Jeremiah 37:3

3 et misit rex Sedecias Iuchal filium Selemiae et Sophoniam filium Maasiae sacerdotem ad Hieremiam prophetam dicens ora pro nobis Dominum Deum nostrum

Jeremiah 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.

Jeremiah 37:3 In-Context

1 et regnavit rex Sedecias filius Iosiae pro Iechonia filio Ioachim quem constituit regem Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis in terra Iuda

2 et non oboedivit ipse et servi eius et populus terrae verbis Domini quae locutus est in manu Hieremiae prophetae

3 et misit rex Sedecias Iuchal filium Selemiae et Sophoniam filium Maasiae sacerdotem ad Hieremiam prophetam dicens ora pro nobis Dominum Deum nostrum

4 Hieremias autem libere ambulabat in medio populi non enim miserant eum in custodiam carceris igitur exercitus Pharao egressus est Aegyptum et audientes Chaldei qui obsidebant Hierusalem huiuscemodi nuntium recesserunt ab Hierusalem

5 et factum est verbum Domini ad Hieremiam prophetam dicens