Jeremiah 42

For Jeremiah 42 in the Septuagint, see Jeremiah 35.

Jeremiah 42 is the forty-second chapter of the Book of Jeremiah in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book contains prophecies attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, and is one of the Books of the Prophets. This chapter is part of a narrative section consisting of chapters 37 to 44.^[1] Chapters 42-44 describe the emigration to Egypt involving the remnant who remained in Judah after much of the population was exiled to Babylon.^[2] In this chapter, the leaders of the community ask Jeremiah to seek divine guidance as to whether they should go to Egypt or remain in Judah, but they are found to be hypocrites^[3] in asking for advice which they intended to ignore.

Jeremiah 42
← chapter 41 chapter 43 →
A high resolution scan of the Aleppo Codex showing the Book of Jeremiah (the sixth book in Nevi'im).
Book	Book of Jeremiah
Hebrew Bible part	Nevi'im
Order in the Hebrew part	6
Category	Latter Prophets
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	24

Text

The original text was written in Hebrew. This chapter is divided into 22 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis (895), the Petersburg Codex of the Prophets (916), Aleppo Codex (10th century), Codex Leningradensis (1008).^[4] Some fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, i.e., 2QJer (2Q13; 1st century CE^[5]), with extant verses 7‑11, 14.^[6][7]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint (with a different chapter and verse numbering), made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^S; 4th century), Codex Alexandrinus (A; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^A; 5th century) and Codex Marchalianus (Q; ${\displaystyle {\mathfrak {G}}}$^Q; 6th century).^[8]

Verse numbering

The order of chapters and verses of the Book of Jeremiah in the English Bibles, Masoretic Text (Hebrew), and Vulgate (Latin), in some places differs from that in the Septuagint (LXX, the Greek Bible used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and others) according to Rahlfs or Brenton. The following table is taken with minor adjustments from Brenton's Septuagint, page 971.^[9]

The order of Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint/Scriptural Study (CATSS) based on Alfred Rahlfs' Septuaginta (1935) differs in some details from Joseph Ziegler's critical edition (1957) in Göttingen LXX. Swete's Introduction mostly agrees with Rahlfs' edition (=CATSS).^[9]

Hebrew, Vulgate, English	Rahlfs' LXX (CATSS)
42:1-22	49:1-22
35:1-19	42:1-19

Parashot

The parashah sections listed here are based on the Aleppo Codex.^[10] Jeremiah 42 is a part of the "Sixteenth prophecy (Jeremiah 40-45)" in the section of Prophecies interwoven with narratives about the prophet's life (Jeremiah 26-45). {P}: open parashah; {S}: closed parashah.

{P} 42:1-6 {P} 42:7-22 {S}

Verses 1-6

The survivors of Ishmael's rebellion came to Jeremiah, who might be among the captives freed by Johanan and his forces (Jeremiah 41:16),^[11] requesting him to intercede and ask God's will on their behalf, as they were uncertain what to do.^[2]

Verse 3

"that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing we should do."^[12]

The people sought Jeremiah for advice with regard to their plan to escape to Egypt.^[2]

Verse 10b

New King James Version:

... For I relent concerning the disaster that I have brought upon you.^[13]

Alternative interpretations include:

• King James Version, American Standard Version: I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.^[14]
• Amplified Bible: I will relent and be satisfied concerning the disaster that I have inflicted on you [as discipline, and I will replace judgment with compassion].^[15]
• Jerusalem Bible: I am sorry for the evil I have done you.^[16]
• Oxford Bible Commentary: YHWH grieves over the disaster 'I . . . brought upon you'.^[17]

Biblical commentator A. W. Streane describes the King James Version's wording as "an anthropomorphic figure", as if God's intention was to change conduct towards the people of Judah, "which with men is commonly caused by change of purpose".^[18]

See also

• Bible portal

• Babylon
• Egypt
• Ishmael son of Nethaniah
• Jerusalem
• Related Bible part: Jeremiah 41, Jeremiah 43, Jeremiah 44

References

1. Coogan 2007, pp. 1137-1138 Hebrew Bible.
2. O'Connor 2007, p. 520.
3. Jeremiah 42:20
4. Würthwein 1995, pp. 35–37.
5. Sweeney, Marvin A. (2010). Form and Intertextuality in Prophetic and Apocalyptic Literature. Forschungen zum Alten Testament. Vol. 45 (reprint ed.). Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 66. ISBN 9781608994182. ISSN 0940-4155.
6. Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (2008). A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 26. ISBN 9780802862419. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
7. Ulrich, Eugene, ed. (2010). The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants. Brill. pp. 578–579. ISBN 9789004181830. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
8. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
9. "Table of Order of Jeremiah in Hebrew and Septuagint". www.ccel.org.
10. As reflected in the Jewish Publication Society's 1917 edition of the Hebrew Bible in English.
11. Coogan 2007, p. 1144 Hebrew Bible.
12. Jeremiah 42:3 NKJV
13. Jeremiah 42:10 NKJV
14. Jeremiah 42:10 KJV
15. Jeremiah 42:10 AMP
16. Jerusalem Bible (1966), Jeremiah 42:10b
17. Barton, J. and Muddiman, J., eds. (2001), Jeremiah in Oxford Bible Commentary, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-927718-6
18. Streane, A. W., Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Jeremiah 42, accessed 3 April 2019

Bibliography

• Coogan, Michael David (2007). Coogan, Michael David; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann; Perkins, Pheme (eds.). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 (Augmented 3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195288810.
• Huey, F. B. (1993). The New American Commentary - Jeremiah, Lamentations: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, NIV Text. B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 9780805401165.
• O'Connor, Kathleen M. (2007). "23. Jeremiah". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 487–533. ISBN 978-0199277186. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
• Thompson, J. A. (1980). A Book of Jeremiah. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (illustrated, revised ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802825308.
• Würthwein, Ernst (1995). The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.

External links

Jewish

• Jeremiah 42 Hebrew with Parallel English

Christian

• Jeremiah 42, English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate