JEREMIAH 37 COMMENTARYEDITED BY GLENN PEASE

Jeremiah in Prison1 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin[a] son of Jehoiakim.

BARNES, "It is evident that Zedekiah was well affected toward Jeremiah. In Jer. 37–38, dealing with events during the siege of Jerusalem, we have an account of his relations with Jeremiah and of the prophet’s personal history up to the capture of the city.

CLARKE, "And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah - Of the siege and taking of Jerusalem referred to here, and the making of Zedekiah king instead of Jeconiah, see 2Ki_24:1 (note), etc., and the notes there.

GILL, "And King Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned,.... The brother of Jehoiakim, whose untimely death, and want of burial, are prophesied of in the preceding chapter. The name of Zedekiah was Mattaniah before he was king; his name was changed by the king of Babylon, who made him king, 2Ki_24:17; instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim: the same with Jehoiakim, or jeconiah, called Coniah by way of contempt; he reigned but three months, and so was not reckoned as a king, not being confirmed by the king of Babylon, but was carried captive by him, and his uncle placed in his stead: whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah; to whom he became tributary, and swore homage and fealty, 2Ch_36:13.

HENRY 1-10, "Here is, 1. Jeremiah's preaching slighted, Jer_37:1, Jer_1

37:2. Zedekiah succeeded Coniah, or Jeconiah, and, though he saw in his predecessor the fatal consequences of contemning the word of God, yet he did not take warning, nor give any more regard to it than others had done before him. Neither he, nor his courtiers, nor the people of the land, hearkened unto the words of the Lord, though they already began to be fulfilled. Note, Those have hearts wretchedly hard indeed that see God's judgments on others, and feel them on themselves, and yet will not be humbled and brought to heed what he says. These had proof sufficient that it was the Lord who spoke by Jeremiah the prophet, and yet they would not hearken to him. 2. Jeremiah's prayers desired. Zedekiah sent messengers to him, saying, Pray now unto the Lord our God for us. He did so before (Jer_21:1, Jer_21:2), and one of the messengers, Zephaniah, is the same there and here. Zedekiah is to be commended for his, and it shows that he had some good in him, some sense of his need of God's favour and of his own unworthiness to ask it for himself, and some value for good people and good ministers, who had an interest in Heaven. Note, When we are in distress we ought to desire the prayers of our ministers and Christian friends, for thereby we put an honour upon prayer, and an esteem upon our brethren. Kings themselves should look upon their praying people as the strength of the nation, Zec_12:5, Zec_12:10. And yet this does but help to condemn Zedekiah out of his own mouth. If indeed he looked upon Jeremiah as a prophet, whose prayers might avail much both for him and his people, why did he not then believe him, and hearken to the words of the Lord which he spoke by him? He desired his good prayers, but would not take his good counsel, nor be ruled by him, though he spoke in God's name, and it appears by this that Zedekiah knew he did. Note, It is common for those to desire to be prayed for who will not be advised; but herein they put a cheat upon themselves, for how can we expect that God should hear others speaking to him for us if we will not hear them speaking to us from him and for him? Many who despise prayer when they are in prosperity will be glad of it when they are in adversity. Now give us of your oil. When Zedekiah sent to the prophet to pray for him, he had better have sent for the prophet to pray with him; but he thought that below him: and how can those expect the comforts of religion who will not stoop to the services of it? 3. Jerusalem flattered by the retreat of the Chaldean army from it. Jeremiah was now at liberty (Jer_37:4); he went in and out among the people, might freely speak to them and be spoken to by them. Jerusalem also, for the present, was at liberty, Jer_37:5 Zedekiah, though a tributary to the king of Babylon, had entered into a private league with Pharaoh king of Egypt (Eze_17:15), pursuant to which, when the king of Babylon came to chastise him for his treachery, the king of Egypt, though he came no more in person after that great defeat which Nebuchadnezzar gave him in the reign of Jehoiakim (2Ki_24:7), yet sent some forces to relieve Jerusalem when it was besieged, upon notice of the approach of which the Chaldeans raised the siege, probably not for fear of them but in policy, to fight them at a distance, before any of the Jewish forces could join them. From this they encouraged themselves to hope that Jerusalem was delivered for good and all out of the hands of its enemies and that the storm was quite blown over. Note, Sinners are commonly hardened in their security by the intermissions of judgments 2

