Jeremiah 17:5-6

Individuals Are Challenged to Put Their Trust in the Lord ¹ 

17:5 The Lord says,

“I will put a curse on people

who trust in mere human beings,

who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, ² 

and whose hearts ³  have turned away from the Lord.

17:6 They will be like a shrub ⁴  in the desert.

They will not experience good things even when they happen.

It will be as though they were growing in the desert,

in a salt land where no one can live.

Jeremiah 42:14-16

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, ⁵  or hear the enemy’s trumpet calls, ⁶  or starve for lack of food.’ ⁷  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 ⁸  says, ‘If you are so determined ⁹  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 ¹⁰  Egypt. You will die there. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 20:5-6

20:5 Those who put their hope in Cush and took pride in Egypt will be afraid and embarrassed. ¹²  20:6 At that time ¹³  those who live on this coast ¹⁴  will say, ‘Look what has happened to our source of hope to whom we fled for help, expecting to be rescued from the king of Assyria! How can we escape now?’”

Isaiah 30:2-3

30:2 They travel down to Egypt

without seeking my will, ¹⁵ 

seeking Pharaoh’s protection,

and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ¹⁶ 

30:3 But Pharaoh’s protection will bring you nothing but shame,

and the safety of Egypt’s protective shade nothing but humiliation.

Isaiah 31:1-3

Egypt Will Disappoint

31:1 Those who go down to Egypt for help are as good as dead, ¹⁷ 

those who rely on war horses,

and trust in Egypt’s many chariots ¹⁸ 

and in their many, many horsemen. ¹⁹ 

But they do not rely on the Holy One of Israel ²⁰ 

and do not seek help from the Lord.

31:2 Yet he too is wise ²¹  and he will bring disaster;

he does not retract his decree. ²² 

He will attack the wicked nation, ²³ 

and the nation that helps ²⁴  those who commit sin. ²⁵ 

31:3 The Egyptians are mere humans, not God;

their horses are made of flesh, not spirit.

The Lord will strike with ²⁶  his hand;

the one who helps will stumble

and the one being helped will fall.

Together they will perish. ²⁷ 

Ezekiel 39:6-7

39:6 I will send fire on Magog and those who live securely in the coastlands; then they will know that I am the Lord.

39:7 “‘I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. ²⁸ 

[17:5]  ¹ sn Verses 5-11 are a collection of wisdom-like sayings (cf. Ps 1) which set forth the theme of the two ways and their consequences. It has as its background the blessings and the curses of Deut 28 and the challenge to faith in Deut 29-30 which climaxes in Deut 30:15-20. The nation is sinful and God is weary of showing them patience. However, there is hope for individuals within the nation if they will trust in him.

[17:5]  ² tn Heb “who make flesh their arm.” The “arm” is the symbol of strength and the flesh is the symbol of mortal man in relation to the omnipotent God. The translation “mere flesh and blood” reflects this.

[17:5]  ³ sn In the psychology of ancient Hebrew thought the heart was the center not only of the emotions but of the thoughts and motivations. It was also the seat of moral conduct (cf. its placement in the middle of the discussion of moral conduct in Prov 4:20-27, i.e., in v. 23).

[17:6]  ⁴ tn This word occurs only here and in Jer 48:6. It has been identified as a kind of juniper, which is a short shrub with minute leaves that look like scales. For a picture and more discussion see Fauna and Flora of the Bible, 131.

[42:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “see [or experience] war.”

[42:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “hear the sound of the trumpet.” The trumpet was used to gather the troops and to sound the alarm for battle.

[42:14]  ⁷ tn Jer 42:13-14 are a long complex condition (protasis) whose consequence (apodosis) does not begin until v. 15. The Hebrew text of vv. 13-14 reads: 42:13 “But if you say [or continue to say (the form is a participle)], ‘We will not stay in this land’ with the result that you do not obey [or “more literally, do not hearken to the voice of] the Lord your God, 42:14 saying, ‘No, but to the land of Egypt we will go where we…and there we will live,’ 42:15 now therefore hear the word of the Lord…” The sentence has been broken up and restructured to better conform with contemporary English style but an attempt has been made to maintain the contingencies and the qualifiers that are in the longer Hebrew original.

[42:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” See the study note on 2:19 for the translation and significance of this title.

[42:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “set your face to.” See Jer 42:17; 44:11; Dan 11:17; 2 Kgs 12:17 (12:18 HT) for parallel usage.

[42:16]  ¹⁰ tn Or “will follow you right into Egypt,” or “will dog your steps all the way to Egypt”; Heb “cling after.” This is the only case of this verb with this preposition in the Qal stem. However, it is used with this preposition several times in the Hiphil, all with the meaning of “to pursue closely.” See BDB 180 s.v. דָּבַק Hiph.2 and compare Judg 20:45; 1 Sam 14:22; 1 Chr 10:2.

[42:16]  ¹¹ tn The repetition of the adverb “there” in the translation of vv. 14, 16 is to draw attention to the rhetorical emphasis on the locale of Egypt in the original text of both v. 14 and v. 16. In v. 14 they say, “to the land of Egypt we will go…and there we will live.” In v. 16 God says, “wars…there will catch up with you…the hunger…there will follow after you…and there you will die.” God rhetorically denies their focus on Egypt as a place of safety and of relative prosperity. That can only be found in Judah under the protective presence of the Lord (vv. 10-12).

[20:5]  ¹² tn Heb “and they will be afraid and embarrassed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their beauty.”

[20:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

[20:6]  ¹⁴ sn This probably refers to the coastal region of Philistia (cf. TEV).

[30:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”

[30:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”

[31:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who go down to Egypt for help.”

[31:1]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and trust in chariots for they are many.”

[31:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and in horsemen for they are very strong [or “numerous”].”

[31:1]  ²⁰ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[31:2]  ²¹ sn This statement appears to have a sarcastic tone. The royal advisers who are advocating an alliance with Egypt think they are wise, but the Lord possesses wisdom as well and will thwart their efforts.

[31:2]  ²² tn Heb “and he does not turn aside [i.e., “retract”] his words”; NIV “does not take back his words.”

[31:2]  ²³ tn Heb “and he will arise against the house of the wicked.”

[31:2]  ²⁴ sn That is, Egypt.

[31:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and against the help of the doers of sin.”

[31:3]  ²⁶ tn Heb “will extend”; KJV, ASV, NASB, NCV “stretch out.”

[31:3]  ²⁷ tn Heb “together all of them will come to an end.”

[39:7]  ²⁸ sn The basic sense of the word “holy” is “set apart from that which is commonplace, special, unique.” The Lord’s holiness is first and foremost his transcendent sovereignty as the ruler of the world. He is “set apart” from the world over which he rules. At the same time his holiness encompasses his moral authority, which derives from his royal position. As king he has the right to dictate to his subjects how they are to live; indeed his very own character sets the standard for proper behavior. This expression is a common title for the Lord in the book of Isaiah.