Jeremiah 44:22

44:22 Finally the Lord could no longer endure your wicked deeds and the disgusting things you did. That is why your land has become the desolate, uninhabited ruin that it is today. That is why it has become a proverbial example used in curses. ¹ 

Jeremiah 44:1

The Lord Will Punish the Judean Exiles in Egypt for Their Idolatry

44:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah concerning ²  all the Judeans who were living in the land of Egypt, those in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis, and in the region of southern Egypt. ³ 

Jeremiah 8:1

8:1 The Lord says, “When that time comes, ⁴  the bones of the kings of Judah and its leaders, the bones of the priests and prophets and of all the other people who lived in Jerusalem will be dug up from their graves.

Ezra 9:7

9:7 From the days of our fathers until this very day our guilt has been great. Because of our iniquities we, along with our kings and ⁵  priests, have been delivered over by the local kings ⁶  to sword, captivity, plunder, and embarrassment – right up to the present time.

Nehemiah 9:36

9:36 “So today we are slaves! In the very land you gave to our ancestors to eat its fruit and to enjoy ⁷  its good things – we are slaves!

[44:22]  ¹ tn Heb “And/Then the Lord could no longer endure because of the evil of your deeds [and] because of the detestable things that you did and [or so] your land became a desolation and a waste and an occasion of a curse without inhabitant as this day.” The sentence has been broken up and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style, but an attempt has been made to preserve the causal and consequential connections.

[44:1]  ² tn Heb “The word came to Jeremiah concerning.” Though the phrase “from the Lord” is missing from this formula which occurs elsewhere at 7:1; 11:1; 18:1; 21:1; 30:1; 32:1; 34:1, 8; 35:1; 40:1, it is clearly implied from the words that follow. As in these other passages, the more active form has been chosen for the translation to better conform with contemporary English style.

[44:1]  ³ sn The first three cities, Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis, are located in Northern or Lower Egypt. Memphis (Heb “Noph”) was located south of Heliopolis (which was referred to earlier as “the temple of the sun”) and was about fourteen miles (23 km) south of Cairo. For the identification and location of Tahpanhes see the study note on Jer 43:7. The location of Migdol has been debated but is tentatively identified with a border fortress about twenty-five miles (42 km) east-northeast of Tahpanhes. The “region of southern Egypt” is literally “the land of Pathros,” the long Nile valley extending north and south between Cairo and Aswan (biblical Syene). For further information see the discussion in G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 (WBC), 262-63. Reference here is to Judean exiles who had fled earlier as well as to those from Mizpah who were led into Egypt by Johanan and the other arrogant men (43:3, 5).

[8:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “At that time.”

[9:7]  ⁵ tc The MT lacks “and” here, but see the LXX and Vulgate.

[9:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “the kings of the lands.”

[9:36]  ⁷ tn The expression “to enjoy” is not included in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity.