History: Heliopolis: A City of Two Tales
I was reading Jeremiah last night and I was wondering what Heliopolis meant in the subscript;
apparently it does mean the City of the Sun; but I think this author had it right when he referred to the City of On: Jeremiah’s contemporary, Ezekiel, appeared to reinforce the future
demise of Heliopolis and its idolatry: “the young men of Aven” would
“fall by the sword” (
Ezekiel 30:17).
Commentators suggest that Ezekiel makes a play on the Hebrew word for
Heliopolis at the time of Joseph, the city of On. The Hebrew word
aven or
awen means “evil” or “iniquity” and is spelled similarly to the Hebrew for On
(awn), so the reference perhaps implies “temple of evil” or “temple of iniquity.”
History shows that the city of On was indeed razed by Nebuchadnezzar, who attacked Egypt in 568 BCE.
It has been a while since I read Jeremiah: OUCH he suffered it all. Sometimes being a prophet is not all it's cracked up to be, the cistern must have really been a bummer. Nothing like Old Testament style smiting. This is for my edification only and anyone else who happens upon it. Be Blessed and of Good Cheer because we are under the New Covenant. :)
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