“ ‘But if you say, “We will not dwell in this land;” so that you don’t obey Yahweh your God’s voice, saying, “No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:” ’ now therefore hear Yahweh’s word, O remnant of Judah: Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says, ‘If you indeed set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to live there; then it will happen that the sword, which you fear, will overtake you there in the land of Egypt; and the famine, about which you are afraid, will follow close behind you there in Egypt; and you will die there. So will it be with all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there. They will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. None of them will remain or escape from the evil that I will bring on them.’ For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘As my anger and my wrath has been poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you, when you enter into Egypt; and you will be an object of horror, an astonishment, a curse, and a reproach; and you will see this place no more.’
“Yahweh has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, ‘Don’t go into Egypt!’ Know certainly that I have testified to you today. For you have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for you sent me to Yahweh your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to Yahweh our God; and according to all that Yahweh our God says, so declare to us, and we will do it.’ I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed Yahweh your God’s voice in anything for which he has sent me to you. Now therefore know certainly that you will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live there.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 God having promised, that the counsel he gave to…
God having promised, that the counsel he gave to the Jews would be good and safe, now, on the other hand, threatens them, that if they disobeyed, everything they would attempt would end miserably. They had not expressly asked whether it would be for their good to go into Egypt, or whether it would be pleasing to God; but God, who penetrates into all hidden purposes, anticipated them, and declared that their going would be unhappy, if they fled into Egypt. We hence see how the Prophet, or rather God himself, who spoke by his servant, tried by all means to keep them in the way of duty.
He then says, If ye say, We shall not dwell in this land, it shall be ill with you, he says: but before he denounced punishment, he shewed that they deserved to be destroyed, if they went to Egypt; for had the thing been in itself lawful, yet to attempt such a thing against the express will of God was, as we know, an impious and a diabolical presumption and rashness. God had forbidden them specifically in his Law ever to set their hearts on Egypt, (Deuteronomy 17:16;) and he had often confirmed the same thing by his Prophets, (Isaiah 30:2; Isaiah 31:1;) and now again he seals the former prophecies, as he expressly forbids them to go to Egypt. The Prophet then sets this crime before their eyes: “If ye flee into Egypt, what is it that compels you? even because ye will not obey God.” There is then great weight in these words, Nor obey the voice of Jehovah your God; as though he had said, that they could not think of Egypt, except they designedly, as it were, rejected the authority of God, and resisted his counsel.
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 On vv16, 18, 20, 22 Thus God turneth the policy of the wicked to…
Thus God turneth the policy of the wicked to their own destruction: for they thought themselves sure in Egypt, and there Nebuchadnezzar destroyed them and the Egyptians, Jer. 46:25.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–22 Jer 42:13 But if ye say, We will not…
Jer 42:13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
Ver. 13. But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land.] Because more barren than Egypt, and besides beset with many and mighty enemies
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Neither obey the voice of the Lord your God.] Which you ought to do, whatever come of it, since rebellion is as witchcraft. {1Sa 15:22-23}
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 On vv13–22 Our translation a little darkens the sense, translating the…
Our translation a little darkens the sense, translating the Hebrew particle בלתי
neither, which signifies no more than not, or by no means, Num 14:16; 1Sa 2:2; 20:26; Hos 13:4; and it is certain here is but one thing spoken of, for the thing wherein they disobeyed the voice of the Lord was not continuing in their own land, but going into the land of Egypt.
