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.’
Parallel Translations
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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.’
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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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For ye have dealt deceitfully against your own souls; for 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;
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 42:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 16:38 even the censers of those who sinned against their own lives. Let them be beaten into plates for a covering of the altar, for they offered them before Yahweh. Therefore they are holy. They shall be a sign to the children of Israel.”
- Psalms 18:44 As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me. The foreigners shall submit themselves to me.
- Psalms 65:3 Sins overwhelmed me, but you atoned for our transgressions.
- Jeremiah 3:10 Yet for all this her treacherous sister, Judah, has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense,” says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 17:10 “I, Yahweh, search the mind. I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
- Jeremiah 42:2 and said to Jeremiah the prophet, “Please let our supplication be presented before you, and pray for us to Yahweh your God, even for all this remnant; for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes see us;
- Ezekiel 14:3-4 “Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face. Should I be inquired of at all by them? Therefore speak to them, and tell them, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Every man of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I Yahweh will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols;
- Ezekiel 33:31 They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
- Matthew 22:15-18 Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk. They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter whom you teach, for you aren’t partial to anyone. Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test me, you hypocrites?
- Matthew 22:35 One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him.
- Galatians 6:7 Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
- James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain He now adds another circumstance, that they had sent…
He now adds another circumstance, that they had sent him under the pretense of rare piety, as though they were in every way ready to render obedience to God. But he first says that they had deceived themselves, or had been deceived. The verb תעה, toe, from which the Hithpael comes, means to err or go astray. But interpreters do not agree; for some give this explanation, that they deceived the Prophet in their hearts, that is, that they craftily retained their perverse design of going to Egypt, and at the same time professed that they were ready to obey. But as the Prophet’s name is not mentioned here, this explanation seems unnatural. I therefore prefer the other explanation, that they deceived themselves; and ב, beth, is here redundant, as in many places: Ye deceived, then, your own souls, when ye sent me, he says, to Jehovah The Prophet intimates that when they sought to act craftily they were deceived; for God is wont to discover the astute, and when they devise this or that, they only weave snares and toils for themselves; and we see that craftiness ever brings the ungodly to ruin. The Prophet, according to this sense, derides that perverse affectation of astuteness, when the ungodly seek to deceive God; and he says that they deceived themselves, as we see also daily. Then he says that they themselves had been the authors of the evil, for they had brought themselves to ruin by their astute and crafty counsel, when they sent him to Jehovah. The כי, ki, is to be taken here as an adverb of time, When ye sent me to Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us.
He reproves them not only for perfidy, but also for sacrilege, because they wickedly profaned the name of God. For it. was not to be endured that they should pretend a regard for religion, and testify that they would be obedient to God, and should at the same time cherish in their hearts that perverse intention which afterwards they discovered. And hence he not only relates that he had been sent, but that he had also been solicited to intercede for them. It was then a twofold sacrilege, for they had asked what would please God, and afterwards disregarded the prophecy, — and then they offered a prayer, and when God gave them an answer by his servant., they counted it as nothing! We now perceive why Jeremiah so expressly mentioned these two things.
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Pray for us to our God, and according to all which Jehovah our God shall say, relate thou to us: the people seemed to act with wonderful sincerity; they exhorted the Prophet to dissemble nothing, to add nothing and to diminish nothing’. What better can be wished than that men should lay aside all ambiguity and all evasions, and not wish God’s words to be corrupted? And this the Jews expressed in high terms, Whatever Jehovah our God shall answer, declare thou to us Here they seemed to have more zeal than Jeremiah himself; for they enjoined a law, that he should add nothing and diminish nothing, but that he should be a faithful interpreter of God’s will. They seemed then to be half-angels. They afterwards testified that they would do whatever God should command them.
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 For ye were fully minded to go into Egypt,…
For ye were fully minded to go into Egypt, whatsoever God spake to the contrary.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 42:20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when…
Jer 42:20 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].
Ver. 20. For ye dissembled in your hearts.] Heb., Ye seduced in your souls or in your minds. The Vulgate hath it, You deceived your souls, and not God, by playing fast and loose with him, by dealing with him ac si puer esset, scurra, vel morio, and if he sould be a boy, a baffoon or an idiot.
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 Ye dissembled in your hearts; or, you have used…
Ye dissembled in your hearts; or, you have used deceit, either towards God, dealing falsely with him, calling him to be a witness to your sincerity in what you never intended any sincerity in; or towards me, sending me to inquire of God for you, and promising to do according to what I should reveal to you from God as his will, whenas you never intended it; or towards your own souls, as every sinner doth but deceive his own soul: you made a pretence of what was not in your hearts, when you sent me to pray God’s direction for you, and made me such a firm promise to do whatsoever I should reveal to you from God as his will in this case.
