Were Jeremiah & Zedekiah’s Daughters Cursed When Driven To Egypt?
Here is a topic that hardly anyone cares to address for a lack of knowledge on the subject! To kickstart this topic, I will cite Jeremiah 43:4-7 thusly:
“... 4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of Yahweh, to dwell in the land of Judah. 5 But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah; 6Even men, and women, and children, and the king’s daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah. 7 So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of Yahweh: thus came they even to Tahpanhes ...”
To get a general background concerning this passage, I will quote from Barnes’ Notes, The Bible Commentary, F.C. Cook, Editor on vv. 1-7:
“1-3. These captains belonged to the party who had all along resisted Jeremiah’s counsels, and had led Zedekiah astray. Now however that events had proved that the prophet’s counsels had been wise and true, they cannot for shame find fault with him, but they affirm that he is under the influence of Baruch, a traitor who has sold himself to the Chaldæans, and seeks only the hurt of the people.
“4.all the people] Many, nevertheless, would be unwilling agents, compelled to do what their unscrupulous leaders forced upon the community.
“5.all the remnant of Judah that were returned] In this way the utter depopulation of the land was completed. Thus was fulfilled the prediction of xxiv. 8-10, and the hope of the nation now centered in the exiles at Babylon ....”
Inasmuch as paragraph 5 above refers us to Jer. 24:8-10, let’s read that passage as well:
“8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith Yahweh, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: 9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. 10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.”
The only good, concise comment on Jer. 24:8-10 is made by the Believer’s Bible Commentary, p. 1013, and I must edit it in brackets:
“... [(1) Some of] the exiles [to Babylon] will be brought back to the land, [(2)] but the others [who are resolute on going to Egypt] will be scattered and consumed by sword, famine, and pestilence.”
While we are on the subject of Tahpanhes, there is one more piece of evidence that fits into the equation found at Jer. 44:30:
“Thus saith Yahweh; Behold, I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.”
Insight On The Scriptures, vol. 1, p. 1140 states the following concerning pharaoh Hophra:
“HOPHRA (Hoph´ra) [from Egyptian, meaning ‘The Heart of Ra [the sun-god] Endures’]. In the Greek Septuagint (Jer. 51:30, corresponding to 44:30 in most versions), he is called Ou-a-phre´'. Pharaoh Hophra is called Apries by Herodotus. Hophra is believed to have reigned for 19 years. However, according to Herodotus (II, 161), he reigned for 25 years.
“After the Jews [sic Judaeans] fled to Egypt in 607 B.C., Jehovah [sic Yahweh] said by the mouth of Jeremiah: ‘Here I am giving Pharaoh Hophra, the king of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those seeking for his soul.’ (Jer. 44:1, 26, 30) This was to be a sign of imminent calamity to come over the Jews [sic Judaeans] dwelling in Egypt. (Jer. 44:29) According to Herodotus II. 161-169, Hophra (Apries) undertook a disastrous expedition to Cyrene to help the Libyans against the Greeks in the sixth century B.C. Hophra’s troops revolted against him and set up Ahmose II (Amasis) as rival king. Even then, Hophra was so arrogant that he ‘supposed that not even a god could depose him from his throne.’ However, he was taken prisoner and finally was killed by being strangled.”
In order to add more data on this subject, I will cite Raymond NcNair’s From Jerusalem To London, pp. 6-8, under the subtitle, “King Zedekiah’s Daughters In Egypt”:
“... At the time when Jeremiah, Baruch and the ‘kings daughters’ were taken to Tahpanhes, Egypt (Jer. 43:6-7), ‘Pharaoh-Hophra was king of Egypt’ (44:30). Hophra, like the Jews [sic Judaeans], was at odds with the Babylonians. Furthermore, ‘Pharaoh’s house’ was in Tahpanhes (v. 9), which was a very important fortress city during his reign.
“The Encyclopedia Britannica says, ‘Daphne (Tahpanhes, modern Defneh), an ancient fortress near the Syrian frontier of Egypt, on the Pelusian arm of the Nile. Here King Psammetichus established a garrison of foreign mercenaries, mostly Carians and Ionian Greeks. After the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 588 B.C. more accurately, in 586 B.C. the Jewish [sic Judaean] fugitives, of whom Jeremiah was one, came to Tahpanhes... The site was discovered by Sir Flinders Petrie in 1886; the name ‘Castle of the Jews [sic Judaean] Daughter’ seems to preserve the tradition of the Jewish [sic Judaean] refugees’ (14th ed., vol. vii, p. 48).
