So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.

JEREMIAH 42:17KJV
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Jeremiah 42:17 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 42:17 mean?

Jeremiah 42:17 warns that everyone who decides to go and live in Egypt will die there by violence, starvation, or disease, and none will survive or escape the disaster God will bring upon them. The verse is a direct warning that fleeing to Egypt for safety will actually lead to destruction.

Jeremiah is speaking to the people of Judah after Jerusalem’s fall, as they consider escaping to Egypt to avoid further trouble. God, through Jeremiah, tells them that choosing Egypt out of fear will not protect them; instead, the very dangers they hope to escape—war, hunger, and plague—will find them there. The verse stresses that God’s judgment will reach them wherever they go if they do not trust His guidance.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 42:17

  • "set" (שׂוּם, sūm) and "faces" (פָּנִים, pānîm): The phrase "set their faces" uses a Hebrew expression for making a determined decision or commitment. It shows the people’s firm resolve to go to Egypt, not just a passing thought.
  • "sojourn" (גּוּר, gūr): This word means to live as a foreigner or resident alien. The people are not just visiting Egypt but planning to settle there for safety.
  • "remain" (שָׂרִיד, śārîd) and "escape" (פָּלִיט, pālîṭ): Both words emphasize that no one will survive or get away from the disaster. The verse doubles down on the totality of the warning—no exceptions.

Why Jeremiah 42:17 matters

  • Jeremiah 42:17 clarifies that seeking security apart from God’s direction, even in a powerful nation like Egypt, leads to the very dangers people hope to avoid.
  • The verse connects to the larger passage where the people ask Jeremiah to seek God’s will, but then resist His answer when it challenges their plans.
  • This warning helps explain why later events in Jeremiah show disaster falling on those who fled to Egypt, underlining the seriousness of ignoring God’s guidance.

Where else these words appear

“escape” Hebrew H6412 · used in 21 verses

  • Genesis 14:13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.
  • Isaiah 45:20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.
  • Ezekiel 7:16 But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.

“remain” Hebrew H8300 · used in 28 verses

  • Numbers 21:35 So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.
  • Joshua 10:37 And they took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof, and all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein.
  • Job 27:15 Those that remain of him shall be buried in death: and his widows shall not weep.

“pestilence” Hebrew H1698 · used in 48 verses

  • Exodus 5:3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.
  • Psalms 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
  • Jeremiah 42:22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.

“famine” Hebrew H7458 · used in 88 verses

  • Genesis 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
  • 2 Kings 25:3 And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
  • Jeremiah 29:18 And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither I have driven them: