1Then all the commanders of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, came near, 2and they said to Jeremiah the prophet, Please let us prostrate our supplication to you, and intercede for us to Jehovah your God, even for all this remnant, (for we are left but a few of many, as your eyes behold us), 3that Jehovah your God may show us the way in which we should walk, and the thing that we should do. 4And Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard. Behold, I will pray to Jehovah your God according to your words; and it shall be that all the word Jehovah shall answer, I will declare it to you. I will keep nothing back from you. 5So they said to Jeremiah, Let Jehovah be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not do even according to all things which Jehovah your God shall send you to us. 6Whether it is good, or whether it is evil, we will obey the voice of Jehovah our God, to whom we send you; so that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of Jehovah our God. 7And it came to pass after ten days that the Word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah. 8And he called Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the commanders of the forces with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, 9and said to them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him: 10If you will still remain in this land, then I will build you and will not pull you down. And I will plant you and will not pluck you up. For I am sorry for you because of the evil that I have brought upon you. 11Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not be afraid of him, says Jehovah; for I am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12And I will show mercy upon you, so that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land. 13But if you say, We will not dwell in this land, nor obey the voice of Jehovah your God, 14saying, No, but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the shofar, nor hunger for bread; and there we will dwell; 15then now hear the Word of Jehovah, O remnant of Judah. Thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you decide to set your faces to go into Egypt, and go to live there, 16then it shall happen that the sword which you feared shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt. And the famine about which you were anxious shall cling to you there in Egypt; and you shall die there. 17So shall it be to all the men who set their faces to go into Egypt to live there. They shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. And none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them. 18For thus says Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel: As My anger and My fury have been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so shall My fury be poured forth upon you when you shall enter into Egypt. And you shall be a curse, and a wonder, and a shame, and a reproach; and you shall see this place no more. 19Jehovah has said concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Do not go into Egypt. Recognize and acknowledge that I have testified against you this day. 20For you used deceit in your hearts when you sent me to Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us to Jehovah our God; and according to all that Jehovah our God shall say, declare it to us, and we will do it. 21And I have declared it to you today; but you have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah your God, nor anything for which He has sent me unto you. 22Now therefore know and recognize that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, in the place where you desire to go to live.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 2 THE JEWS AND JOHANAN INQUIRE OF GOD, THROUGH JEREMIAH, AS TO GOING TO EGYPT, PROMISING OBEDIENCE TO HIS WILL. THEIR SAFETY ON CONDITION OF STAYING IN JUDEA, AND THEIR DESTRUCTION IN THE EVENT OF GOING TO EGYPT, ARE FORETOLD. THEM HYPOCRISY IN ASKING FOR COUNSEL WHICH THEY MEANT NOT TO FOLLOW, IF CONTRARY TO THEIR OWN DETERMINATION, IS REPROVED. (Jer. 42:1-22)
Jeremiah--He probably was one of the number carried off from Mizpah, and dwelt with Johanan (
Jer 41:16). Hence the expression is, "came near" (
Jer 42:1), not "sent."
Let . . . supplication be accepted--literally, "fall" (see on
Jer 36:7;
Jer 37:20).
pray for us-- (
Gen 20:7;
Isa 37:4;
Jas 5:16).
thy God-- (
Jer 42:5). The Jews use this form to express their belief in the peculiar relation in which Jeremiah stood to God as His accredited prophet. Jeremiah in his reply reminds them that God is their God ("your God") as well as his as being the covenant people (
Jer 42:4). They in turn acknowledge this in
Jer 42:6, "the Lord our God."
few of many--as had been foretold (
Lev 26:22).
3 They consulted God, like many, not so much to know what was right, as wishing Him to authorize what they had already determined on, whether agreeable to His will or not. So Ahab in consulting Micaiah (
1Kgs 22:13). Compare Jeremiah's answer (
Jer 42:4) with Micaiah's (
1Kgs 22:14).
4 I have heard--that is, I accede to your request.
your God--Being His by adoption, ye are not your own, and are bound to whatever He wills (
Exod 19:5-
Exod 19:6;
1Cor 6:19-20).
answer you--that is, through me.
keep nothing back-- (
1Sam 3:18;
Acts 20:20).
5 Lord be a true . . . witness-- (
Gen 31:50;
Ps 89:37;
Rev 1:5;
Rev 3:14;
Rev 19:11).
6 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 (
1Sam 15:3,
1Sam 15:9,
1Sam 15:13-15,
1Sam 15:20-23).
7 ten days--Jeremiah did not speak of himself, but waited God's time and revelation, showing the reality of his inspiration. Man left to himself would have given an immediate response to the people, who were impatient of delay. The delay was designed to test the sincerity of their professed willingness to obey, and that they should have full time to deliberate (
Deut 8:2). True obedience bows to God's time, as well as His way and will.
10 If ye . . . abide--namely, under the Babylonian authority, to which God hath appointed that all should be subject (
Dan 2:37-
Dan 2:38). To resist was to resist God.
build . . . plant--metaphor for, I will firmly establish you (
Jer 24:6).
I repent . . . of the evil-- (
Jer 18:8;
Deut 32:36). I am satisfied with the punishment I have inflicted on you, if only you add not a new offense [GROTIUS]. God is said to "repent," when He alters His outward ways of dealing.
12 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.
13 if ye say, &c.--avowed rebellion against God, who had often (
Deut 17:16), as now, forbidden their going to Egypt, lest they should be entangled in its idolatry.
14 where we shall see no war--Here they betray their impiety in not believing God's promise (
Jer 42:10-
Jer 42:11), as if He were a liar (
1John 5:10).
15 wholly set your faces--firmly resolve (
Luke 9:51) in spite of all warnings (
Jer 44:12).
16 sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you--The very evils we think to escape by sin, we bring on ourselves thereby. What our hearts are most set on often proves fatal to us. Those who think to escape troubles by changing their place will find them wherever they go (
Ezek 11:8). The "sword" here is that of Nebuchadnezzar, who fulfilled the prediction in his expedition to Africa (according to MEGASTHENES, a heathen writer),300 B.C.
17 all the men--excepting the "small number" mentioned (
Jer 44:14,
Jer 44:28); namely, those who were forced into Egypt against their will, Jeremiah, Baruch, &c., and those who took Jeremiah's advice and fled from Egypt before the arrival of the Chaldeans.
18 As mine anger, &c.--As ye have already, to your sorrow, found Me true to My word, so shall ye again (
Jer 7:20;
Jer 18:16).
shall see this place no more--Ye shall not return to Judea, as those shall who have been removed to Babylon.
19 I have admonished--literally, "testified," that is, solemnly admonished, having yourselves as My witnesses; so that if ye perish, ye yourselves will have to confess that it was through your own fault, not through ignorance, ye perished.
20 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.
21 declared it--namely, the divine will.
I . . . but ye--antithesis. I have done my part; but ye do not yours. It is no fault of mine that ye act not rightly.
22 sojourn--for a time, until they could return to their country. They expected, therefore, to be restored, in spite of God's prediction to the contrary.