“Furthermore, Pharaoh Apries (Hophra: 588-569 B.C.) ... fomented rebellion against the Babylonian suzerainty in Judah, but accomplished little there. Colonies of Jewish [sic Judaean] refugees including Jeremiah and the ‘king's daughters’ were given shelter in Egypt. Herodotus describes Apries’ reign as exceedingly prosperous’, (Ency. Brit., 15th ed. vol. 8).
“Note: Famous British archaeologist and Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), says the Egyptian city of Tahpanhes was an important garrison, and as the Jews [sic Judaeans] fled there it must have been close to the frontier. It is clear that it was the Greek Daphnae, the modern Tell Defneh, which is on the road to Palestine... Of this an echo comes across the long ages; the fortress mound is known as Qasr Bint elYehudi [sic elYahudi], the palace of the Jew’s [sic Judaean’s] daughter. It is named Qasr, as a palace, not Qala, a fortress. It is not named Tell Bint El Yehudi [sic elYahudi], as it would be if it were called so after it were a ruinous heap. Qasr is a name, which shows its descent from the time of... Habitation for Nobility and not merely for troops. So through the long ages of Greek and Roman and Arab there has come down the memory of the royal residence for the king’s daughters from the wreck of Jerusalem’ (Egypt And Israel, pp. 85, 86).
“We are told that during this 26th Dynasty, the Egyptians regularly imported foreign mercenaries to guard their N.E. frontier, including the fortress city of Tahpanhes (Daphne). As an example, Pharaoh Psamtik guarded the frontiers of Egypt with three strong garrisons, placing the Ionian and Carian mercenaries especially at the Pelusian Daphnae... in the northeast, from which quarter the most formidable enemies were likely to appear, (p. 40).
“Some of the Greek mercenaries whom Pharaoh Hophra employed in his service were undoubtedly Israelites who had earlier settled in Greece. ‘The Greeks continued to play a prominent role during the reigns of Psammetichus II and Apries (the Pharaoh Hophra of Jeremiah). Under the latter, however, a national movement among the Egyptians led to a revolt against the Egyptian king and the Greek element, with the result that the throne passed to the general Amasis (Ahmosis II), who withdrew i.e., expelled! the Greeks from Daphnai.’ (Chamber’s Ency. 1959 ed. Vol. 5).
“When this new Pharaoh, Ahmosis II, gained the throne he drove out the Greek mercenaries at Tahpanhes (569 B.C.), where Jeremiah and the ‘kings’s daughters’ had lived. But where did they go when they left Egypt? Many old Irish histories speak of an Eastern princess arriving in Ireland, from the land of Egypt. Undoubtedly, some of those ‘Greek’ mercenaries (of Israelite descent) – who were expelled from Egypt after the reign of Pharaoh Hophra – accompanied Jeremiah and his royal party from Egypt to Ireland via Spain ....”
For other substantiation of the history surrounding Jeremiah, with king Zedekiah’s daughters at Tahpanhes, I will cite the 1894, 9th edition of The Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 7, p. 644 thusly:
“Neku II., B.C. 611, son and successor of Psametik, inherited his father’s energy but not his prudence. He attempted to complete an enterprise of the Empire and connect the Red Sea with the Nile, and so with the Mediterranean, by a canal. Under his orders Phoenician seamen circumnavigated Africa. Less fortunate was his attempt to recover the eastern rule of Egypt. He marched against Megiddo, still the key to the route to the Euphrates. Here he was met by the forces of Josiah, king of Judah, with whom he unwillingly fought. Josiah was slain, and the king of Egypt advanced to Carchemish on the Euphrates. Thus the Egyptian Empire was for a moment restored. There was no great eastern rival to contest its supremacy. Assyria had fallen, Babylon was not yet firmly established. After about three years Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon, sent his son Nebuchadnezzar against the Egyptians. At Carchemish the armies met. Neku was defeated, and the Egyptian rule in the East finally destroyed. Soon after the king of Egypt died, leaving his throne to his son Psametik II, B.C. 595, whose short reign was only marked by an expedition against the king of Ethiopia. The next king, Psametik’s son, Uahabra, or Apries, the Pharaoh Hophra of Scripture, B.C. 590, inherited the energy and ambition of the Saïte house. His accession was the signal for a general confederation of Palestine and Phoenicia against the king of Babylon. The war was speedily ended by the capture of Jerusalem, which Uahabra in vain endeavored to prevent. He was, however, successful at sea. His Greek ships beat the Phoenician fleet of Nebuchadnezzar, and for a time he held the Phoenician coast, and aided Tyre in a resistance of thirteen years against the Babylonian besiegers. A great disaster lost Uahabra his throne. He