Jeremiahchapter 42
22 verses · Jeremiah, written by Baruch · 7th to 6th century BC · The Prophets
Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes.
Introduction
Jeremiah, written by Baruch, The Prophets, Jeremiah Overview.
This chapter follows the survivors of Gedaliah's murder as they camp near Bethlehem with the road to Egypt before them. The whole company comes to the prophet with a request and an oath. Its first hearers knew why Egypt looked safe, with its grain and its distance from Babylon. It is a chapter about asking God for direction with the decision already made. Listen for how long the answer takes to come, and for the two roads the answer sets out. The prophet's closing words say what he has seen in their hearts.
Context
- Who
- Refugees who had already decided where they were going and wanted the decision blessed
- What
- An account of the remnant asking Jeremiah to pray for guidance, God's answer that they stay in Judah, and the warning against going down to Egypt.
- Where
- Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, on the road south toward Egypt.
- When
- About 586 BC, soon after the murder of Gedaliah; the answer came after ten days.
- Why
- To show that asking for God's word while set on one's own plan is self-deception, and to warn of the cost of refusing the answer.
Historical context
The whole company, commanders, men, women and children, asks the prophet to pray that God will show them the way they should walk. They swear in advance to obey whatever answer comes, whether good or bad. In that world an oath like that put a curse on the swearer if he broke it, so this is not a casual promise.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Then the chapter records something unusual and entirely believable: ten days pass before the word comes. Prophecy is not shown here as a tap you turn on. Ten days is a long time to sit in a camp with an army on the road behind you.
The answer is the reverse of what everyone in the camp wanted: stay in this land and I will build you and not tear you down, and I will grant you mercy before the king of Babylon so that he lets you remain. Do not fear him; I am with you to save you.
The warning attached is precise. If you set your faces to go to Egypt to live, the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow close behind. The chapter says plainly that they had gone astray at the cost of their lives when they sent the prophet to ask, because their minds were already made up.
Significance
For first hearers this is the anatomy of a fake question. The refugees did everything correctly, asked, swore, waited, and had already packed.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
Egypt was the reasonable choice. It was fed by the Nile in a famine year, it was outside Babylon's reach at that moment, and Judean communities were already there. The chapter's whole weight rests on the fact that reasonable and obedient were not the same thing that week.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this lane, printed no weekly portion and no Haftarah from this chapter, and no festival reading for the book. That table carries the Haftarah of each of the fifty-four weekly portions and the books read whole at the feasts, and it carries nothing for the special Sabbaths or the fast days. This card therefore names no public reading of the chapter and leaves that question to a source that holds those readings.
How it is read
Radak and Rashi carry English on this chapter in the corpus. Rashi is quoted from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY, and the version of each other commentator is named where he is first quoted. Every quotation on this card is held to fifty words or fewer because each translation is modern, and no headword carrying the verse in a translation's wording is quoted.
The corpus carries English for two notes on this chapter. Radak is quoted from the version Sefaria titles Sefaria Community Translation, which it reports as CC0. At the sixth verse he remarks that the word for we is written in a short form found nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible (Radak on Jeremiah 42:6:1). The form "is common in the language of Mishnah and Talmud" (Radak on Jeremiah 42:6:1). Rashi glosses the sound of the horn in the fourteenth verse as the horn "which the lookouts sound to warn the people" (Rashi on Jeremiah 42:14:1).
The corpus carries twenty-two further notes on this chapter without an English text. Each is marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref, so each is cited here and none is quoted. The notes of Metzudat David are cited at Metzudat David on Jeremiah 42:2:1, 42:3:1, 42:4:1, 42:5:1, 42:6:1, 42:7:1, 42:11:1, 42:13:1, 42:15:1, 42:16:1, 42:17:1, 42:19:1 and 42:22:1. The notes of Malbim are cited at Malbim on Jeremiah 42:3:1, 42:4:1, 42:5:1 and 42:9:1. The notes of Radak are cited at Radak on Jeremiah 42:10:1, 42:12:1, 42:18:1, 42:20:1 and 42:21:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries eleven rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the second verse it holds Bava Metzia 106a:5. On the seventh verse it holds Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Pischa 1:23 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 187:2. On the eighth verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov on Lamentations 1:3:1. On the eleventh verse it holds Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 37:3. On the fifteenth verse it holds Jerusalem Talmud Sukkah 5:1:5.
On the sixteenth verse it holds Esther Rabbah, Petichta 3, Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Vayehi Beshalach 3:26, Midrash Lekach Tov, Exodus 14:13:5, Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 14:13:3 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 233:1. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Radak, Radak on Jeremiah 42:6:1, Sefaria Community Translation, reported CC0; Rashi, Rashi on Jeremiah 42:14:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on Jeremiah 42:2:1, 42:3:1, 42:4:1, 42:5:1, 42:6:1, 42:7:1, 42:11:1, 42:13:1, 42:15:1, 42:16:1, 42:17:1, 42:19:1 and 42:22:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Malbim, Malbim on Jeremiah 42:3:1, 42:4:1, 42:5:1 and 42:9:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Radak, Radak on Jeremiah 42:10:1, 42:12:1, 42:18:1, 42:20:1 and 42:21:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/jeremiah/42.json, the 11 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, printing no portion and no Haftarah for this chapter and no festival reading for this book.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Pray for Us: Whatever the LORD Says, We Will Do
Jeremiah 42:1-6
all the people from the least to the greatest: The commanders and “all the people” ask Jeremiah to pray and to tell them “the way we should walk and the thing we should do.” They bind themselves with an oath: “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act upon every word.”