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 On vv13–21 Saying, no, but we will go into the land…
Saying, no, but we will go into the land of Egypt,.... It was all one as if they had said, no, we will not obey the voice of the Lord to continue in our own land; we are determined to go into Egypt, induced by the following reasons:
where we shall see no war; either internal, or with a foreign enemy; as both of late in their own land, and which they feared would be again; but promised themselves exemption from both in the land of Egypt, and therefore coveted to dwell there:
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nor hear the sound of the trumpet; neither hear of wars nor rumours of wars; not the sound of the trumpet in the armies of the enemy, or among themselves, to gather together and prepare for battle; or, as Jarchi thinks, the sound of the trumpet blown by the watchman, giving notice to the people of the approach of an enemy:
nor have hunger of bread; as they had had while Judea was invaded and Jerusalem besieged, and a foreign army in the land; and though they had no reason to fear this now, yet they thought they should be more out of the danger of it in Egypt, a fruitful country, overflowed by the Nile:
and there will we dwell; in peace, prosperity, and safety: this was their resolution, to go and abide there; and this their confidence, that such would be their happy state.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22 Verse 15. If ye - set your faces to…
Verse 15. If ye - set your faces to enter into Egypt, &c.] Every evil that ye dreaded by staying in your own land shall come upon you in Egypt.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv13, 19, 20 Jer 42:13-18. But if ye say, We will not…
Jer 42:13-18. But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey — Hebrew, לבלתי שׁמע, so as not to obey. If they did not continue in their own land, they disobeyed the voice of the Lord. Saying, No; we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, &c. — Their great sin was unbelief: they would not take the promise of God as a security to them for a quiet and peaceable abode, and a supply of all their wants, in Judea: but they resolved to go into Egypt, where they expected to have a greater certainty of peace and plenty. Therefore the Lord declares by his prophet, that the evils which they feared in Canaan should overtake them with double violence in Egypt, namely, both the sword and famine, by which they should die, and that they should be an execration and an astonishment: a curse and a reproach: (Jer 42:18,) as God had threatened to make the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Jer 24:9; Jer 29:18, where see the notes. And ye shall see this place no more — And in this, saith God, will I deal worse with you than with those who were carried captive to Babylon; many of them shall return, after the time fixed for the duration of their captivity is expired, but you shall return into this land no more. There was this aggravation in the sin of those Jews to whom God was now speaking by his prophet, that they had lately seen his words, by the same prophet, fully verified; yet would not take warning, but ran into the same sin of unbelief.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv14, 16, 18, 19, 20 Egypt had lost the battle of Carchemish, but it…
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.
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 On vv15, 17, 18, 20 Faces; obstinately, ver. 17., and chap. xliv. 12.
Faces; obstinately, ver. 17., and chap. xliv. 12.
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 On vv13–22 if ye say, &c.--avowed rebellion against God, who had…
if ye say, &c.--avowed rebellion against God, who had often (Deu 17:16), as now, forbidden their going to Egypt, lest they should be entangled in its idolatry.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14, 16, 17, 19, 20 JEREMIAH’S ANSWER, (B) DESTRUCTION IN EGYPT, Jer_42:13-18.
JEREMIAH’S ANSWER, (B) DESTRUCTION IN EGYPT, Jer_42:13-18.
14. Egypt,… no war — A natural thought for the reason that in the recent troublous times the land of Egypt had been in a state of tranquillity. Egypt had indeed been defeated at Carchemish, but no battle had been fought on her own soil.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14, 19, 20 14. we shall see no war] We shall be…
14. we shall see no war] We shall be in a land further from Babylon, and therefore not so liable to invasion.
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 On vv14, 17, 20 (14) No; but we will go into the land…
(14) No; but we will go into the land of Egypt.—The thoughts that were in the hearts of the applicants are stated with dramatic vividness. Egypt, then under Apries (the Pharaoh-hophra of Jer_44:30), seemed to them so safe and peaceful. As of old, it was still the granary of the East, and its plenteous harvests formed a bright contrast to the famine which they had experienced during the invasion of the Chaldæans. Jeremiah, however, has simply to reject the plan, as from first to last he had resisted altogether the thought of an Egyptian alliance (Jer_2:36; Jer_37:7): there would be no safety nor peace nor plenty found in acting on it. Ezekiel’s prophecies as to Egypt and her king were in this respect in harmony with Jeremiah’s (Eze_17:11-18; Ezekiel 29-32), and were, as nearly as possible, contemporary with them.
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 On vv13, 15, 16, 19, 20 Vers. 13-18. A land to be avoided.
