Jeremiah 44:28

28 The few who get out of Egypt alive and back to Judah will be very few, hardly worth counting. Then that ragtag bunch that left Judah to live in Egypt will know who had the last word.

Jeremiah 44:28 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 44:28

Yet a small number that shall escape the sword
The sword of the king of Babylon, and the other judgments, and which would be but very few; "men of number" F11, as in the Hebrew text, which might easily be numbered; Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah, and some few righteous persons among them, as Kimchi and Abarbinel observe: shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah;
they shall make their escape out of the land of Egypt, whither they did not go willingly; and, by one providence or another, shall come back to their native country, the land of Judea, When the rest will not; which must be a distinguishing your to them: and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to
sojourn there, shall know what words shall stand, mine or theirs;
those that are left of the sword, famine, and pestilence, shall know experimentally, by facts laid down, whose words have their effect and accomplishment, stand firm and sure; whether theirs, that promised impunity and safety, peace and prosperity, in their idolatrous practices; or the Lord's, which threatened with ruin and destruction. The Lord is true, and every man a liar; whatever devices are in a man's heart, the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 (rpom ytm) "viri numeri", Montanus

Jeremiah 44:28 In-Context

26 But also listen to what God has to say about it, all you who are from Judah but live in Egypt: 'I swear by my great name, backed by everything I am - this is God speaking! - that never again shall my name be used in vows, such as "As sure as the Master, God, lives!" by anyone in the whole country of Egypt.
27 I've targeted each one of you for doom. The good is gone for good.
28 The few who get out of Egypt alive and back to Judah will be very few, hardly worth counting. Then that ragtag bunch that left Judah to live in Egypt will know who had the last word.
29 "'And this will be the evidence: I will bring punishment right here, and by this you'll know that the decrees of doom against you are the real thing.
30 Watch for this sign of doom: I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt over to his enemies, those who are out to kill him, exactly as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah to his enemy Nebuchadnezzar, who was after him.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.