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Texts -- Jeremiah 42:1--43:7 (NET)

Context
The Survivors Ask the Lord for Advice but Refuse to Follow It
42:1 Then all the army officers , including Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah and all the people of every class , went to the prophet Jeremiah. 42:2 They said to him , “Please grant our request and pray to the Lord your God for all those of us who are still left alive here . For , as you yourself can see , there are only a few of us left out of the many there were before. 42:3 Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do .” 42:4 The prophet Jeremiah answered them, “Agreed ! I will indeed pray to the Lord your God as you have asked. I will tell you everything the Lord replies in response to you. I will not keep anything back from you.” 42:5 They answered Jeremiah , “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not do just as the Lord sends you to tell us to do . 42:6 We will obey what the Lord our God to whom we are sending you tells us to do. It does not matter whether we like what he tells us or not. We will obey what he tells us to do so that things will go well for us.” 42:7 Ten days later the Lord spoke to Jeremiah . 42:8 So Jeremiah summoned Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers who were with him and all the people of every class . 42:9 Then Jeremiah said to them, “You sent me to the Lord God of Israel to make your request known to him. Here is what he says to you: 42:10 ‘If you will just stay in this land , I will build you up. I will not tear you down . I will firmly plant you. I will not uproot you. For I am filled with sorrow because of the disaster that I have brought on you. 42:11 Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon whom you now fear . Do not be afraid of him because I will be with you to save you and to rescue you from his power . I, the Lord , affirm it! 42:12 I will have compassion on you so that he in turn will have mercy on you and allow you to return to your land .’ 42:13 “You must not disobey the Lord your God by saying , ‘We will not stay in this land .’ 42:14 You must not say , ‘No, we will not stay. Instead we will go and live in the land of Egypt where we will not face war , or hear the enemy’s trumpet calls , or starve for lack of food .’ 42:15 If you people who remain in Judah do that, then listen to what the Lord says . The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘If you are so determined to go to Egypt that you go and settle there , 42:16 the wars you fear will catch up with you there in the land of Egypt . The starvation you are worried about will follow you there to Egypt . You will die there . 42:17 All the people who are determined to go and settle in Egypt will die from war , starvation , or disease . No one will survive or escape the disaster I will bring on them.’ 42:18 For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says , ‘If you go to Egypt, I will pour out my wrath on you just as I poured out my anger and wrath on the citizens of Jerusalem . You will become an object of horror and ridicule , an example of those who have been cursed and that people use in pronouncing a curse . You will never see this place again .’ 42:19 “The Lord has told you people who remain in Judah , ‘Do not go to Egypt .’ Be very sure of this: I warn you here and now . 42:20 You are making a fatal mistake . For you sent me to the Lord your God and asked me, ‘Pray to the Lord our God for us. Tell us what the Lord our God says and we will do it.’ 42:21 This day I have told you what he said. But you do not want to obey the Lord by doing what he sent me to tell you. 42:22 So now be very sure of this: You will die from war, starvation , or disease in the place where you want to go and live .” 43:1 Jeremiah finished telling all the people all these things the Lord their God had sent him to tell them. 43:2 Then Azariah son of Hoshaiah , Johanan son of Kareah , and other arrogant men said to Jeremiah , “You are telling a lie ! The Lord our God did not send you to tell us, ‘You must not go to Egypt and settle there .’ 43:3 But Baruch son of Neriah is stirring you up against us. He wants to hand us over to the Babylonians so that they will kill us or carry us off into exile in Babylon .” 43:4 So Johanan son of Kareah , all the army officers , and all the rest of the people did not obey the Lord’s command to stay in the land . 43:5 Instead Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led off all the Judean remnant who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered . 43:6 They also led off all the men , women , children , and royal princesses that Nebuzaradan , the captain of the royal guard , had left with Gedaliah , the son of Ahikam and grandson of Shaphan . This included the prophet Jeremiah and Baruch son of Neriah . 43:7 They went on to Egypt because they refused to obey the Lord , and came to Tahpanhes .

Pericope

NET
  • Jer 42:1--43:7 -- The Survivors Ask the Lord for Advice but Refuse to Follow It

Bible Dictionary

  • Tahapanes

    [ebd] =Tahpanhes=Tehaphnehes, (called "Daphne" by the Greeks, now Tell Defenneh), an ancient Egyptian city, on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, about 16 miles from Pelusium. The Jews from Jerusalem fled to this place after the deat...

  • SALVATION

    [isbe] SALVATION - sal-va'-shun: I. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT 1. General 2. Individualism 3. Faith 4. Moral Law 5. Sacrifices 6. Ritual Law II. INTERMEDIATE LITERATURE 1. General 2. The Law III. THE TEACHING OF CHRIST 1. The Baptist 2. ...

  • KAREAH

    [smith] (bald), the father of Johanan and Jonathan, who supported Gedaliah?s authority and avenged his murder. (Jeremiah 40:8,13,15,16; 41:11,13,14,16; 42:1,8; 43:2,4,5) (B.C. before 588.)

  • Johanan

    [ebd] whom Jehovah graciously bestows. (1.) One of the Gadite heroes who joined David in the desert of Judah (1 Chr. 12:12). (2.) The oldest of King Josiah's sons (1 Chr. 3:15). (3.) Son of Careah, one of the Jewish chiefs who ral...
    [isbe] JOHANAN - jo-ha'-nan (yochanan, "Yahweh has been gracious"; Ioanan; compare JEHOHANAN): (1) Son of Kareah, and one of "the captains of the forces who were in the fields" (i.e. probably guerrilla bands), who allied with Gedal...
    [nave] JOHANAN 1. A Jewish captain, 2 Kin. 25:22-24. Warns Gedaliah against Ishmael, Jer. 40:13-16. Ishmael defeated by, Jer. 41:11-15. Sought prayers of Jeremiah, Jer. 42:2, 3. Disobeyed Jeremiah and took him to Egypt, Jer. 43...

  • Jerusalem

    [ebd] called also Salem, Ariel, Jebus, the "city of God," the "holy city;" by the modern Arabs el-Khuds, meaning "the holy;" once "the city of Judah" (2 Chr. 25:28). This name is in the original in the dual form, and means "posses...

  • Jeremiah

    [ebd] raised up or appointed by Jehovah. (1.) A Gadite who joined David in the wilderness (1 Chr. 12:10). (2.) A Gadite warrior (1 Chr. 12:13). (3.) A Benjamite slinger who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:4). (4.) One of the chi...
    [nave] JEREMIAH 1. Of Libnah, grandfather of Jehoahaz, 2 Kin. 23:31; 24:18; Jer. 52:1. 2. A chief of Manasseh, 1 Chr. 5:24. 3. An Israelite who joined David at Ziklag, 1 Chr. 12:4. 4. Two Gadites who joined David at Ziklag, 1 Ch...

  • Jaaz-aniah

    [ebd] heard by Jehovah. (1.) The son of Jeremiah, and one of the chief Rechabites (Jer. 35:3). (2.) The son of Shaphan (Ezek. 8:11). (3.) The son of Azur, one of the twenty-five men seen by Ezekiel (11:1) at the east gate of the t...

  • Israel

    [nave] ISRAEL 1. A name given to Jacob, Gen. 32:24-32; 2 Kin. 17:34; Hos. 12:3, 4. 2. A name of the Christ in prophecy, Isa. 49:3. 3. A name given to the descendants of Jacob, a nation. Called also Israelites, and Hebrews, Gen. 4...

  • Hypocrisy

    [nave] HYPOCRISY. Job 8:13-15; Job 13:16; Job 15:31, 33, 34; Job 17:8; Job 20:4, 5 vs. 6-18.; Job 27:8-10 vs. 13-18.; Job 31:33, 34; Job 34:30; Job 36:13, 14; Psa. 5:9; Psa. 50:16, 17; Psa. 52:4; Psa. 55:12-14, 20, 21, 23; Psa. 78...

  • Foreknowledge of God

    [ebd] Acts 2:23; Rom. 8:29; 11:2; 1 Pet. 1:2), one of those high attributes essentially appertaining to him the full import of which we cannot comprehend. In the most absolute sense his knowledge is infinite (1 Sam. 23:9-13; Jer. ...

  • Famine

    [ebd] The first mentioned in Scripture was so grievous as to compel Abraham to go down to the land of Egypt (Gen. 26:1). Another is mentioned as having occurred in the days of Isaac, causing him to go to Gerar (Gen. 26:1, 17). But...

  • FAITHFUL; FAITHFULNESS

    [isbe] FAITHFUL; FAITHFULNESS - fath'-fool, fath'-fool-nes: 1. Faithfulness of God in the Old Testament 2. Faithfulness of God in the New Testament LITERATURE Faithfulness is a quality or attribute applied in the Scripture to both ...

  • Exile

    [ebd] (1.) Of the kingdom of Israel. In the time of Pekah, Tiglath-pileser II. carried away captive into Assyria (2 Kings 15:29; comp. Isa. 10:5, 6) a part of the inhabitants of Galilee and of Gilead (B.C. 741). After the destruct...

  • EGYPT

    [isbe] EGYPT - e'-jipt: I. THE COUNTRY 1. The Basis of the Land 2. The Nile Valley 3. Earliest Human Remains 4. Climate 5. Conditions of Life 6. The Nile 7. The Fauna 8. The Flora 9. The Prehistoric Races II. THE HISTORY 1. 1st and...

  • DISPERSION, THE

    [isbe] DISPERSION, THE - dis-pur'-shun, (diaspora): 1. Golah and Dispersion 2. Purpose of Dispersion 3. Causes of Dispersion 4. Extent of Dispersion 5. The Eastern Dispersion 6. The Egyptian Dispersion 7. Testimony of Aramaic Papyr...

  • CERTAIN; CERTAINLY; CERTAINTY

    [isbe] CERTAIN; CERTAINLY; CERTAINTY - ser'-tin, ser'-tin-li, ser'tin-ti: The rendering of some Hebrew words and forms expressive of what is definitely settled or determined. (1) Translation of the Hebrew nakhon, "to be established...

  • Babylon

    [nave] BABYLON City of Built by Nimrod, Gen. 10:10. In the land of Shinar, Gen. 10:10; 11:2. Tower of, Gen. 11:1-9. Capital of the kingdom of Babylon, Dan. 4:30; 2 Kin. 25:13; 2 Chr. 36:6, 7, 10, 18, 20. Gates of, Isa. 45:1, 2...

  • BUILDER

    [isbe] BUILDER - bild'-er (banah; oikodomeo, technites): "To build," "builder," ete, are in the Old Testament commonly the translation of banah, "to build," occurring very frequently; see BUILD, BUILDING. The literal significance l...

  • BIBLE, THE, IV CANONICITY

    [isbe] BIBLE, THE, IV CANONICITY - IV. Literary Growth and Origin--Canonicity. Thus far the books of the Old Testament and New Testament have been taken simply as given, and no attempt has been made to inquire how or when they were...

  • BARUCH, BOOK OF

    [isbe] BARUCH, BOOK OF - One of the Apocryphal or Deutero-canonical books, standing between Jeremiah and Lamentations in the Septuagint, but in the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) after these two books. I. Name. See un...