Vers. 13-18. A land to be avoided.
How solemn and urgent this warning! Let us ask why it was needed, why God seemed thus to cast doubt on the power of the people to obey him.
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I THE PERILOUS LAND WAS NEAR. They were right in the way to Egypt, having, indeed, moved Egyptwards rather than in any other direction. (Jer_41:17)
II IT HAD OBVIOUS ATTRACTIONS.
1. It seemed to be a land of peace. Egypt had been locked to as a friend and ally. The desolation of Jerusalem had come from the north. When people have been going through a time of war and siege, peace is naturally the blessing put in front of their thoughts. And is not this a good thing, it may be asked? Yes, surely, if peace be desired on high grounds, and from a horror of discord among men. But men may seek it simply to escape from disturbance and from loss of life and property. Their seeking of peace may be a sign of cowardice and altogether groveling aims. Danger may be escaped by the outer man, only to be concentrated more effectually on the man within.
2. It would be a land of bread. Another recommendation of a land which it was unquestionably right, for men to attend to. Egypt was one of the great granaries of the ancient world. But it did not therefore follow that it was a land to live in. Israelites, in particular, needed to recollect how their fathers, beginning by going to Egypt for bread, ended by sinking into most oppressive bondage. Besides, even the land of bread was at times a land of famine.
3. It consequently looked a land to dwell in. God is the God of his people only when they are in their proper place. He was God of the exiles in Babylon, because their going into Babylon was of his operation. But those who went to Egypt in search of mere immunity from toil and inglorious ease could not expect to have the Divine favour. They wanted to get the great ends of life without discipline, sacrifice, and endurance.
III THE VAIN PURPOSE TO ESCAPE FROM EVIL. God tries to make the people understand that they take the germs and principles of evil with them. What we find in any place depends on what we bring; and what we bring we must, in process of time, inevitably find. What had there been to hinder the land of Israel from being a land of peace and a land of bread? Nothing but the faithlessness and general wickedness of the people. We cannot sow wickedness in one place, and then hope to go and reap only good things in some other place. God can turn any place, however fruitful, into a wilderness; and, on the other hand, we know how Jesus made a wilderness a place to feed five thousand men. Jehovah spoke with all this severity to these people to make them understand how hard a thing real obedience was. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent…
Jer_42:20
For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, Pray for us.
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The hypocrisy of desiring the prayers of others without a suitable conduct
I. Consider on what principles desiring the prayers of others is grounded. They are these; that it is our duty to pray for one another; that God hath often shown a gracious regard to the intercessions of His servants for others; and that it is very desirable, especially in some particular cases, to have an interest in them.
II. When they who desire the prayers of others may be said to dissemble in their hearts. They do so when they desire them without sincerity; when they will not pray for themselves; when they will not use proper means to obtain the blessings they desire; and especially when they will not do what God by His Word and ministers requireth.
III. The hypocrisy and evil of this conduct. It is an affront to the all-seeing and holy God; it is likewise deceiving their friends; and prayers offered for such persons are not likely to be of much avail. Application--
1. We may hence learn, with what dispositions of mind we should desire the prayers of others. Whenever we ask the intercessions of others, let it be in sincerity; with a firm persuasion of the power of prayer; that it is not in vain to seek God; and that it is our duty to engage the assistance of our friends, by their application to the throne of grace. Be solicitous that you concur with them by praying yourselves without ceasing in the best manner you are able; and with your chief dependence for acceptance, not on your own prayers, nor those of your friends, but the mediation of Jesus Christ.
2. That we should be ready to pray one for another. Whenever we think of an absent relation or friend, or hear of him, or receive a letter from him, let us lift up our hearts to God for him in a short petition, as his circumstances may require. But we should be particularly mindful of those who desire our prayers.
3. It is peculiarly wicked to dissemble in our hearts, when we profess dependence on the intercession of Christ. (Job Orion, D. D.)
