Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Jeremiah 42:1 - 42:6
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Hypocritical Inquiry
v. 1. Then, while the caravan of refugees was encamped at the khan near Bethlehem, all the captains of the forces and Johanan, the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah, who was a native of Maachah, 40:8, and all the people, from the least even unto the greatest, came near
v. 2. and said unto Jeremiah, the prophet, who had been taken along from Mizpah together with the other inhabitants of the city, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, literally, "fall before thy face," as a petitioner on bended knee, and pray for us unto the Lord, thy God, even for all this remnant, the small band of refugees who remained of the former great and mighty nation, (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us,)
v. 3. that the Lord, thy God, may show us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do, that is, what they should do now, where they should turn in this emergency, in order to escape the certain vengeance of the Chaldeans. The expression "thy God" in this connection emphasizes the peculiar, intimate relation in which Jeremiah stood over against Jehovah, as His servant and prophet.
v. 4. Then Jeremiah, the prophet, said unto them, I have heard you, he was ready to do as they requested; behold, I will pray unto the Lord, your God, according to your words, and it shall come to pass that whatsoever thing the Lord shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you. His words implied that, whether Jehovah's answer were favorable or unfavorable to their plans, he would in any event proclaim it. It seems clear from the first that the leaders of the refugees had already decided not to remain in Judea, but to go to some neighboring country. They acted just as many people do in our days, who call upon the Lord to direct them, but only along the lines which they themselves have chosen.
v. 5. Then they said to Jeremiah, The Lord be a true and faithful Witness between us if we do not even according to all things for the which the Lord, thy God, shall send thee to us, apparently an unconditional yielding to the guidance of God, whether they were at this time aware of their insincerity or not.
v. 6. Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord, our God, to whom we send thee, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord, our God, their obedience being the reason for the Lord's good pleasure upon them. In every true prayer it is essential that both doubt and hypocrisy be absent, lest the supplication made defeat its own ends.