Arts

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Baxter, J. Sidlow. Explore the Book. 6 vols. London: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1965.Bromiley, Geoffrey W. God and Marriage. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1980.Bullock, C. Hassell. An Introduction to the Poe...
  • The biblical records of the times in which Jeremiah ministered are 2 Kings 21-25 and 2 Chronicles 33-36. His contemporary prophets were Zephaniah and Habakkuk before the Exile, and Ezekiel and Daniel after it began.King Manas...
  • Jeremiah's purpose was to call his hearers to repentance in view of God's judgment on Judah, which would come soon from an army from the north (chs. 2-45). Judgment was coming because God's people had forsaken Yahweh and had ...
  • I. Introduction ch. 1A. The introduction of Jeremiah 1:1-3B. The call of Jeremiah 1:4-191. The promise of divine enablement 1:4-102. Two confirming visions 1:11-19II. Prophecies about Judah chs. 2-45A. Warnings of judgment on...
  • Most of the prophetical books begin with some indication of authorship and date to put them in their historical contexts, and this is true of the Book of Jeremiah.1:1 The words (Heb. debarim, writings, prophecies, deeds, and ...
  • 1:4 The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf....
  • Perverse conduct was the consequence of Israel's apostasy and infidelity, and it led to slavery.2:14-15 Israel was Yahweh's firstborn son, not a slave or even a home-born servant.77As such he enjoyed the special care and prov...
  • This pericope contains two instances in which Jeremiah faced crushing discouragement in his ministry (vv. 10-14, 15-21). He confessed his frustration to the Lord, and the Lord responded with encouragement.15:10 Jeremiah addre...
  • This section consists of four parts: a summary of Jeremiah's Temple Sermon (vv. 2-6), the prophet's arrest and trial (vv. 7-16), the elders' plea for his life (vv. 17-19, 24), and the incident involving Uriah and his executio...
  • The Book of Consolation contained messages of future hope for Judah (chs. 30-33). Now Jeremiah returned to document her present judgment. Chapters 34-45 continue the theme of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem from chapters 2-29...
  • "While ch. 36 is, in a sense, an independent unit, it is at the same time the last segment in a tradition complex' which begins at ch. 26, where Jeremiah is vindicated as a true prophet of Yahweh by Jerusalem's highest court ...
  • One of the important theological lessons of this segment of the book, especially chapters 40-44, is that disobedience leads to judgment."One would think that the fall of Jerusalem would have taught Judah a lesson she would ne...
  • This chapter continues the narrative begun at 41:4. The remnant leaders asked Jeremiah to obtain the Lord's word concerning their proposed flight to Egypt (vv. 1-6).42:1-3 Then Johanan and his fellow leaders of the refugees a...
  • This chapter records an incident late in Jeremiah's ministry. How much later than chapter 43 is unknown. Many commentators suppose it dates from about 580 B.C. because it would have taken some time for the Judean refugees to ...
  • This chapter belongs after chapter 36 chronologically, either after 36:8 or 36:32. It serves as an appendix to the historical incidents recorded there. Perhaps the writer or final editor placed it here to show that Yahweh exe...
  • This chapter on Egypt contains three separate prophecies that Jeremiah delivered about the fate of that nation. Their purpose seems to have been to discourage King Jehoiakim (609-598 B.C.) and the pro-Egyptian party in Judah ...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers; and New York: Macmillan Publishers Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. Revis...
  • Of the seven oracles against Egypt, this is the only one that is undated. Most of the commentators assumed that Ezekiel gave it in 587 B.C., the same year as the first, second, and third oracles. But he could have given it in...
  • 33:23-24 The Lord informed the prophet about the attitude of the Jews still in the land. The few Jews who still lived in the waste places of the Promised Land were claiming that since God had promised that land to Abraham the...
  • 2:6-7 The Lord called His people to flee from the land of the north (cf. Jer. 3:18; 16:15; 23:8; 31:8) where He had scattered them as the four winds (cf. Isa. 43:5-6; 49:12). Most of the Israelite exiles had gone into captivi...
  • These persecuted Christians did not need to fear their adversaries or death since they would live forever with Jesus Christ. "Behold"signals an oracular declaration (cf. 2:22; 3:8, 9, 20).96The devil would incite their foes t...
  • 6:1 "I saw"marks the continuation of what John had seen that chapters 4 and 5 record, but also the commencement of revelation concerning future events on earth. Chapters 1-5 have introduced this revelation. John was an eyewit...
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