Jeremiah 38

1 Shefatyah the son of Mattan, and Gedalyahu the son of Pashchur, and Yukhal the son of Shelemyahu, and Pashchur the son of Malkiyah, heard the words that Yirmeyahu spoke to all the people, saying,

2 Thus says the LORD, He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes forth to the Kasdim shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he shall live.

3 Thus says the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Bavel, and he shall take it.

4 Then the princes said to the king, Let this man, we pray you, be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn't seek the welfare of this people, but the hurt.

5 Tzidkiyahu the king said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he who can do anything against you.

6 Then took they Yirmeyahu, and cast him into the dungeon of Malkiyah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Yirmeyahu with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Yirmeyahu sank in the mire.

7 Now when `Eved-Melekh the Kushite, a eunuch, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Yirmeyahu in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Binyamin,)

8 `Eved-Melekh went forth out of the king's house, and spoke to the king, saying,

9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Yirmeyahu the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.

10 Then the king commanded `Eved-Melekh the Kushite, saying, Take from hence thirty men with you, and take up Yirmeyahu the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.

11 So `Eved-Melekh took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Yirmeyahu.

12 `Eved-Melekh the Kushite said to Yirmeyahu, Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armholes under the cords. Yirmeyahu did so.

13 So they drew up Yirmeyahu with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Yirmeyahu remained in the court of the guard.

14 Then Tzidkiyahu the king sent, and took Yirmeyahu the prophet to him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said to Yirmeyahu, I will ask you a thing; hide nothing from me.

15 Then Yirmeyahu said to Tzidkiyahu, If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? and if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.

16 So Tzidkiyahu the king swore secretly to Yirmeyahu, saying, As the LORD lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, neither will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.

17 Then said Yirmeyahu to Tzidkiyahu, Thus says the LORD, the God Tzva'ot,, the God of Yisra'el: If you will go forth to the king of Bavel's princes, then your soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and you shall live, and your house.

18 But if you will not go forth to the king of Bavel's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Kasdim, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape out of their hand.

19 Tzidkiyahu the king said to Yirmeyahu, I am afraid of the Yehudim who are fallen away to the Kasdim, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.

20 But Yirmeyahu said, They shall not deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the voice of the LORD, in that which I speak to you: so it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.

21 But if you refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD has shown me:

22 behold, all the women who are left in the king of Yehudah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Bavel's princes, and those women shall say, Your familiar friends have set you on, and have prevailed over you: [now that] your feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back.

23 They shall bring out all your wives and your children to the Kasdim; and you shall not escape out of their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Bavel: and you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.

24 Then said Tzidkiyahu to Yirmeyahu, Let no man know of these words, and you shall not die.

25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you, and tell you, Declare to us now what you have said to the king; don't hide it from us, and we will not put you to death; also what the king said to you:

26 then you shall tell them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Yonatan's house, to die there.

27 Then came all the princes to Yirmeyahu, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

28 So Yirmeyahu abode in the court of the guard until the day that Yerushalayim was taken.

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.

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.