^43:9“Take some large stones¹² and bury them in the mortar of the clay pavement¹³ at the entrance of Pharaoh’s residence¹⁴ here in Tahpanhes. Do it while the people of Judah present there are watching.¹⁵^43:10Then tell them,¹⁶ ‘The Lord God of Israel who rules over all¹⁷ says, “I will bring¹⁸ my servant¹⁹ King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. I will set his throne over these stones which I²⁰ have buried. He will pitch his royal tent²¹ over them. ^43:11He will come and attack Egypt. Those who are destined to die of disease will die of disease. Those who are destined to be carried off into exile will be carried off into exile. Those who are destined to die in war will die in war.²²^43:12He will set fire²³ to the temples of the gods of Egypt. He will burn their gods or carry them off as captives.²⁴ He will pick Egypt clean like a shepherd picks the lice from his clothing.²⁵ He will leave there unharmed.²⁶^43:13He will demolish the sacred pillars in the temple of the sun²⁷ in Egypt and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.” ’ ”

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Footnotes

12 Heb “Take some large stones in your hands.”
13 The meaning of the expression “mortar of the clay pavement” is uncertain. The noun translated “mortar” occurs only here and the etymology is debated. Both 572 מֶלֶט and 529 מֶלֶט give the meaning “mortar.” The noun translated “clay pavement” is elsewhere used of a “brick mold.” Here 527 מַלְבֵּן 2 gives “quadrangle” and 527 מַלְבֵּן 2 gives “terrace of bricks.” 2 give “loamy soil” for both words, seeing the second noun as a dittography or gloss of the first (see also note c in ).
14 All the commentaries point out that this was not Pharaoh’s (main) palace but a governor’s residence or other government building that Pharaoh occupied when he was in Tahpanhes.
15 Heb “in Tahpanhes in the eyes of the men of Judah.”
16 This is another of those symbolic prophecies of Jeremiah which involved an action and an explanation. Compare Jer 19, 27.
17 Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” Compare 7:3 and see the study note on for explanation of the translation and significance of this title.
18 Heb “send and take/fetch.”
19 See the study note on for the use of this epithet for foreign rulers. The term emphasizes God’s sovereignty over history.
20 The Greek version reads the verbs in this sentence as third person, “he will set,” and second person, “you have buried.” This fits the context better but it is difficult to explain how the Hebrew could have arisen from this smoother reading. The figure of substitution (metonymy of cause for effect) is probably involved: “I will have him set” and “I have had you bury.” The effect of these substitutions is to emphasize the sovereignty of God.
21 The meaning of this word is uncertain. The word here (שַׁפְרִירוֹ [shafriro] Qere, שַׁפְרוּרוֹ [shafruro] Kethib) occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. According to the lexicons it refers to either the carpet for his throne or the canopy over it. See, e.g., שַׁפְרִיר.
22 As in 15:2 the Hebrew is very brief and staccato-like: “those to death to death, and those to captivity to captivity, and those to the sword to the sword.” As in 15:2 most commentaries and English versions assume that the word “death” refers to death by disease. See the translator’s note on and compare also 18:21 where the sword is distinctly connected with “war” or “battle” and is distinct from “killed by death [i.e., disease].”
23 The translation follows the Greek, , and Latin versions. The Hebrew text reads: “I will set fire to.” While it would be possible to explain the first person subject here in the same way as in the two verbs in v. 12b, the corruption of the Hebrew text is easy to explain here as a metathesis of two letters, י (yod) and ת (tav). The Hebrew reads הִצַּתִּי (hitsatti) and the versions presuppose הִצִּית (hitsit).
24 Heb “burn them or carry them off as captives.” Some of the commentaries and English versions make a distinction between the objects of the verbs, i.e., burn the temples and carry off the gods. However, the burning down of the temples is referred to later in v. 13. It was typical in the ancient Near East for the images of the gods of vanquished nations to be carried off and displayed in triumphal procession on the return from battle to show the superiority of the victor’s gods over those of the vanquished (cf., e.g., Isa 46:1–2).
25 Or “he will take over Egypt as easily as a shepherd wraps his cloak around him.” The translation follows the interpretation of II ָעטָה Qal, the Greek translation, and a number of the modern commentaries (e.g., J. A. Thompson, Jeremiah [], ). The only other passage where that translation is suggested for this verb is Isa 22:17 according to . The alternate translation follows the more normal meaning of עָטָה (’atah; cf. 741 I עָטָה Qal which explains “so completely will it be in his power”). The fact that the subject is “a shepherd” lends more credence to the former view though there may be a deliberate double meaning playing on the homonyms (cf. W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 2:).
26 Heb “in peace/wholeness/well-being/safety [shalom].”
27 It is generally agreed that the temple of the sun was located in Heliopolis, which is elsewhere referred to as On (cf. Gen 41:45). It was the center for the worship of Amon-Re, the Egyptian sun god, and was famous for its obelisks (conical shaped pillars) dedicated to that god. It was located about 6 miles (10 km) northeast of modern-day Cairo.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“Take in your hands large stones and hide them in the mortar in the pavement that is at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden, and he will spread his royal canopy over them. He shall come and strike the land of Egypt, giving over to the pestilence those who are doomed to the pestilence, to captivity those who are doomed to captivity, and to the sword those who are doomed to the sword. I shall kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd cleans his cloak of vermin, and he shall go away from there in peace. He shall break the obelisks of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt, and the temples of the gods of Egypt he shall burn with fire.’ ”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“While the Jews are watching, take some large stones with you and bury them in clay in the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace in Tahpanhes. Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here; he will spread his royal canopy above them. He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive. As a shepherd picks his garment clean of lice, so he will pick Egypt clean and depart. There in the temple of the sun in Egypt he will demolish the sacred pillars and will burn down the temples of the gods of Egypt.’ ”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“Pick up some large stones and set them in the mortar of the brick pavement that is at the opening of Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes. Do this in the sight of the Judean men and tell them, ‘This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will place his throne on these stones that I have embedded, and he will pitch his pavilion over them. He will come and strike down the land of Egypt —those destined for death, to death; those destined for captivity, to captivity; and those destined for the sword, to the sword. I will kindle a fire in the temples of Egypt’s gods, and he will burn them and take them captive. He will clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks lice off his clothes, and he will leave there unscathed. He will smash the sacred pillars of the sun temple in the land of Egypt and burn the temples of the Egyptian gods.’ ”

