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Jeremiah 42

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The Remnant Seeks God's Will 1–6

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Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near, ​
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and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we pray thee, our supplication be presented before thee, and pray for us unto Jehovah thy God, even for all this remnant (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us), ​
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that Jehovah thy God may show us the way wherein we should walk, and the thing that we should do.
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Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto Jehovah your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass that whatsoever thing Jehovah shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you. ​
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Then they said to Jeremiah, Jehovah be a true and faithful witness amongst us, if we do not according to all the word wherewith Jehovah thy God shall send thee to us. ​
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Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God.

God Commands Them to Remain in Judah 7–12

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And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah. ​
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Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
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and said unto them, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him:
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If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you. ​
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Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith Jehovah: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. ​
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And I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land. ​

The Warning Against Fleeing to Egypt 13–18

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But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land; so that ye obey not the voice of Jehovah your God,
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saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell: ​
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now therefore hear ye the word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah: Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, If ye indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
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then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye fear, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, whereof ye are afraid, shall follow hard after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die. ​
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So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there: they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
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For thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: As mine anger and my wrath hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall my wrath be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt; and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more. ​

Judgment for Disguised Disobedience 19–22

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Jehovah hath spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified unto you this day. ​
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For ye have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for ye sent me unto Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us unto Jehovah our God; and according unto all that Jehovah our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it. ​
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And I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God in anything for which he hath sent me unto you.
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Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go to sojourn there. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 42

Verse 1

from the least even unto the greatest — The whole remnant comes to Jeremiah, the phrase being qatan to gadol, small to great. Jeremiah had used it of Judah's sin (Jer 6:13), and it returns in Jer 44:12, where the same people are said to 'die, from the least even unto the greatest'. Johanan and the captains lead, as they did at Mizpah (Jer 40:13–16).

Verse 2

our supplication be accepted before thee — Tehinnah is a plea for favour, the word of Solomon's prayers (1 Ki 8:28, 30) and of Jer 36:7, 'present their supplication before the LORD'. 'Left but a few of many' is the state foretold in Deut 28:62, 'ye shall be left few in number'. They name the LORD as 'thy God', and say 'our God' only in v.6.

Verse 4

I will keep nothing back from you — Manah is to withhold. The pledge matches Samuel's with Eli: 'Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him' (1 Sam 3:18). Jeremiah had earlier been told, 'pray not thou for this people' (Jer 7:16), but this request is made by the remnant after the fall, and he accepts it.

Verse 5

a true and faithful witness — The oath takes the form of a self-curse, 'if we do not even according to all things'. 'The LORD be witness between us, if we do not so according to thy words' is how the elders of Gilead swore to Jephthah (Judg 11:10). 'True' (emet) and 'faithful' (aman) are the words of firm and reliable testimony, here called down on their own promise.

Verse 7

after ten days — The answer does not come at once. Jeremiah had promised to declare 'whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you' (v.4), and he then calls Johanan, the captains and all the people to hear it (v.8). The delay is the pattern of Hab 2:3, 'though it tarry, wait for it'.

Verse 10

then will I build you, and not pull you down — The four verbs repeat Jeremiah's own commission at his call: 'to root out, and to pull down… to build, and to plant' (Jer 1:10). Here only the building and planting are offered, on condition that they 'still abide in this land'. 'I repent me of the evil' answers the rule of Jer 18:8, where the LORD relents if the nation turns.

Verse 11

Be not afraid of the king of Babylon — The fear is named three times in the verse (yare). The promise is what the LORD told Jeremiah at his call, 'Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee' (Jer 1:8), now offered to the whole remnant: 'I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand'.

Verse 12

I will shew mercies unto you — Rachamim, mercies, is the plural of compassion. The LORD himself gives it, and the king of Babylon is the one who will show it: 'that he may have mercy upon you'. The same hand is described in Ps 106:46, 'He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives', and in Prov 16:7.

Verse 14

no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet — Their three fears are war, the shophar of alarm (Jer 4:19, 'the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war') and hunger. Egypt was the place the law told the king not to return to: 'Ye shall henceforth return no more that way' (Deut 17:16), and Isaiah's woe fell on those who 'go down to Egypt for help' (Isa 31:1).

Verse 16

the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you — The two dangers they would flee are made to pursue them. 'Feared' is yare, but the famine is the one 'whereof ye were afraid' (daag, anxious), and it 'shall follow close after you' (dabaq, to cling). The LORD said the same of Judah: 'Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you' (Ezek 11:8). See Jer 44:27.

Verse 18

an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach — The four words (alah, shammah, qelalah, cherpah) stand again of this remnant in Jer 44:12; Jer 29:18 has a like series with 'hissing' where this has 'execration'. 'Poured forth' recalls Jer 7:20, 'mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place'. 'See this place no more' is the end of their stay in the land.

Verse 19

I have admonished you this day — Ud is to testify, to bear witness, the verb of Neh 9:29, 'testifiedst against them'. The LORD's word to them is 'Go ye not into Egypt', the same rule given to the king in Deut 17:16 and the point of Isaiah's warning in Isa 30:1–2. The oath of v.5 now meets a plain command.

Verse 20

ye dissembled in your hearts — Ta'ah is to wander or go astray, the verb of the sheep in Isa 53:6, 'all we like sheep have gone astray', and Ps 119:176. With 'your souls' (nephesh) as the object, the phrase means they led themselves astray. The sending is told again in vv.2–6. Ezek 14:3 describes the condition of men who set idols 'in their heart' and then enquire of the LORD.

Verse 22

by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence — This is the series of Jer 29:18, applied now to the place they choose, 'whither ye desire to go and to sojourn'. 'Sojourn' (gur) is the word of Abram's going 'down into Egypt to sojourn there' (Gen 12:10). Hosea said of Israel: 'Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them' (Hos 9:6).