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Jeremiah 42

ירמיהו פרק מ״ב

Section: נביאים · נביאים אחרונים | Book: Jeremiah | Chapter: 42 of 52 | Day: 255 of 742

Date: October 24, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

Chapter 42 is the moment of decision for the last remnant of Yehudah in its own land. Gedalyahu son of Achikam has been murdered at Mitzpah by Yishmael son of Netanyah (41:1-3), the Babylonian garrison with him has been slaughtered, and Yochanan son of Kareach and the army officers have recovered the captives Yishmael tried to carry off to Ammon. The survivors have already begun to move. At the end of chapter 41 they are encamped at Geruth Chimham near Beit Lechem, on the road south, ‘to go to Egypt, because of the Kasdim, for they were afraid of them’ (41:17-18). Chapter 42 is therefore not a story about a people asking which way to go; it is a story about a people already halfway down the road, stopping to ask the prophet for a blessing on a journey they have resolved to make. Its whole drama lies in the gap between the question they put and the answer they want, and the chapter is constructed with great care to expose that gap.

The opening scene (verses 1-6) is full of piety. All the army officers, with Yochanan son of Kareach and Yezanyah son of Hoshayah and all the people, from the least to the greatest, approach Yirmiyahu the prophet and ask him to let their supplication fall before him (תפל נא תחנתנו לפניך) and to pray to the LORD ‘your God’ for this remnant, for we are left few out of many, as your own eyes see us. Metzudat David reads the plea simply: they asked him to pray on their behalf, and they pointed to how few they had become. Their request in verse 3 is that God tell them the way to walk in and the thing to do, which Metzudat David glosses precisely as the question at hand — whether to go to Egypt or to remain here. Yirmiyahu agrees, and his answer carries a quiet correction: I will pray to the LORD ‘your God’ (אלהיכם), as you asked. They had called Him the prophet’s God; he gives Him back to them. He also promises to hold nothing back, to tell them every word God answers. Then comes their oath, as solemn as any in Tanakh: may the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us (לעד אמת ונאמן) if we do not do everything He sends you to tell us; whether good or bad (אם טוב ואם רע), we will obey the voice of the LORD our God. Metzudat David explains the double epithet: God will be a true witness that they took the obligation upon themselves, and a faithful one to exact payment from them if they fail. Radak, on verse 6, notes that the written form אנו for ‘we’ is found nowhere else in Scripture, though it is common in the language of the Mishnah and Talmud, while the reading is the familiar אנחנו.

Then, in verse 7, the people wait. ‘At the end of ten days the word of the LORD came to Yirmiyahu.’ Metzudat David counts the ten days from the time they asked him to entreat God. The delay is itself part of the message. Prophecy does not come on demand, and Yirmiyahu does not invent an answer to suit the moment, even with a frightened company of soldiers waiting at his door. The delay also tests the remnant: ten days is long enough for fear of Bavel to harden into a plan. When the word comes, Yirmiyahu gathers the same assembly, Yochanan and the officers and all the people from the least to the greatest, and frames the answer with their own words: thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him.

The divine answer (verses 10-12) is the most hopeful oracle Yirmiyahu has delivered in many chapters. If you will only remain in this land, I will build you and not overthrow, I will plant you and not uproot (ובניתי אתכם ולא אהרס ונטעתי אתכם ולא אתוש). These are the verbs of the prophet’s original commission (1:10), to uproot and to pull down, to build and to plant, and the promise of 24:6 to the exiles of Yehoyachin. Here, astonishingly, the building and planting are offered to the remnant on the soil of Yehudah itself. Metzudat David explains that they would be fruitful and multiply there and never be exiled from it again. The reason given is bold: for I have relented of the evil that I did to you (כי נחמתי אל הרעה). Metzudat David softens the anthropomorphism, explaining that God has turned to another thought concerning the harm He did them, and will no longer add to it. Verse 11 addresses the fear directly: do not be afraid of the king of Bavel. Metzudat David identifies the fear precisely — the remnant feared reprisal for the murder of Gedalyahu, whom Nevuchadnetzar had appointed — and promises that the king will not harm them on that account. Verse 12 goes further still: God will grant them mercy, the king will have mercy on them and will restore them to their land. Radak notes that the restoration refers to the exiles, and that ‘you’ is said of the whole people because the majority had been exiled and the few are included in the many.

