John Gill Commentary Jeremiah 44

The word which came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt
Or, "unto all the Jews"^F20; the word came to him, that it might be delivered to them; or, "against all the Jews"^F21; they having gone into Egypt contrary to the will of God, and committing idolatry; and the word or sermon is full of threatenings and judgments denounced upon them:

which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros:
this prophecy was delivered after the Jews were come to Tahpanhes, or Daphne; see (Jeremiah 43:7); and had divided themselves, and were settled in different parts of the kingdom: some continued at Tahpanhes, where were the king's court and palace: others went to Migdol, a place near the Red sea, just at the entrance into Egypt, from the land of Canaan, (Exodus 14:2); called, by Herodotus, Magdolus^F23; and by Adrichomius^F24 said to be distant about a mile and a quarter from Pelusium, or Sin, the strength of Egypt, (Ezekiel 30:15);

others took up their residence at Noph, generally thought to be the city of Memphis. The Targum calls it Mappas; the same which is now called Grand Cairo; or, however, this city is near the place where Memphis stood: others dwelt in the country of Pathros, which perhaps had its name from Pathrusim, a son of Mizraim, (Genesis 10:13Genesis 10:14) . It is thought by Bochart and others to be the country of Thebais in Egypt, the same with the Nomos Phanturites, or Phaturites, of Pliny^F25; and in this country Jeremiah seems to have been when this word came to him, (Jeremiah 44:15) ; and from hence sent or carried it to the other places: saying; as follows:

FOOTNOTES:

• F20: (Mydwhyh lk la) "ad omnes Judaeos", V. L. Castalio, Cocceius, Schmidt; "erga omnes", Pagninus, Montanus.
• F21: "Contra omnes Judaeos", Junius & Tremellius; "de, [vel] contra", Piscator.
• F23: Euterpe, sive l. 2. c. 159.
• F24: Theatrum Terrae Sanct. p. 121.
• F25: Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 9.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel In which manner the prophecies of this book are frequently prefaced; see (Jeremiah 42:15Jeremiah 42:18) (43:10).

you have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; they saw it with their bodily eyes; they could not but serve it in their minds; nay, had an experimental knowledge of it; they suffered it in part themselves, and must be convicted in their own consciences that it was from the hand of the Lord:

and, behold, this day they [are] a desolation, and no man dwells therein; lie waste, at this very time; the walls are broken down the houses are demolished; the goods in them carried off; no inhabitants left, or very few, to rebuild the cities, till the land, and dwell therein.

Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger The cause of this desolation was the wickedness they were guilty of; whereby they provoked the anger of God to bring this destruction on them. Sin is always provoking to God; and though it may not be done on purpose to provoke him, which it sometimes seems to be, yet it eventually does, and is always the cause of punishment. God never punishes man without a cause, or for anything but sin:

in that they went to burn incense, [and] to serve other gods : the particular wickedness they were guilty of, and which was the cause of their ruin, was burning incense to idols, and worshipping them, than which nothing is more provoking to God:

and it was an aggravation of their sin, that they were gods whom they knew not, [neither] they, you, nor your fathers ; what they were; from where they were; their original, and perhaps not their names; however, did not know that they were gods; nor could they prove them to be such; nay, might know that they were not:

and now, since this was the sin which brought on the destruction they were eyewitnesses of, it should have been a caution to them that they went not into the same idolatrous practices, which yet they did not avoid; taking no warning from such awful instances of the divine displeasure.

However, I sent to you all my servants the prophets. As many as he raised up, and employed in the work and service of prophesying; and these were many; and as many as they were, he sent them to them, one after another, to warn them of their sin and danger; but all to no purpose; which was a further aggravation of their wickedness.

Nay, though he was rising early, and sending [them]; was very early in his messages to them; gave them timely warning, and let slip no opportunity of admonishing them; and this he did constantly; see (Jeremiah 7:13Jeremiah 7:25).

Saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. All sin is abominable in itself, and hateful to God, especially idolatry; and therefore should not be done; it should be abominable to men, and hateful to them, because it is so to God; and after such a remonstrance as this, to commit it must be very aggravating and provoking.

But they listened not, nor inclined their ear to the prophets sent to them; to God by the prophets; to the words of his mouth, particularly to the above pathetic expostulation with them; at least, if they heard the words said, they did not attend to them; they had not such an effect upon them, nor were they wrought upon by them.

To turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense to other gods; to turn from their sins in general, and from their idolatry in particular; one instance of which is given, and which is put for the whole of idolatrous worship.