These nomads were out of the way of contending powers in Asia and Africa.

  49:34–39 against Elam. As in 25:25, Elam (200 mi. E of Babylon and W of the Tigris River) was to be subjugated. Babylon fulfilled this in 596 B.C. Later, Cyrus of Persia conquered Elam and incorporated Elamites into the Persian forces that conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. Its capital, Susa, was the residence of Darius and became the center of the Persian Empire (Neh. 1:1; Dan. 8:2).

  49:34 reign of Zedekiah. Jeremiah speaks of this judgment in 597 B.C.

  49:35 break the bow. Elamites were famous archers (cf. Is. 22:6).

  49:39 I will bring back. As with certain other peoples in this section of nations, God would allow Elamites to return to their homeland. In Acts 2:9, Elamites were among the group present at the Pentecost event. This has eschatological implications as well.

  Jeremiah 50

  50:1 against Babylon. The subject of chaps. 50 and 51 (cf. Is. 13:1—14:23; Hab. 2:6–17). Judgment focuses on Media Persia’s conquest of Babylon in 539 B.C. The prediction of elements of violent overthrow, which was not the case when Cyrus conquered since there was not even a battle, points to greater fulfillment near the coming of Messiah in glory when events more fully satisfy the description (cf. Rev. 17, 18).

  50:2 idols. First the idols of Babylon are discredited by Jeremiah’s using an unusual word for idols, meaning in Hebrew “dung pellets.”

  50:3 no one shall dwell. The far view in the v. 1 note cites this as not yet fulfilled in a sudden way (cf. 51:8). Media Persia came down from the N in 539 B.C. and armies in the years that
followed, but only gradually brought the past Babylon to complete desolation (cf. vv. 12, 13).

  50:4–10 children of Israel shall come. Jeremiah predicted a return for exiled Israel and Judah (vv. 17–20, as chaps. 30–33) as the scattered and penitent people were given opportunity to escape Babylon’s doom and return to Jerusalem and to the Lord in an eternal covenant (v. 5).

  50:5 In a perpetual covenant. This is the New Covenant summarized in 31:31.

  50:11–16 Judgment on Babylon is the vengeance of God (v. 15) for her treatment of His people.

  50:17–20 This section summarized the divine interpretation of Israel’s history: 1) suffering and judgment on her (v. 17); 2) judgment on those who afflicted Israel (v. 18); 3) her return in peace and plenty (v. 19); and 4) the pardon of her iniquity (v. 20) under Messiah.

  50:21 Merathaim…Pekod. This was a dramatic play on words emphasizing cause and effect. The first means “double rebellion” and named a region in southern Babylon near the Persian Gulf; the latter, meaning “punishment,” was also in southern Babylon on the E bank of the Tigris River.

  50:23 hammer of the whole earth. The description was of Babylon’s former conquering force, and God’s breaking the “hammer” He had once used. The fact that God used Babylon as His executioner was no commendation of that nation (cf. Hab. 1:6, 7).

  50:28 vengeance of His temple. This refers to their burning the temple in the destruction of Jerusalem (cf. 51:11).

  50:29 Repay her. God aimed to bless Israel and curse all who curse her (cf. Gen. 12:1–3, Abrahamic Covenant). The judgment on Babylon, as in Hab. 2, was a repayment in view of Babylon’s wrongs as God defends Israel’s case (v. 34; 51:36, 56), particularly God’s vengeance on her arrogance (“proud against the LORD” cf. vv. 31, 32).

  50:34 Redeemer. The OT concept of kinsmen-redeemer included the protection of a relative’s person and property, the avenging of a relative’s murder, the purchase of alienated property, and even the marriage of his widow (cf. Lev. 25:25; Num. 35:21; Ruth 4:4).