Jeremiah 43:12

“And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, etc.] Not only men should not be spared, but their gods also, and their temples should be burnt, as was usually done when cities were taken and destroyed: this is ascribed to God, to his wrath and vengeance; idolatry being a sin highly displeasing to him; though the Chaldeans were the instruments of it, yet it being done by the order, direction, and providence of God, it is rightly attributed to him: and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives; that is, Nebuchadnezzar shall do this; he shall burn their temples, and carry away their idols of gold and silver; so Kimchi, who adds, or the sense is, he shall carry captive their…”

“houses of . . . gods--He shall not spare even the temple, such will be His fury. A reproof to the Jews that they betook themselves to Egypt, a land whose own safety depended on helpless idols. burn . . . carry . . . captives--burn the Egyptian idols of wood, carry to Babylon those of gold and other metals. array himself with the land, &c.-- Isa 49:18 has the same metaphor. as a shepherd, &c.--He shall become master of Egypt as speedily and easily as a shepherd, about to pass on with his flock to another place, puts on his garment.”

“I will kindle - Or, “he shall kindle.” He shall burn them ... - i. e., he shall burn the temples, and carry away the gods. And he shall array - literally, “And he shall wrap himself in the land of Egypt as the shepherd wrappeth himself in his cloak, and shall (go forth thence in peace;” i. e., With as great ease as a shepherd throws his cloak round him when going forth to watch his flock by night in the field, so easily shall the king of Babylon take possession of all the glory of Egypt, throw it round him, and depart without anyone resisting his progress. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Carry them - He shall carry away both the idols, and the inhabitants of Egypt captive. With the land - With the spoils of the land of Egypt, he shall clothe his army. Jeremiah 43:13”

“43:12-13 In the ancient Near East, temples and idols were regarded as power centers, so successful invaders usually destroyed them.”

“in the: Jer 46:25, Jer 48:7, Jer 50:2, Jer 51:44; Exo 12:12; Sa2 5:21; Isa 19:1, Isa 21:9, Isa 46:1; Eze 30:13; Zep 2:11 array: Est 6:9; Job 40:10 putteth: Psa 109:18, Psa 109:19, Psa 132:16, Psa 132:18; Isa 49:18, Isa 52:1, Isa 59:17, Isa 61:5, Isa 61:10; Rom 13:12; Eph 4:24, Eph 6:11; Col 3:12, Col 3:14 Jeremiah 43:13”

“He shall burn the temples of the gods of Egypt, and carry away the idols. The first person הצּתּי, for which lxx, Syriac, and Vulgate have the third, must not be meddled with; it corresponds to שׂמתּי in Jer 43:10. What Nebuchadnezzar does as Jahveh's servant (עבדּי, Jer 43:10) is done by God. The suffixes in שׂרפם and שׁבּם are assigned in such a way that the one is to be referred to the temples, the other to the idols; see on Jer 48:7. \- ועטה has been variously interpreted. עטה with the accus. מעיל or שׂלמה means the envelope one's self with a garment, put on a garment, wrap the cloak round; cf. Sa1 28:14; Psa 109:19; Isa 59:17, etc. This is the meaning of the verb here, as is shown by…”