Jeremiah 38

1 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard that I was telling the people that

2 the Lord had said, "Whoever stays on in the city will die in war or of starvation or disease. But those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will not be killed; they will at least escape with their life."

3 I was also telling them that the Lord had said, "I am going to give the city to the Babylonian army, and they will capture it."

4 Then the officials went to the king and said, "This man must be put to death. By talking like this he is making the soldiers in the city lose their courage, and he is doing the same thing to everyone else left in the city. He is not trying to help the people; he only wants to hurt them."

5 King Zedekiah answered, "Very well, then, do what you want to with him; I can't stop you."

6 So they took me and let me down by ropes into Prince Malchiah's well, which was in the palace courtyard. There was no water in the well, only mud, and I sank down in it.

7 However, Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who worked in the royal palace, heard that they had put me in the well. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate.

8 So Ebedmelech went there and said to the king,

9 "Your Majesty, what these men have done is wrong. They have put Jeremiah in the well, where he is sure to die of starvation, since there is no more food in the city."

10 Then the king ordered Ebedmelech to take with him three men and to pull me out of the well before I died.

11 So Ebedmelech went with the men to the palace storeroom and got some worn-out clothing which he let down to me by ropes.

12 He told me to put the rags under my arms, so that the ropes wouldn't hurt me. I did this,

13 and they pulled me up out of the well. After that I was kept in the courtyard.

14 On another occasion King Zedekiah had me brought to him at the third entrance to the Temple, and he said, "I am going to ask you a question, and I want you to tell me the whole truth."

15 I answered, "If I tell you the truth, you will put me to death, and if I give you advice, you won't pay any attention."

16 So King Zedekiah promised me in secret, "I swear by the living God, the God who gave us life, that I will not put you to death or hand you over to the men who want to kill you."

17 Then I told Zedekiah that the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, had said, "If you surrender to the king of Babylonia's officers, your life will be spared, and this city will not be burned down. Both you and your family will be spared.

18 But if you do not surrender, then this city will be handed over to the Babylonians, who will burn it down, and you will not escape from them."

19 But the king answered, "I am afraid of our own people who have deserted to the Babylonians. I may be handed over to them and tortured."

20 I said, "You will not be handed over to them. I beg you to obey the Lord's message; then all will go well with you, and your life will be spared.

21 But the Lord has shown me in a vision what will happen if you refuse to surrender.

22 In it I saw all the women left in Judah's royal palace being led out to the king of Babylonia's officers. Listen to what they were saying as they went: "The king's best friends misled him, they overruled him. And now that his feet have sunk in the mud, his friends have left him.' "

23 Then I added, "All your women and children will be taken out to the Babylonians, and you yourself will not escape from them. You will be taken prisoner by the king of Babylonia, and this city will be burned to the ground."

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. ¹

Jeremiah 38 Commentary

Chapter 38

Jeremiah is cast into a dungeon, from whence he is delivered by an Ethiopian. (1-13) He advises the king to surrender to the Chaldeans. (14-28)

Verses 1-13 Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to themselves while impenitent. Jeremiah was put into a dungeon. Many of God's faithful witnesses have been privately made away in prisons. Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian; yet he spoke to the king faithfully, These men have done ill in all they have done to Jeremiah. See how God can raise up friends for his people in distress. Orders were given for the prophet's release, and Ebed-melech saw him drawn up. Let this encourage us to appear boldly for God. Special notice is taken of his tenderness for Jeremiah. What do we behold in the different characters then, but the same we behold in the different characters now, that the Lord's children are conformed to his example, and the children of Satan to their master?

Verses 14-28 Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.

Cross References

• 1. 38.28Ezekiel 33.21.

Footnotes

• [a]. [Hebrew] Cushite: [Cush is the ancient name of the extensive territory south of the First Cataract of the Nile River. This region was called Ethiopia in Graeco-Roman times, and included within its borders most of modern Sudan and some of present-day Ethiopia (Abyssinia).]

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 38

This chapter is taken up in giving an account of Jeremiah's being cast into a dungeon; his deliverance from it; and private conversation with King Zedekiah. The occasion of the prophet's being cast into a dungeon was his discourse to the people, which four of the princes represented to the king as seditious, and moved to have him put to death; and, being delivered into their hands, was put into a miry dungeon, Jer 38:1-6. Ebedmelech, the Ethiopian, hearing of his miserable case, represented it to the king, and interceded for his release; which being granted, with the help of thirty men, and by means of old clouts and rotten rags, let down by cords, drew him up, and placed him in the court of the prison, Jer 38:7-13. King Zedekiah sends for Jeremiah, and has a private conference with him about the state of affairs; when the prophet faithfully told him how things would issue, and gave him his best advice, Jer 38:14-23; upon parting, the king desires the conference might be kept a secret from the princes, which was accordingly done, Jer 38:24-27; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison till the taking of Jerusalem, Jer 38:28.