Jeremiah Chapter 38
38:8. Ebed-melech's concern for the Lord and His prophet was duly rewarded at the time of Jerusalem's fall (38:16-
18).
Jeremiah Chapter 39
39:1. Several details in chapter 39 are paralleled in other accounts of Jerusalem's fall. Thus, for the siege of
Jerusalem, the breeching of its walls, and Zedekiah's flight (vv. 1-7), see 52:4-11 and 2 Kings 25:1-7. For the
looting of the city and the capture of its citizens (vv. 8-10), see 52:12-23; 2 Kings 25:8-17; 2 Chronicles 36:18, 19.
39:3. The names given here are those of various Babylonian officials. They apparently include: Nergal-sharezer,
the governor of the district of Samgar-nebo (or Sinmagir); Nebushazban, the Rab-saris (see the note on 2 Kin. 18:
17); another Nergal-sharezer; plus the Rab-mag (high military official). The first Nergal-sharezer was probably the
brother-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar's son Amel-marduk (562-560 B.C.), who subsequently became king in 559 B.C.
39:11-14. News of Jeremiah's messages advising Judah and Jerusalem to submit to Babylon were doubtless well
known to Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadnezzar) and his forces (cf. 40:1-4). The Lachish Letters (see the note on 34:
7) mention the presence of a prophet who appeared to voice a pro-Babylonian sentiment: "And behold: the words
of the [prophet] are not good; they reduce morale; they sap the strength of the country and the city." Another
ostracon also mentions a letter sent by "the prophet": "As for the letter which Tobiyahu, the King's servant, took to
Shallum, son of Yaddua, from the prophet, saying 'Beware!': your slave has sent it to my lord." The sparing of
Jeremiah and Ebed-melech (vv. 11-18) is not recorded in the parallel accounts of Jerusalem's fall.
Jeremiah Chapter 40
40:6. Gedaliah was the son of the godly Ahikam (cf. 26:24; 2 Kin. 22:12-14), son of Shaphan, Josiah's scribe (2
Kin. 22:8). The son of a family with a rich history of faithful participation in governmental service, Gedaliah may
have had considerable experience that qualified him for the important post of being Babylon's district governor.
Some have suggested that he may be identified with the Gedaliah mentioned on a seal impression found at
Lachish: "Belonging to Gedaliah, who is over the house" (i.e., the royal minister).
40:14. The Ammonites were perennial enemies of the Hebrews. Some have suggested that the king, Balay, named
on the "Siran Bottle" artifact, is to be identifies with the Baalis mentioned here.
Jeremiah Chapter 41
41:9,10. See the note on 37:15. The cistern mentioned here had been made in the days of King Asa during the
political crisis with Baasha of Israel (1 Kin. 15:22). Mizpah has been identified with Tell en-Nasbeh, where over four
dozen such cisterns have been found.
Jeremiah Chapter 42
42:5, 6. Although the Jewish refugees promised to obey God's will, the Lord's message (vv. 7-22) conflicted with
their plans (42:19-43:3). Far too often professing believers ask to hear only what pleases them (cf. 2 Tim. 4:3, 4)
and so pray on erroneous grounds (James 4:3), expecting God merely to validate desires that are theirs, not His.
Jeremiah Chapter 43
43:9. Tahpanhes, a frontier town in the eastern delta area, was the location of a state building or governor's
residence used by the Pharaoh on his visits. A paved area in front of the entrance to the official building,
discovered by Sir Flinders Petrie, may have been the scene of the activities described here.
43:10, 11. This prophecy was once cited by critics as an example of unfulfilled prophecies in the Bible. However, a
text found in the British Museum indicates that Nebuchadnezzar did actually invade Egypt (688-667 B.C.) during the
reign of Pharaoh Amasis of Egypt's Twenty-sixth Dynasty (568-525 B.C.).
Jeremiah Chapter 44
44:1. Migdol may be identified with the Magdali mentioned in the Amarna Tablets of ancient Egypt. Noph is a
variant of Moph, the Hebrew name of Memphis, the foremost city of lower (or northern) Egypt. Pathros was a
general designation of upper (or southern) Egypt. The Jews apparently dispersed throughout Egypt quickly.
44:17. For the queen of heaven, see the note on 7:18.
Jeremiah Chapter 45
45:5. Baruch's lofty calling was simply to be a faithful minister (cf. Mark 10:45), content with the Lord's appointment
(cf. Phil. 4:11). Faithfulness has its own reward (cf. 39:16-18; Heb. 13:5, 6). See the note on 36:4.
Jeremiah Chapter 46
46:1. Chapters 46-51 compromise a collection of prophecies against various foreign nations. Like 25:15-38 they
deal with a sovereign God's judicial sentence against the rampant wickedness of the Gentile nations. They
underscore the fact that all nations are under the power of the God of the universe (cf. Is. 44:24-45:6; Dan. 2:20,
21; 4:3, 34-37). These chapters are arranged in somewhat different fashion in the Greek translation of the Old
Testament and are placed after 25:13a, after which follows the material in 25:15-38. These prophecies were
received from the Lord and delivered by Jeremiah at various times. They are collected here as a body of texts
dealing with God's judgement of the nations. For other such collections, see Isaiah 13-21; 23; Ezekiel 25-32; and
Amos 1:3-2:3.
46:2. The messages against Egypt fall into two parts: the first (vv. 2-12) deals with Egypt's defeat at Carchemish in
605 B.C. (see introductory note), and the second refers to Egypt's coming judgment at the hands of
Nebuchadrezzar (vv. 13-26).