Jeremiah 42:1
“Among those delivered by Johanan from Ishmael had been Jeremiah and Baruch Jer 43:6; and to them now all, without exception, come for counsel. Jezaniah - He is called Azariah in Jer 43:2. The Septuagint, in both places, call him Azariah. Since there is little reason for identifying him with Jezaniah the Maachathite Jer 40:8, it is probable that the Septuagint is right in calling him in both places Azariah, and that the reading Jezaniah arose from some scribe assuming that his name must be found in the earlier list.”
pray to the LORD your God: The people call the LORD Jeremiah's God, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that in verse 4 he answers by calling him theirs. Matthew Henry hears a real sense of need. Theodoret of Cyrus observes that their words are full of piety but do not agree with their actions.
tell us the way we should walk: John Calvin says a people may pray for the way to walk when the thing is already decided, and then reject any word against it. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the remnant so. Adam Clarke says they leaned toward Egypt and wished the LORD God to tell them the way.
Jeremiah 42:3
“He who has resolved on this or that point, pretends that he is in doubt, and held in suspense; he asks what ought to be done: if the answer be according to his wishes, he embraces what is said; but if he who is consulted, disapproves of what he has already resolved to do, he rejects the counsel given.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
Jeremiah agrees to pray and to withhold nothing. Henry compares him to Samuel, who would keep praying for a people that had slighted him (1 Samuel 12:23). Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say the words your God remind the people they belong to the LORD and must do what he wills.
Jeremiah 42:4
“Ministers may hence learn, 1. Conscientiously to pray for those who desire their prayers: I will pray for you according to your words. Though they had slighted him, yet, like Samuel when he was slighted, he will not sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for them, 1 Sam. xii.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The people call the LORD to witness against them. Albert Barnes reads the witness as against them if they fail to obey, as at verse 19. Adam Clarke says the LORD will keep the promise on record, and bless or curse as they obey or refuse.
Jeremiah 42:5
Between us - Against us, as in Jer 42:19 (margin.) According to all things - literally, “according to the whole word as to which Yahweh thy God shall send thee to us.”
Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant: The people promise to obey the voice of the LORD, pleasant or unpleasant. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown set the promise beside Saul, who obeyed the LORD only as far as it pleased him (1 Samuel 15). Albert Barnes says the pronoun here is the people's own speech.
Jeremiah 42:6
“We - The form used here occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament, but is the regular form of the pronoun in the Talmud. It is one out of many instances of Jeremiah using the popular instead of the literary language of his times.”
Ten Days Later: If Ye Still Abide in This Land
Jeremiah 42:7-12
After ten days the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: The answer comes in the verbs of 1:10. “I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you.” The LORD says, “I will relent of the disaster I have brought upon you,” and tells them not to fear the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah 42:7
“After ten days - On previous occasions Jeremiah when consulted answered at once Jer 21:3. The present delay (compare Jer 28:12) was probably granted by God in order to free the minds of the people from the panic caused by the murder of Gedaliah and their fear of Chaldaean vengeance. Jeremiah could have had no doubt that the flight into Egypt was contrary to the tenor of his former prophecies.”
from the least to the greatest: Jeremiah summons Johanan, the commanders of the forces and all the people, the same company that asked him to pray in verse 1. Matthew Henry says he gave them the word of the LORD in full, as he had promised to withhold nothing. No one could later plead ignorance.
to whom you sent me to present your petition: Jeremiah frames the answer with their own request, naming the LORD as the one they sent him to. John Gill notes that the title God of Israel recalls the covenant he had kept with that people. They had asked; now they must hear.
Jeremiah 42:9
“And said unto them, thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel,.... That had chosen Israel; had a favour for that people, and bestowed many blessings on them, and continued in a covenant relation to them; and therefore what he said should be regarded by them.”
I will build you up and not tear you down: The verbs build and plant come from Jeremiah's commission at 1:10. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read staying as living under Babylon, the rule God had appointed for all. Readers differ on the LORD's relenting: Henry reads a change of way with no change of mind, and Barnes reads justice satisfied.
Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon: The king of Babylon is the fear of 41:18, whom they feared would avenge Gedaliah. The LORD answers with his presence. Matthew Henry hears in these verses the promise of a people planted again in the land, a kingdom rising from the ashes of the last.
he will have compassion on you: The LORD's compassion will work through the compassion of the king of Babylon. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, following Calvin, say God will stir mercy in the king, and Albert Barnes that God will win them pity before him. They would be restored to the land they meant to leave.
