1 Then all the captains H8269 of the forces, H2428 and Johanan H3110 the son H1121 of Kareah, H7143 and Jezaniah H3153 the son H1121 of Hoshaiah, H1955 and all the people H5971 from the least H6996 even unto the greatest, H1419 came near, H5066
2 And said H559 unto Jeremiah H3414 the prophet, H5030 Let, we beseech thee, our supplication H8467 be accepted H5307 before H6440 thee, and pray H6419 for us unto the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 even for all this remnant; H7611 (for we are left H7604 but a few H4592 of many, H7235 as thine eyes H5869 do behold H7200 us:)
3 That the LORD H3068 thy God H430 may shew H5046 us the way H1870 wherein we may walk, H3212 and the thing H1697 that we may do. H6213
4 Then Jeremiah H3414 the prophet H5030 said H559 unto them, I have heard H8085 you; behold, I will pray H6419 unto the LORD H3068 your God H430 according to your words; H1697 and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing H1697 the LORD H3068 shall answer H6030 you, I will declare H5046 it unto you; I will keep H4513 nothing H1697 back H4513 from you.
5 Then they said H559 to Jeremiah, H3414 The LORD H3068 be a true H571 and faithful H539 witness H5707 between us, if we do H6213 not even according to all things H1697 for the which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 shall send H7971 thee to us.
6 Whether it be good, H2896 or whether it be evil, H7451 we will obey H8085 the voice H6963 of the LORD H3068 our God, H430 to whom we H580 send H7971 thee; that it may be well H3190 with us, when we obey H8085 the voice H6963 of the LORD H3068 our God. H430
7 And it came to pass after H7093 ten H6235 days, H3117 that the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 came unto Jeremiah. H3414
8 Then called H7121 he Johanan H3110 the son H1121 of Kareah, H7143 and all the captains H8269 of the forces H2428 which were with him, and all the people H5971 from the least H6996 even to the greatest, H1419
9 And said H559 unto them, Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 the God H430 of Israel, H3478 unto whom ye sent H7971 me to present H5307 your supplication H8467 before H6440 him;
10 If ye will still H7725 abide H3427 in this land, H776 then will I build H1129 you, and not pull you down, H2040 and I will plant H5193 you, and not pluck you up: H5428 for I repent H5162 me of the evil H7451 that I have done H6213 unto you.
11 Be not afraid H3372 of H6440 the king H4428 of Babylon, H894 of whom H6440 ye are afraid; H3373 be not afraid H3372 of him, saith H5002 the LORD: H3068 for I am with you to save H3467 you, and to deliver H5337 you from his hand. H3027
12 And I will shew H5414 mercies H7356 unto you, that he may have mercy H7355 upon you, and cause you to return H7725 to your own land. H127
13 But if ye say, H559 We will not dwell H3427 in this land, H776 neither obey H8085 the voice H6963 of the LORD H3068 your God, H430
14 Saying, H559 No; but we will go H935 into the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 where we shall see H7200 no war, H4421 nor hear H8085 the sound H6963 of the trumpet, H7782 nor have hunger H7456 of bread; H3899 and there will we dwell: H3427
15 And now therefore hear H8085 the word H1697 of the LORD, H3068 ye remnant H7611 of Judah; H3063 Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 the God H430 of Israel; H3478 If ye wholly H7760 set H7760 your faces H6440 to enter H935 into Egypt, H4714 and go H935 to sojourn H1481 there;
16 Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, H2719 which ye feared, H3373 shall overtake H5381 you there in the land H776 of Egypt, H4714 and the famine, H7458 whereof ye were afraid, H1672 shall follow close H1692 after H310 you there in Egypt; H4714 and there ye shall die. H4191
17 So shall it be with all the men H582 that set H7760 their faces H6440 to go H935 into Egypt H4714 to sojourn H1481 there; they shall die H4191 by the sword, H2719 by the famine, H7458 and by the pestilence: H1698 and none of them shall remain H8300 or escape H6412 from H6440 the evil H7451 that I will bring H935 upon them.
18 For thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 the God H430 of Israel; H3478 As mine anger H639 and my fury H2534 hath been poured forth H5413 upon the inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem; H3389 so shall my fury H2534 be poured forth H5413 upon you, when ye shall enter H935 into Egypt: H4714 and ye shall be an execration, H423 and an astonishment, H8047 and a curse, H7045 and a reproach; H2781 and ye shall see H7200 this place H4725 no more.
19 The LORD H3068 hath said H1696 concerning you, O ye remnant H7611 of Judah; H3063 Go H935 ye not into Egypt: H4714 know H3045 certainly H3045 that I have admonished H5749 you this day. H3117
20 For ye dissembled H8582 in your hearts, H5315 when ye sent H7971 me unto the LORD H3068 your God, H430 saying, H559 Pray H6419 for us unto the LORD H3068 our God; H430 and according unto all that the LORD H3068 our God H430 shall say, H559 so declare H5046 unto us, and we will do H6213 it.
21 And now I have this day H3117 declared H5046 it to you; but ye have not obeyed H8085 the voice H6963 of the LORD H3068 your God, H430 nor any thing for the which he hath sent H7971 me unto you.
