And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and
Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest
That is, Zephaniah the priest, as the accents shaw; though his father Maaseiah was doubtless a priest too; according to the Syriac version, both Jehucal, called Jucal, ( Jeremiah 38:1 ) ; and Zephaniah, were priests; since it reads in the plural number, "priests": these the king sent as messengers to the Prophet Jeremiah, saying, pray now unto the Lord our God for us.
This message was sent either upon the rumour of the Chaldeans coming against Jerusalem, as some think; or rather when it had departed from the city, and was gone to meet the army of the king of Egypt; so that this petition to the prophet was to pray that the king of Egypt alight get the victory over the Chaldean army, and that that might not return unto them. Thus wicked men will desire the prayers of good men in times of distress, when their words, their cautions, admonitions, exhortations, and prayers too, are despised by them at another time.