Yirmiyahu chapter 42. All the officers of the forces, and Yochanan ben Kareach, and Yezanyah ben Hoshayah, and all the people, from the youngest to the oldest, drew near. And they said to Yirmiyahu the prophet: Let our supplication fall before you, and pray for us to Hashem your God, on behalf of all this remnant, for we are left few from many, as your eyes see us. And let Hashem your God tell us the way in which we should go, and the thing that we should do.
They come and say to him: We ask of you, pray to Hashem that He tell us the way in which we should go and the thing that we should do. Notice, they did not say, let Him tell us what we should do. That they do not say. What do they say? The way in which we should go and the thing that we should do. The Malbim says that they had already agreed among themselves that they are going down to Egypt. They only ask: Tell us in the name of Hashem the easiest way to reach Egypt. By which road should we go, and the thing that we should do once we arrive there, how will we escape the sword of the king of Babylon.
And Yirmiyahu the prophet said to them: I have heard. Behold, I am praying to Hashem your God according to your words, and it shall be that whatever thing Hashem answers you, I will tell you; I will withhold nothing from you. That is, I will tell you everything Hashem says to me. This means He will show you the best way to go down to Egypt. But in any case, and it shall be that whatever thing He answers you, the meaning is that if He answers that you should not go by this way, but rather that you should remain in the land of Israel, he tells them, I will tell you. That is, I intend not to hide any answer that there may be. Whether the answer is positive, to go down to Egypt, or whether the answer is to refrain from going down, all of it I intend to tell you.
And they said to Yirmiyahu: May Hashem be a true and faithful witness against us, if we do not act according to all the thing with which Hashem your God sends you to us. We are ready to accept. Even if Hashem tells us not to go, which actually contradicts our plans, because our plans now are to go, even if Hashem tells us not to go, it is acceptable to us. We are ready to accept, so we will do. Whether good or bad, we will listen to the voice of Hashem our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well for us, for we will listen to the voice of Hashem our God.
They come and say to him: Whether good or bad, we will listen to the voice of Hashem our God to whom we are sending you. Whatever Hashem commands, whatever He sends you with, we are ready to accept. And what does whether good or bad mean? That is, if He commands us to remain here in the land, is that good or bad? For us it is bad. For Hashem, so to speak, it is good. That is, but according to our perception it seems to us to be bad. In any case they tell him: We will listen to the voice of Hashem's counsel. Why? So that it may go well for us, for we will listen to the voice of Hashem our God. That is, the true good from Hashem your God requires of you nothing but to fear and to listen to the voice of Hashem's words, as the prophet said to Shaul. What does this mean? The very act of listening guarantees and brings in its wings success and blessing, even though in our eyes it appears bad. This is the meaning of whether good or bad. Whether good, meaning we know it is truly good, even though in our eyes this thing may very well seem to us at first to be bad.
And it was at the end of ten days that the word of Hashem came to Yirmiyahu. And he called to Yochanan ben Kareach and to all the officers of the forces who were with him, and to all the people, from the youngest to the oldest. And he said to them, this is what Yirmiyahu says to them: Thus said Hashem the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to lay your supplication before Him. If you will indeed remain in this land, then I will build you up and not tear down, and I will plant you and not uproot, for I have relented of the evil that I did to you. Do not fear the king of Babylon whom you fear; do not fear him, says Hashem, for I am with you to save you and to rescue you from his hand. And I will grant you mercy, and he will have mercy on you and return you to your land.
He gives them one more additional possibility, but let us begin with the first possibility. He said to them: I have a prophecy from Hashem. Hashem informs you thus: If you will indeed remain in this land, then I will build you up. I will build you up, you will have a kingdom, you will have leadership, and I will not tear down. I will not ruin you any further as I exiled the earlier ones. And I will plant you and not uproot, that is, you will be planted with a great people among you, and I will not uproot, meaning I will not abandon you. For I have relented of the evil; I want there to be a remnant in the land of Israel and a hope for the end, and therefore he comes and tells them: You can remain here in rest and quiet. Do not fear the king of Babylon whom you fear; do not fear him, says Hashem, for I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. Do not be afraid of him. First, regarding what you fear of him, that he will take revenge on you for killing his appointee, Gedalyah ben Achikam. And do not fear him a second time, this speaks of the future, that he will not do you any further evil, placing you in hard labor and the like. He tells them: I am with you to save you and rescue you from his hand. I am with you in order to rescue you from his hand, that he not harm you in the slightest. And I will grant you mercy, and he will have mercy on you and return you to your land. He tells them: Know that you will have mercy and He will return you to your land, meaning that the foundation of the land will be yours and in your possession.