and the slow proceedings of them; and those who will not be awakened by the word of God may justly be lulled asleep by the providence of God. 4. Jerusalem threatened with the return of the Chaldean army and with ruin by it. Zedekiah sent to Jeremiah to desire him to pray for them, that the Chaldean army might not return; but Jeremiah sends him word back that the decree had gone forth, and that it was but a folly for them to expect peace, for God had begun a controversy with them, which he would make an end of: Thus saith the Lord, Deceive not yourselves, Jer_37:9. Note, Satan himself, though he is the great deceiver, could not deceive us if we did not deceive ourselves; and thus sinners are their own destroyers by being their own deceivers, of which this is an aggravation that they are so frequently warned of it and cautioned not to deceive themselves, and they have the word of God, the great design of which is to undeceive them. Jeremiah uses no dark metaphors, but tells them plainly, (1.) That the Egyptians shall retreat, and either give back or be forced back, into their own land (Eze_17:17), which was said of old (Isa_30:7), and is here said again, Jer_37:7. The Egyptians shall help in vain; they shall not dare to face the Chaldean army, but shall retire with precipitation. Note, If God help us not, no creature can. As no power can prevail against God, so none can avail without God nor countervail his departures from us. (2.) That the Chaldeans shall return, and shall renew the siege and prosecute it with more vigour than ever: They shall not depart for good and all (Jer_37:9); they shall come again (Jer_37:8); they shall fight against the city. Note, God has the sovereign command of all the hosts of men, even of those that know him not, that own him not, and they are all made to serve his purposes. He directs their marches, their counter-marches, their retreats, their returns, as it pleases him; and furious armies, like stormy winds, in all their motions are fulfilling his word. (3.) That Jerusalem shall certainly be delivered into the hand of the Chaldeans: They shall take it, and burn it with fire, Jer_37:8. The sentence passed upon it shall be executed, and they shall be the executioners. “O but” (say they) “the Chaldeans have withdrawn; they have quitted the enterprise as impracticable.” “And though they have,” says the prophet, “nay, though you had smitten their army, so that many were slain and all the rest wounded, yet those wounded men should rise up and burn this city,” Jer_37:10. This is designed to denote that the doom passed upon Jerusalem is irrevocable, and its destruction inevitable; it must be laid in ruins, and these Chaldeans are the men that must destroy it, and it is now in vain to think of evading the stroke or contending with it. Note, Whatever instruments God has determined to make use of in any service for him, whether or mercy or judgment, they shall accomplish that for which they are designed, whatever incapacity or disability they may lie under or be reduced to. Those by whom God has resolved to save or to destroy, saviours they shall be and destroyers they shall be, yea, though there were all wounded; for as when God has work to do he will not want instruments to do it with, though they may seem far to seek, so when he has chosen his instruments they shall do the work, though they may seem very unlikely to accomplish it.

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JAMISON, "Jer_37:1-21. Historical sections, thirty-seventh through forty-fourth chapters. The Chaldeans raise the siege to go and meet Pharaoh-Hophra. Zedekiah sends to Jeremiah to pray to god in behalf of the Jews: in vain, Jeremiah tries to escape to his native place, but is arrested. Zedekiah abates the rigor of his imprisonment.

Coniah — curtailed from Jeconiah by way of reproach.whom — referring to Zedekiah, not to Coniah (2Ki_24:17).

