Jeremiah 42

Go Not into Egypt

The survivors of Judah ask Jeremiah to pray and promise to obey whatever the Lord says; when the answer is to stay, they go to Egypt anyway.

After the fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C. by the Bible Dictionary), soon after Gedaliah was murdered at Mizpah; the chapter gives no year Read with footnotes in Gospel Library

Background

Jerusalem has fallen. Nebuchadnezzar made Gedaliah governor over those left in Judah, and Jeremiah, freed from his chains, went to live with him at Mizpah (Jer. 40:5–6).

Jerusalem has fallen. Nebuchadnezzar made Gedaliah governor over those left in Judah, and Jeremiah, freed from his chains, went to live with him at Mizpah (Jer. 40:5–6). Then Ishmael, one of the royal family, murdered Gedaliah and carried off the people of Mizpah; Johanan and the other army captains fought him, took the captives back, and halted near Bethlehem, “to go to enter into Egypt, because of the Chaldeans” (Jer. 41:17–18). They were afraid Babylon would punish the whole remnant for the governor's death.

Chapter 42 opens at that halt. The captains and all the people ask Jeremiah to pray for guidance and swear to obey the answer. Ten days later the answer comes: stay, and the Lord will build and plant them; go to Egypt, and the sword and famine they fear will find them there. The Church's chapter heading puts it as “peace and safety if they remain in Judah, but the sword, famine, and pestilence if they go to Egypt.” Chapter 43 opens with the leaders calling this a lie, and they carry Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch down to Egypt.

The thread through the chapter

Jeremiah 42 is about the difference between asking for counsel and wanting it.

Jeremiah 42 is about the difference between asking for counsel and wanting it. The people do everything right on the surface: they come to a prophet, ask him to pray, call the Lord as witness, and promise to obey “whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” But they had already chosen Egypt (they were on their way, Jer. 41:17), and when the answer comes, they reject it. Verse 20 names what happened in their hearts: they “dissembled.”

The chapter's two halves are an offer and a warning, and both are about fear. The Lord tells them not to fear Babylon, because He is with them (verse 11). They fear it anyway, and go where they think there will be “no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread” (verse 14). The Lord's answer is that the very things they run from will overtake them in the place they run to (verse 16). A refuge chosen against the Lord's word is not a refuge.

Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.

Verses 1–6

The request and the promise

In plain words

The captains, including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, high and low, came to Jeremiah. “Please accept our plea and pray to the Lord your God for all of us who are left. We are only a few out of many, as you can see. Let the Lord show us where to go and what to do.” Jeremiah said, “I have heard you. I will pray to the Lord your God as you ask, and whatever He answers, I will tell you. I will hold nothing back.” They said, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not do everything He sends you to tell us. Whether we like it or not, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we send you, so that it will go well with us.”

1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,

Context #

Johanan and the captains

Johanan was a Judean army captain who came to Gedaliah at Mizpah when the king of Babylon made him governor (2 Kgs. 25:23).

Johanan was a Judean army captain who came to Gedaliah at Mizpah when the king of Babylon made him governor (2 Kgs. 25:23). When Ishmael murdered Gedaliah and carried off the people of Mizpah, Johanan and the captains with him “went to fight with Ishmael,” found him near Gibeon, and took the captives back; Ishmael escaped with eight men (Jer. 41:11–15).

That makes him the man of the hour, which is part of why his refusal in chapter 43 matters. The company went no farther than “the habitation of Chimham, which is by Beth-lehem,” on the road toward Egypt, “because of the Chaldeans: for they were afraid of them” (Jer. 41:17–18). The plan to go to Egypt was made before anyone asked the Lord, and Jeremiah's prophecy is aimed at a decision already half carried out. The chapter names a second leader, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah; chapter 43 gives “Azariah the son of Hoshaiah” beside Johanan (Jer. 43:2). The text does not say whether these are two names for one man.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)

Related Scriptures #

Asking a prophet to pray

Asking the Lord's servant to pray for the people has precedent. Israel bitten by serpents says to Moses, “pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.

Asking the Lord's servant to pray for the people has precedent. Israel bitten by serpents says to Moses, “pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people” (Num. 21:7); at Mizpeh Samuel says, “I will pray for you unto the Lord” (1 Sam. 7:5).

So the request is not wrong. What is wrong is the use made of it. Here they ask for direction, as verse 3 puts it, “the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do,” and then refuse the direction.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

3 That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.

4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.

Latter-day Prophets #

A prophet declares what he is given

Jeremiah's promise to “keep nothing back” states what apostles say prophets always do.