46:11. See the note on 18:13.
46:27, 28. A short glimpse of hope is tacked onto the end of the prophecy concerning Egypt. God is still Israel's
covenant God who will yet deal with a righteous remnant by restoring it to the land in accordance with his
unconditional promises of old. See the notes on 23:3-5; 31:7; 31:31-34.
Jeremiah Chapter 47
47:1. For other prophecies against the Philistines, see Isaiah 14:29-31; Ezekiel 25:15-17; Amos 1:6-8; Zephaniah 2:
4-7. For Philistine-Israelite relations, see the note at Joshua 13:2, 3. The Philistines largely disappear from the
pages of history with the conquests of Nebuchadrezzar.
47:4. The Phoenicians are denounced severely by Ezekiel (Ezek. 26-28; cf. Amos 1:9, 10). The Philistines,
Phoenicians, and Edomites were guilty of making slaves of the Israelites, and are therefore repeatedly condemned
by the prophets (cf. Joel 3:4-8, 19; Amos 1:6-12; Obad. 10-14). For their crimes, the Phoenicians suffered
repeated invasions by the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans.
Jeremiah Chapter 48
48:1. For the Moabites, see the note on Judges 3:12, 13. For the importance of the Moabite Stone, see the notes
on 1 Kings 16:27 and 2 Kings 3:5, 27.
48:11, 12. Like wine that had been allowed to settle on its sediments, in order that it might gain strength and flavor
before being strained and poured into a new wineskin (cf. Is. 25:6; Zeph. 1:12), so Moab had been allowed to
remain in its land. However, the vessel of Moab would soon be poured out and be broken by invaders. The Moabite
kingdom ceased with the conquest of Nebuchadrezzar. Centuries later the area was occupied by the famed
Nabateans, under whom the land flourished once again, perhaps a harbinger of God's gracious restoration of the
area in the end times (cf. v.47).
Jeremiah Chapter 49
49:7. The Edomites were well known for their wise teachers (cf. 1 Kin. 4:30; Job 2:11; Obad. 6-9).
49:10. The Edomites were descended from Esau (Gen. 36:1, 6-8). Although they maintained their identity by
helping Nebuchadrezzar invade Judah (cf. Lam. 4:21, 22), and even expanded their territory into southern Judah,
thus forming the land of Idumea, Edom proper was eventually overrun by the Nabateans in the fourth century B.C.
Thereafter, the Edomites were largely identified with the Idumeans. They became involved in the events of the
Maccabean Wars and the political affairs that took place during the Roman occupation of Syro-Palestine. With the
fall of Jerusalem they disappear from history. However, Obadiah seems to hold out hope for the area in the last
days (Obad. 21).
49:11. See the note on 7:6.
49:12. For the cup, see the note on 25:28.
49:27, 28. Damascus, the age-old home of the Arameans, and Kedar, an important Arabian tribe (cf. Is. 21:16, 17;
42:11; 60:7; Ezek. 27:21), as well as Hazor, apparently a center of Arabian concentration, all felt the heels of the
conquering Babylonian forces under Nebuchadrezzar.
49:37-39. Elam lay east of Babylon in southwestern Persia. A broken text in the Babylonian Chronicles indicates
that Nebuchadrezzar defeated an Elamite invasion of Babylon in about 595 B.C. As in the case of Moab (48:47)
and Ammon (49:6), there is also given a note of future hope for Elam.
Jeremiah Chapter 50
50:1. Jeremiah devotes two long chapters of divinely given messages to Babylon, the foremost power of his day. It
is a prophecy of judgement for the mighty world conqueror, but of restoration for an exiled Israel.
50:2. Merodach is Marduk, the old head of the Babylonian pantheonn of their gods. Bel (the west-Semitic Baal) was
the Babylonian equivalent of the earlier Sumerian storm god Enlil. Both the name and the powers of Bel became
associated with Marduk, but the name Bel became the more common one in the Neo-Babylonian period (cf. Is. 46:
1; Jer. 51:44; Dan. 5:1, 9, 22, 29).
50:3. The end of the Neo-Babylonian Empire came with the fall of Babylon to Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C. (cf. 51:
28). Babylon was to remain a seedbed of sedition within the Persian Empire. The city later fell to Alexander the
Great, who died there in 323 B.C. It remained a center of controversy until its capture by the Parthians in the
second century B.C. It never fully recovered; by the end of the second century A.D. it was in great eclipse. Its once
proud walls were ultimately pulled down in A.D. 363. The glory of Babylon thus faded, as both Isaiah (Is. 13:19-22)
and Jeremiah (v. 34; 51:58) had prophesied. The defeat of proud Babylon stands as a sobering example of the
final defeat of the empires of this world at the Messiah's second advent (cf. Is. 13:9-13 with Dan. 2:44; 7:26-28;
Zech. 12:2-9; 14:1-4; Rev. 17-19).
50:10. For the repentance and restoration of future Israel, see the note on 23:3.
Jeremiah Chapter 51
51:1. The phrase in the midst of them that rise up against me is usually taken to be a cryptogram for Chaldea (i.e.,
Babylon). See the note on verse 41.
51:15, 16. Chapters 46-51 emphasize that God is both the Controller and Consummator of earth's history. These
verses (cf. 10:12-16) reinforce the truth that He is also the Creator and Sustainer of the world.
51:41. Sheshach is a cryptogram for Babylon. The literary device employed here is known as "athbash," a process
by which the written letters represent the corresponding letters at the opposite end of the alphabet.
Jeremiah Chapter 52
52:1. See the note on 39:1.
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