Jeremiah 37:7

7 The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Thus ye shall say to the king of Judah, that sent you to ask me, Lo! the host of Pharaoh, which went out to you into help, shall turn again into his land, into Egypt. (The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Thus ye shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to ask me, Lo! Pharaoh's army, which went out to help you, shall return to their own land, yea, to Egypt.)

Jeremiah 37:7 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 37:7

Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel
Which are the usual titles and characters the Lord takes to himself, when he spake by the prophet; see ( Jeremiah 34:2 Jeremiah 34:13 ) ; thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me, to
inquire of me;
in an oracular way; for by this it seems that they were not only sent to desire the prophet to pray for them, but to obtain an oracle from the Lord, confirming it to them, that the Chaldean army which was gone would not return any more; this they were willing to believe, but wanted to have a confirmation of it from the Lord; and so the Targum,

``to seek an oracle from me;''

or to ask instruction or doctrine from me: now these messengers are bid to go back and tell the king, his nobles, and all the people of the land, what follows: behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return
to Egypt, into their own land;
being afraid to face the Chaldean army; or being defeated and driven back by it. Josephus ^F1 says there was a battle fought between the Egyptians and Chaldeans, in which the latter were conquerors, and put the former to flight, and drove them out of all Syria. Jarchi relates a fable, how that the Egyptian army came by ships, and that at sea they saw strange appearances, upon which they said one to another, what means this? they replied, these are our fathers, whom the fathers of those we are going to help drowned in the sea; and immediately returned to their own land.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 Anitqu. l. 10. c. 7. sect. 3.

Jeremiah 37:7 In-Context

5 Therefore the host of Pharaoh went out of Egypt, and [the] Chaldees, that besieged Jerusalem, heard such a message, and went away from Jerusalem. (And so, Pharaoh's army went forth out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard this news, they went away from Jerusalem.)

6 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, the prophet, and said,

7 The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Thus ye shall say to the king of Judah, that sent you to ask me, Lo! the host of Pharaoh, which went out to you into help, shall turn again into his land, into Egypt. (The Lord God of Israel saith these things, Thus ye shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to ask me, Lo! Pharaoh's army, which went out to help you, shall return to their own land, yea, to Egypt.)

8 And Chaldees shall come again, and shall fight against this city, and shall take it, and shall burn it with fire. (And then the Chaldeans shall return, and shall fight against this city, and shall take it, and shall burn it down.)

9 The Lord saith these things, Do not ye deceive your souls, saying, Chaldees going shall go away, and shall depart from us; for they shall not go away. (The Lord saith these things, Do not ye deceive yourselves, by saying, The Chaldeans going away shall truly go away, and shall indeed depart from us; for they shall not go away from you.)