But no welcome could conciliate Jeremiah's implacable temper, nor could all the splendour of Egypt tame his indomitable spirit. Amongst his fellow-countrymen at Bethlehem, he had foretold the coming tribulations of Egypt. He now renewed his predictions within the very precincts of Pharaoh's palace, and enforced them by a striking symbol. At Tahpanhes--the modern Tell Defenneh--which was the ancient Egyptian frontier fortress and settlement on the more westerly route from Syria, "the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah, saying, Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in mortar in the brick pavement, at the entry of Pharaoh's palace in Tahpanhes, in the presence of the men of Judah; and say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah Sabaoth, the God of Israel:--
"Behold, I will send and take My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon: I will set his throne upon these stones which I have hid, And he shall spread his state pavilion over them."
He would set up his royal tribunal, and decide the fate of the conquered city and its inhabitants.
"He shall come and smite the land of Egypt; Such as are for death shall be put to death, Such as are for captivity shall be sent into captivity, Such as are for the sword shall be slain by the sword. I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt; He shall burn their temples, and carry them away captive: He shall array himself with the land of Egypt, As a shepherd putteth on his garment."
The whole country would become a mere mantle for his dignity, a comparatively insignificant part of his vast possessions.
"He shall go forth from thence in peace."
A campaign that promised well at the beginning has often ended in despair, like Sennacherib's attack on Judah, and Pharaoh Necho's expedition to Carchemish. The invading army has been exhausted by its victories, or wasted by disease and compelled to beat an inglorious retreat. No such misfortunes should overtake the Chaldean king. He would depart with all his spoil, leaving Egypt behind him subdued into a loyal province of his empire.
Then the prophet adds, apparently as a kind of afterthought:--
"He also shall break the obelisks of Heliopolis, in the land of Egypt."
(so styled to distinguish this Beth-Shemesh from Beth-Shemesh in Palestine),
"And shall burn with fire the temples of the gods of Egypt."
The performance of this symbolic act and the delivery of its accompanying message are not recorded, but Jeremiah would not fail to make known the divine word to his fellow-countrymen. It is difficult to understand how the exiled prophet would be allowed to assemble the Jews in front of the main entrance of the palace, and hide "great stones" in the pavement. Possibly the palace was being repaired,[171] or the stones might be inserted under the front or side of a raised platform, or possibly the symbolic act was only to be described and not performed. Mr. Flinders Petrie recently discovered at Tell Defenneh a large brickwork pavement, with great stones buried underneath, which he supposed might be those mentioned in our narrative. He also found there another possible relic of these Jewish _émigrés_ in the shape of the ruins of a large brick building of the twenty-sixth dynasty--to which Pharaoh Hophra belonged--still known as the "Palace of the Jew's Daughter." It is a natural and attractive conjecture that this was the residence assigned to the Jewish princesses whom Johanan carried with him into Egypt.
But while the ruined palace may testify to Pharaoh's generosity to the Royal House that had suffered through its alliance with him, the "great stones" remind us that, after a brief interval of sympathy and co-operation, Jeremiah again found himself in bitter antagonism to his fellow-countrymen. In our next chapter we shall describe one final scene of mutual recrimination.[172]