Jeremiah 38:26

26 Just tell them you were begging me not to send you back to prison to 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 Zedekiah replied, "Don't let anyone know about this conversation, and your life will not be in danger.

25 If the officials hear that I have talked with you, they will come and ask you what we said. They will promise not to put you to death if you tell them everything.

26 Just tell them you were begging me not to send you back to prison to die there."

27 Then all the officials came and questioned me, and I told them exactly what the king had told me to say. There was nothing else they could do, because no one had overheard the conversation.

28 And I was kept in the palace courtyard until the day Jerusalem was captured.