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
And it came to pass in the seventh H7637 year, H8141 in the fifth H2549 month, the tenth H6218 day of the month, H2320 that certain H582 of the elders H2205 of Israel H3478 came H935 to enquire H1875 of the LORD, H3068 and sat H3427 before H6440 me. Then came the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 unto me, saying, H559 Son H1121 of man, H120 speak H1696 unto the elders H2205 of Israel, H3478 and say H559 unto them, Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Are ye come H935 to enquire H1875 of me? As I live, H2416 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD, H3069 I will not be enquired H1875 of by you.
Son H1121 of man, H120 these men H582 have set up H5927 their idols H1544 in their heart, H3820 and put H5414 the stumblingblock H4383 of their iniquity H5771 before H5227 their face: H6440 should I be enquired H1875 of at all H1875 by them? Therefore speak H1696 unto them, and say H559 unto them, Thus saith H559 the Lord H136 GOD; H3069 Every man H376 of the house H1004 of Israel H3478 that setteth up H5927 his idols H1544 in his heart, H3820 and putteth H7760 the stumblingblock H4383 of his iniquity H5771 before H5227 his face, H6440 and cometh H935 to the prophet; H5030 I the LORD H3068 will answer H6030 him that cometh H935 according to the multitude H7230 of his idols; H1544
So Johanan H3110 the son H1121 of Kareah, H7143 and all the captains H8269 of the forces, H2428 and all the people, H5971 obeyed H8085 not the voice H6963 of the LORD, H3068 to dwell H3427 in the land H776 of Judah. H3063 But Johanan H3110 the son H1121 of Kareah, H7143 and all the captains H8269 of the forces, H2428 took H3947 all the remnant H7611 of Judah, H3063 that were returned H7725 from all nations, H1471 whither they had been driven, H5080 to dwell H1481 in the land H776 of Judah; H3063
Therefore I said, H559 Surely these are poor; H1800 they are foolish: H2973 for they know H3045 not the way H1870 of the LORD, H3068 nor the judgment H4941 of their God. H430 I will get H3212 me unto the great men, H1419 and will speak H1696 unto them; for they have known H3045 the way H1870 of the LORD, H3068 and the judgment H4941 of their God: H430 but these have altogether H3162 broken H7665 the yoke, H5923 and burst H5423 the bonds. H4147
Cry H7121 aloud, H1627 spare H2820 not, lift H7311 up thy voice H6963 like a trumpet, H7782 and shew H5046 my people H5971 their transgression, H6588 and the house H1004 of Jacob H3290 their sins. H2403 Yet they seek H1875 me daily, H3117 H3117 and delight H2654 to know H1847 my ways, H1870 as a nation H1471 that did H6213 righteousness, H6666 and forsook H5800 not the ordinance H4941 of their God: H430 they ask H7592 of me the ordinances H4941 of justice; H6664 they take delight H2654 in approaching H7132 to God. H430
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.