Yirmeyah 37:3

3 And HaMelech Tzidkiyah sent Yehukhal Ben Shelemyah and Tzephanyah Ben Maaseiyah the Kohen to Yirmeyah HaNavi, saying, Hitpalel na (pray now) unto Hashem Eloheinu for us.

Yirmeyah 37:3 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 37:3

And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and
Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest
That is, Zephaniah the priest, as the accents shaw; though his father Maaseiah was doubtless a priest too; according to the Syriac version, both Jehucal, called Jucal, ( Jeremiah 38:1 ) ; and Zephaniah, were priests; since it reads in the plural number, "priests": these the king sent as messengers to the Prophet Jeremiah, saying, pray now unto the Lord our God for us.
This message was sent either upon the rumour of the Chaldeans coming against Jerusalem, as some think; or rather when it had departed from the city, and was gone to meet the army of the king of Egypt; so that this petition to the prophet was to pray that the king of Egypt alight get the victory over the Chaldean army, and that that might not return unto them. Thus wicked men will desire the prayers of good men in times of distress, when their words, their cautions, admonitions, exhortations, and prayers too, are despised by them at another time.

Yirmeyah 37:3 In-Context

1 7 And Melech Tzidkiyah Ben Yoshiyah reigned instead of Coneyahu [Yehoyakin] Ben Y’hoyakim, whom Nevuchadretzar Melech Bavel put on the throne in Eretz Yehudah.

2 But neither he, nor his avadim, nor the Am HaAretz, did pay heed unto the Divrei Hashem, which He spoke by Yirmeyah HaNavi.

3 And HaMelech Tzidkiyah sent Yehukhal Ben Shelemyah and Tzephanyah Ben Maaseiyah the Kohen to Yirmeyah HaNavi, saying, Hitpalel na (pray now) unto Hashem Eloheinu for us.

4 Now Yirmeyah came in and went out among HaAm; for they had not put him into bais hakeleh (prison).

5 Then the army of Pharaoh was come forth out of Mitzrayim; and when the Kasdim (Chaldeans) that besieged Yerushalayim heard news of them, they withdrew from Yerushalayim.