Jeremiah 42:11

11 You must not be afraid {of} the king of Babylon whom you [are] {afraid of}. You must not be afraid of him,' {declares} Yahweh, 'for I [am] with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.

Jeremiah 42:11 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 42:11

Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid,
&c.] Lest he should revenge the death of Gedaliah upon them, which was a groundless fear; see ( Jeremiah 41:18 ) ; or that they should be dealt hardly with by him, and be cruelly oppressed, and not able to live in subjection to him; see ( Jeremiah 40:9 ) ; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: who, being omniscient, knew they
were;
and, being omnipotent, a greater King than the king of Babylon, the King of king?, they had no reason to fear anything from him, since they were under his protection: for I [am] with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand;
from his avenging and oppressing hand; though they were not to be delivered as yet from subjection to him, or being tributaries to him; which they might be, and yet dwell in peace and safety.

Jeremiah 42:11 In-Context

9 and said to them, "Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, to whom you sent me to cause your plea to fall {before him}:

10 'If only you will stay in this land, then I will build you and I will not tear [you] down, and I will plant you and I will not pluck [you] up, for I relent of the disaster that I have brought to you.

11 You must not be afraid {of} the king of Babylon whom you [are] {afraid of}. You must not be afraid of him,' {declares} Yahweh, 'for I [am] with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.

12 And I will show you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and will restore you to your soil.

13 But if you [are] saying, "We will not stay in this land," [so as to] not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God,

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "from the face of"
• [b] Literally "in fear from the presence of him"
• [c] Literally "a declaration of"