Jeremiah 42:5

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, "May Yahweh be against us as {a true and faithful witness} if we do not do according to all the words that Yahweh sends you for us.

Jeremiah 42:5 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 42:5

Then they said to Jeremiah, the Lord be a true and faithful
witness between us
Which is the form of an oath; a solemn appeal to God, as a witness to what they were about to say, and to the sincerity of their hearts in it; who is true to his word, and faithful to his promises and threatenings; and who bears a true and faithful testimony, and will do what is just and right; and yet these people never intended to perform what they promised; which is a most shocking piece of atheism in a professing people; and who, at this very time, could not but observe the judgments of God upon their nation, city, and temple: if we do not even according to all things for the which the Lord thy
God shall send thee to us;
they promise to do everything the Lord should signify by the prophet as his will; and, if they did not, wish the severest judgments of God might fall upon them.

Jeremiah 42:5 In-Context

3 And let Yahweh your God inform us the way in which we should go and the thing that we should do."

4 And Jeremiah the prophet said to them, "I have heard. Look, I [am] going to pray to Yahweh your God according to your words, {and then} all the words that Yahweh answers you I will tell you; I will not withhold from you a word."

5 Then they said to Jeremiah, "May Yahweh be against us as {a true and faithful witness} if we do not do according to all the words that Yahweh sends you for us.

6 Whether good or bad, we will listen to the voice of Yahweh our God, [to] whom we [are] sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of Yahweh our God."

7 {And then} at [the] end of ten days the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "a witness of faithfulness and trustworthy"
• [b] Hebrew "word"