And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us:)
Jeremiah - he probably was one of the number carried off from Mizpah, and dwelt with Johanan (Jeremiah 41:16). Hence, the expression is "came near" (Jeremiah 42:1), not 'sent unto Jeremiah.'
Let ... our supplication be accepted - literally, fall (note, Jeremiah 36:7; Jeremiah 37:20).
Pray for us - (Genesis 20:7; as Hezekiah and his officers of state begged Isaiah in the invasion of Sennacherib, "Lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left," Isaiah 37:4; James 5:16).
Thy God - (Jeremiah 42:5). The Jews use this form to express their belief in the special relation in which Jeremiah stood to God as his accredited prophet. Jeremiah, in his reply, reminds them that God is their God as well as his ("your God"), as being the covenant people (Jeremiah 42:4). They in turn acknowledge this in Jeremiah 42:6, "The Lord our God."
We are left but a few of many - as had been foretold (Leviticus 26:22).