Jeremias 40:1

1 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the second time, when he was yet bound in the court of the prison, saying,

Jeremias 40:1 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 40:1

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord
The word of prophecy, as the Targum; but there being no prophecy in this and the following chapter, only a narration of facts, this is generally referred to what came ten days after, and which begins ( Jeremiah 42:7 ) ; so Jarchi and Kimchi; all between being included in a parenthesis, or a relation of facts preparatory, to lead on to it; though Abarbinel takes it to be a general title to all histories and prophecies in this book, from henceforward to the end of it. Jarchi and Kimchi make mention of a Midrash, which refers it to the special word of the Lord to Jeremiah to go to Gedaliah, ( Jeremiah 40:5 ) ; interpreting that passage as the words of the Lord, and not of Nebuzaradan; but Abarbinel's sense seems best. The time of this prophecy was after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from
Ramah;
which was a city in the land of Benjamin near Gibeon, seven miles from Jerusalem, as Jerom ^F17 says; here Nebuzaradan had his rendezvous, whither he brought his captives as they fell into his hands, among whom were Jeremiah: when he had taken him;
out of the court of the prison, and out of Jerusalem, and brought him to Ramah: being bound in chains among all them that were carried away captive of
Jerusalem and Judah, that were carried away captive unto Babylon;
how it came to pass is not certain, but so it was; that, though by the orders of Nebuzaradan and the princes, agreeably to the command of the king of Babylon, Jeremiah was taken out of the court of the prison, yet was not set free; but without the knowledge of Nebuzaradan, and through the inadvertency of inferior officers, he was taken and bound, and with other prisoners brought to Ramah, in order to be transported to Babylon, which lay in the way to it; for Ramah was to the north of Jerusalem, as Babylon was: these chains were for the hands, or what we call handcuffs, as Kimchi, Abarbinel, and Ben Melech observe, and as appears from ( Jeremiah 40:4 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F17 Comment in Hos. v. 8,

Jeremias 40:1 In-Context

1 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremias the second time, when he was yet bound in the court of the prison, saying,

2 Thus saith the Lord, who made the earth and formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his name;

3 Cry to me, and I will answer thee, and I will declare to thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

4 For thus saith the Lord concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the king of Juda, which have been pulled down for mounds and fortifications,

5 to fight against the Chaldeans, and to fill it with the corpses of men, whom I smote in mine anger and my wrath, and turned away my face from them, for all their wickedness: