Jeremiah 42:15
in Jeremiah 42then hear the word of the LORD, O remnant of Judah! This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you are determined to go to Egypt and reside there,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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;
KJV
And now therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
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This verse in Jeremiah 42
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
We will not stay in this land
on 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.”
This site's exposition
If you are determined to go to Egypt
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And now therefore hear the word of the Lord, ye remnant of Judah,....
They are charged with dissimulation in their asking what God's will was in this matter and disobedience when they were told what it was; and sentence is accordingly passed upon them,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
the sound of the horn which the lookouts sound to warn the people.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
23 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֕ה | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| לָכֵ֛ן | lakhen | <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| שִׁמְע֥וּ | shimu | hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| דְבַר־ | devar- | [the] word of | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| שְׁאֵרִ֣ית | sheerit | O remnant of | H7611 → | 66 times |
| יְהוּדָ֑ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| כֹּֽה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַר֩ | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֨ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| צְבָא֜וֹת | tzevaot | of hosts | H6635 → | 485 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֣י | ʾelohei | [the] God of | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| אַ֠תֶּם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| שׂ֣וֹם | som | really <set> | H7760 → | 584 times |
| תְּשִׂמ֤וּן | tesimun | you will set ! | H7760 → | 584 times |
| פְּנֵיכֶם֙ | peneikhem | faces your | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| לָבֹ֣א | lavo' | to go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| מִצְרַ֔יִם | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
| וּבָאתֶ֖ם | uvatem | and you will go | H935 → | 2568 times |
| לָג֥וּר | lagur | to sojourn | H1481 → | 97 times |
| שָֽׁם׃ | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
וְעַתָּ֕הand now
veatahH6258 →433 times
לָכֵ֛ן<to> therefore
lakhenH3651 →771 times
שִׁמְע֥וּhear
shimuH8085 →1159 times
דְבַר־[the] word of
devar-H1697 →1440 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
שְׁאֵרִ֣יתO remnant of
sheeritH7611 →66 times
יְהוּדָ֑הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
כֹּֽה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַר֩he says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֨הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
צְבָא֜וֹתof hosts
tzevaotH6635 →485 times
אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of
ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אִם־if
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
אַ֠תֶּםyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
שׂ֣וֹםreally <set>
somH7760 →584 times
תְּשִׂמ֤וּןyou will set !
tesimunH7760 →584 times
פְּנֵיכֶם֙faces your
peneikhemH6440 →2123 times
לָבֹ֣אto go
lavo'H935 →2568 times
מִצְרַ֔יִםEgypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
וּבָאתֶ֖םand you will go
uvatemH935 →2568 times
לָג֥וּרto sojourn
lagurH1481 →97 times
שָֽׁם׃there
shamH8033 →834 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 17:16But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way…
it leads to
- Isaiah 31:1–3
Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy…
- Ezekiel 17:15
But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break…
- Deuteronomy 28:68
The LORD will return you to Egypt in ships by a route that I said you should never see again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but…
- Psalms 20:7
Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- Hosea 11:5
Will they not return to the land of Egypt and be ruled by Assyria because they refused to repent?
- Isaiah 31:1–3
Through
Luke 9:51As the day of His ascension approached, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
it leads to
- Luke 18:31
Then Jesus took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything the prophets have written about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
- Isaiah 50:5–9
The Lord GOD has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious, nor have I turned back.
- Mark 16:19
After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
- Luke 18:31
About Jeremiah

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJudahJacob's fourth son who pledges himself for Benjamin; the tribe that carries the scepter to Shiloh (49:10) and the line to Christ (…
- PlaceThe NileEgyptThe land where Joseph rose, where Israel grew into a nation in bondage, where the Passover lamb was slain and the sea opened, and…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
