Jeremiah 38:1

1 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard that I was telling the people that

Jeremiah 38:1 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 38:1

Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of
Pashur
Of these two persons we nowhere else read. Some think that Pashur, whose son Gedaliah was, is the same as is mentioned ( Jeremiah 20:1-18 ) ; which is not likely, since he was a priest, and this son a prince: and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah;
these had been sent by the king to Jeremiah, to inquire of the Lord, and to pray for him and his people, ( Jeremiah 21:1 ) ( 37:3 ) ; all four were princes, prime ministers of state, of great power and authority, and to whom the king could deny nothing, or withstand, ( Jeremiah 38:4 Jeremiah 38:5 ) ; these heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people;
that is, to as many of them as came to the court of the prison to visit him; some out of good will, and some out of ill will; and others out of curiosity; being desirous to know by the prophet how things would go with them; and by which means what he said was spread all over the city, and came to the ears of the above princes; and no doubt there were persons enough officious enough to carry these things to them: saying;
as follows:

Jeremiah 38:1 In-Context

1 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard that I was telling the people that

2 the Lord had said, "Whoever stays on in the city will die in war or of starvation or disease. But those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will not be killed; they will at least escape with their life."

3 I was also telling them that the Lord had said, "I am going to give the city to the Babylonian army, and they will capture it."

4 Then the officials went to the king and said, "This man must be put to death. By talking like this he is making the soldiers in the city lose their courage, and he is doing the same thing to everyone else left in the city. He is not trying to help the people; he only wants to hurt them."

5 King Zedekiah answered, "Very well, then, do what you want to with him; I can't stop you."