engaged in a war with the Greeks of Cyrene. His Egyptian troops were defeated. The native soldiers believed that he had planned their destruction that he might put mercenaries in their place. They revolted and chose Aahmes, or Amasis, king. Amasis defeated the mercenary troops of Uahabra and dethroned him, B.C. 571. It is to this time that the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar is assigned by Josephus. The silence of Herodotus and the other Greek historians, and the prosperity of Egypt under Amasis, have induced modern scholars to suppose that Josephus based his statement on the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. If, however, we read between the lines of the story of Herodotus, we need some other cause than the disaffection of the Egyptian troops to account for the sudden success of Amasis, and especially for his easy defeat of the mercenaries with a discouraged native force. Again, the conquests of Egypt by the Assyrians, though predicted by Isaiah and noticed as past by Nahum, are unrecorded by Herodotus and the Greeks. The prosperity of the country in the reign of Amasis might as easily follow a Babylonian conquest as that under Psametik I. followed the terrible Assyrian wars. The scantiness of the native records of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign leaves us without Babylonian evidence.” So much for the 1894, 9th edition of The Encyclopedia Britannica.
Now that we are more aware of the history that encompassed Jeremiah and Zedekiah’s two daughters being forced to go to Tahpanhes in Egypt, we will now turn to one of the more important blunders made by British Israel. For this I will cite Raymond NcNair’s From Jerusalem To London, pp. 12-13, under the subtitle, “David’s Throne Transferred”:
“How Did the ‘throne of David’ get from the land of Israel to Ireland? The Prophet Ezekiel tells us how the Lord accomplished that. God inspired Ezekiel to give His people Israel a fascinating riddle concerning two great eagles, one representing Babylon, the other one Egypt. The Babylonian ‘eagle’ conquered Judah, destroyed its Kingdom, toppled its king and princes. Yet King Zedekiah – who was put on his throne by Nebuchadnezzar – treacherously sought Egypt’s aid to free the Jews from Babylonian rule. But God said the Egyptian ‘eagle’ would be powerless to help Judah.
“Through this parable, the Great God made known to Ezekiel what He planned to do: ‘I will take also one of the highest branches – Zedekiah – of the high cedar JUDAH and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs – Zedekiah’s children – a tender one [female], and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain. On the mountain height of ISRAEL [not Judah!] I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar... And all the trees [nations] of the field shall know that I, the Lord have brought down the high tree ‘Judah’ and exalted the low tree [ten-tribed ‘Israel’], dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish: I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it’ (Ezek. 17:22-24).
“Ezekiel further explains that God would abase this high tree and exalt the lowly tree, saying that the ‘profane wicked prince of Israel’ (King Zedekiah) was about to lose his crown (Ezek. 17 [sic 21]:25-26): ‘Thus saith the Lord God; ‘Remove the diadem and take off the Crown: This shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, (the lowly prince in Ireland) and abase him, (King Zedekiah) that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it, (the ‘crown’ – i.e., the throne of David); and it shall be no more [overturned] until HE come whose right it is; and I will give it HIM, (Christ), (21:27 KJV). This verse can’t possibly mean that David’s throne would ‘be no more’ – i.e., cease to exist! – because God had repeatedly promised that David’s throne would continue forever as assuredly as the sun and moon would remain (Psa. 89)!”
This is simply absurd to assign the low tree to Judah and the high tree to the northern ten tribes of Israel! Rather, the high tree was originally Pharez-Judah, and the low tree was originally Zarah-Judah, twin sons born to Judah and Tamar, (Gen. 38:27-30). At this point, I am going to edit the two above paragraphs in order to correct Raymond NcNair’s grievous error:
“How Did the ‘throne of David’ get from the land of Israel to Ireland? The Prophet Ezekiel tells us how [Yahweh] accomplished that. [Yahweh] inspired Ezekiel to give His people Israel a fascinating riddle concerning two great eagles, one representing Babylon, the other one Egypt. The Babylonian ‘eagle’ conquered Judah, destroyed its Kingdom, toppled its king and princes. Yet King Zedekiah – who was put on his throne by Nebuchadnezzar – treacherously sought Egypt’s aid to free the [Judaeans] from Babylonian rule. But [Yahweh] said the Egyptian ‘eagle’ would be powerless to help Judah.