But if you say, we will not remain in this land, so as not to listen to the voice of Hashem your God. Now he moves to the threat. That is, you sent me to Hashem, you asked me to hear the word of Hashem, behold I have delivered to you the word of Hashem plainly and without embellishment. But if you will say: Fine, thank you very much, Yirmiyahu, truly, for what you delivered from Hashem, but this does not find favor in our eyes. These words do not appeal to us. We do not intend to apply them. If you will not want to listen to the voice of Hashem's words, either because you do not want to remain in the land, or because you prefer the land of Egypt. And you say, we will not remain in this land, so as not to listen to the voice of Hashem, for though Hashem promises you it will be good for you here, you say we do not want this land. Saying: No, we will come to the land of Egypt, where we will not see war and will not hear the sound of the shofar, and for bread we will not hunger, and there we will remain. We prefer the land of Egypt. Why? Because there there is no war, the sound of the shofar is not heard, no sirens are heard, no red alert, no white alert, no viper serpent, it is safer in Egypt. And for bread we will not hunger, there there is no disgrace of famine, no siege, and there we will remain. And we will dwell in that land without worry.
And now, therefore, hear the word of Hashem, remnant of Yehudah. Thus said Hashem of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you indeed set your faces to come to Egypt and come to sojourn there. That is, you prefer to go and leave the land of Israel. He tells them: If you go to other lands, from that you will only lose the good that I promise you here, but you will not be punished. But if you go to Egypt, about this I already warned you beforehand, and in particular there is an ancient warning from the Torah not to return to Egypt, you shall not return by that way again. Therefore he tells them: If you indeed set your faces to come to Egypt, then it shall be that the sword which you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine about which you worry will cling after you there in Egypt, and there you will die. The sword you are afraid of, you will not be protected in Egypt from that sword, it will overtake you. As Nevuchadnetzar, after he finishes the story here, will continue onward to Egypt. And all the men who set their faces to come to Egypt to sojourn there will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague, and there will be no survivor or remnant for them from the evil that I bring upon them. He tells them: Besides that the sword and famine will overtake you, besides this you will reach such a state that no survivor or remnant will remain, from the evil that I bring upon them. What does this mean? There are two types of evils. There is an evil where Hashem removes His providence from us, and then a person is exposed to every danger. On the other hand there is a providential evil. What is a providential evil? When Hashem removes His providence from us, it may be that we will have great evil, and it may also be that nothing will happen, for what does this mean? Our being placed in the hands of nature, what is called according to luck. In contrast, when Hashem turns His face upon us to punish us, this is worse in this respect, that here you will certainly have a punishment, you will certainly have evil, because Hashem with providence brings evil upon you. This is what he says here, from the evil that I bring upon them, an evil with special providence, that Hashem will oversee that you receive evil.
For thus said Hashem of Hosts, the God of Israel: As My anger and My wrath were poured out upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out upon you when you come to Egypt. And you will become an oath, a horror, a curse, and a disgrace, and you will not see this place again. Just as in Jerusalem you had a punishment with full providence, so too you will have when you come to Egypt, Hashem with full providence will give you a punishment from Him, blessed be He. Hashem has spoken concerning you, remnant of Yehudah: Do not come to Egypt. Know surely that I have testified against you today. That is, until now he is telling them what the word of Hashem is. Now the prophet speaks his own words. Hashem has spoken concerning you, remnant of Yehudah, the meaning is: Behold you see that the Holy One, blessed be He, warns and cautions you, listen to Hashem's command, heed His warning. For you have deceived yourselves, for you sent me to Hashem your God, saying: Pray for us to Hashem our God, and according to all that Hashem our God says, so tell us, and we will do it. He tells them: If so, it turns out that it became clear that from the start you took a path of deception and trickery. You came to me and said to me innocently: Yirmiyahu, find out what will happen with us, whether if we go down to Egypt perhaps we will be saved there. When your intention from the start was to go down to Egypt. You did not intend to stop; what did you want? To receive backing, an endorsement. Suddenly when Hashem tells you no, no, no, do not go down, ah, this suddenly no longer finds favor in your eyes, and you go down anyway. So what turns out? That from the start you deceived Hashem. You did not go to ask a question innocently out of a desire to know what to do, but rather you went to receive approval for your inner desire. This is called deceiving Hashem. You sent me to Hashem, you asked to pray for us, and according to all that Hashem says, so tell us and we will do, and suddenly it turns out that all this was not your intention from the start, but rather you truly intended not to do the word of Hashem. And I have told you today, but you did not listen to the voice of Hashem your God, to all that He sent me to you. From this only harm will come to you. And now, know surely that by the sword, by famine, and by plague you will die in the place to which you desired to come to sojourn. That is, had you not asked me beforehand, you would not have known what your end would be. But now, after it has already been said, it is difficult for this thing to be annulled, and therefore know that your end will not be good if you act against Hashem's command. After I have already asked Hashem, it is your duty to listen to the voice of Hashem's command, and through this, by remaining here, you are guaranteed that you will not be harmed.