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 And now I have this day declared it unto…
And now I have this day declared it unto you,.... The whole will of God, and had not kept back anything from them:
but ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God; or, "ye will not obey" (c); the prophet knew they would not obey the command of the Lord not to go into Egypt, either by his conversation with them during the ten days the answer of the Lord was deferred, by which he plainly saw they were determined to go into Egypt; or by their countenances and behaviour, while he was delivering the Lord's message to them; by what he observed in them, he knew what was said was not agreeable to them, and that their mind was to go into Egypt: or he had this, as others think, by divine revelation; though without that he knew the cast of this people, and what a rebellious and disobedient people they were, and had been, never obeying the voice of the Lord:
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nor any thing for which he hath sent me unto you: not anyone particular thing respecting this present affair; nor indeed any of his prophecies had they regarded, with which he had been sent to them before.
(c) "et tamen non vultis parere", Vatablus.
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 Verse 20. For ye dissembled in your hearts] What…
Verse 20. 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 practise 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!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 42:20-22. For ye dissembled in your hearts —…
Jer 42:20-22. For ye dissembled in your hearts — Hebrew, התעתום, have used deceit. They acted deceitfully, either toward God, calling him to bear witness to their sincerity in a matter in which they were not sincere; or toward the prophet, sending him to inquire of God for them, and promising to act according as God should direct, when they never intended it; or, toward their own souls, as the margin reads it. Thus Blaney, Surely ye have practised deceit against your own souls, following the Masoretic reading of the margin, confirmed by twenty-two MSS. and five editions. The LXX. read οτι επονηρευσασθε εν ψυχαις υμων; for you have acted wickedly in your souls, and the Vulgate, because you have deceived your souls. Now I have this day declared it to you — I went, according to your desire, to inquire of God for you; he revealed his will to me respecting you, and now I have as faithfully told you what it is. But ye have not obeyed, &c. — Or, will not obey. If it be asked how Jeremiah knew they would not obey God’s will in this instance, inasmuch as they had not yet declared their minds to him, it must be answered, God had made their intentions known to him. Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, &c. — You think to avoid death by going to Egypt to sojourn for a little time, but you shall perish there, and that by those very deaths which, by going thither, you seek to avoid. Observe, reader, we must expect disappointment, misery, and ruin to follow actions done in disobedience to the revealed will of God.
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 Ye dissembled in your hearts - Or, “ye have…
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.
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 Deceived. Septuagint, "done ill in your souls." Your intention…
Deceived. Septuagint, "done ill in your souls." Your intention was bad. You thought that I should speak conformably to your wishes. (Calmet) --- He saw by the prophetic light, or by their deportment, that they were bent on going. (Haydock) --- They were doubly guilty in neither observing their promise nor obeying God’s decree. (Worthington)
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 dissembled in your hearts--rather, "ye have used deceit against…
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 (Gal 6:7) [CALVIN]. But the words following accord best with English Version, ye have dissembled in your hearts (see on Jer 42:3) towards me, when ye sent me to consult God for you.
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 20. Ye dissembled, etc. — The marginal reading is…
20. Ye dissembled, etc. — The marginal reading is better: ye have used deceit against your souls. That is, your self-delusion is against your own souls.
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 20. have dealt deceitfully against your own souls] i.e.…
20. have dealt deceitfully against your own souls] i.e. selves or lives; mg. (less well) in your souls. It is best (with slight modification of the MT.) to render with LXX “ye have done evil against,” etc.
Jer_43:1-7. See introd. summary to the section.
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 (20) For ye dissembled in your hearts . .…
(20) For ye dissembled in your hearts . . .—Looks and whispers betrayed, we may believe, the feelings of the prophet’s hearers. He saw by such outward signs, or he read, as by the intuition of inspiration, the secret counsels of their hearts (1Co_14:24-25), that they had made a false profession of their readiness to obey, and really meant all along to act as they liked, with the prophet’s approval, if they could get it; if not, without. Hypocrisy such as this could not fail to draw down a righteous punishment.
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 For ye dissembled in your hearts; rather, for ye…
For ye dissembled in your hearts; rather, for ye have gone astray (from the right path) at the risk of your lives; or, another possible rendering, for ye hate led yourselves astray. Hypocrisy is certainly not the accusation which Jeremiah brings against the people.
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 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 we will carry it out
we will carry it out
This is an idiom. AT: "we will do it" (See: Idiom)
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you have not listened
"you have not paid attention"
to the voice of Yahweh your God
Here "voice" represents what Yahweh commanded. AT: "to what Yahweh your God commanded" (See: Metonymy)
now
The word "now" does not mean "at this moment," but is used to draw attention to the important point that follows.
you will die by sword
Here "sword" represents war. AT: "you will die in warfare" (See: Metonymy)
in the place where you desired to go to live
They desired to live in Egypt. This can be stated explicitly. AT: "in Egypt, where you thought you would be safe" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
send
pray
report
voice
know
sword
famine
plague
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.