K&D 1-5, "The account of what befell Jeremiah and what he did during the last siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, until the taking of the city, is introduced, Jer_37:1 and Jer_37:2, with the general remark that Zedekiah -whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah in place of Coniah (on which name see on Jer_22:24) - when he became king, did not listen to the words of the Lord through Jeremiah, neither himself, nor his servants (officers), nor the people of the land (the population of Judah). Then follows, Jer_37:3-10, a declaration of the prophet regarding the issue of the siege, which he sent to the king by the messengers who were to beseech him for his intercession with the Lord. Jer_37:3-5. The occasion of this declaration was the following: Zedekiah sent to Jeremiah two of his chief officers, Jehucal the son of Shelemiah (see on Jer_38:1), and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest (see Jer_21:1and Jer_29:25), with this charge: "Pray now for us to Jahveh our God." This message was sent to Jeremiah while he still went in and out among the people, and had not yet been put in prison Jer_37:4 ,ָּכִליא) and Jer_52:31, an unusual form for ֶּכֶלא, Jer_37:15 and Jer_37:18, for which the Qeri would have us in both instances read ָּכלּוא); the army of Pharaoh (Hophra, Jer_44:30), too, had marched out of Egypt to oppose the Chaldeans; and the latter, when they heard the report of them (ִׁשְמָעם, the news of their approach), had withdrawn from Jerusalem (ָעָלה ,.see on Jer_21:2), viz ,ֵמַעלin order to repulse the Egyptians. Both of these circumstances are mentioned for the purpose of giving a clear view of the state of things: (a) Jeremiah's freedom to go in and out, not to prepare us for his imprisonment afterwards, but to explain the reason why the king sent two chief officers of the realm to him, whereas, after his imprisonment, he caused him to be brought (cf. Jer_37:17 with Jer_38:14); and (b) the approach of the Egyptians joined with the raising of the siege, because this event seemed to afford some hope that the city would be saved. - This occurrence, consequently, falls within a later period than that mentioned in Jer_21:1-14.

CALVIN, "The Prophet tells us here, that after Jeconiah the king had been led into exile, the Jews had not on that account repented, though God had as it were forced them to return to him; for it was so severe a chastisement, that to become worse was an evidence of monstrous stupidity. Jeremiah, however, says that they were not

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reformed by that punishment; for Zedekiah, who had succeeded Jeconiah, rejected sound doctrine, and did not obey the counsel of the Prophet.But we must bear in mind the history of that time, that we may understand the meaning of the Prophet: the Jews made Jeconiah king in the place of his father, but in the third month the army of the king of Babylon came. Then Jeconiah surrendered himself to them of his own accord. Now the Prophet had said, that there would be no legitimate successor to Jehoiakim; and this was fulfilled, though his son was set on the throne, for a three months’ reign was so unimportant that it was deemed as nothing. And when Nebuchadnezzar saw that the people could hardly be kept in order without a king, he made Mattaniah king, whom he called Zedekiah. And he immediately revolted to the Egyptians and made a treaty with them, in order that he might shake off the yoke of the king of Babylon. Hence the Prophet says, that though Zedekiah had been taught by the example of Jehoiakim and of his nephew Jeconiah, he yet became nothing the better, he does not shnply blame his ingratitude: it is indeed certain that he had been severely reproved by the Prophet for having acted perfidiously towards the King Nebuchadnezzar, for he ought to have kept faith with him to the last. He feigned a reason of his own for revolting from him; no new cause had occurred; but it was only that he might be exempt from tribute, and also lest the malevolent should object to him that he reigned by permission, and that. he was the slave of another king. As, then, he saw that his reign would be exposed to many reproaches, except he revolted from the king of Babylon, he made a treaty with the Egyptians. This deserved reproof: but the Prophet speaks here generally of his obstinate wickedness, and also of that of the whole people.King Zedekiah, he says, the son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah Here the word, Jeconiah, is curtailed, as it is probable, for the sake of degrading him; and we have seen that this has been the common opinion. He is then called Coniah by way of reproach, when yet his full name was Jeconiah. He says that Zedekiah was made king by Nebuchadnezzar: hence his perfidy and ingratitude became manifest. It is added, that he hearkened not to the word of Jehovah, nor his servants, nor his people I have said that Zedekiah was condemned, not simply because he obeyed not the Prophet by keeping faith with the King Nebuchadnezzar, but also because he retained the superstitions of his fathers, and corrupted the true worship of God, and would not be called back to the doctrine of the Law.The disobedience then, mentioned here, extended to the whole Law of God, or to the two tables; for the Jews had then become degenerate together with their king; they did not purely worship God, but polluted themselves and the Temple by impious and filthy superstitious, and they were also libidinous, avaricious, cruel, violent, and dishonest, and had thus cast off the whole teaching of the Law. And this was a proof of strange blindness, as they had before their eyes the calamities of the city and the reproach to which their king had been subjected; for as we have already said, his sons had been slain in his presence, his own eyes had been pulled out, and he was bound with chains, after having been judged guilty of a capital offense. Such an