NLTNew Living Translation

“While the people of Judah are watching, take some large rocks and bury them under the pavement stones at the entrance of Pharaoh’s palace here in Tahpanhes. Then say to the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will certainly bring my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, here to Egypt. I will set his throne over these stones that I have hidden. He will spread his royal canopy over them. And when he comes, he will destroy the land of Egypt. He will bring death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and war to those destined for war. He will set fire to the temples of Egypt’s gods; he will burn the temples and carry the idols away as plunder. He will pick clean the land of Egypt as a shepherd picks fleas from his cloak. And he himself will leave unharmed. He will break down the sacred pillars standing in the temple of the sun in Egypt, and he will burn down the temples of Egypt’s gods.’ ”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“Take in your hands large stones and bury them in the mortar in the clay floor that is at the entrance of the palace of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes before the eyes of the people of the Judeans, and say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: “Look, I am going to send and take Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread out his canopy over them. And he will come and ravage the land of Egypt, and deliver those who are appointed for the plague, to the plague, and those who are appointed for the captivity, to the captivity, and those who are appointed for the sword, to the sword. Then he will kindle a fire in the temples of the gods of Egypt, and he will burn them and take them captive. And he will wrap up the land of Egypt just as the shepherd wraps up his cloak. And he will go forth from there in peace. And he will break the stone pillars of Heliopolis, which is in the land of Egypt. And he will burn the temples of the gods of Egypt with fire.” ’ ”

KJV 1900King James Version

Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh’s house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah; And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them. And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword. And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace. He shall break also the images of Beth-shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.

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