The second half of the oracle (verses 13-18) turns the other way, and it is built as a mirror of the remnant’s own reasoning. Yirmiyahu quotes their thoughts back to them: no, we will go to the land of Egypt, where we will see no war, hear no sound of the shofar and not hunger for bread, and there we will stay. Rashi explains that the shofar here is the alarm the watchmen sound to warn the people, and Metzudat David contrasts the imagined plenty of Egypt with the constant famine they had known at home. Each of their hopes is answered by its own reversal. The sword you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine you dread will cling to you there (שם ידבק אחריכם), and there you will die. Metzudat David identifies the sword as that of the Kasdim — the very army they are fleeing will meet them in the place of refuge. All who set their faces to go down to Egypt will die by sword, famine and plague, with no survivor or fugitive. And as God’s wrath was poured out on the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, so it will be poured out on them in Egypt; they will become an oath, a horror, a curse and a reproach, and will never see this place again. Metzudat David explains each term: people will swear ‘may I be like those who went to Egypt,’ all will be astonished at the greatness of their fall, a curser will hang his curse on them. Radak suggests that אלה and קללה may simply double the idea in different words, or that אלה means an oath, comparing the verse in Yeshayahu (65:15) in which a name is left behind for an oath.

Behind the oracle lies a long history. The Torah forbids the king to cause the people to return to Egypt, ‘for the LORD has said to you, you shall not return that way any more’ (Devarim 17:16), and Yeshayahu had already cried woe to those who go down to Egypt for help (31:1). Throughout the last decades of the kingdom, Egypt was the alternative to submission, the hope of Yehoyakim and of the war party under Tzidkiyahu, and every time it failed. For the remnant to go down to Egypt now is not merely a strategic choice; it is a reversal of the Exodus, the people of the covenant carrying themselves back to the house of bondage to escape the discipline God has imposed. The land, devastated as it is, remains the place of promise, and Yirmiyahu, who had himself bought a field in Anatot during the siege as a pledge that fields would again be bought in this land (32:15), now holds out that promise to its last inhabitants.

The final verses (19-22) are the most painful, because Yirmiyahu speaks before they have answered. Do not go to Egypt; know well that I have warned you this day. And then: you have deceived yourselves (כי התעיתם בנפשותיכם), for you sent me to the LORD your God saying, pray for us, and whatever the LORD our God says, tell us and we will do it. Metzudat David explains that as he spoke with them he saw in their faces that they had no wish to stay, and adds a striking legal point: had they not sent him, their going would have been an unwitting error, but now that they asked and were answered, they act deliberately. Radak reads the phrase as concealment — you did not show me with your mouths what was in your hearts — and on verse 21 he observes that they had not yet replied at all; the prophet simply recognized that their minds were set on Egypt no matter what. The chapter thus ends on a prediction rather than a narrative: you will die by sword, famine and plague in the place where you desire to go and sojourn.

Chapter 42 is a study in how religious language can be used to avoid hearing God. The remnant does everything correctly in form: they approach the prophet humbly, they ask for prayer, they swear an oath with God as witness, they promise obedience whether the answer is good or bad. And yet, as Metzudat David and Radak both read it, the decision had been made before the question was asked. Chapter 43 will confirm it within a single verse of the prophet’s finishing: the arrogant men will call him a liar and carry him, Baruch and the whole remnant down to Tachpanches. The tragedy is sharpened by the generosity of the answer they refuse. For the first time since the city fell, God offers building instead of uprooting, mercy instead of wrath, and a future on the land. The remnant chooses the safety of Egypt over the word of God, and the prophet who spent forty years warning Yerushalayim now warns its last survivors in the same words, with the same result.

פרק מ״ב · Chapter 42

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

וַֽיִּגְּשׁוּ֙ כׇּל־שָׂרֵ֣י הַחֲיָלִ֔ים וְיֽוֹחָנָן֙ בֶּן־קָרֵ֔חַ וִיזַנְיָ֖ה בֶּן־הוֹשַֽׁעְיָ֑ה וְכׇל־הָעָ֖ם מִקָּטֹ֥ן וְעַד־גָּדֽוֹל׃

English:

Then all the army officers, with Johanan son of Kareah, Jezaniah son of Hoshaiah, and all the rest of the people, great and small, approached

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אֶל־יִרְמְיָ֣הוּ הַנָּבִ֗יא תִּפׇּל־נָ֤א תְחִנָּתֵ֙נוּ֙ לְפָנֶ֔יךָ וְהִתְפַּלֵּ֤ל בַּעֲדֵ֙נוּ֙ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּעַ֖ד כׇּל־הַשְּׁאֵרִ֣ית הַזֹּ֑את כִּֽי־נִשְׁאַ֤רְנֽוּ מְעַט֙ מֵֽהַרְבֵּ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר עֵינֶ֖יךָ רֹא֥וֹת אֹתָֽנוּ׃

English:

the prophet Jeremiah and said, “Grant our plea, and pray for us to the ETERNAL your God, for all this remnant! For we remain but a few out of many, as you can see.

