Bible Strands
Jeremiah 2:16
The men of Memphis and Tahpanhes have shaved the crown of your head.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God speaks through Jeremiah to Israel concerning their pursuit of political alliances with Egypt. This declaration functions as a direct indictment within a sequence of warnings about the consequences of abandoning divine guidance.
The words — יִרְעוּךְ (yir'u/kh) literally means “they will graze,” and קָדְקֹד (qodqod) translates to “scalp” or “crown of the head.” The phrasing depicts foreign powers stripping away Israel’s dignity and autonomy.
The thread — Memphis and Tahpanhes recur in Jeremiah 46:14 as locations where judgment will be proclaimed and in Jeremiah 43:7 as the farthest point of Israel’s migration into Egypt. The lion imagery in Deuteronomy 33:20 parallels the “young lions” of Jeremiah 2:15 that lay waste the land.
Why it lands — The text states that seeking security in foreign nations produces calculated humiliation rather than protection. It requires the reader to acknowledge that covenant faithlessness directly causes the loss of national honor and safety.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 46:14 “Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol; proclaim it in Memphis and Tahpanhes: ‘Take your positions and prepare yourself, for the sword devours those around you.’
- Jeremiah 43:7 So they entered the land of Egypt because they did not obey the voice of the LORD, and they went as far as Tahpanhes.
- Deuteronomy 33:20 Concerning Gad he said: “Blessed is he who enlarges the domain of Gad! He lies down like a lion and tears off an arm or a head.
- Isaiah 19:13 The princes of Zoan have become fools; the princes of Memphis are deceived. The cornerstones of her tribes have led Egypt astray.
- Jeremiah 44:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews living in the land of Egypt—in Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis—and in the land of Pathros:
- Ezekiel 30:16 I will set fire to Egypt, Pelusium will writhe in anguish, Thebes will be split open, and Memphis will face daily distress.
- 2 Kings 18:21 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
- 2 Kings 23:33 And Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz at Riblah in the land of Hamath so that he could not reign in Jerusalem, and he imposed on Judah a levy of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold.
- Isaiah 1:6 From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.
- Isaiah 8:8 It will pour into Judah, swirling and sweeping over it, reaching up to the neck; its spreading streams will cover your entire land, O Immanuel!