Jeremiah 42:12
Or, I will give you compassion before (i. e., obtain pity from) the king of Babylon, and “he shall have mercy upon you, and let you dwell upon your own soil.”
Jeremiah 42:13-18
If the remnant goes to Egypt, “the sword you fear will overtake you there.” Barnes notes sword, famine, and plague are the three judgments named throughout the book. As wrath was poured out on Jerusalem, it will be poured out on them, and they “will never see this place again.”
go to the land of Egypt: Egypt looked safe for a reason. Albert Barnes notes that it had lost at Carchemish yet its own soil had seen no fighting, while Judah had known war since Megiddo. Matthew Henry answers that no change of place escapes the judgments of God.
Jeremiah 42:14
“Egypt had lost the battle of Carchemish, but it had not been the scene itself of military operations; while Judaea, from the date of the battle of Megiddo, had perpetually been exposed to the actual horrors of war.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 42:14
“Note, It is folly to quit our place, especially to quit the holy land, because we meet with trouble in it; but greater folly to think by changing our place to escape the judgments of God, and that evil which pursues sinners in every way of disobedience, and which there is no escaping but by returning to our allegiance.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The warning is addressed to the remnant of Judah, the few the LORD had left in the land. Adam Clarke sums up what follows: every evil they dreaded at home would meet them in Egypt. Egypt offers no escape from the LORD.
Jeremiah 42:15
“If ye - set your faces to enter into Egypt, etc - Every evil that ye dreaded by staying in your own land shall come upon you in Egypt.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
the sword you fear will overtake you there: The sword and famine they fear will follow them into Egypt. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take the sword as Nebuchadnezzar's, and cite Megasthenes for a later campaign of his into Africa. Matthew Henry says no one escapes trouble by changing his place.
Jeremiah 42:16
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
all who resolve to go to Egypt: The sentence falls on those who resolve to go, and plague joins the sword and famine of verse 16. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown limit the word all by 44:14 and 44:28, where a small number escape. They count Jeremiah and Baruch, taken against their will, among them.
Ye Have Dealt Deceitfully Against Your Own Souls
The wrath poured out on Jerusalem is the pattern for Egypt. Matthew Henry says the LORD knew their hypocrisy, so the sentence given before on a condition is now made absolute. A people who court unbelievers, he adds, become a disgrace.
Jeremiah 42:18
“When God's professing people mingle with infidels, and make their court to them, they lose their dignity and make themselves a reproach. That God knew their hypocrisy in their enquiries of him, and that when they asked what he would have them to do they were resolved to take their own way; and therefore the sentence which was before pronounced conditionally is made absolute.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Jeremiah 42:19-22
Know for sure that I have warned you today!: Jeremiah exposes the request as deceit: “you have deceived yourselves by sending me to the LORD your God.” The plan to go to Egypt was made before they asked him to pray. “I have told you today, but you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God.”
Jeremiah 42:19
“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.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
For you have deceived yourselves: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, following Calvin, read the Hebrew as deceit against their souls, so that the people deceived themselves to their ruin. Barnes says they were so sure the LORD would send them to Egypt that they could not accept his answer. Henry supposes their faces already told Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 42:20
“Ye dissembled in your hearts - Or, “ye have led yourselves astray,” i. e., your sending me to ask counsel of God was an act of self-delusion. You felt so sure that God would direct you to go into Egypt, that now that He has spoken to the contrary, you are unable to reconcile yourselves to it.”
2 more voices on this verse
Jeremiah 42:20
“For ye dissembled in your hearts,.... Did not honestly and faithfully declare their intentions; they said one thing with their mouths, and meant another in their minds; they pretended they would act according to the will of God, as it should be made known to them by him, when they were determined to take their own way.”
Jeremiah 42:20
“For ye dissembled in your hearts - What a most miserable and incorrigible people! Ingratitude, hypocrisy, rebellion, and cruelty seem to have been enthroned in their hearts! And what are they still? Just what their fathers were, except in the mere article of idolatry; and that they do not practice because they are indifferent to their own religion and to that of all others. Examine their devotions and their lives, and see whether Charity herself can say they believe in the God of Abraham!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God: Jeremiah speaks of their disobedience before they take a step toward Egypt. Adam Clarke says they asked for this word of the LORD and promised to obey, and have done nothing he sent Jeremiah to tell them. They answer at 43:2 by calling him a liar.
Jeremiah 42:21
“Ye have not obeyed the voice - Though ye have requested to have this particular revelation of the Divine will, and promised obedience, yet have ye not done one thing for which ye sent me to inquire of the Lord.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
you will die in the place where you desire to go: Sword, famine and plague close the word of the LORD as they closed verse 17. Henry says the place the heart is most set on often proves the place of death, and no one can go where God cannot reach. Adam Clarke says their doom was sealed.
Jeremiah 42:22
“Famine and pestilence shall pursue these sinners; for there is no place privileged from divine arrests, nor can any malefactors go out of God's jurisdiction. You shall die in the place whither you desire to go. Note, We know not what is good for ourselves; and that often proves afflictive, and sometimes fatal, which we are most fond of and have our hearts most set upon.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Keep studying
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 8:42.