The officers and the whole remnant ask the prophet to let their supplication fall before him and to pray for them. Metzudat David reads it simply: they asked him to pray on their behalf to God, pointing out that they are now only a handful of people, as he can see with his own eyes. Notice that they speak of the LORD 'your God,' a distance the prophet will quietly correct in verse 4.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

וְיַגֶּד־לָ֙נוּ֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ אֶת־הַדֶּ֖רֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נֵֽלֶךְ־בָּ֑הּ וְאֶת־הַדָּבָ֖ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר נַעֲשֶֽׂה׃

English:

Let the ETERNAL your God tell us where we should go and what we should do.”

The substance of the request: let God tell us the way to go and the thing to do. Metzudat David spells out the real question -- whether to go down to Egypt or to remain here -- and notes that the second phrase repeats the first in other words. The wording sounds open-minded, but the remnant is already encamped near Beit Lechem on the road south (41:17).

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֜ם יִרְמְיָ֤הוּ הַנָּבִיא֙ שָׁמַ֔עְתִּי הִנְנִ֧י מִתְפַּלֵּ֛ל אֶל־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖ם כְּדִבְרֵיכֶ֑ם וְֽהָיָ֡ה כׇּֽל־הַדָּבָר֩ אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲנֶ֨ה יְהֹוָ֤ה אֶתְכֶם֙ אַגִּ֣יד לָכֶ֔ם לֹא־אֶמְנַ֥ע מִכֶּ֖ם דָּבָֽר׃

English:

The prophet Jeremiah answered them, “Agreed: I will pray to the ETERNAL your God as you request, and I will tell you whatever response GOD gives for you. I will withhold nothing from you.”

Yirmiyahu agrees to pray, and he speaks of the LORD 'your God' -- handing back to them the God they had called his. Metzudat David explains that he accepted their words, that 'you' means their question, and that he will withhold nothing of the answer from them. The promise to conceal nothing will matter, since the answer will not be the one they hope for.

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

וְהֵ֙מָּה֙ אָמְר֣וּ אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֔הוּ יְהִ֤י יְהֹוָה֙ בָּ֔נוּ לְעֵ֖ד אֱמֶ֣ת וְנֶאֱמָ֑ן אִם־לֹ֡א כְּֽכׇל־הַ֠דָּבָ֠ר אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִֽשְׁלָחֲךָ֜ יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ אֵלֵ֖ינוּ כֵּ֥ן נַעֲשֶֽׂה׃

English:

Thereupon they said to Jeremiah, “Let GOD be a true and faithful witness against us! We swear that we will do exactly as the ETERNAL your God instructs us through you—

The people bind themselves with a solemn oath: let the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do all He sends you to say. Metzudat David explains the double title: God will be a true witness that they accepted the obligation, and a faithful one to exact punishment from them if they do not act on it. Their own words will be the measure of their guilt.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

אִם־ט֣וֹב וְאִם־רָ֔ע בְּק֣וֹל ׀ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ אֲשֶׁ֨ר (אנו) [אֲנַ֜חְנוּ] שֹׁלְחִ֥ים אֹתְךָ֛ אֵלָ֖יו נִשְׁמָ֑ע לְמַ֙עַן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִֽיטַב־לָ֔נוּ כִּ֣י נִשְׁמַ֔ע בְּק֖וֹל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃ {פ}

English:

Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will obey the ETERNAL our God to whom we send you, in order that it may go well with us when we obey the ETERNAL our God.”

'Whether good or bad, we will obey.' Metzudat David explains: whether the answer seems good in our eyes or bad, we will listen, so that it may go well with us. Radak notes that the written form אנו for 'we' appears nowhere else in Scripture, though it is common in the language of the Mishnah and Talmud, while the reading is the familiar אנחנו. The promise is total -- and will be broken almost at once.
▶Commentaries (1)
רד״קRadak
אשר אנו שולחים. אנו כתיב וקרי אנחנו והענין אחד אלא שמלת אנו לא נמצא במקרא עוד אלא זה אבל הוא נהוג בלשון משנה ובתלמוד:
That we send. In the verse it is written Anu, but we read anaḥnu, and this matter is unique, but the word anu>/i> is not found elsewhere in Tanakh, but is common in the language of Mishnah and Talmud.