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example ought surely to have terrified Zedekiah and all the rest, so as to make thenl at length wise, and to seek reconciliation with God. But the Prophet says, that they did not hearken to the word of JehovahHe mentions the king, then his counsellors, and in the third place, the whole people; as though he had said, that this madness was found not only in the king, but also in his counsellors and in the whole community, so that no one was excusable. He then begins with the head, even the king himself, and shews also that his counsellots were nothing better, and afterwards adds the common people, in whom the fault seems to have been less; for we know that the lower orders go astray through want of wisdom and ignorance. But the Prophet here shews that even the lowest of the people were disobedient to God.We ought to notice especially the words, that they hearkened not to the word of Jehovah which he had spoken by Jeremiah For he intimates, that though God did not appear from heaven, it was sufficient to condemn the unbelieving, that he spoke by his Prophets. There was, then, no reason why the wicked should make evasions and say, that it was not their purpose to reject God and his doctrine, but that they only refused deference to mortals, and would not regard the words of men as heavenly oracles. This evasion availed them nothing, for God would have them to hearken to his servants. Though he did not shew himself from heaven, nor addressed them in a visible form, it was yet enough that he had once for all testified, that after the promulgation of the Law, there would always be Prophets among the people, and had commanded them to be reverently attended to. Nor could the Jews avail themselves of that evasion, which the ungodly commonly resorted to, that they could not distinguish between true and false Prophets; for if they had examined the doctrine of Jeremiah, they would have found that it had certain marks by which they could have easily seen that it was altogether consistent with the Law. That they then rejected the Prophet and his heavenly doctrine, was a proof of their obstinacy and contempt, but not through ignorance. It follows, — COFFMAN, "Verse 1JEREMIAH 37JEREMIAH SCOURGED AND IMPRISONEDThis chapter and the next, record events in the life of Jeremiah during the final days of the siege of Jerusalem in the closing period of the reign of Zedekiah (circa 589 B.C.), which resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of many of its inhabitants to Babylon.In fact, "From this chapter to Jeremiah 44 (inclusive), we have little else than an account of events relating to the personal history of Jeremiah."[1]During this final siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah had evidently

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requested help from Pharaoh-Hophra who had come to the throne of Egypt that very year. He made a move as if to help Zedekiah and his Jerusalem defenders against the Babylonians, with the result that, for a short time only, Nebuchadnezzar lifted the siege and devoted his full attention to the forces of Pharaoh-Hophra. Some say that the Egyptian force was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar, and others suppose that Pharaoh-Hophra withdrew without a battle. Either way, the result was an unqualified disaster for Zedekiah and Jerusalem.During that short interval, while the siege had been lifted, the events of this chapter occurred. We have already studied Jeremiah 34 which gives an account of the Jewish reaction to this temporary respite from the siege. They thought, "Hallelujah! The war is over"; and so they enslaved the servants whom they had just manumitted!Jeremiah 37:1-2"And Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiachim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of Jehovah, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah."This is a brief recapitulation of the history of the past eleven years. In the first capture of Jerusalem, the Babylonians had taken Coniah and carried him away to Babylon along with many other captives. Nebuchadnezzar placed Coniah's uncle Zedekiah on the throne as a sworn vassal of the king of Babylon. He reigned eleven years, and the events of this chapter were very near the end of that period. Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar returned for the final siege which is under way in this chapter.PETT, "Verses 1-5A Summary Of The Political Situation At This Stage (Jeremiah 37:1-5).The political situation at this stage can be summed up in a few words. Jerusalem was under siege because Zedekiah, Jehoiakim’s uncle, who was now king and had previously been appointed by Nebuchadnezzar, had rebelled against him and withheld tribute. And he had done this contrary to YHWH’s words through Jeremiah. Neither he nor his people had been willing to listen to the voice of YHWH. Nevertheless they asked for Jeremiah to pray for them and allowed him his freedom, but were meanwhile looking for deliverance by Egyptian forces.We can therefore imagine their exuberance when, as a consequence of the advance of an Egyptian army, the siege appeared to have been lifted. They began to think that it was they who had made the right choice after all. With the defeat of the Babylonians by the Egyptians they would have peace with honour and no more be subjected to the Babylonian yoke. And surely Pharaoh Hophra with his chariots

