Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 44

At Migdol, and at Tahpanhes ... — We find from Jeremiah 44:15 that the discourse that follows was delivered at a large gathering of the Jews at Pathros. The number of places named (the three appear in the same combination in Jeremiah 46:14) indicates the extent of the emigration. Migdol (here, as elsewhere, meaning a “tower” or “fortress”) is named in Exodus 14:2 as on the route of the Israelites before they crossed the Red Sea, between Pi-hahiroth and Baal-zephon, and again in Ezekiel 29:10 and Ezekiel 30:6. It appears in the Itinerary of Antoninus, under the name Magdolo, as twelve miles south of Pelusium.

The latter Migdol is thought by Lepsius to be different from the former and to correspond to the Stratopeda or “camp” that Herodotus mentions was founded by Psammetichus I. as a settlement for his Ionian or Carian mercenaries (Smith’s Dict. of the Bible, Art. Migdol).

Noph was identical with Memphis and appears in Isaiah 19:13, Jeremiah 2:16, Ezekiel 30:13, and Ezekiel 30:16; it also appears as Moph in the Hebrew of Hosea 9:6.

The position of Pathros is less certain. However, it may be inferred from its mention with the other cities that it was in Lower Egypt. Possibly, as suggested by Jeremiah 44:15, Pathros was the name of the region in which the city was situated. Similarly, in Isaiah 11:11, it appears in conjunction with Mizraim (meaning Egypt) and Cush (meaning Ethiopia), both of which are names of regions and not of cities. By Brugsch (Egypt, I. 242) it has been identified with Upper Egypt, the region of the Thebaid.

There is no clear indication of the time interval between the arrival of the Jews in Egypt and the delivery of this discourse. However, it would appear that enough time had passed for the Jews to disperse and settle in the three or four cities named here, and to adopt the worship of the Egyptians. It is, however, implied throughout that the prophet is speaking to the emigrants themselves and not to their descendants (Jeremiah 44:17; Jeremiah 44:21).

Ye have seen ... —The prophet begins, naturally enough, with an appeal to the personal experience of his hearers. Was not that enough to show them that the source of all their evils had been their falling away from the faith or worship of their fathers?

Rising early and sending them ... —The prophet uses the same anthropomorphic language as previously (Jeremiah 7:25; Jeremiah 25:4; Jeremiah 26:5; Jeremiah 29:19). The term “abominable thing,” or “abomination,” though common in many of the books of the Old Testament, as in the Proverbs, where it is applied to moral enormities (e.g.,Proverbs 3:32; Proverbs 6:16), is especially characteristic, as applied to idolatry, of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 27:15; Deuteronomy 32:16), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 8:12; Jeremiah 32:35), and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 5:11, and some forty other passages).

Burning incense to other gods in the land of Egypt. —The words imply that the exiles were not only carrying on the old idolatrous practices with which they had been familiar in their own lands, but had adopted those of the Egyptians. This was the evil which the prophet had all along dreaded, and which had made him from the first, like his predecessor, Isaiah (Isaiah 30:2; Isaiah 31:1), hostile to every plan of an alliance with Egypt.

The wickedness of their wives. —Similar to the first introduction of idolatry under Solomon (1 Kings 11:4), this pattern was also seen in the reigns of his successors. For example, in the case of Asa (1 Kings 15:13) and Ahaziah (2 Chronicles 22:2), the queens at that time, often of foreign birth, seem to have been the chief patrons of foreign and idolatrous worship. Their example was naturally followed by the wives of the nobles and other citizens.