Jeremiah 42:16

then the sword you fear will overtake you there, and the famine you dread will follow on your heels into Egypt, and you will die there.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God speaks through Jeremiah to the remnant of Judah who are debating whether to flee to Egypt after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem.

The words — The phrase הַחֶרֶב אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם יְרֵאִים מִמֶּנָּה (ha.cherev asher attem yere'im mimmenah) translates literally to "the sword which you are afraid from it." The verb תַּשִּׂיג (ta.sig) means "it will overtake."

The thread — This warning echoes Ezekiel 11:8, where God declares, "You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you," and is fulfilled in Jeremiah 44:27 as the remnant meets their end in Egypt.

Why it lands — The text demands the reader acknowledge that fleeing to Egypt will not escape divine judgment but will instead deliver the very destruction they dread directly to them.

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

Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 44:27 I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine, until they are finished off.
Ezekiel 11:8 You fear the sword, so I will bring the sword against you, declares the Lord GOD.
Amos 9:1 I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said: “Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Topple them on the heads of all the people, and I will kill the rest with the sword. None of those who flee will get away; none of the fugitives will escape.
John 11:48 If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
Deuteronomy 28:15 If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
Deuteronomy 28:22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.
Deuteronomy 28:45 All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, since you did not obey the LORD your God and keep the commandments and statutes He gave you.
Proverbs 13:21 Disaster pursues sinners, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.
Jeremiah 42:13 But if you say, ‘We will not stay in this land,’ and you thus disobey the voice of the LORD your God,
Jeremiah 44:11 Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah.