GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
"The LORD has told you people who are left in Judah not to go to Egypt. You need to know that I am warning you today.

King James Bible
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.

Douay-Rheims Bible
This is the word of the Lord concerning you, O ye remnant of Juda: Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have adjured you this day.

Darby Bible Translation
Jehovah hath said concerning you, the remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt. Know certainly that I have admonished you this day.

English Revised Version
The LORD hath spoken concerning you, O remnant of Judah, Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified unto you this day.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
Yahweh has spoken concerning you, remnant of Judah, Don't you go into Egypt: know certainly that I have testified to you this day.

Young's Literal Translation
'Jehovah hath spoken against you, O remnant of Judah, do not enter Egypt: know certainly that I have testified against you to-day;

Cross References

Deuteronomy 17:16 "Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the LORD has said to you, 'You shall never again return that way.'

Nehemiah 9:26 "But they became disobedient and rebelled against You, And cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets who had admonished them So that they might return to You, And they committed great blasphemies.

Nehemiah 9:29 And admonished them in order to turn them back to Your law. Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Your commandments but sinned against Your ordinances, By which if a man observes them he shall live. And they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.

Isaiah 30:1 "Woe to the rebellious children," declares the LORD, "Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin;

Ezekiel 2:5 "As for them, whether they listen or not-- for they are a rebellious house-- they will know that a prophet has been among them.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Verses 7-22

We have here the answer which Jeremiah was sent to deliver to those who employed him to ask counsel of God.

I. It did not come immediately, not till ten days after, v. 7. They were thus long held in suspense, perhaps, to punish them for their hypocrisy or to show that Jeremiah did not speak of himself, nor what he would, for he could not speak when he would, but must wait for instructions. However, it teaches us to continue waiting upon God for direction in our way. The vision is for an appointed time, and at the end it shall speak.

II. When it did come he delivered it publicly, both to the captains and to all the people, from the meanest to those in the highest station; he delivered it fully and faithfully as he received it, as he had promised that he would keep nothing back from them. If Jeremiah had been to direct them by his own prudence, perhaps he could not have told what to advise them to, the case was so difficult; but what he has to advise is what the Lord the God of Israel saith, to whom they had sent him, and therefore they were bound in honour and duty to observe it. And this he tells them,

1. That it is the will of God that they should stay where they are, and his promise that, if they do so, it shall undoubtedly be well with them he would have them still to abide in this land, v. 10. Their brethren were forced out of it into captivity, and this was their affliction; let those therefore count it a mercy that they may stay in it and a duty to stay in it. Let those whose lot is in Canaan never quit it while they can keep it. It would have been enough to oblige them if God had only said, "I charge you upon your allegiance to abide still in the land;" but he rather persuades them to it as a friend than commands it as a prince. (1.) He expresses a very tender concern for them in their present calamitous condition: It repenteth me of the evil that I have done unto you. Though they had shown small sign of their repenting of their sins, yet God, as one grieved for the misery of Israel (Jdg. 10:16), begins to repent of the judgments he had brought upon them for their sins. Not that he changed his mind, but he was very ready to change his way and to return in mercy to them. God's time to repent himself concerning his servants is when he sees that, as here, their strength is gone, and there is none shut up or left, Deu. 32:36. (2.) He answers the argument they had against abiding in this land. They feared the king of Babylon (ch. 41:18), lest he should come and avenge the death of Gedaliah upon them, though they were no way accessory to it, nay, had witnessed against it. The surmise was foreign and unreasonable; but, if there had been any ground for it, enough is here said to remove it (v. 11): "Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, though he is a man of great might and little mercy, and a very arbitrary prince, whose will is a law, and therefore you are afraid he will upon this pretence, though without colour of reason, take advantage against you; be not afraid of him, for that fear will bring a snare: fear not him, for I am with you; and, if God be for you to save you, who can be against you to hurt you?" Thus has God provided to obviate and silence even the causeless fears of his people, which discourage them in the way of their duty; there is enough in the promises to encourage them. (3.) He assures them that if they will still abide in this land they shall not only be safe from the king of Babylon, but be made happy by the King of kings: "I will build you and plant you; you shall take root again, and be the new foundation of another state, a phoenix-kingdom, rising out of the ashes of the last." It is added (v. 12), I will show mercies unto you. Note, In all our comforts we may read God's mercies. God will show them mercy in this, that not only the king of Babylon shall not destroy them, but he shall have mercy upon them and help to settle them. Note, Whatever kindness men do us we must attribute it to God's kindness. He makes those whom he pities to be pitied even by those who carried them captives, Ps. 16:46. "The king of Babylon, having now the disposal of the country, shall cause you to return it to your own land, shall settle you again in your own habitations and put you in possession of the lands that formerly belonged to you." Note, God has made that our duty which is really our privilege, and our obedience will be its own recompence. "Abide in this land, and it shall be your own land again and you shall continue in it. Do not quit it now that you stand so fair for the enjoyment of it again. Be no so unwise as to forsake your own mercies for lying vanities."

