Old Testament · Prophecy

Jeremiah 43

To Egypt Against God's Will

They drag Jeremiah to Egypt with them. God tells him to bury stones in the pavement — Nebuchadnezzar will set his throne on this very spot.

Berean Standard Bible BSB KJV

1When Jeremiah had finished telling all the people all the words of the LORD their God—everything that the LORD had sent him to say—

2Azariah son of Hoshaiah, Johanan son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, “You are lying! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, ‘You must not go to Egypt to reside there.’

3Rather, Baruch son of Neriah is inciting you against us to deliver us into the hands of the Chaldeans, so that they may put us to death or exile us to Babylon!”

4So Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces disobeyed the command of the LORD to stay in the land of Judah.

5Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the commanders of the forces took the whole remnant of Judah, those who had returned to the land of Judah from all the nations to which they had been scattered,

6the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah.

7So they entered the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the LORD, and they went as far as Tahpanhes.

8Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah at Tahpanhes:

9“In the sight of the Jews, pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes.

10Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them.

11He will come and strike down the land of Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword.

12I will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar will burn those temples and take their gods as captives. So he will wrap himself with the land of Egypt as a shepherd wraps himself in his garment, and he will depart from there unscathed.

13He will demolish the sacred pillars of the temple of the sun in the land of Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’”

Understand This

Jeremiah 43, explained

What Jeremiah 43 is saying

Despite God's explicit command to stay, the people accuse Jeremiah of lying—claiming Baruch manipulated him—and flee to Egypt, dragging Jeremiah and Baruch with them. In Tahpanhes, God commands Jeremiah to bury stones in the mortar pavement, prophesying that Nebuchadnezzar will set his throne on that very spot and devastate Egypt.

The background behind it

Tahpanhes (Tell Defenneh in the eastern Nile Delta) was a frontier fortress. Archaeological evidence confirms a Jewish community there. Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt in 568/567 BC, attested in a fragmentary Babylonian chronicle, partially fulfilled this prophecy.

Themes running underneath

The accusation against Baruch as the 'real' manipulator demonstrates the human tendency to discredit unwelcome messages by attacking the messenger's associates. The flight to Egypt completes the tragic ironic reversal of the Exodus—God's people voluntarily returning to the house of bondage.

Why it still matters

When truth is unwelcome, the natural response is to discredit the source. The chapter warns against the self-deception of believing that geography can provide the safety that only obedience offers.

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Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible — used by permission, Bible Hub.