Ver. 23.— They shaU cut down; better, they eut doum. The prophet is describing • picture which passes before his inner eye. Though it cannot he searched ; rather, for it cannot be tearehed out. The subject of the verb is uncertain. De Dieu's explanation is, " Because the forest is so dense, so intri- cate, it is necessary to clear a path by cutting down the trees." But this does not seem to suit the context. Surely no other reason was required for the destruction of the " forest " than the will of the wood-cutttrs. "Searching out" occurs in Job (v. 9; ix. 10; xzxvi 26; comp. also 1 Kings vii. 47) in connection with numbering, and the second half of the verse expressly describes the foe as innumerable. The singular alternates with the plural, as in Isa. v. 28, a host being regarded sometimes as a whole, and sometimes as an aggregate of indi- viduals. Than the grasshoppers; rather, the locust. The name is one of nine which we find given to the various species of locusts in the Old Testament, and means " multitudinous."
Ver. 24.— Shall be confonnded; rather, is brought to shame; the next verb too should rather be in the past tense.
Ver. 25.— The multitude or Ho ; rather, Amon of No. Amon-Ba, or rather Amen- Ba, was the name adopted at Thebes (Homer's Thebes "of the hundred gate- ways," 'Iliad,' ix. 383, called here " No," and in Nah. iii. 8 " No [of] Amon ") from tlia time of the eleventh dynasty, for the sun- god Ka. Amon (Amen) signifies " hidden," for it is the mysterioiis, invisible daily who
212
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH, [oh. xlvl 1— 2B
manifests himself in bodily form in the snu. From this name comes the classic desig- nation, Jupiter-Ammon. Their gods . . . their kings ; ratbpr, 'her godi . . . her Tiingt (viz. Egypt's). The " kings " are probably the high ofiScials of the state, not a few of whom were either by birth or marriage members of the Foyal family. Even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him. With a suggestive aUusiou to the many in Judah who " trusted " in that " broken reed" (Isa. xxxvi. 6).
Ver. 26.- Afterward it shall be inhabited, etc. After all these gloomy vaticinations, Jeremiah (as elsewhere in this group of prophecies ; see on. xlviii. 47 ; xlix. 6, 39) opens up a brighter prospect. " In the days of old," patriarchal and unmilitary, the fertile valley of the Nile offered a peaceful and a happy home to its teeming inhabitants; those times sliall yet come again. . To understand this, wu must assvune that during its period of depression Egypt ha£ been but sparsely peopled, owing to the large numbers of its inhabitants carried away captive. Another explanation, " after- wards Egypt shall stay at home [t.e. 'be qniet'y Uiough equally justiiiable from
the point of view of the lexicon (oomp Judg. V. 17 ; Ps. Iv. 7), seems less natural Possibly Ezek. xxix, 13i — 16 is a develop- ment of our passage ; it contains a promise of future remission of punishment, though a promise qualified in such a Wixy as to be akin to a tijreat. The words, " And it shall no mure be the confidence of the house ol Israel" (Ezek. xxix, 16), seem like a com- ment on Jeremiah's threat to " Pharaoh, and them that trust in him," in the pre- ceding verse.
Vers. 27, 28. — A word of comfort to Israel, obviously not written at the same time as the preceding prophecy. The pro- phet is suddenly transported in imagination into the period of the Babylonian exile. Egypt and its fortunes are far away ; the troubles of Israel entirely absorb his atten- tion. After tliinking sadly of the reverses of his people, he bursts out with an en- couraging exhortation not to fear, though, humanly speaking, there was everything to fear. Did Jeremiah write these verses here ? There is strong reason to doubt it ; for they occur, with insignificant variations, in ch, xxz. 10. 11, where they cohere far bettei with the oontext than heia.
H0MILET1C8.
Vers. 1 — 26. — The Judgment of Egypt. This is twofold, first in the defeat at Car-
chemish (vers. 1 — 12), and then in a complete overthrow of the kingdom (vers. 13 26),
which Jeremiah seems to have anticipated immediately after, just as the early Chris- tians connected the destruction of Jemsalem with the expected end of the world. Though this anticipation was not chronologically correct, the essence of the prophecy was ultimately fulfilled. The kingdom of the Pharaohs has passed away.
L Egypt was a heathen countet. The two prophecies about Egypt occur first in a series of predictions concerning the Gentile nations. God is the Gtod of the Gentile as well as the Jew, of the heathen as well as the Christian, of the godless as well as the godly. In him all men live and move and have their being ; from him they receive every blessing of life ; to him they will have to give account of their deeds. Therefore God notes the conduct of heathen nations, and chastises them when needful • so he does with individual men who renounce his authority over them or are brought up in ignorance of it. The heathen will be judg( d by their heathenish light, and not by the high standards of Christian principles ; but there is enough in that light to allow of a genuine judgment and a just sentence (Rom. ii. 14, 15). The ' Book of the Dead ' con- tains a high and noble system of morality. With this in lus possession, the Egyptian was witbout excuse in his vice and cruelty.
n. Egypt was an ancient nation. Her history dates hack long before the time of Abraham. But she found no immunity in age. If judgment is long delayed, it will come in God's appointed time. The mere continuance of peaceful circum'stances hitherto is not the slightest ground for crediting them with a special charm to ward of! the sentence of Divine justice. The hoary sinner will not be spared out of regard to his years. Age is not venerable in itself. It is only odious when it is the ripenine and rotting of a long life of sin. °
III. Egypt was a land of wealth asd bplbndodb. (For this point, see homilT cm ver. 20^
I V. Egypt wab a home of science and philosophy. There philosophy arose, and the knowisilge of nature was first systematically pursued. There strange mystic religions
CH. XLVL 1— 28.J THE BOOK Of THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 213
had their birth. If knowled'ie could save a people, Egypt of all lands should be safe, But though knowledge is power, there are foes against which it is impotent. The science of the encyclopedists was no protection against the horrors of the French Revo- lution. Modern science cannot find an antidote to sin, nor can modern inventiveness devise any armour that shall resist the piercing darts of Divine justice. Our religious speculation will not redeem our souls.