Jeremiah 38:20

20 I said, "You will not be handed over to them. I beg you to obey the Lord's message; then all will go well with you, and your life will be spared.

Jeremiah 38:20 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 38:20

But Jeremiah said, they shall not deliver [thee]
To take off the above excuse, or remove that objection, the prophet assures the king that the Chaldeans would never deliver him into the hands of the Jews; he might depend upon it, it would never be done: obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee;
the counsel he had given him, to surrender to the Chaldeans, was not from himself, but from the Lord: and though he had no express order to give it at that time, yet it was what was agreeable to the will of God, and what he had exhorted the people to in the beginning of this chapter; and therefore, since it came from the Lord, as it ought to be attended to, so he might be assured of the divine protection, should he act according to it: so it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live;
that is, it would not only be much better with him than he feared, but than it would be with him should he obstinately stand out to the last; he should have more respect and honour from the king of Babylon; and not only have his life spared, but enjoy more of the comforts of life; particularly the sight of his eyes, which he lost when taken.

Jeremiah 38:20 In-Context

18 But if you do not surrender, then this city will be handed over to the Babylonians, who will burn it down, and you will not escape from them."
19 But the king answered, "I am afraid of our own people who have deserted to the Babylonians. I may be handed over to them and tortured."
20 I said, "You will not be handed over to them. I beg you to obey the Lord's message; then all will go well with you, and your life will be spared.
21 But the Lord has shown me in a vision what will happen if you refuse to surrender.
22 In it I saw all the women left in Judah's royal palace being led out to the king of Babylonia's officers. Listen to what they were saying as they went: "The king's best friends misled him, they overruled him. And now that his feet have sunk in the mud, his friends have left him.' "
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.