Jeremiah 38:26

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.

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 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.

28 Therefore Jeremy dwelled in the porch of the prison, till to the day in which Jerusalem was taken; and it was done, that Jerusalem should be taken. (And so Jeremiah lived in the courtyard of the prison, until the day when Jerusalem was taken; and indeed it was done, that Jerusalem was taken.)