2. That as they tender the favour of God and their own happiness they must by no means think of going into Egypt, not thither of all places, not to that land out of which God had delivered their fathers and which he had so often warned them not to make alliance with nor to put confidence in. Observe here, (1.) The sin they are supposed to be guilty of (and to him that knew their hearts it was more than a supposition): "You begin to say, We will not dwell in this land (v. 13); we will never think that we can be safe in it, no, not though God himself undertake our protection. We will not continue in it, no, not in obedience to the voice of the Lord our God. He may say what he please, but we will do what we please. We will go into the land of Egypt, and there will we dwell, whether God give us leave and go along with us or no," v. 14. It is supposed that their hearts were upon it: "If you wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and are obstinately resolved that you will go and sojourn there, though God oppose you in it both by his word and by his providence, then take what follows." Now the reason they go upon in this resolution is that "in Egypt we shall see no war, nor have hunger of bread,; as we have had for a long time in this land," v. 14. Note, It is folly to quit our place, especially to quit the holy land, because we meet with trouble in it; but greater folly to think by changing our place to escape the judgments of God, and that evil which pursues sinners in every way of disobedience, and which there is no escaping but by returning to our allegiance. (2.) The sentence passed upon them for this sin, if they will persist in it. It is pronounced in God's name (v. 15): "Hear the word of the Lord, you remnant of Judah, who think that because you are a remnant you must be spared of course (v. 2) and indulged in your own humour." [1.] Did the sword and famine frighten them? Those very judgments shall pursue them into Egypt, shall overtake them, and overcome them there (v. 16, 17): "You think, because war and famine have long been raging in this land, that they are entailed upon it; whereas, if you trust in God, he can make even this land a land of peace to you; you think they are confined to it, and, if you can get clear of this land, you shall get out of the reach of them, but God will send them after you wherever you go." Note, the evils we think to escape by sin we certainly and inevitably run ourselves upon. The men that go to Egypt in contradiction to God's will, to escape the sword and famine, shall die in Egypt by sword and famine. We may apply it to the common calamities of human life; those that are impatient of them, and think to avoid them by changing their place, will find that they are deceived and that they do not at all better themselves. The grievances common to men will meet them wherever they go. All our removes in this world are but from one wilderness to another; still we are where we were. [2.] Did the desolations of Jerusalem frighten them? Were they willing to get as far as they could from them? They shall meet with the second part of them too in Egypt (v. 18): As my anger and fury have been poured out here upon Jerusalem, so they shall be poured out upon you in Egypt. Note, Those that have by sin made God their enemy will find him a consuming fire wherever they go. And then you shall be an execration and an astonishment. The Hebrews were of old an abomination to the Egyptians (Gen. 43:32), and now they shall be made more so than ever. When God's professing people mingle with infidels, and make their court to them, they lose their dignity and make themselves a reproach.

