Jeremiah 37:13

13 But when I reached the Benjamin Gate, the officer in charge of the soldiers on duty there, a man by the name of Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah, stopped me and said, "You are deserting to the Babylonians!"

Jeremiah 37:13 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 37:13

And when he was in the gate of Benjamin
One of the gates of the city so called, either because it stood in the tribe of Benjamin, as part of Jerusalem did; or because it led to the land of Benjamin, whither the prophet was going: and just as he had got to that gate, and was going through it, he was stopped by a captain of the ward there;
who was placed at this gate, that none should go out to the Chaldeans, according to Kimchi; but rather he was the keeper of the gate, not at this time only, but always; Josephus

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 calls him one of the rulers: whose name [was] Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah:
the grandson as some think, of that Hananiah the false prophet, of whose death Jeremiah the prophet prophesied, ( Jeremiah 28:16 ) ; and the Jews have a tradition that Hananiah ordered his son Shelemiah, that if he ever had an opportunity to bring Jeremiah to ruin, to do it; and the same charge Shelemiah gave to his son Irijah, who, having this opportunity, laid hold on him; Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, make mention of it: and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, thou fallest away to the
Chaldeans;
it looks as if, though he might not have a family grudge against him, as the Jews suggest, yet had a hatred of him for his prophecies, and therefore fixes this calumny on him; for otherwise, why did he suffer the people to pass in great numbers without any such charge?
F9 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 7. sect. 3.

Jeremiah 37:13 In-Context

11 The Babylonian army retreated from Jerusalem because the Egyptian army was approaching.

12 So I started to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of Benjamin to take possession of my share of the family property.

13 But when I reached the Benjamin Gate, the officer in charge of the soldiers on duty there, a man by the name of Irijah, the son of Shelemiah and grandson of Hananiah, stopped me and said, "You are deserting to the Babylonians!"

14 I answered, "That's not so! I'm not deserting." But Irijah would not listen to me. Instead, he arrested me and took me to the officials.

15 They were furious with me and had me beaten and locked up in the house of Jonathan, the court secretary, whose house had been made into a prison.