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

וַיְהִ֕י מִקֵּ֖ץ עֲשֶׂ֣רֶת יָמִ֑ים וַיְהִ֥י דְבַר־יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָֽהוּ׃

English:

After ten days, the word of GOD came to Jeremiah.

The answer comes only after ten days. Metzudat David counts them from the time they asked the prophet to entreat God. Yirmiyahu does not improvise a reply to satisfy a frightened company of soldiers; he waits for the word. The delay also gives the remnant's fear of Bavel time to harden into a fixed decision to flee.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

וַיִּקְרָ֗א אֶל־יֽוֹחָנָן֙ בֶּן־קָרֵ֔חַ וְאֶ֛ל כׇּל־שָׂרֵ֥י הַחֲיָלִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר אִתּ֑וֹ וּ֨לְכׇל־הָעָ֔ם לְמִקָּטֹ֖ן וְעַד־גָּדֽוֹל׃

English:

He called Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers, and the rest of the people, great and small,

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם כֹּה־אָמַ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אֲשֶׁ֨ר שְׁלַחְתֶּ֤ם אֹתִי֙ אֵלָ֔יו לְהַפִּ֥יל תְּחִנַּתְכֶ֖ם לְפָנָֽיו׃

English:

and said to them, “Thus said the ETERNAL, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to present your supplication:

פסוק י׳ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

אִם־שׁ֤וֹב תֵּֽשְׁבוּ֙ בָּאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֔את וּבָנִ֤יתִי אֶתְכֶם֙ וְלֹ֣א אֶהֱרֹ֔ס וְנָטַעְתִּ֥י אֶתְכֶ֖ם וְלֹ֣א אֶתּ֑וֹשׁ כִּ֤י נִחַ֙מְתִּי֙ אֶל־הָ֣רָעָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשִׂ֖יתִי לָכֶֽם׃

English:

If you remain in this land, I will build you and not overthrow, I will plant you and not uproot; for I regret the punishment I have brought upon you.

The heart of the answer: stay, and I will build you and not overthrow, plant you and not uproot -- the verbs of the prophet's commission in 1:10, now turned wholly to blessing. Metzudat David explains that they would multiply in the land and never again be exiled from it, and that 'I have relented' means God has turned to another thought and will no longer harm them. Radak comments on the grammar of 'if you will surely remain' (שוב תשבו), explaining שוב as an infinitive of ישב that has dropped its first root letter.

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

אַל־תִּֽירְא֗וּ מִפְּנֵי֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ בָּבֶ֔ל אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֥ם יְרֵאִ֖ים מִפָּנָ֑יו אַל־תִּֽירְא֤וּ מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ נְאֻם־יְהֹוָ֔ה כִּֽי־אִתְּכֶ֣ם אָ֔נִי לְהוֹשִׁ֧יעַ אֶתְכֶ֛ם וּלְהַצִּ֥יל אֶתְכֶ֖ם מִיָּדֽוֹ׃

English:

Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you fear; do not be afraid of him—declares GOD—for I am with you to save you and to rescue you from his hands.

God addresses their real fear. Metzudat David identifies it as the fear of Nevuchadnetzar's reprisal for the murder of Gedalyahu, whom he had appointed, and promises that the king will not harm them on that account; God Himself will rescue them so that he is unable to do them evil. The repeated 'do not fear' answers the very motive that is driving them toward Egypt.

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

וְאֶתֵּ֥ן לָכֶ֛ם רַחֲמִ֖ים וְרִחַ֣ם אֶתְכֶ֑ם וְהֵשִׁ֥יב אֶתְכֶ֖ם אֶל־אַדְמַתְכֶֽם׃

English:

I will dispose him to be merciful to you: he shall show you mercy and bring you back to your own land.

More than safety: God will grant them mercy before the king, who will have compassion and restore them to their land. Metzudat David explains that those of their people exiled to Bavel would be sent back by the king's own will. Radak likewise refers the restoration to the exiles, explaining that it is addressed to 'you' because most of the people had been exiled and the few remaining are included with the many.

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

וְאִם־אֹמְרִ֣ים אַתֶּ֔ם לֹ֥א נֵשֵׁ֖ב בָּאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֑את לְבִלְתִּ֣י שְׁמֹ֔עַ בְּק֖וֹל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃

English:

“But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land’—thus disobeying the ETERNAL your God—

Now the alternative. Metzudat David explains: if even now, after hearing the word of God, you refuse to stay here and refuse to obey -- the conditional sets up the other half of the oracle. The phrase 'not to listen to the voice of the LORD your God' turns their own oath of verse 6 against them.