3. That God knew their hypocrisy in their enquiries of him, and that when they asked what he would have them to do they were resolved to take their own way; and therefore the sentence which was before pronounced conditionally is made absolute. Having set before them good and evil, the blessing and the curse, in the close he makes application of what he had said. And here, (1.) He solemnly protests that he had faithfully delivered his message, v. 19. The conclusion of the whole matter is, "Go not down into Egypt; you disobey the command of God if you do, and what I have said to you will be a witness against you; for know certainly that, whether you will hear or whether you will forbear, I have plainly admonished you; you cannot now plead ignorance of the mind of God." (2.) He charges them with base dissimulation in the application they made to him for divine direction (v. 20): "You dissembled in your hearts; you professed one thing and intended another, promising what you never meant to perform." You have used deceit against your soul (so the margin reads it); for those that think to put a cheat upon God will prove in the end to have put a damning cheat upon themselves. (3.) He is already aware that they are determined to go contrary to the command of God; probably they discovered it in their countenance and secret mutterings already, before he had finished his discourse. However, he spoke from him who knew their hearts: "You have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God; you have not a disposition to obey it." Thus Moses, in the close of his farewell sermon, had told them (Deu. 31:27, 29), I know thy rebellion and thy stiff neck, and that you will corrupt yourselves. Admire the patience of God, that he is pleased to speak to those who, he knows, will not regard him, and deal with those who, he knows, will deal very treacherously, Isa. 48:8. (4.) He therefore reads them their doom, ratifying what he had said before: Know certainly that you shall die by the sword, v. 22. God's threatenings may be vilified, but cannot be nullified, by the unbelief of man. Famine and pestilence shall pursue these sinners; for there is no place privileged from divine arrests, nor can any malefactors go out of God's jurisdiction. You shall die in the place whither you desire to go. Note, We know not what is good for ourselves; and that often proves afflictive, and sometimes fatal, which we are most fond of and have our hearts most set upon.

Calvin's Commentary

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.

19. Loquutus est Jehova contra vos, reliquiae Jehudah, Ne eatis in Aegyptum; sciendo sciatis quod contestatus fuerim vos hodie:

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.

20. Quoniam fefellistis animus vestras (aut, fallaces fuistis in animabus vestris) quando misistis me ad Jehovam Deum vestrum, dicendo, Ora pro nobis Jehovam Deum nostrum; et secundum omnia quae locutus Jehova Deus noster fuerit, sic annuntia nobis et faciemus.

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.

21. Ego autem annuntiavi vobis hodie, et non audivistis vocem Jehovae Dei vestri, et secundum omnia propter quae misit me ad vos.

Here the Prophet explains more fully their sin; for their punishment might have appeared extreme, had not their impiety been more clearly unfolded. He then says that this punishment ought not to be regarded as too rigid, because God had not once only protested against the Jews and admonished them in a solemn manner and before witnesses; but they to the last not, only despised his counsel and warnings, but proudly rejected them. And he adds, that they dealt falsely and perfidiously with God, because they pretended that they would be obedient as soon as the will of God was known; but they shewed that in reality they had no such purpose; for their own vanity and deceit took full possession of them when the Prophet answered them in God's name; nor had they a desire to obey God.

Let us now consider the words: Jehovah hath spoken against you, the remnant of Judah He again calls them a remnant, in order that they might remember that they had no reason any more to be proud. We know how the Jews while in prosperity disregarded the Prophets; for they were inebriated with their good fortune. But God had dissipated this pride, with which they were previously filled. The Prophet had also set before them the favor through which they had been liberated, that they might learn hereafter to submit to God and his word. For this reason then he called them a remnant, even to render them more attentive and teachable. But it was done without any benefit; for though their affairs were nearly hopeless, and they were reduced almost to nothing, yet they had not laid aside their high spirits. They were then still swollen with false confidence. But this warning, however, availed to render them more inexcusable.

If ye enter into Egypt, he says, knowing know ye, or, knowing ye shall know. The verb is in the future tense, though it may be taken as an imperative. But the future tense is the most suitable, knowing ye shall know, that is, the event itself will teach you, but too late, as the foolish are never wise till after the evil has taken place. Knowing ye shall know that I have protested against you this day. God says that he had left nothing undone to bring the Jews to a right mind; for a protest is usually made in a solemn manner, witnesses being called in, so that no one can plead that. he has gone astray through ignorance. To take away then every ground of excuse, witnesses were wont to be called. Hence God speaks according to the common practice and in a forensic sense, and says that he had protested against the Jews, lest they should by chance offend through want of knowledge. It then follows, that they knowingly perished, as though they had sought their own destruction.

