I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Parallel Translations
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I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you, and cause you to return to your own land.
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And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
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And I will grant you compassion, that he may have compassion upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Cross-references (3)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 42:12 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Nehemiah 1:11 Lord, I beg you, let your ear be attentive now to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants, who delight to fear your name; and please prosper your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cup bearer to the king.
- Psalms 106:45-46 He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses. He made them also to be pitied by all those who carried them captive.
- Proverbs 16:7 When a man’s ways please Yahweh, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He confirms the same thing in other words, I…
He confirms the same thing in other words, I will shew mercies to you Some explain this as meaning, that God would be merciful towards them; and I allow that this is the first reason why they ought to have entertained hope; but I doubt not but that the Prophet refers here to Nebuchadnezzar, as though he had said, “I will turn the heart of the king of Babylon to mercy, so that he will deal mercifully with you.” For God is said to shew mercies, when he forgives, and when he reconciles those who have sinned to himself; but he is said also to shew mercies, when he inclines the hearts of men to mercy. For this reason Jacob says,
“God will shew you mercies before the man.” (Genesis 43:14)
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But I abstain from other proofs on a point which ought to be well known.
The sum of what is said then is, that Nebuchadnezzar would be humane and merciful towards the Jews, because it was in God’s power to change his heart. For we know that God turns as he pleases the hearts of men; and he often changes wolves into sheep. The meaning then is, that though Nebuchadnezzar boiled with hatred towards the people, and was prepared wholly to destroy the remnant, there yet would be a remedy in God’s hand, for he could soften his hardness, pacify his wrath, and from a savage wild beast make him a father, merciful, as it were, towards his children.
Now this passage teaches us, that the hearts and purposes of men are governed by a power from above, so that enemies, even the worst, while they rage against us, are moved not only by their own feelings, but also by the hidden working of God, and according to his counsel, as he would have them thus to try our faith. For if God moderates those who boil with anger and wrath, and renders them placable to us; so also he lets loose the reins to those who rage against us, and not only so, but he also stirs them up, when his purpose is to punish us for our sins, according to the doctrine taught us everywhere in Scripture. So in Psalm 106, it is said that God turned the hearts of the heathens to hate his people. But here, on the other hand, God promises, that Nebuchadnezzar would be kind and humane, so as to spare the Jews, because he would control his heart, and shew them mercy by inclining the king to forgive the people.
This then ought to be carefully noticed; for when we see ourselves surrounded on every side by the ungodly whom Satan drives to madness, so that they seek no other thing than to tread us under their feet, especially when they have the power to destroy us, except we feel fully assured, that their hearts, feelings, and all their thoughts are in God’s hands, we must necessarily be wholly disheartened. Hence to mitigate all our fears, it avails us much to hear that men’s hearts are turned and ruled according to the will of God. It now follows, —
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, return.
Or, return.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 42:12 And I will shew mercies unto you,…
Jer 42:12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Ver. 12. And I will shew mercies unto you.] Tender mercies, such as proceed from the heart, and of a parent, nay, a mother. This was more than all the rest.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain We are beholden to God for all the pity…
We are beholden to God for all the pity and compassion which we meet with from men, God inclineth their hearts, though we receive the kindness from their hands. The mercy which God here promiseth these men is, that the king of Babylon should give them a liberty to go every one of them to their own inheritances, for at present they were banished by their own fear, from their own houses, though not from their own country.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But if ye say, we will not dwell in…
But if ye say, we will not dwell in this land,.... Or continue any longer in it, but go into Egypt:,
neither obey the voice of the Lord your God; or, "so as not to hearken to" or "obey", &c. (u); for they did not say in so many words that they would not obey the voice of the Lord; they had promised they would; but resolving, against his declared will, that they would not abide in the land, but go into Egypt, was interpretatively saying they would not obey his voice.
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(u) "ita ut non auscultetis", Piscator, Cocceius; "ut non obediatis", Pagninus, Schmidt; "ut non audiatis", so some in Vatablus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Or, I will give you compassion before (i. e.,…
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.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain And will. Hebrew, "and he will." The king will…
And will. Hebrew, "and he will." The king will take pity on you. --- Dwell. Septuagint, "return;" which is less correct.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain show mercies--rather, I will excite (in him) feelings of…
show mercies--rather, I will excite (in him) feelings of mercy towards you [CALVIN].
cause you to return--permit you to return to the peaceable enjoyment of the possessions from which you are wishing to withdraw through fear of the Chaldeans. By departing in disobedience they should incur the very evils they wished thereby to escape; and by staying they should gain the blessings which they feared to lose by doing so.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 12. cause you to return] better (seeing that they…
12. cause you to return] better (seeing that they were already there), with a difference of vocalisation only in the original, cause you to dwell in.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (12) And cause you to return to your own…
(12) And cause you to return to your own land.—The words admit of two interpretations—(1) that they should be carried away to Babylon, as others had been, and should afterwards return to their own country; (2) that they (the remnant who had been allowed by Nebuzaradan to remain to till the soil) should at once be allowed to return each man to his own field and vineyard. The latter is clearly more in harmony with the prophet’s aim and temper, and it was probably in his purpose to intercede with their conquerors to this effect. The thought of a far-off exile as impending over them in the nearer future would hardly have induced them to remain where they were.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain I will show mercies unto you; rather, I will…
I will show mercies unto you; rather, I will procure you mercy. And cause you to return to. As if the journey to Bethlehem were a virtual Exodus, But it is far more natural to read the consonants of the text in a slightly different manner, rendering, "and cause you to dwell in." So the Syriac, the Vulgate, and Aquila.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.