Глава 42

1–6. The Jews question Jeremiah regarding their plan. 7–22. The prophet on behalf of God advises them not to go to Egypt. Jer.42:1. And all the captains of the army came, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezeniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people, from the smallest to the greatest, Jer.42:2. and they said to Jeremiah the prophet: Let our petition fall before your face, pray for us to the Lord your God for all this remnant, for out of many there are few of us left, as your eyes see us, Jer.42:3. so that the Lord your God will show us the way we should go and what we should do. Jer.42:4. And Jeremiah the prophet said to them: I hear, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words, and whatever the Lord answers you I will declare to you, I will not hide a word from you. Jer.42:5. They said to Jeremiah: Let the Lord be a faithful and true witness among us, that we will definitely do everything with which the Lord Your God sends you to us: Jer.42:6. whether it be good or bad, let us obey the voice of the Lord our God, to whom we send you, so that it will be good for us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God. The Jewish leaders, before leaving for Egypt, decide to find out the will of God and turn to the prophet Jeremiah with a request to pray to God for them, so that the Lord will tell them what to do. At the same time, they promise to certainly act as God tells them. Jeremiah 42:7–22. Ten days later, Jeremiah tells his fellow tribesmen the revelation he received from God. Jews should not go to Egypt. Let them live peacefully and calmly in Palestine. The Chaldeans will not touch them. If the Jews nevertheless leave, then in Egypt they will die from the sword, hunger and pestilence. Jer.42:10. If you remain on this earth, then I will build you and not destroy you, I will plant you and not uproot you, for I regret the disaster that I have done to you. Here we find an example of so-called anthropophatism. God, like man, regrets what He did to the Jews. This has the meaning that the decisions of God's truth are modified according to the actions of people. God acted truthfully by punishing the Jews, but His love for them is already seeking to heal the wounds inflicted on them. Jer.42:12. And I will show you mercy, and he will have mercy on you and bring you back to your land. “He will return you,” that is, he will give you the opportunity to return to your homeland, to your villages. Jeremiah 42:20. for you have sinned against yourselves: you sent me to the Lord our God, saying: “Pray to the Lord our God for us, and whatever the Lord our God says, declare to us, and we will do it.” The conclusion of Jeremiah's speech shows that the prophet already foresaw that the Jews would not listen to him. Therefore, the prophet uses verbs in the past tense: you sinned, you did not listen. You might be interested in: