Jeremiah 42:16
Ver. 16. Then it shall come to pass,.... That the various judgments following should come upon them:
[that] the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt; that is, the sword; of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, which they feared they should fall by in Judea; this should come after them in Egypt, and there overtake them, as it did; Egypt being destroyed by the king of Babylon, as it was foretold it should, Jer 46:25;and the famine, whereof you were afraid, shalt follow close after you there in Egypt; the famine they were afraid would come upon them in Judea, should pursue them, overtake them, seize on them, and cleave unto them, in Egypt; thus the evils they thought to escape, by moving from one place, should befall them in another; there is no fleeing from the presence, power, and hand of God:and there ye shall die; either by the sword, or by famine, or by pestilence, as in the Jer 42:17. Jeremiah 42:17Ver. 17. So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there,.... Not all that went into Egypt, but all that were resolutely set upon it; that were obstinately bent to go there, and did go, contrary to the express command of God; for otherwise there were some that were forced to go against their wills, as Jeremiah, Baruch, and no doubt others:they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; three of the Lord's sore judgments; some should die by one, and some by another, and some by a third; all should die by one or the other:and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them; that is, none of those who wilfully, and of their own accord, went down to Egypt; they all perished there, none could escape the hand of God, or the evil he determined to bring upon them; which is to be understood of the above judgments. Jeremiah 42:18Ver. 18. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,....See Gill on "Jer 42:15";as mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; like a large hasty shower of rain; or rather like melted metal, which suddenly and swiftly runs, and spreads itself, and burns and consumes with a violent heat; such was the wrath of God on Jerusalem, in the destruction of it by the Chaldeans:so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt; as soon as they had well got there, quickly after they were settled there; for it was in the time of the then present king of Egypt, Pharaohhophra, and by the then present king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, that the destruction of Egypt was, in which these Jews suffered:and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; men should be astonished at the hand of God upon them, reproach them for their sins; and when they made any imprecation on themselves, it would be in this form, if it be so, let the same calamities come upon me as upon the Jews in Egypt:and ye shall see this place no more; and so their case would be worse than their brethren in Babylon; who, after a term of years were expired, would return to their own land, which these would never see any more. Jeremiah 42:19Ver. 19. The Lord hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah,.... Or, "unto you" {w}; by the mouth of the prophet; or, "against you" {x}; that which was contrary to their inclination and will, as follows:go ye not into Egypt: this was the express command of God:know certainly that I have admonished you this day; not to go into Egypt: or, "have testified unto you" {y}; the will of God concerning this matter; and therefore they could not plead ignorance.{w} Mkyle "alloquitur vos", Junius & Tremellius; "ad vos", so some in Vatablus. {x} "Contra vos", Calvin. {y} Mkb ytdyeh "contestatus sum vos", Montanus, Piscator, Cocceius. Jeremiah 42:20Ver. 20. For ye dissembled in your hearts,.... Did not honestly and faithfully declare their intentions; they said one thing with their mouths, and meant another in their minds; they pretended they would act according to the will of God, as it should be made known to them by him, when they were determined to take their own way. Some render it, "ye have deceived [me] in your hearts" {z}; the prophet, so Kimchi; by that which was in their hearts, not declaring what was their real intention and design: or, "ye have deceived your souls" {a}; you have deceived yourselves and one another; I have not deceived you, nor the Lord, but you have put a cheat upon your own souls: or, "you have used deceit against your souls" {b}; to the hurt of them, to your present ruin and everlasting destruction:when ye sent me unto the Lord your God; the prophet did not go of himself, they desired him to go:saying, pray for us unto the Lord our God; to be directed in the way they should go; so that the prophet did nothing but what they desired him to do:and according to all that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do [it]; they pressed him to a faithful declaration of the will of God to them, and promised they would act according to it. Now he had done all this; he had been wire God, prayed unto him as they requested, and had brought them his mind and will, and made a faithful relation of it, and yet they did not attend to it; so that the deceit was not in him, but in them, as follows:{z} Mkytwvpnb Mtyeth "seduxistis [me] animis vestris", so some in Vatablus; "fefellistis me", Munster. So Ben Melech. {a} "Fecistis errare animas vestras", Pagninus; "fefellistis", Calvin. {b} "Seduxeritis vos contra animas vestras", Schmidt. Jeremiah 42:21Ver. 21. 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: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} Mtemv alw "et tamen non vultis parere", Vatablus. Jeremiah 42:22Ver. 22. Now therefore know certainly,.... Or, "in knowing know" {d}; they might assure themselves of this, that it would certainly come to pass, and most justly and deservedly; since it was at their own request the prophet sought the mind of the Lord for them, and had faithfully related it to them, and they had promised to observe it; wherefore, should they go into Egypt, as their inclination scented to be entirely that way, they must expect what follows:that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; by one or other of these, or all of them; some by one, and some by another, as before threatened; evils they thought to escape by going thither, but which should surely follow them, and overtake them:in the place whither ye desire to go [and] to sojourn; that is, in Egypt, to which they had a strong inclination, where they greatly desired to be, pleased themselves with the thoughts of, and which they chose of their own will and pleasure for their habitation.{d} wedt edy "sciendo scietis", Schmidt; "sciendo sciatis", Pagninus, Montanus.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.