Bible Strands
Jeremiah 42:14
and if you say, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt and live there, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn or hunger for bread,’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah delivers God’s conditional warning to the remnant of Judah immediately after they requested guidance following Gedaliah’s assassination. The prophet confronts the group as they articulate a plan to flee to Egypt despite explicit divine prohibition.
The words — The term לֹא (lo') means "not" and negates the remnant’s expectations of avoiding war, famine, and military alarms. אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם ('E.retz mitz.Ra.yim) literally translates to "land of Egypt," marking the precise destination of their rebellion.
The thread — This vow to escape to Egypt parallels the Israelites’ earlier longing for Egyptian provisions in Exodus 16:3 and anticipates their actual movement past Geruth Chimham in Jeremiah 41:17. The motif recurs in Jeremiah 4:19 as a backdrop of national anguish caused by repeated disobedience.
Why it lands — The verse forces a direct confrontation between human strategy and divine command, showing how fear motivates rejection of God’s instruction. It requires the reader to evaluate whether their decisions are anchored in perceived security or in obedience.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 4:19 My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh, the pain in my chest! My heart pounds within me; I cannot be silent. For I have heard the sound of the horn, the alarm of battle.
- Jeremiah 41:17 And they went and stayed in Geruth Chimham, near Bethlehem, in order to proceed into Egypt
- Exodus 16:3 “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”
- Numbers 11:4 Meanwhile, the rabble among them had a strong craving for other food, and again the Israelites wept and said, “Who will feed us meat?
- Isaiah 31:1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.
- Jeremiah 4:21 How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the horn?
- Exodus 17:3 But the people thirsted for water there, and they grumbled against Moses: “Why have you brought us out of Egypt—to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”
- Numbers 16:13 Is it not enough that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey to kill us in the wilderness? Must you also appoint yourself as ruler over us?
- Deuteronomy 29:19 because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
- Isaiah 30:16 “No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster.