Jeremiah 38:14

Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah Again

14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, "I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me."

Jeremiah 38:14 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 38:14

Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet unto
him
When the prophet was taken out of the dungeon, and brought to the court of the prison, of which the king had knowledge, he sent some person or persons to bring him to him, to have some private conversation with him: into the third entry that [is] in the house of the Lord;
what place is meant Jarchi confesses his ignorance of, but conjectures it was the court of the Israelites; the outward court, and the court of the women, being before it. Kimchi rightly takes it to be a place through which they went from the king's house to the house of the Lord; no doubt the same that is called the king's ascent, by which he went up thither, shown to, and admired by, the queen of Sheba, ( 1 Kings 10:5 ) ; in which there were three gates or entrances, as Dr. Lightfoot observes F25; the first, the gate of the foundation; the second, the gate behind the guard; and the third, the gate Coponius; and here the king and the prophet had their interview: and the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing,
or "a word"; a word of prophecy; or whether there was a word of prophecy from the Lord, concerning him, his people, and city, and what it was; and what would be the event of the present siege, whether it would issue well or ill: hide nothing from me;
be it what it will, whether grateful or not; he had been told again and again how things would be; but still he was in hopes that something more favourable and consolatory would come from the Lord to him.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 Temple-Service, c. 33. p. 2028.

Jeremiah 38:14 In-Context

12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, "Put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes." Jeremiah did so.
13 Then they drew Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
14 King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, "I will ask you a question; hide nothing from me."
15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me."
16 Then King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, "As the LORD lives, who made our souls, I will not put you to death or deliver you into the hand of these men who seek your life."
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.