Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 42:17
So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
Those words,
that set their faces to go, may reasonably be interpreted as a limitation of the universal particle all; for as eventually we can hardly conceive that every individual person that went into Egypt did thus perish, so it can hardly be thought that the just God should order an equal punishment to those who were the ringleaders in this design, and those who were forced or overruled by them, or perhaps knew not how to live when the rest were gone. But, saith God, for those who drive on this design, and go with their whole heart resolvedly against the contrary revelation of my will, there shall none of them escape one or other of my sore judgments, sword, pestilence, or famine; they shall not be the lot of one or two, but of all such persons.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. all the menexcepting the”small number” mentioned (Jer 44:14;Jer 44:28); namely, those whowere forced into Egypt against their will, Jeremiah, Baruch, &c.,and those who took Jeremiah’s advice and fled from Egypt before thearrival of the Chaldeans.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there,…. Not all that went into Egypt, but all that were resolutely set upon it; that were obstinately bent to go there, and did go, contrary to the express command of God; for otherwise there were some that were forced to go against their wills, as Jeremiah, Baruch, and no doubt others:
they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; three of the Lord’s sore judgments; some should die by one, and some by another, and some by a third; all should die by one or the other:
and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them; that is, none of those who wilfully, and of their own accord, went down to Egypt; they all perished there, none could escape the hand of God, or the evil he determined to bring upon them; which is to be understood of the above judgments.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
, used instead of the impersonal , is referred to the following subject by a rather unusual kind of attraction; cf. Ewald, 345, b. All the men who set their faces, i.e., intend, to go to Egypt shall perish; not a single one shall escape the evil; for the same judgment of wrath which has befallen Jerusalem shall also come on those who flee to Egypt; cf. Jer 7:20. On the expression “ye shall become a curse,” etc., cf. Jer 24:9; Jer 25:18; Jer 29:18.
Taking for granted that the leaders of the people will not obey, Jeremiah appends to the word of the Lord an earnest address, in which several points are specially insisted on, viz., that the Lord had spoken to them, that He had forbidden them to go to Egypt, and that he (the prophet), by proclaiming the word of the Lord, had warned them ( , to testify, bear witness against a person, i.e., warn him of something, cf. Jer 11:7). Thus he discloses to them the dangerous mistake they are in, when they first desire some expression of the mind of the Lord regarding their intentions, and, in the hope that He will accede to their request, promise unconditional obedience to whatever He may direct, but afterwards, when they have received a message from the Lord, will not obey it, because it is contrary to what they wish. The Kethib has been incorrectly written for , the Hiphil from , to err; here, as in Pro 10:17, it means to make a mistake. , not, “you mislead your own selves,” decepistis animas vestras (Vulg.), nor “in your souls,” – meaning, in your thoughts and intentions (Ngelsbach), – but “at the risk of your souls,” your life; cf. Jer 17:21. (Jer 42:21), “and that in regard to all that for which Jahveh has sent me to you,” points back to their promise, Jer 42:5, that they would do “according to all the word.” By employing the perfect in Jer 42:20, Jer 42:21, the thing is represented as quite certain, as if it had already taken place. Jer 42:22 concludes the warning with a renewed threat of the destruction which shall befall them for their disobedience.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(17) So shall it be with all the men . . .The words possibly imply that others were taking the same course as those who had applied to Jeremiah. There was something like a rush from many nationsMoab, Edom, and others (Jer. 27:3)of fugitives, looking to Egypt as their one hope of safety against the Chaldans, and joining with the Jews that had sought shelter in their respective territories (Jer. 40:11). We note in the prophets warning the recurrence of the old familiar phrases, by the sword, by the famine, by the pestilence (Jer. 24:10; Eze. 6:11), of an execration and an astonishment and a curse and a reproach (Jer. 24:9; Jer. 26:6; Jer. 29:18). They would involve themselves by rejecting his counsels in all the worst evils that he had prophesied before. What had been addressed to the mixed multitude is emphatically repeated in Jer. 42:19 to the remnant of Judah.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. All the men This universal expression is not to be pressed with mathematical exactness. The fact that some loyal and obedient men, like Jeremiah and Baruch, were carried to Egypt and afterward escaped does not stand against this passage. See Jer 44:28: “Yet a small number shall return out of the land of Egypt.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 42:17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
Ver. 17. They shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. ] Three threats, answerable to those three promises, Jer 42:10-12 in case of their obedience.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
it be with all the men: Heb. all the men be
they shall: Jer 42:22, Jer 24:10, Jer 44:14
none: Jer 44:28
Reciprocal: Lev 26:38 – General Jer 38:2 – He Jer 42:15 – If Eze 5:12 – and I will draw
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 42:17. For the significance of sword, famine and pestilence see the comments at Jer 14:12. The punishment was to be complete for all who attempted to make Egypt a hiding place from the Babylonians.