“Through this parable, the Great [Almighty] made known to Ezekiel what He planned to do: ‘I will take also one of the highest branches – Zedekiah – of the high cedar JUDAH and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of it’s young twigs – (Zedekiah’s children) a tender one [female], and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain. On the mountain height of ISRAEL ... I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar... And all the trees [nations] of the field shall know that I, [Yahweh] have brought down the [rule of the] high tree ‘Pharez-Judah’ and exalted the [rule of the] low tree [Zarah-Judah], dried up the [rule of the] green tree and made the [rule of the] dry tree flourish: I, [Yahweh], have spoken and have done it’ (Ezek. 17:22-24).
“Ezekiel further explains that [Yahweh] would abase this high tree and exalt the lowly tree, saying that the ‘profane wicked prince of Israel’ (King Zedekiah) was about to lose his crown (Ezek. [21:26-27]: ‘Thus saith [Yahweh Elohim]; ‘Remove the diadem and take off the Crown: This shall not be the same; exalt him that is low, (the lowly prince in Ireland) and abase him, (King Zedekiah) that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it, (the ‘crown’ – i.e., the throne of David); and it shall be no more [overturned] until HE come whose right it is; and I will give it HIM.’ Christ. ([Ezek.] 21:27 KJV). This verse can’t possibly mean that David’s throne would ‘be no more’ – i.e., cease to exist! – because God had repeatedly promised that David’s throne would continue forever as assuredly as the sun and moon would remain (Psa. 89[:36-37])! ...”
Again, this is simply harebrained to assign the low tree to Judah and the high tree to the northern ten tribes of Israel! Rather, the high tree was originally Pharez-Judah, and the low tree was originally Zarah-Judah, twin sons born to Judah and Tamar, (Gen. 38:27-30). The ten tribes of the house of Israel have absolutely nothing to do with this matter! The correct comprehension of the above two edited paragraphs, with Pharez-Judah’s rule being brought low, leaves only Zarah-Judah (except for Zedekiak’s daughters) to consider, so it is important that we follow the trail of the Scarlet Thread. (See my essay, Following The Trail Of The “Scarlet-Thread”).
Here we have Jeremiah, with Baruch and two of Zedekiah’s daughters at Tahpanhes in Egypt, and it is clear that their days are numbered, as they can’t return back to Judaea, nor can they venture any farther into Egypt! Temporarily, they had found shelter at Tahpanhes, but Egypt threatened to dismiss their Carian and Ionian Greek mercenaries, which would have left Jeremiah’s party in peril. No doubt, this included the Phoenician seamen. Here was Jeremiah, and his party, between a rock and a hard place! With the Carian and Ionian Greek mercenaries leaving Tahpanhes, no doubt it was Jeremiah’s only chance to escape from Tahpanhes en route to Spain, and eventually Ireland.
PROBLEM WITH THE HISTORY OF SCOTA
From the Ensign Message, April-June 2004, from an article entitled “Who Were The Scots?” by W.E. Filmer, pp. 17-21, in part:
“A study of the old Irish legends reveals that early Irish historians had very great difficulty in filling the gap of over a thousand years between the time of the Exodus and the migration from Spain into Ireland. The ninth century poet, Maelmura, for example, in an historical poem quoted in the Irish version of Nennius, fills this gap with some incredible migrations which ultimately involved sailing between the Black Sea and the Caspian, and thence to the Arctic Ocean (ed. J.H. Todd, pp. 233-239). Since this piece of fiction cannot be reconciled with the true story of a migration directly from Egypt to Spain, later historians have woven both into one by having two men marrying Scota in Egypt, one at the time of the Exodus, and the other a thousand years later. Thus, regarding the first Scota, Keating writes: ‘You must now understand that this woman was not the same Scota who was the wife of Galamh, called Miledh of Spain, and who bore him six sons’ (History of Ireland, O’Mahony’s Translation, 1857, p. 156).”
These Judahites were, in fact, not the people that Moses led out of Egypt, but the remnant of Judah forcibly taken to Egypt along with Jeremiah, as the fall of Jerusalem would soon follow in 586 B.C. History of the Irish and Scottish are quite difficult as it is, let alone a thousand year error to confuse the matter!
