Jeremiah 42:20
in Jeremiah 42For you have deceived yourselves by sending me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray to the LORD our God on our behalf, and as for all that the LORD our God says, tell it to us and we will do it.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
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This verse in Jeremiah 42
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Know for sure that I have warned you today!
on Jeremiah 42:19-22
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.”
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
But it should seem as if they knew not that a prophet was among them. Though this people were as brands plucked out of the fire, yet have they not returned to the Lord. This people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; and contempt of God and his providence, God and his prophets, is still the sin that most easily besets them.
(3.) He is already aware that they are determined to go contrary to the command of God; probably they discovered it in their countenance and secret mutterings already, before he had finished his discourse.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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].
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
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!
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
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.
The words behind it
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִתְעֵיתֶם֮ | hiteteim | you caused to err | H8582 → | 50 times |
| בְּנַפְשֽׁוֹתֵיכֶם֒ | benafshoteikhem | <in> selves your | H5315 → | 754 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אַתֶּ֞ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| שְׁלַחְתֶּ֣ם | shelachtem | you sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֹתִ֗י | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ | ʾeloheikhem | God your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הִתְפַּלֵּ֣ל | hitpalel | pray | H6419 → | 84 times |
| בַּעֲדֵ֔נוּ | baadenu | for us | H1157 → | 105 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
| וּכְכֹל֩ | ukhekhol | and according to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יֹאמַ֜ר | yomar | he will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֧ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהֵ֛ינוּ | ʾeloheinu | God our | H430 → | 2601 times |
| כֵּ֥ן | ken | so | H3651 → | 771 times |
| הַגֶּד־ | haged- | tell | H5046 → | 370 times |
| לָ֖נוּ | lanu | to <the> us | ||
| וְעָשִֽׂינוּ׃ | veasinu | and we will do [it] | H6213 → | 2628 times |
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
הִתְעֵיתֶם֮you caused to err
hiteteimH8582 →50 times
בְּנַפְשֽׁוֹתֵיכֶם֒<in> selves your
benafshoteikhemH5315 →754 times
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אַתֶּ֞םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
שְׁלַחְתֶּ֣םyou sent
shelachtemH7971 →845 times
אֹתִ֗י<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֤הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙God your
ʾeloheikhemH430 →2601 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
הִתְפַּלֵּ֣לpray
hitpalelH6419 →84 times
בַּעֲדֵ֔נוּfor us
baadenuH1157 →105 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּGod our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times
וּכְכֹל֩and according to all
ukhekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֨רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יֹאמַ֜רhe will say
yomarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֧הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהֵ֛ינוּGod our
ʾeloheinuH430 →2601 times
כֵּ֥ןso
kenH3651 →771 times
הַגֶּד־tell
haged-H5046 →370 times
לָ֖נוּto <the> us
lanu
וְעָשִֽׂינוּ׃and we will do [it]
veasinuH6213 →2628 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
James 1:22Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
it leads to
- Romans 2:13
For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the law who will be declared righteous.
- Luke 6:46–48
Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say?
- John 13:17
If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
- James 4:17
Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.
- Romans 2:13
Through
Galatians 6:7Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 9:6
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
- Hosea 10:12
Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
- Job 4:8
As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
- Romans 2:6–10
God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”
- 2 Corinthians 9:6
About Jeremiah
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.