22 Now therefore know H3045 certainly H3045 that ye shall die H4191 by the sword, H2719 by the famine, H7458 and by the pestilence, H1698 in the place H4725 whither ye desire H2654 to go H935 and to sojourn. H1481
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 42
Commentary on Jeremiah 42 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 42
Jer 42:1-22. The Jews and Johanan Inquire of God, through Jeremiah, as to Going to Egypt, Promising Obedience to His Will. Their Safety on Condition of Staying in Judea, and Their Destruction in the Event of Going to Egypt, Are Foretold. Their Hypocrisy in Asking for Counsel Which They Meant Not to Follow, if Contrary to Their Own Determination, Is Reproved.
2. Jeremiah—He probably was one of the number carried off from Mizpah, and dwelt with Johanan (Jer 41:16). Hence the expression is, "came near" (Jer 42:1), not "sent."
Let … supplication be accepted—literally, "fall" (see on Jer 36:7; Jer 37:20).
pray for us—(Ge 20:7; Isa 37:4; Jas 5:16).
thy God—(Jer 42:5). The Jews use this form to express their belief in the peculiar relation in which Jeremiah stood to God as His accredited prophet. Jeremiah in his reply reminds them that God is their God ("your God") as well as his as being the covenant people (Jer 42:4). They in turn acknowledge this in Jer 42:6, "the Lord our God."
few of many—as had been foretold (Le 26:22).
3. They consulted God, like many, not so much to know what was right, as wishing Him to authorize what they had already determined on, whether agreeable to His will or not. So Ahab in consulting Micaiah (1Ki 22:13). Compare Jeremiah's answer (Jer 42:4) with Micaiah's (1Ki 22:14).
4. I have heard—that is, I accede to your request.
your God—Being His by adoption, ye are not your own, and are bound to whatever He wills (Ex 19:5, 6; 1Co 6:19, 20).
answer you—that is, through me.
keep nothing back—(1Sa 3:18; Ac 20:20).
5. Lord be a true … witness—(Ge 31:50; Ps 89:37; Re 1:5; 3:14; 19:11).
6. evil—not moral evil, which God cannot command (Jas 1:13), but what may be disagreeable and hard to us. Piety obeys God, without questioning, at all costs. See the instance defective in this, that it obeyed only so far as was agreeable to itself (1Sa 15:3, 9, 13-15, 20-23).
7. ten days—Jeremiah did not speak of himself, but waited God's time and revelation, showing the reality of his inspiration. Man left to himself would have given an immediate response to the people, who were impatient of delay. The delay was designed to test the sincerity of their professed willingness to obey, and that they should have full time to deliberate (De 8:2). True obedience bows to God's time, as well as His way and will.
10. If ye … abide—namely, under the Babylonian authority, to which God hath appointed that all should be subject (Da 2:37, 38). To resist was to resist God.
build … plant—metaphor for, I will firmly establish you (Jer 24:6).
I repent … of the evil—(Jer 18:8; De 32:36). I am satisfied with the punishment I have inflicted on you, if only you add not a new offense [Grotius]. God is said to "repent," when He alters His outward ways of dealing.
12. show mercies—rather, I will excite (in him) feelings of mercy towards you [Calvin].
cause you to return—permit you to return to the peaceable enjoyment of the possessions from which you are wishing to withdraw through fear of the Chaldeans. By departing in disobedience they should incur the very evils they wished thereby to escape; and by staying they should gain the blessings which they feared to lose by doing so.
13. if ye say, &c.—avowed rebellion against God, who had often (De 17:16), as now, forbidden their going to Egypt, lest they should be entangled in its idolatry.
14. where we shall see no war—Here they betray their impiety in not believing God's promise (Jer 42:10, 11), as if He were a liar (1Jo 5:10).
15. wholly set your faces—firmly resolve (Lu 9:51) in spite of all warnings (Jer 44:12).
16. sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you—The very evils we think to escape by sin, we bring on ourselves thereby. What our hearts are most set on often proves fatal to us. Those who think to escape troubles by changing their place will find them wherever they go (Eze 11:8). The "sword" here is that of Nebuchadnezzar, who fulfilled the prediction in his expedition to Africa (according to Megasthenes, a heathen writer), 300 B.C.
17. all the men—excepting the "small number" mentioned (Jer 44:14, 28); namely, those who were forced into Egypt against their will, Jeremiah, Baruch, &c., and those who took Jeremiah's advice and fled from Egypt before the arrival of the Chaldeans.
18. As mine anger, &c.—As ye have already, to your sorrow, found Me true to My word, so shall ye again (Jer 7:20; 18:16).
shall see this place no more—Ye shall not return to Judea, as those shall who have been removed to Babylon.
19. I have admonished—literally, "testified," that is, solemnly admonished, having yourselves as My witnesses; so that if ye perish, ye yourselves will have to confess that it was through your own fault, not through ignorance, ye perished.
20. dissembled in your hearts—rather, "ye have used deceit against your (own) souls." It is not God, but yourselves, whom ye deceive, to your own ruin, by your own dissimulation (Ga 6:7) [Calvin]. But the words following accord best with English Version, ye have dissembled in your hearts (see on Jer 42:3) towards me, when ye sent me to consult God for you.
21. declared it—namely, the divine will.
I … but ye—antithesis. I have done my part; but ye do not yours. It is no fault of mine that ye act not rightly.
22. sojourn—for a time, until they could return to their country. They expected, therefore, to be restored, in spite of God's prediction to the contrary.