Jeremiah 38:26

26 If this happens, just tell them you begged me not to send you back to Jonathan’s dungeon, for fear you would die there.”

Jeremiah 38:26 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 38:26

Then thou shalt say unto them
Here the king puts words into the prophet's mouth, what he should say to the princes, to put them off from inquiring further, and so keep the matter a secret: I presented my supplication before the king;
or "caused [it] to fall" {d}; delivered it in an humble and submissive manner: that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there;
this he had entreated of the king before, ( Jeremiah 37:20 ) ; and now, no doubt, renewed his request, having this fair opportunity with the king alone to do it; or, however, it is highly probable he did it upon this hint of the king. This shows how much the king stood in fear of his princes in this time of his distress; and that he had only the name of a king, and had not courage and resolution enough to act of himself, according to the dictates of his mind; yea, that he feared men more than he feared the Lord.

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FOOTNOTES:

F4 (ytnxt yna lypm) "cadere feci deprecationem meam", Pagninus; "cadere faciens fui" Schmidt.

Jeremiah 38:26 In-Context

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Don’t tell anyone you told me this, or you will die!

25 My officials may hear that I spoke to you, and they may say, ‘Tell us what you and the king were talking about. If you don’t tell us, we will kill you.’

26 If this happens, just tell them you begged me not to send you back to Jonathan’s dungeon, for fear you would die there.”

27 Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the king’s officials came to Jeremiah and asked him why the king had called for him. But Jeremiah followed the king’s instructions, and they left without finding out the truth. No one had overheard the conversation between Jeremiah and the king.

28 And Jeremiah remained a prisoner in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.