Jeremiah 39 Study Notes

39:9-10 The Babylonians deported the people of Judah to Babylon. This was the final deportation, coming eleven years after King Jehoiachin was taken away in 598 BC. The poor people who owned nothing were given vineyards and fields. The word for “fields” has an uncertain meaning and could be translated “wells” or “watering places.”

39:11-14 Jeremiah was turned over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the Babylonians had just appointed governor of Judah. The Babylonians must have heard from the defectors and other sources that Jeremiah had advised that Judah’s king should submit to the siege. Ironically, the prophet received better treatment from the enemy than he had received from his own people. Some have declared there is a contradiction between the events described in vv. 11-14 and those in 40:1-6, but the two accounts supplement each other. Jeremiah was released from prison into Gedaliah’s care (39:14). Jeremiah mingled with the captives as they were getting ready to be sent off to Babylon (v. 14). Unrecognized at first, Jeremiah was placed in chains and readied for deportation to Babylon (40:1). At Ramah, Jeremiah was recognized and released (40:4).

39:15-18 Ebed-melech is commended for his courageous act of rescuing Jeremiah from the muddy cistern (see notes at 38:7-9; 38:10). There would be no reprisals against him. Ebed-melech was blessed because he trusted in the Lord. He was one of the few who heard Jeremiah’s message and believed.