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and horsemen would be too powerful for the Babylonians.Jeremiah 37:1‘And Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.’In fulfilment of Jeremiah 36:30 Jehoiakim’s son Jehoiachin was displaced by his uncle Zedekiah when Jerusalem surrendered to the Babylonians in 597 BC. Coniah was short for Jeconiah, which was another name for Jehoiachin. He was carried off to Babylon with all the leading politicians and artisans, including Ezekiel, leaving a depleted Jerusalem to carry on as best they could, bereft of their finest leaders.It should be noted that Zedekiah was not the popular choice. He was the choice of Nebuchadnezzar. To the people Jehoiachin was still king, and we know that this was later even recognised in Babylon. But he never ‘sat on the throne of David’ as ruler over Judah. He would die in exile, even though in his latter days he would be released from prison and be treated with honour.

MACLAREN, "ZEDEKIAHJeremiah 37:1.Zedekiah was a small man on a great stage, a weakling set to face circumstances that would have taxed the strongest. He was a youth at his accession to the throne of a distracted kingdom, and if he had had any political insight he would have seen that his only chance was to adhere firmly to Babylon, and to repress the foolish aristocracy who hankered after alliance with the rival power of Egypt. He was mad enough to form an alliance with the latter, which was constructive rebellion against the former, and was strongly reprobated by Jeremiah. Swift vengeance followed; the country was ravaged, Zedekiah in his fright implored Jeremiah’s prayers and made faint efforts to follow his counsels. The pressure of invasion was lifted, and immediately he forgot his terrors and forsook the prophet. The Babylonian army was back next year, and the final investment of Jerusalem began. The siege lasted sixteen months, and during it, Zedekiah miserably vacillated between listening to the prophet’s counsels of surrender and the truculent nobles’ advice to resist to the last gasp. The miseries of the siege live for ever in the Book of Lamentations. Mothers boiled their children, nobles hunted on dunghills for food. Their delicate complexions were burned black, and famine turned them into living skeletons. Then, on a long summer day in July came the end. The king tried to skulk out by a covered way between the walls, his few attendants deserted him in his flight, he was caught at last down by the fords of the Jordan, carried prisoner to Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah away up in the north beyond Baalbec, and there saw his sons slain before his eyes, and, as soon as he had seen that last sight, was blinded, fettered, and