Dissembling with God
I. Consider, what was that great and general duty, against which the Jews, on the occasion before us, rebelled. Ye disembled, said Jeremiah, in your hearts. Dissimulation, like other sins, admits of degrees. The heart may dissemble radically and entirely, so as to be wholly hypocritical; so as not to feel any portion of that love to God, of that faith, of that gratitude, of that sense of duty, of that purpose of obedience which the tongue expresses. Or it may dissemble partially; feeling weakly and insufficiently those sentiments towards Him, which dwell with parade and seeming warmth upon the lips. The doom which awaits the complete hypocrite, cannot be doubted. Let the partial hypocrite beware, lest he at last come to the same place of torment.
II. Consider, each for himself, how strong is the probability that you may be guilty, in a greater or a less degree, of dissembling in your heart before God. We have in our hands the Word of God, which describes the character of a true Christian. We have before our eyes the practice of the world. When we compare them, we cannot but perceive how vast is the number of professed Christians who evince little of the spirit of true Christianity in their principles and conduct: and therefore stand self-convicted as dissemblers in their hearts before the Most High. When you call to remembrance the multitudes even among those who styled themselves the followers of God, which in ancient times the sinfulness and deceitfulness of the heart betrayed into hypocrisy: when you survey the multitudes of His professed followers, which in this your day the same sinfulness and deceitfulness render hypocritical before Him: have you not reason for serious dread that you may yourself be found a dissembler in His sight?
III. A scriptural rule, which may assist you in discovering whether, if the Son of God were now to call you to judgment, you would be found dissemblers in your hearts. Where your treasure is, saith our Lord, there will your heart be also. In other words, Whatever be the object which you judge and feel to be the most valuable; concerning that object will your heart snow itself to be the most steadily and the most deeply interested. Apply this rule to yourself. Thus you may discover with absolute certainty whether your heart is fixed upon God, or whether it dissembles before Him.
1. Compare the pains which you employ, the vigilance which you exercise, the anxiety which you feel, concerning worldly objects, on the one hand; on the other, concerning religion.
2. When you receive a kindness from a friend, you feel, I presume, warm and durable emotions of gratitude, and an earnest desire to render to your benefactor such a return, in proportion to your ability, as may be acceptable to him. You are receiving every day from God blessings infinitely superior to all the kindnessess which can be conferred upon you by any of your fellow-creatures. Do you feel then still more lively and durable emotions of gratitude to Him?
3. Your worldly prosperity is an object which you pursue with industry and solicitude. Are you still more diligent, more anxious, in pursuing the welfare of your soul?
4. You have various occupations to which you resort, as opportunities offer themselves, from inclination and choice. Among these is religion to be found? Does religion stand at the head of them?
5. When you are informed of the events which befall another person, you rejoice, if they are such as promote his worldly advantage; you lament, if they impair it. Do you experience greater joy when you are assured of his advancement in religion? Do you experience greater sorrow if you learn that he has gone backward in the ways of righteousness? (T. Gisborne, M. A.)
Insincerity in prayer
Rarely do men come to Christ, says Leighton, as blank paper--ut tabula rasa--to receive His doctrine; but, on the contrary, all scribbled and blurred with such base habits as malice, hypocrisy, and envy.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13, 15, 18, 20 if you do not listen to my voice, the…
if you do not listen to my voice, the voice of Yahweh your God
Here "voice" represents a command. To not obey is like the people did not hear Yahweh's command. AT: "if you do not obey my commands, even though I am Yahweh, your God" (See: Metonymy)
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where we will not see any war, where we will not hear the sound of the trumpet
Both of these phrases describe being at war by the ability to see or hear it. AT: "where we will not experience the hardships of war" (See: Parallelism)
we will not go hungry for food
Being hungry for food is used to describe famine. (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
voice
Egypt
trumpet
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13, 21 42:13-22 Jeremiah had already prophesied Egypt’s destiny; it would…
42:13-22 Jeremiah had already prophesied Egypt’s destiny; it would be destroyed by the Babylonians (46:2-26). This remnant of Judah would walk into the path of the Lord’s judgment if they continued on to Egypt.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.