Jeremias 38:10

10 Hear the words of the Lord, ye nations, and proclaim to the islands afar off; say, He that scattered Israel will also gather him, and keep him as one that feeds his flock.

Jeremias 38:10 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 38:10

Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian
Being affected with the case of the prophet; and repenting of the leave he had given the princes to do with him as they pleased, gave orders as follows: saying, take from hence thirty men with thee;
from the place where the king was, the gate of Benjamin; where very probably at this time was a garrison of soldiers, thirty of which were ordered to be taken; or these were to be taken out of the king's bodyguard, he had here with him. Josephus ^F23 calls them thirty of the king's servants, such as were about the king's person, or belonged to his household; and so the Syriac version of ( Jeremiah 38:11 ) says that Ebedmelech took with him men of the king's household; but why thirty of them, when three or four might be thought sufficient to take up a single man out of a dungeon? Abarbinel thinks the dungeon was very deep, and Jeremiah, ah old man, could not be got out but with great labour and difficulty. Jarchi and Kimchi say, the men were so weakened with the famine, that so many were necessary to draw out one man; but the true reason seems rather to be, that should the princes, whom the king might suspect, or any other, attempt to hinder this order being put in execution, there might be a sufficient force to assist in it, and repel those that might oppose it: and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he die;
the king speaks honourably of Jeremiah, giving him his title as a prophet, and expresses great concern for him; and orders them to hasten the taking him up, lest he should die before, which he suggests would give him great concern.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Antiqu. l. 10. c. 7. sect. 5.

Jeremias 38:10 In-Context

8 Behold, I bring them from the north, and will gather them from the end of the earth to the feast of the passover: and shall beget a great multitude, and they shall return hither.

9 They went forth with weeping, and I will bring them back with consolation, causing them to lodge by the channels of waters in a straight way, and they shall not err in it: for I am become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first-born.

10 Hear the words of the Lord, ye nations, and proclaim to the islands afar off; say, He that scattered Israel will also gather him, and keep him as one that feeds his flock.

11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, he has rescued him out of the hand of them stronger than he.

12 And they shall come, and shall rejoice in the mount of Sion, and shall come to the good things of the Lord, to a land of corn, and wine, and fruits, and cattle, and sheep: and their soul shall be as a fruitful tree; and they shall hunger no more.