Jeremiah 38:25

25 Soothly if the princes hear, that I spake with thee, and they come to thee, and say to thee, Show thou to us what thou spakest with the king, hide thou not from us, and we shall not slay thee; and what the king spake with thee, (But if my officers hear, that I spoke with thee, and they come to thee, and say to thee, Tell thou to us what thou saidest to the king, and what the king said to thee, hide thou it not from us, and we shall not kill thee;)

Jeremiah 38:25 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 38:25

But if the princes hear that I have talked to thee
Which the king suspected they would; and could hardly think but somebody or other would see him and the prophet talking together; who would be officious enough to go and acquaint the princes with it, though he had endeavoured to be as private as possible; however, to provide against the worst, he instructs Jeremiah what to say to them, should they hear of their being together: and they come unto thee:
as he did not doubt but they would, as soon as ever they had notice of it: and say unto thee, declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the
king; hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what
the king said unto thee:
the king knew how inquisitive they would be, and sift the prophet to the bottom, to know both what the prophet said to the king, about the state of affairs respecting the Chaldeans, and the surrender of the city to them, which they supposed to be the subject of the discourse; and what were the king's thoughts about it, and his determinations concerning it; and in order to make the prophet easy, and more free and open to tell the whole matter, he suggests they would promise him his life should not be taken away.

Jeremiah 38:25 In-Context

23 And all thy wives and thy sons shall be led out to [the] Chaldees, and thou shalt not escape the hands of them; but thou shalt be betaken into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn this city with fire. (And all thy wives and thy sons and daughters shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape from their hands; but thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn down this city.)
24 Therefore Zedekiah said to Jeremy, (Let) No man know these words, and thou shalt not die.
25 Soothly if the princes hear, that I spake with thee, and they come to thee, and say to thee, Show thou to us what thou spakest with the king, hide thou not from us, and we shall not slay thee; and what the king spake with thee, (But if my officers hear, that I spoke with thee, and they come to thee, and say to thee, Tell thou to us what thou saidest to the king, and what the king said to thee, hide thou it not from us, and we shall not kill thee;)
26 (then) thou shalt say to them, Kneelingly I setted forth my prayers before the king, that he should not command me to be led again into the house of Jonathan, and (so) I should die there.
27 Therefore all the princes came to Jeremy, and asked him (And so all the officers did come to Jeremiah, and asked him); and he spake to them by all the words which the king had commanded to him, and they ceased from him; for why nothing was heard.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.