Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Jeremiah » Chapter 42 » Verse 14-18

Jeremiah 42:14-18 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

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.

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.