Jeremiah 42:6
in Jeremiah 42Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us, for we will obey the voice of the LORD our God!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.
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This verse in Jeremiah 42
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
all the people from the least to the greatest
on Jeremiah 42:1-6
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.”
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Nothing could be better than this was: Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, that it may be well with us.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:85%@v4-6
Whether it be good, or whether it be evil,....
The message at large which God sent them, in answer to their enquiry, in which, 1. They are commanded and encouraged to continue in the land of Judah, and assured that if they did so it should be well with them,
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אִם־ | ʾim- | whether | H518 → | 1069 times |
| ט֣וֹב | tov | good | H2896 → | 538 times |
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and or | H518 → | 1069 times |
| רָ֔ע | ra' | bad | H7451 → | 662 times |
| בְּק֣וֹל׀ | bekol | to [the] voice of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֲנַ֜חְנוּ | ʾanu | we | H587 → | 120 times |
| שֹׁלְחִ֥ים | sholechim | [are] sending | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֹתְךָ֛ | ʾotekha | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֵלָ֖יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| נִשְׁמָ֑ע | nishma' | we will listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| לְמַ֙עַן֙ | lemaan | so that | H4616 → | 272 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | this | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִֽיטַב־ | yitav- | it may go well | H3190 → | 117 times |
| לָ֔נוּ | lanu | for <the> us | ||
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| נִשְׁמַ֔ע | nishma' | we will listen | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| בְּק֖וֹל | bekol | to [the] voice of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃ ס | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
אִם־whether
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
ט֣וֹבgood
tovH2896 →538 times
וְאִם־and or
veim-H518 →1069 times
רָ֔עbad
ra'H7451 →662 times
בְּק֣וֹל׀to [the] voice of
bekolH6963 →506 times
יְהוָ֣הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּGod our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֲנַ֜חְנוּwe
ʾanuH587 →120 times
שֹׁלְחִ֥ים[are] sending
sholechimH7971 →845 times
אֹתְךָ֛<obj.> you
ʾotekhaH853 →10935 times
אֵלָ֖יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
נִשְׁמָ֑עwe will listen
nishma'H8085 →1159 times
לְמַ֙עַן֙so that
lemaanH4616 →272 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רthis
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יִֽיטַב־it may go well
yitav-H3190 →117 times
לָ֔נוּfor <the> us
lanu
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
נִשְׁמַ֔עwe will listen
nishma'H8085 →1159 times
בְּק֖וֹלto [the] voice of
bekolH6963 →506 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃ סGod our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 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
Romans 8:7because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- 1 John 2:15–16
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- James 4:4
You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.
- 1 Corinthians 2:14
Through
Jeremiah 7:23but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that…
it leads to
- Exodus 15:26
saying, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His eyes, and pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, then…
- Deuteronomy 5:33
You must walk in all the ways that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
- Exodus 19:5–6
Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.
- Exodus 15:26
Through
Deuteronomy 5:33You must walk in all the ways that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 7:23
but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that…
- Jeremiah 7:23
Through
Deuteronomy 5:29If only they had such a heart to fear Me and keep all My commandments always, so that it might be well with them and with their children forever.
it leads to
- Isaiah 48:18
If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.
- Isaiah 48:18
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.