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

לֵאמֹ֗ר לֹ֚א כִּ֣י אֶ֤רֶץ מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ נָב֔וֹא אֲשֶׁ֤ר לֹֽא־נִרְאֶה֙ מִלְחָמָ֔ה וְק֥וֹל שׁוֹפָ֖ר לֹ֣א נִשְׁמָ֑ע וְלַלֶּ֥חֶם לֹֽא־נִרְעָ֖ב וְשָׁ֥ם נֵשֵֽׁב׃

English:

if you say, ‘No! We will go to the land of Egypt, so that we may not see war or hear the sound of the horn, and so that we may not hunger for bread; there we will stay,’

Yirmiyahu quotes their unspoken reasoning: in Egypt we will see no war, hear no shofar and not go hungry. Rashi explains that the shofar is the alarm blown by watchmen to warn the people, and Metzudat David adds that the shofar is sounded in battle, contrasts Egypt's imagined plenty with the constant famine at home, and reads 'there we will stay' as a hope never to be exiled again.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וקול שופר. שתוקעין הצופים להזהיר את העם:
the sound of the horn which the lookouts sound to warn the people.

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

וְעַתָּ֕ה לָכֵ֛ן שִׁמְע֥וּ דְבַר־יְהֹוָ֖ה שְׁאֵרִ֣ית יְהוּדָ֑ה כֹּֽה־אָמַר֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה צְבָא֜וֹת אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אִם־אַ֠תֶּ֠ם שׂ֣וֹם תְּשִׂמ֤וּן פְּנֵיכֶם֙ לָבֹ֣א מִצְרַ֔יִם וּבָאתֶ֖ם לָג֥וּר שָֽׁם׃

English:

then hear the word of GOD, O remnant of Judah! Thus said GOD of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you turn your faces toward Egypt, and you go and sojourn there,

The formal warning to the 'remnant of Yehudah' begins. Metzudat David explains the sequence: since this is what you say, therefore hear; 'if you set your faces' means deciding to go of your own will, and 'you come there' means actually carrying it out and settling there. The double condition leaves room to turn back until the moment they act.

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

וְהָיְתָ֣ה הַחֶ֗רֶב אֲשֶׁ֤ר אַתֶּם֙ יְרֵאִ֣ים מִמֶּ֔נָּה שָׁ֛ם תַּשִּׂ֥יג אֶתְכֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם וְהָרָעָ֞ב אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֣ם ׀ דֹּאֲגִ֣ים מִמֶּ֗נּוּ שָׁ֣ם יִדְבַּ֧ק אַחֲרֵיכֶ֛ם מִצְרַ֖יִם וְשָׁ֥ם תָּמֻֽתוּ׃

English:

the sword that you fear shall overtake you there, in the land of Egypt, and the famine you worry over shall follow at your heels in Egypt too; and there you shall die.

Each hope is reversed in the place of refuge. Metzudat David identifies the sword they fear as the sword of the Kasdim, which will cling to them and follow them all the way to Egypt -- the text adds 'Egypt' again for clarity -- and there they will die by sword and famine. The very army they flee will meet them where they hoped to escape it.

פסוק י״ז · Verse 17

Hebrew:

וְיִֽהְי֣וּ כׇל־הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים אֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֨מוּ אֶת־פְּנֵיהֶ֜ם לָב֤וֹא מִצְרַ֙יִם֙ לָג֣וּר שָׁ֔ם יָמ֕וּתוּ בַּחֶ֖רֶב בָּרָעָ֣ב וּבַדָּ֑בֶר וְלֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֤ה לָהֶם֙ שָׂרִ֣יד וּפָלִ֔יט מִפְּנֵי֙ הָרָעָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲנִ֖י מֵבִ֥יא עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃

English:

All those who turn their faces toward Egypt, in order to sojourn there, shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have no surviving remnant of the disaster that I will bring upon them.

The decree is sweeping: all who set their faces toward Egypt will die by sword, famine and plague, with no survivor or fugitive. Metzudat David stresses that not a single one of those who wish to go will be left, because of the greatness of the evil God will bring upon them. Chapter 44 will show the remnant in Egypt under exactly this sentence.

