Jeremiah 37:16

37:11-21 There are times when it is the wisdom of good men to retire, to enter into their chambers, and to shut the doors, Isa 26:20. Jeremiah was seized as a deserter, and committed to prison. But it is no new thing for the best friends of the church to be belied, as in the interests of her worst enemies. When thus falsely accused, we may deny the charge, and commit our cause to Him who judges righteously. Jeremiah obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful, and would not, to obtain mercy of man, be unfaithful to God or to his prince; he tells the king the whole truth. When Jeremiah delivered God's message, he spake with boldness; but when he made his own request, he spake submissively. A lion in God's cause must be a lamb in his own. And God gave Jeremiah favour in the eyes of the king. The Lord God can make even the cells of a prison become pastures to his people, and will raise up friends to provide for them, so that in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon,.... Or, "into the house of the pit" (l); a dungeon, like a pit or ditch, dark, dirty, or dismal: and into the cabins; or "cells" (m); into a place more inward than the cells, as the Targum; into the innermost and worst part in all the prison, where a man could not well lie, sit, nor stand: and Jeremiah had remained there many days; in this very uncomfortable condition; very probably till the Chaldean army returned to Jerusalem, as he foretold it should. (l) "in, vel ad domum laci", Pagninus, Montanus; "in domum foveae", Schmidt. (m) "et in cellulas illius", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "et ad cellas", Schmidt.

Jeremiah 37:16 . When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon — Hebrew אל בית הבור , into the house of the pit, ditch, or lake; and into the cabins — Or, cells, as החניות signifies. “From comparing this place with chap. Jeremiah 38:6 , it seems likely that this dungeon was a deep pit, sunk perpendicularly like a well, in the middle court or quadrangle, around which the great houses were built; and that in the sides of it, near the bottom, were scooped niches, like the cabins of a ship, for the separate lodgment of the unfortunate persons who were let down there. Hence also it may be, that the same word here rendered dungeon is frequently put for the grave; the ancient repositories of the dead being often constructed with niches, in the same manner in which the bodies were placed, separately. Accordingly we read, Isaiah 14:15 , Yet thou shalt be brought down to the grave, to the sides of the pit, אל ירכתי בור . How long Jeremiah was forced to remain in this miserable place is not said, but it seems from Jeremiah 37:19 . that it was until the Chaldean army was returned to the siege.

Verse 16. - Into the dungeon, and into the cabins. The former word undoubtedly implies an underground excavation. The latter is of more uncertain signification. It most probably means "vaults;" but it may mean "curved posts" - something analogous to stocks (see on Jeremiah 20:2). Jeremiah 37:16

16 . dungeon house ] lit. as mg. house of the pit . Cp. Jeremiah 38:6 . cells ] The Heb. word is found here only and seems to denote a room with a vaulted roof. many days ] during which time the Chaldaeans resumed the siege and the danger became so pressing that Zedekiah was induced to send for the prophet, and ask him for some intimation of the future. 16–21 . See introd. summary to ch.

The Hebrew words which we translate dungeon signify the house of the lake ; they certainly signify some pit, or deep hole, or place in the prison, where were some cells or apartments, in which they were wont to keep those whom they judged great malefactors, or against whom they had some special anger; how many days the prophet was forced to abide in this miserable place it is not said, but it should seem by Jeremiah 37:9 , that it was until the Chaldean army was returned to the siege.

Examination of the prophet by the king, and alleviation of his confinement. - Jeremiah 37:16 . "When Jeremiah had got into the dungeon and into the vaults, and had sat there many days, then Zedekiah the king sent and fetched him, and questioned him in his own house (palace) secretly," etc. Jeremiah 37:16 is by most interpreters joined with the foregoing, but the words כּי בּא do not properly permit of this. For if we take the verse as a further confirmation of ויּקצפוּ השׂרים, "the princes vented their wrath on Jeremiah, beat him," etc., "for Jeremiah came...," then it must be acknowledged that the account would be very long and lumbering. כּי בּא is too widely separated from יקצפוּ. But the passages, 1 Samuel 2:21 , where כּי פּקד is supposed to stand for ויּפקד, and Isaiah 39:1 , where ויּשׁמע is thought to have arisen out of כּי, 2 Kings 20:12 , are not very strong proofs, since there, as here, no error in writing is marked. The Vulgate has itaque ingressus; many therefore would change כּי into כּן; but this also is quite arbitrary. Accordingly, with Rosenmller, we connect Jeremiah 37:16 with the following, and take כּי as a temporal particle; in this, the most we miss is ו copulative, or ויהי. In the preceding sentence the prison of the prophet is somewhat minutely described, in order to prepare us for the request that follows in Jeremiah 37:20 . Jeremiah was in a בּית־בּור, "house of a pit," cf. Exodus 12:29 , i.e., a subterranean prison, and in החניּות.

This word only occurs here; but in the kindred dialects it means vaults, stalls, shops; hence it possibly signifies here subterranean prison-cells, so that אל־החניּות more exactly determines what בּית־הבּור is. This meaning of the word is, at any rate, more certain than that given by Eb. Scheid in Rosenmller, who renders חניות by flexa, curvata; then, supplying ligna, he thinks of the stocks to which the prisoners were fastened. - The king questioned him בּסּתר, "in secret," namely, through fear of his ministers and court-officers, who were prejudiced against the prophet, perhaps also in the hope of receiving in a private interview a message from God of more favourable import. To the question of the king, "Is there any word from Jahveh?" Jeremiah replies in the affirmative; but the word of God is this, "Thou shalt be given into the hand of the king of Babylon," just as Jeremiah had previously announced to him; cf. Jeremiah 32:4 ; Jeremiah 34:3 . - Jeremiah took this opportunity of complaining about his imprisonment, saying, Jeremiah 37:18 , "In what have I sinned against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? Jeremiah 37:19 . And where are your prophets, who prophesied to you, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?" Jeremiah appeals to his perfect innocence ( Jeremiah 37:18 ), and to the confirmation of his prediction by its event.