Jeremiah's promise to “keep nothing back” states what apostles say prophets always do. Elder Robert D. Hales taught that “upon receiving revelation, prophets have no choice but to proclaim and reaffirm that which God has given them to tell the world. Prophets do this knowing full well the price they may have to pay.” He was answering the question of why prophets “proclaim unpopular commandments.”

The promise is unconditional: whatever the Lord answers, “I will declare it unto you.” In verses 10–22 he does, though it costs him: the leaders answer that he lies and that Baruch has set him on (Jer. 43:2–3).

Sources: Robert D. Hales, ““If Thou Wilt Enter into Life, Keep the Commandments””, general conference, Apr. 1996. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.

Witness of Christ #

The faithful witness

The people call the Lord “a true and faithful witness between us,” an oath that makes Him witness “not in regard to the truth of what they say, but as regards the fulfilment of…

The people call the Lord “a true and faithful witness between us,” an oath that makes Him witness “not in regard to the truth of what they say, but as regards the fulfilment of their promise,” so that He might come forward to punish them if they do not obey. They have summoned the one witness who will remember.

The Church edition's footnote sends the reader to Rev. 1:5, where Jesus Christ is “the faithful witness,” and Rev. 3:14.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.

6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.

Latter-day Prophets #

Whether we like it or not

“Evil” in verse 6 means what is unwelcome, not what is wicked: it “refers to something the people didn't want to do, rather than something bad.”

“Evil” in verse 6 means what is unwelcome, not what is wicked: it “refers to something the people didn't want to do, rather than something bad.” The people's promise is to obey the answer however it comes out.

This is the standard President Ezra Taft Benson set for a living prophet: “How we respond to the words of a living prophet when he tells us what we need to know, but would rather not hear, is a test of our faithfulness.” The people of Judah pass the first half of the test (they ask) and fail the second (they hear what they would rather not).

Sources: Lesson 137: Jeremiah 42–52, Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual. Ezra Taft Benson, “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet”, BYU devotional, Feb. 26, 1980.

Verses 7–12

If you stay

In plain words

Ten days later the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. He called Johanan, the captains, and all the people. “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me, says. If you stay in this land, I will build you up and not tear you down; I will plant you and not uproot you, for I am grieved over the disaster I brought on you. Do not fear the king of Babylon, whom you fear. I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. I will show you mercy, so that he will have mercy on you and let you stay on your own land.”

7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.

Context #

Ten days of waiting

The answer did not come at once: “it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.”

The answer did not come at once: “it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.” The text gives no reason for the delay. One reading is that the delay was “a disciplinary one”: those who asked “would get time for bethinking themselves, and for quietly considering the situation of affairs.” That is a plausible reading, not a stated one.

What the text does show is that Jeremiah does not make the answer up when asked. He waits for the word, and when it comes he calls the leaders together and tells them, as he promised, before the whole company (verse 8).

Sources: Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

8 Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

9 And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;

10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.

Language #

The Lord relents

“Repent” here means that the Lord changes course out of compassion, not that He admits error.

“Repent” here means that the Lord changes course out of compassion, not that He admits error. The Church edition's footnote paraphrases it, “I feel compassion regarding the punishment I bring upon you,” and the Joseph Smith Translation changes the verb: “and I will turn away the evil that I have done unto you.”

The Lord has already said this is how He deals with nations. If a nation He has pronounced against turns from its evil, “I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them” (Jer. 18:8). The offer in verse 10 is that principle at work for the survivors: the judgment has been carried out on Jerusalem, and the remnant may be built and planted if they stay and obey.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.

Context #

Why they feared Babylon, and the same counsel

The Lord tells the remnant not to fear Babylon, which is the counsel Gedaliah had given them before he was killed: “Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve…

The Lord tells the remnant not to fear Babylon, which is the counsel Gedaliah had given them before he was killed: “Fear not to serve the Chaldeans: dwell in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you” (Jer. 40:9). The people had good reason to be afraid: Ishmael “slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land” (Jer. 41:2), and they expected the Chaldeans to punish everyone present.

The Lord's answer does not deny the danger. It takes the fear seriously, and sets over it the promise “I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand,” and “I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you” (verse 12). The advice is the same as Gedaliah's, and now it comes with a promise.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.

Verses 13–18

If you go

In plain words

“But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and disobey the Lord, and say, ‘No, we will go to Egypt, where we will not see war or hear the trumpet or go hungry, and we will live there,’ then hear the word of the Lord, remnant of Judah. If you are determined to enter Egypt and live there, the sword you fear will overtake you there and the famine you dread will cling to you, and you will die there. All who set out for Egypt will die by sword, famine, and plague, and none will survive. As my anger was poured out on Jerusalem, so it will be poured out on you when you enter Egypt. You will be a curse and a horror, an oath and a reproach, and you will never see this place again.”

13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,

14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:

Related Scriptures #

Egypt as a refuge

The people want Egypt because it promises none of what they have lived through: “no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet” (the Church edition's footnote says the Hebrew is…

The people want Egypt because it promises none of what they have lived through: “no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet” (the Church edition's footnote says the Hebrew is shofar, or “alarm”), “nor have hunger of bread.” Their fears are Jerusalem's siege, remembered in sound and hunger.

Scripture views going to Egypt for security as a problem on two counts. The law for kings says “Ye shall henceforth return no more that way” (Deut. 17:16), the passage the Church edition's footnote gives at verse 19. And Isaiah pronounces a woe on those who “go down to Egypt for help” and who “have not asked at my mouth” (Isa. 31:1; Isa. 30:2). Here the people did ask, and still went down.

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

15 And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;

16 Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

Context #

What they fled finds them

The warning turns their own fears against them: the sword and famine they ran from will “overtake” and “follow close after” them in Egypt.

The warning turns their own fears against them: the sword and famine they ran from will “overtake” and “follow close after” them in Egypt. The same prophet explains how in Egypt: the Lord will send “Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant,” and set his throne over the stones hidden at Tahpanhes (Jer. 43:10), the same king whom they feared.

The four words of verse 18, “an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach,” return in the sequel (Jer. 44:12), where the Church edition's footnotes at verses 15 and 18 point. The promise of verse 17 that none will “remain or escape” is not absolute there: “none shall return but such as shall escape” (Jer. 44:14).

Sources: The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn 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.

18 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.

Verses 19–22

You have deceived yourselves

In plain words

“Remnant of Judah, the Lord has told you: Do not go to Egypt. Know for certain that I have warned you today. You deceived yourselves when you sent me to the Lord your God and said, ‘Pray for us, and tell us all that He says, and we will do it.’ I have told you today, and you have not obeyed anything He sent me to tell you. So know for certain that you will die by sword, famine, and plague in the place where you want to go and live.”

19 The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.

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.

21 And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.

Latter-day Prophets #

Pride and the answer you wanted

The people had not obeyed because the answer was not the one they wanted, and the next chapter gives their reaction: “Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah,…

The people had not obeyed because the answer was not the one they wanted, and the next chapter gives their reaction: “Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men” say to Jeremiah, “Thou speakest falsely” (Jer. 43:2). The text names the cause as pride.

President Ezra Taft Benson described how pride works against revelation: “The proud cannot accept the authority of God giving direction to their lives… The proud wish God would agree with them. They aren't interested in changing their opinions to agree with God's.” That fits the chapter exactly, for they asked God for an answer, and when the answer was no, they decided the prophet was wrong. The record closes the matter in a single line: “they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes” (Jer. 43:7).

Sources: Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride”, general conference, Apr. 1989. The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

Seeing Christ in Jeremiah 42

The chapter shows the Lord as one who offers rescue to a people who do not want it. He tells the survivors “I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand,” and promises “mercies” (Jer. 42:11–12). The oath of verse 5 calls Him the “faithful witness”; the Church edition's footnote links the phrase to Rev. 1:5, where Jesus Christ is “the faithful witness.” The One the people name as their witness is the One who holds out the offer.

Worth exploring next

What came next: Jer. 43 (the march to Tahpanhes) and Jer. 44 (Jeremiah's last words to the Jews in Egypt).
The same rule of asking and obeying, in a different key: Isa. 30:1–3 and Isa. 31:1–3.
The earlier principle behind verse 10: Jer. 18:7–10.

Sources & further reading

The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“Jeremiah”, Bible Dictionary.
Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Jeremiah, Trans. David Patrick and James Kennedy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1874–1880; in Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament, online at Bible Hub.
Lesson 137: Jeremiah 42–52, Old Testament Seminary Teacher Manual.
Robert D. Hales, ““If Thou Wilt Enter into Life, Keep the Commandments””, general conference, Apr. 1996.
Ezra Taft Benson, “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet”, BYU devotional, Feb. 26, 1980.
Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride”, general conference, Apr. 1989.
Chapter 24: The Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah 20–22; 24–29; 32; 34–45; 52; Lamentations), Old Testament Student Manual: 1 Kings–Malachi (2003).

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