פסוק י״ח · Verse 18

Hebrew:

כִּי֩ כֹ֨ה אָמַ֜ר יְהֹוָ֣ה צְבָאוֹת֮ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ נִתַּ֨ךְ אַפִּ֜י וַחֲמָתִ֗י עַל־יֹֽשְׁבֵי֙ יְר֣וּשָׁלַ֔͏ִם כֵּ֣ן תִּתַּ֤ךְ חֲמָתִי֙ עֲלֵיכֶ֔ם בְּבֹאֲכֶ֖ם מִצְרָ֑יִם וִהְיִיתֶ֞ם לְאָלָ֤ה וּלְשַׁמָּה֙ וְלִקְלָלָ֣ה וּלְחֶרְפָּ֔ה וְלֹא־תִרְא֣וּ ע֔וֹד אֶת־הַמָּק֖וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃

English:

For thus said GOD of Hosts, the God of Israel: As My anger and wrath were poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You shall become an execration of woe, a curse and a mockery; and you shall never again see this place.

As wrath was poured on Yerushalayim, so it will be poured on them in Egypt. Metzudat David explains each term: people will swear 'may I be like those who went to Egypt,' all will be astonished at their downfall, a curser will hang his curse on them, all will revile them -- and they will never return to see this place. Radak suggests the terms may double one idea, or that אלה means an oath, comparing Yeshayahu 65:15.

פסוק י״ט · Verse 19

Hebrew:

דִּבֶּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֤ה עֲלֵיכֶם֙ שְׁאֵרִ֣ית יְהוּדָ֔ה אַל־תָּבֹ֖אוּ מִצְרָ֑יִם יָדֹ֙עַ֙ תֵּדְע֔וּ כִּֽי־הַעִידֹ֥תִי בָכֶ֖ם הַיּֽוֹם׃

English:

GOD has spoken against you, O remnant of Judah! Do not go to Egypt! Know well, then—for I warn you this day

'Do not go to Egypt!' Metzudat David explains that the prophet repeats himself in order to warn them again: when the disaster comes upon you, you will know that I warned you this day and told you it would be so. The warning is also a witness, so that later no one can claim they were not told.

פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20

Hebrew:

כִּ֣י (התעתים) [הִתְעֵיתֶם֮] בְּנַפְשׁוֹתֵיכֶם֒ כִּֽי־אַתֶּ֞ם שְׁלַחְתֶּ֣ם אֹתִ֗י אֶל־יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר הִתְפַּלֵּ֣ל בַּעֲדֵ֔נוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ וּכְכֹל֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יֹאמַ֜ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֵ֛ינוּ כֵּ֥ן הַגֶּד־לָ֖נוּ וְעָשִֽׂינוּ׃

English:

that you were deceitful at heart when you sent me to the ETERNAL your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the ETERNAL our God; and whatever the ETERNAL our God may say, just tell us and we will do it.’

'You have deceived yourselves.' Metzudat David explains that as he spoke he saw in their faces that they had no wish to stay; by sending him at all they turned what would have been an unwitting error into a deliberate sin. Radak reads it as concealment: you did not show me with your mouths what was in your hearts, for Yirmiyahu recognized that their intention was to go to Egypt.

פסוק כ״א · Verse 21

Hebrew:

וָאַגִּ֥ד לָכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם וְלֹ֣א שְׁמַעְתֶּ֗ם בְּקוֹל֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֔ם וּלְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁר־שְׁלָחַ֥נִי אֲלֵיכֶֽם׃

English:

I told you today, and you have not obeyed the ETERNAL your God in respect to all that I was sent to tell you—

'I told you today, and you have not listened.' Metzudat David explains: just as you never listened to anything I was sent to tell you in the past. Radak makes a sharp observation -- they had not yet answered him at all, since he had not finished speaking, but the prophet recognized that their minds were set on Egypt in any event.

פסוק כ״ב · Verse 22

Hebrew:

וְעַתָּה֙ יָדֹ֣עַ תֵּדְע֔וּ כִּ֗י בַּחֶ֛רֶב בָּרָעָ֥ב וּבַדֶּ֖בֶר תָּמ֑וּתוּ בַּמָּקוֹם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר חֲפַצְתֶּ֔ם לָב֖וֹא לָג֥וּר שָֽׁם׃ {ס}         

English:

know well, then, that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you want to go and sojourn.”

The chapter closes with a final warning so that they will know when the evil comes, as Metzudat David explains: they will die by sword, famine and plague in the very place they desire to go and sojourn. The word 'desire' (חפצתם) exposes the truth behind their question -- the decision had been made before they asked.

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