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
But this thing H1697 commanded H6680 I them, saying, H559 Obey H8085 my voice, H6963 and I will be your God, H430 and ye shall be my people: H5971 and walk H1980 ye in all the ways H1870 that I have commanded H6680 you, that it may be well H3190 unto you.
O that there were such H2088 an H4310 heart H3824 in them, H5414 that they would fear H3372 me, and keep H8104 all my commandments H4687 always, H3117 that it might be well H3190 with them, and with their children H1121 for ever! H5769
And he took H3947 the book H5612 of the covenant, H1285 and read H7121 in the audience H241 of the people: H5971 and they said, H559 All that the LORD H3068 hath said H1696 will we do, H6213 and be obedient. H8085
That thou mightest fear H3372 the LORD H3068 thy God, H430 to keep H8104 all his statutes H2708 and his commandments, H4687 which I command H6680 thee, thou, and thy son, H1121 and thy son's H1121 son, H1121 all the days H3117 of thy life; H2416 and that thy days H3117 may be prolonged. H748 Hear H8085 therefore, O Israel, H3478 and observe H8104 to do H6213 it; that it may be well H3190 with thee, and that ye may increase H7235 mightily, H3966 as the LORD H3068 God H430 of thy fathers H1 hath promised H1696 thee, in the land H776 that floweth H2100 with milk H2461 and honey. H1706
Oh H3863 that my people H5971 had hearkened H8085 unto me, and Israel H3478 had walked H1980 in my ways! H1870 I should soon H4592 have subdued H3665 their enemies, H341 and turned H7725 my hand H3027 against their adversaries. H6862 The haters H8130 of the LORD H3068 should have submitted H3584 themselves unto him: but their time H6256 should have endured for ever. H5769 He should have fed H398 them also with the finest H2459 of the wheat: H2406 and with honey H1706 out of the rock H6697 should I have satisfied H7646 thee.
What G5101 shall we say G2046 then? G3767 Is the law G3551 sin? G266 God forbid. G3361 G1096 Nay, G235 I had G1097 not G3756 known G1097 sin, G266 but G1508 by G1223 the law: G3551 for G1063 G5037 I had G1492 not G3756 known G1492 lust, G1939 except G1508 the law G3551 had said, G3004 Thou shalt G1937 not G3756 covet. G1937
Was then G3767 that which is good G18 made G1096 death G2288 unto me? G1698 God forbid. G3361 G1096 But G235 sin, G266 that G2443 it might appear G5316 sin, G266 working G2716 death G2288 in me G3427 by G1223 that which is good; G18 that G2443 sin G266 by G1223 the commandment G1785 might become G1096 exceeding G2596 G5236 sinful. G268
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.