“So,
On behalf of the sheep merchants,
I became
The shepherd
Of the flock doomed to slaughter.
I took two staffs.
One, I named Favor.
The other, I named Unity.
I tended the sheep.”
Zechariah was going to be the good shepherd. He was going to take over the flock of doomed sheep. He had two staffs. One was called favor or grace, while the other was called unity or unifier. Thus, he would tend these sheep with his two staffs of grace and unity, instead of the ordinary single stick.
“You multiplied
Your prostitute ways
With Chaldea,
The land or merchants.
Even with this
You were not satisfied.”
Yahweh said that they multiplied their prostituting ways with the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, who would later take them over. However, they were originally attracted to them by their merchandise, since the Chaldeans were good merchants. Even this mercantile arrangement was not enough. Jerusalem was never satisfied.
“Who is this?
Who is rising like the Nile?
Who is like rivers
Whose waters surge?
Egypt rises
Like the Nile.
They are
Like rivers
Whose waters surge.
It said.
Let me rise!
Let me cover the earth!
Let me destroy cities!
Let me destroy their inhabitants!
Advance!
O horses!
Dash madly!
O chariots!
Let the warriors go forth!
Men of Ethiopia!
Men of Put
Who carry the shield!
Men of Lud,
Who draw the bow!”
The Egyptians had originally thought that they would have the waters of the Nile River, or their power, take over the Babylonians, but the reverse was true. They wanted to be like rivers surging forth. They wanted to destroy other cities and their inhabitants. They had horses and chariots to carry out their mission as they advanced. They had the people from Ethiopia and Somalia. They had the people of Put, the Libyans, and Lud, the Lydians, who had shields and were good at bows and arrows. However, all this great might was turned back by the Babylonians.
“Then the word of Yahweh
Came to Jeremiah
In Tahpanhes.
‘Take some large stones
In your hands!
Bury them
In the clay pavement
At the entrance
To Pharaoh’s palace
In Tahpanhes!
Let the Judeans
See you do it!
Then say to them.
‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts!
The God of Israel!
I am going to send
King Nebuchadnezzar.
I am going to take
King Nebuchadnezzar
Of Babylon,
My servant.
He will set his throne
Above these stones
That I have buried.
He will spread
His royal canopy
Over them.’”
Yahweh utters an oracle to Jeremiah, even though he is in the Egyptian northeastern border town of Tahpanhes, where the Suez Canal is today. Once again Yahweh wants Jeremiah to do some symbolic action to get a point across. Jeremiah was to take large stones and then bury them in the pavement at the entrance to the palace of the Egyptian Pharaoh. He was to do this in front of all his fellow Judean expatriates. Then he uttered God’s prophetic oracle that King Nebuchadnezzar, his servant like his own servant prophets, would put his throne on top of these stones. He would then spread out his royal canopy over them. In other words, the Babylonian king was going to take over Egypt. It actually happened in 568 BCE, about 20 years after this action.
“A worker who is a drunkard
Will not become rich.
One who despises small things
Will fail little by little.
Wine leads intelligent men astray.
Women lead intelligent men astray.
The man who consorts
With prostitutes is reckless.
Decay will take possession of him
Worms will inherit him.
The reckless person
Will be snatched away.”
Sirach warns us that a drunkard will not become rich. If you despise small things, you will fail little by little. Both wine and women have led intelligent men astray. You are reckless, if you hang around with prostitutes. Always blame your downfall on someone or something other than yourself. Your body will decay and worms will take over. The reckless person will have his life snatched away.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 