He now adds another circumstance, that they had sent him under the pretense of rare piety, as though they were in every way ready to render obedience to God. But he first says that they had deceived themselves, or had been deceived. The verb th, toe, from which the Hithpael comes, means to err or go astray. But interpreters do not agree; for some give this explanation, that they deceived the Prophet in their hearts, that is, that they craftily retained their perverse design of going to Egypt, and at the same time professed that they were ready to obey. But as the Prophet's name is not mentioned here, this explanation seems unnatural. I therefore prefer the other explanation, that they deceived themselves; and v, beth, is here redundant, as in many places: Ye deceived, then, your own souls, when ye sent me, he says, to Jehovah The Prophet intimates that when they sought to act craftily they were deceived; for God is wont to discover the astute, and when they devise this or that, they only weave snares and toils for themselves; and we see that craftiness ever brings the ungodly to ruin. The Prophet, according to this sense, derides that perverse affectation of astuteness, when the ungodly seek to deceive God; and he says that they deceived themselves, as we see also daily. Then he says that they themselves had been the authors of the evil, for they had brought themselves to ruin by their astute and crafty counsel, when they sent him to Jehovah. The ky, ki, is to be taken here as an adverb of time, When ye sent me to Jehovah your God, saying, Pray for us. [129]

He reproves them not only for perfidy, but also for sacrilege, because they wickedly profaned the name of God. For it. was not to be endured that they should pretend a regard for religion, and testify that they would be obedient to God, and should at the same time cherish in their hearts that perverse intention which afterwards they discovered. And hence he not only relates that he had been sent, but that he had also been solicited to intercede for them. It was then a twofold sacrilege, for they had asked what would please God, and afterwards disregarded the prophecy, -- and then they offered a prayer, and when God gave them an answer by his servant., they counted it as nothing! We now perceive why Jeremiah so expressly mentioned these two things.

Pray for us to our God, and according to all which Jehovah our God shall say, relate thou to us: the people seemed to act with wonderful sincerity; they exhorted the Prophet to dissemble nothing, to add nothing and to diminish nothing'. What better can be wished than that men should lay aside all ambiguity and all evasions, and not wish God's words to be corrupted? And this the Jews expressed in high terms, Whatever Jehovah our God shall answer, declare thou to us Here they seemed to have more zeal than Jeremiah himself; for they enjoined a law, that he should add nothing and diminish nothing, but that he should be a faithful interpreter of God's will. They seemed then to be half-angels. They afterwards testified that they would do whatever God should command them.

He at length adds, And I have this day declared it to you Here he sets forth his own fidelity, not for the sake of boasting, but that their impiety might be reproved, who at length despised the oracle of God, which they had boasted that they would obey. Ye have not hearkened, he says, to the voice of Jehovah your God, and according to all the things on account of which he hath sent me to you. The Prophet again confirms the truth, that it was their own fault that the Jews did not follow what was right, and also what was for their good, for he had faithfully delivered to them what God had commanded. He now adds, --

Footnotes:

[129] All the versions and the Targum differ as to the construction of these two verses, the 19th and the 20th, and modern authors too. I offer the following rendering, -- 19. The word of Jehovah to you, the remnant of Judah, is this, Enter not into Egypt; knowing, know (or, surely know,) that I make this pro- 20. test to you this day. Verily, ye do go greatly astray against your own selves; for ye sent me to Jehovah your God, etc., etc. The first clause is according to the Vulg. The express message was, not to enter into Egypt. What they were to know and remember was the protest he made to them. Then in verse 20th, he charges them with inconsistency, that they went astray from their own professions, and afterwards he specifies what they had promised. There is, according to this view, a consistency in the whole passage. The word soul is often taken for the person: "against your own selves," is literally "against your own souls." The meaning of the phrase is, that they belied themselves, as it is evident from what follows. The past tense in Hebrew may often be rendered by the present, as it refers to time up to the present and including the present. The future also in Hebrew may be rendered by the present, because it refers often to what is now and continues to be. -- Ed.

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