Bible Strands
Jeremiah 42:2
Jeremiah the prophet and said, “May our petition come before you; pray to the LORD your God on behalf of this entire remnant. For few of us remain of the many, as you can see with your own eyes.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The commanders and surviving remnant approach Jeremiah the prophet to request intercession after the Babylonian devastation. They ask him to pray to the LORD on their behalf because their numbers have drastically diminished.
The words — The phrase תִּפּל נָּא תְחִנָּתֵנוּ לְפָנֶיךָ (ti-pol na te-chi-na-te-nu le-fa-ne-kha) literally renders “may our supplication please fall before you.” This idiom frames their request as a formal petition placed directly at the divine throne.
The thread — The motif of a remnant’s petition falling before God echoes in 1 Samuel 7:8 and Jeremiah 36:7, where desperate groups urge prophets to intercede for deliverance or repentance. Leviticus 26:22 contrasts this by warning that reduced numbers can also signal divine judgment rather than a plea for mercy.
Why it lands — The text demands a clear acknowledgment of human vulnerability and the necessity of seeking divine direction before acting. It requires the reader to recognize that survival depends on obedient inquiry rather than autonomous decision-making.
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
And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the Lord thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 36:7 Perhaps they will bring their petition before the LORD, and each one will turn from his wicked way; for great are the anger and fury that the LORD has pronounced against this people.”
- Leviticus 26:22 I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.
- 1 Samuel 7:8 and said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
- 1 Samuel 12:19 They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.”
- Isaiah 1:9 Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 37:4 Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to defy the living God, and He will rebuke him for the words that the LORD your God has heard. Therefore lift up a prayer for the remnant that still survives.”
- Jeremiah 37:3 Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet with the message, “Please pray to the LORD our God for us!”
- Lamentations 1:1 How lonely lies the city, once so full of people! She who was great among the nations has become a widow. The princess of the provinces has become a slave.
- Acts 8:24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
- James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.