Jeremiah 38:3

38:1-13 Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to themselves while impenitent. Jeremiah was put into a dungeon. Many of God's faithful witnesses have been privately made away in prisons. Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian; yet he spoke to the king faithfully, These men have done ill in all they have done to Jeremiah. See how God can raise up friends for his people in distress. Orders were given for the prophet's release, and Ebed-melech saw him drawn up. Let this encourage us to appear boldly for God. Special notice is taken of his tenderness for Jeremiah. What do we behold in the different characters then, but the same we behold in the different characters now, that the Lord's children are conformed to his example, and the children of Satan to their master?

Thus saith the Lord, this city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army,.... When those found in it should be put to the sword, or carried captive: this the prophet declares with the greatest certainty; and what he had often affirmed for twenty years past, and now stands to it, having had fresh assurances from the Lord that so it would be; and which he faithfully published; though he had received some favours from the court, had his liberty enlarged, and was now eating the king's bread, he was not to be bribed by these things to hold his peace; but the nearer the ruin of the city was, the more confident was he of its destruction: which shall take it; or, "that it may take it" (o); being delivered into its hands by the Lord, without whose permission the Chaldean army could never have taken it: or "and he shall take it" (p); that is, the king of Babylon. (o) "ut capiat eam", Schmidt. (p) "Et capiet illam", Cocceius; "et capiet eam", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus.

Jeremiah is cast into a miry pit, but drawn out again by Ebedmelech the Cushite. Jeremiah 38:1-6 . Being confined in the court of the guard attached to the royal palace, Jeremiah had opportunities of conversing with the soldiers stationed there and the people of Judah who came thither (cf. Jeremiah 38:1 with Jeremiah 32:8 , Jeremiah 32:12 ), and of declaring, in opposition to them, his conviction (which he had indeed expressed from the beginning of the siege) that all resistance to the Chaldeans would be fruitless, and only bring destruction (cf. Jeremiah 21:9 .). On this account, the princes who were of a hostile disposition towards him were so embittered, that they resolved on his death, and obtain from the king permission to cast him into a deep pit with mire at the bottom. In v. 1 four of these princes are named, two of whom, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, are known, from Jeremiah 37:3 and Jeremiah 21:1 , as confidants of the king; the other two, Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, are not mentioned elsewhere. Gedaliah was probably a son of the Pashur who had once put Jeremiah in the stocks ( Jeremiah 20:1-2 ). The words of the prophet, Jeremiah 38:2 , Jeremiah 38:3 , are substantially the same as he had already uttered at the beginning of the siege, Jeremiah 21:9 (יחיה as in Jeremiah 21:9 ). Jeremiah 38:4 .

The princes said to the king, "Let this man, we beseech thee, be put to death for the construction, see on Jeremiah 35:14 ; for therefore i.e., because no one puts him out of existence - על־כּן as in Jeremiah 29:28 he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their ill." מרפּא for מרפּא, to cause the hands of any one to be relaxed, i.e., to make him dispirited; cf. Ezra 4:4 ; Isaiah 35:3 . דּרשׁ with ל htiw , as Job 10:6 ; Deuteronomy 12:30 ; 1 Chronicles 22:19 , etc., elsewhere with the accusatival את; cf. Jeremiah 29:7 et passim. On this point cf. Jeremiah 29:7 . The allegation which the princes made against Jeremiah was possibly correct. The constancy with which Jeremiah declared that resistance was useless, since, in accordance with the divine decree, Jerusalem was to be taken and burnt by the Chaldeans, could not but make the soldiers and the people unwilling any longer to sacrifice their lives in defending the city.

[Bible] 37:14. Wherefore the princes were angry with Jeremias, and they beat him, and cast him into the prison that was in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for he was chief over the prison. 37:15. So Jeremias went into the house of the prison, and into the dungeon: and Jeremias remained there many days. 37:16. Then Sedecias the king, sending, took him: and asked him secretly in his house, and said: Is there, thinkest thou, any word from the Lord? And Jeremias said. There is. And he said: Thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon. 37:17. And Jeremias said to king Sedecias: In what have I offended against thee, or thy servants, or thy people, that thou hast cast me into prison? 37:18. Where are your prophets that prophesied to you, and said: The king of Babylon shall not come against you, and against this land? 37:19. Now therefore hear, I beseech thee, my lord the king: let my petition be accepted in thy sight: and send me not back into the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. 37:20. Then king Sedecias commanded that Jeremias should be committed into the entry of the prison: and that they should give him daily a piece of bread, beside broth, till all the bread in the city were spent: and Jeremias remained in the entry of the prison. Jeremias Chapter 38 The prophet at the instance of the great men is cast into a filthy dungeon: he is drawn out by Abdemelech, and has another conference with the king. 38:1. Now Saphatias the son of Mathan, and Gedelias the son of Phassur, and Juchal the son of Selemias, and Phassur the son of Melchias heard the words that Jeremias spoke to all the people, saying: 38:2. Thus saith the Lord: Whosoever shall remain in this city, shall die by the sword, and by famine, and by pestilence: but he that shall go forth to the Chaldeans, shall live, and his life shall be safe, and he shall live. 38:3. Thus saith the Lord: This city shall surely be delivered into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it.

This chapter consists of two parts: the first describes the capture of Jerusalem, the removal of the people to Babylon, and the fate of Zedekiah, and that of Jeremiah. The second tells of the assurance of safety to Ebed-melech. 1. ninth year … tenth month —and on the tenth day of it (Jeremiah 52:4; 2 Kings 25:1-4). From Jeremiah 39:2, "eleventh year … fourth month … ninth day," we know the siege lasted one and a half years, excepting the suspension of it caused by Pharaoh. Nebuchadnezzar was present in the beginning of the siege, but was at Riblah at its close (Jeremiah 39:3, 6; compare Jeremiah 38:17). 3. sat —expressing military occupation or encampment. middle gate —the gate from the upper city (comprehending Mount Zion) to the lower city ( north of the former and much lower); it was into the latter (the north side) that the Chaldeans forced an entry and took up their position opposite the gate of the "middle" wall, between the lower and upper city. Zedekiah fled in the opposite, that is, the south direction (Jeremiah 39:4). Nergalsharezer, Samgarnebo —proper names formed from those of the idols, Nergal and Nebo (2 Kings 17:30; Isaiah 46:1). Rab-saris —meaning "chief of the eunuchs." Rab-mag —chief of the magi; brought with the expedition in order that its issue might be foreknown through his astrological skill. Mag is a Persian word, meaning "great," "powerful." The magi were a sacerdotal caste among the Medes, and supported the Zoroastrian religion. 4.

Chapter 38 And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; and he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live. Thus saith Jehovah: This city shall certainly be given into the hand of the king of Babylon`s army, and he shall take it. And the princes said unto the king, Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death; for why should he weaken the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking to them according to these words? for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. And king Zedekiah said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do a thing against you. Then they took Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the guard, and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king`s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon — now the king was sitting in the gate of Benjamin, -- and Ebed-melech went forth out of the king`s house, and spoke to the king, saying,