Jeremiah 38:3

3 Thus says Yahweh, 'Surely this city will be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.'"

Jeremiah 38:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 38:3

Thus saith the Lord, this city shall surely be given into the
hand of the king of Babylon's army
When those found in it should be put to the sword, or carried captive: this the prophet declares with the greatest certainty; and what he had often affirmed for twenty years past, and now stands to it, having had fresh assurances from the Lord that so it would be; and which he faithfully published; though he had received some favours from the court, had his liberty enlarged, and was now eating the king's bread, he was not to be bribed by these things to hold his peace; but the nearer the ruin of the city was, the more confident was he of its destruction: which shall take it;
or, "that it may take it" ^F15; being delivered into its hands by the Lord, without whose permission the Chaldean army could never have taken it: or "and he shall take it" ^F16; that is, the king of Babylon.

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 (hdklw) "ut capiat eam", Schmidt.
F16 "Et capiet illam", Cocceius; "et capiet eam", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus.

Jeremiah 38:3 In-Context

1 Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah [was] saying to all the people, {saying},

2 "Thus says Yahweh, 'The [one who] stays in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the plague. But the [one who] goes out to the Chaldeans will live. And his life will be for him as booty, and he will live.'

3 Thus says Yahweh, 'Surely this city will be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.'"

4 Then the officials said to the king, "Please, this man must be killed, {because} he [is] making slack the hands of {the soldiers} who are left in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking to them words like these, for this man [is] not seeking for welfare to this people, {but only} for harm."

5 And Zedekiah the king said, "Look, he [is] in your hand, for the king is not able [to do] a thing against you."