Jeremiah 37 Study Notes

37:11-12 Jeremiah was arrested as he set out to inspect and claim his portion of the property in his native town of Anathoth (1:1; 32:8). He had just purchased this property from his cousin Hanamel (chap. 32).

37:13-14 An officer of the guard presumed Jeremiah was defecting to the enemy. After all, the prophet had encouraged others to surrender to the Babylonians (see note at 21:9). But Jeremiah denied the charge.

37:15 The house of Jonathan the scribe had been made into a prison. Officers’ homes often served as prisons in the ancient Near East.

37:16 Jeremiah was placed in a cell in the dungeon (lit “the house of a cistern-pit”). This was a vault adjoining an underground dungeon, where he could have been left to die (v. 20).

37:17 King Zedekiah called for Jeremiah a third time, but this time in secrecy. Perhaps he hoped this would encourage a good word from the Lord. But the word from the prophet was not good. He, the king of Judah, would be handed over to the king of Babylon.

37:18-20 These verses show Jeremiah’s humanity as he asked for humane treatment from Zedekiah and a bill of particulars to specify the crimes for which he had been imprisoned.

37:21 Zedekiah reversed his officials’ decision and transferred Jeremiah to the guard’s courtyard. Here he was given a loaf of bread each day from the bakers’ street. Streets of Near Eastern cities were often named after those whose businesses were on that street, hence Bakers’ Street—the only street name in ancient Jerusalem known to us.