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carried off to Babylon, where he died. His career teaches us lessons which I may now seek to bring out.I. A weak character is sure to become a wicked one.Moral weakness and inability to resist strong pressure was the keynote of Zedekiah’s character. There were good things in him; he had kindly impulses, as was shown in his emancipation of the slaves at a crisis of Jerusalem’s fate. Left to himself, he would at least have treated Jeremiah kindly, and did rescue him from lingering death in the foul dungeon to which the ruffian nobility had consigned him, and he provided for his being at least saved from dying of starvation during the siege. He listened to him secretly, and would have accepted his counsel if he had dared. But he yielded to the stronger wills of the nobles, though he sometimes bitterly resented their domination, and complained that ‘the king is not he that can do anything against you.’Like most weak men, he found that temptations to do wrong abounded more than visible inducements to do right, and he was afraid to do right, and fancied that he was compelled by the force of circumstances to do wrong. So he drifted and drifted, and at last was smashed to fragments on the rocks, as all men are who do not keep a strong hand on the helm and a steady eye on the compass. The winds are good servants but bad masters. If we do not coerce circumstances to carry us on the course which conscience has pricked out on the chart, they will wreck us.II. A man may have a good deal of religion and yet not enough to mould his life.Zedekiah listened to the prophet by fits and starts. He was eager to have the benefit of the prophet’s prayers. He liberated the slaves in Jerusalem. He came secretly to Jeremiah more than once to know if there were any message from God for him. Yet he had not faith enough nor submission enough to let the known will of God rule his conduct, whatever the nobles might say.Are there not many of us who have a belief in God and a general acquiescence in Christ’s precepts, who order our lives now and then by these, and yet have not come up to the point of full and final surrender? Alas, alas, for the multitudes who are ‘not far from the kingdom,’ but who never come near enough to be actually in it! To be not far from is to be out of, and to be out of is to be, like Zedekiah, blinded and captived and dead in prison at last.III. God’s love is wonderfully patient.Jeremiah was to Zedekiah the incarnation of God’s unwearied pleadings. During his whole reign, the prophet’s voice sounded in his ears, through all the clamours and cries of factions, and mingled at last with the shouts of the besiegers and the groans of the wounded, like the sustained note of some great organ, persisting through a babel of discordant noises. It was met with indifference, and it sounded on. It

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provoked angry antagonism and still it spoke. Violence was used to stifle it in vain. And it was not only Jeremiah’s courageous pertinacity that spoke through that persistent voice, but God’s unwearied love, which being rejected is not driven away, being neglected becomes more beseeching, ‘is not easily provoked ‘to cease its efforts, but ‘beareth all’ despite, and hopeth for softened hearts till the last moment before doom falls.That patient love pleads with each of us as persistently as Jeremiah did with Zedekiah.IV. The long-delayed judgment falls at last.With infinite reluctance the divine love had to do what God Himself has called ‘His strange work.’ Divine Justice travels slowly, but arrives at last. Her foot is ‘leaden’ both in regard to its tardiness and its weight. There is no ground in the long postponement of retribution for the fond dream that it will never come, though men lull themselves to sleep with that lie. ‘Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is thoroughly set in them to do evil.’ But the sentence will be executed. The pleading love, which has for many returning autumns spared the barren tree and sought to make it fit to bear fruit, does not prevent the owner saying at last to his servant with the axe in his hand, ‘Now! thou shalt cut it down.’PETT, "Jeremiah 37:2‘ But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, listened to the words of YHWH, which he spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.’But neither Zedekiah nor his people listened to the voice of YHWH. This is Jeremiah’s equivalent of the phrase used in Kings, ‘he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH’. Jeremiah’s emphasis is on their disobedience. Neither the king, nor his aristocracy, nor the people, listened to the words of YHWH spoken through the prophet Jeremiah. They were too taken up in their own ideas, and in their own way of living and worship.PETT, "Verses 1-28The Disobedience Of Judah And Its King Is Highlighted By Their Treatment Of The Prophet Of YHWH (Jeremiah 37:1 to Jeremiah 38:28).These events once again took place during the reign of Zedekiah, the final king of Judah before the exile. Along with Jeremiah 34:1-7 this passage forms an inclusio for this subsection on disobedience, paralleling the similar inclusio in chapters 21-24, which brings out that the final intention of the prophecy at this stage is to concentrate on the destruction of Jerusalem and its aftermath in the light of the sin that has gone before.

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With this in view the different imprisonments of Jeremiah at the hands of both king and people are emphasised in what follows. The passage commences by underlining the fact that he had not been imprisoned at first (Jeremiah 37:4), and then goes on to deal with a number of imprisonments (Jeremiah 37:15; Jeremiah 37:21; Jeremiah 38:6; Jeremiah 38:13; Jeremiah 38:28), something which is emphasised in the concluding verse (Jeremiah 38:28). Thus there is a continual emphasis throughout on his imprisonment. In this we have the fourth and greatest example of the disobedience of both king and people in that they sought to restrain the prophet of YHWH, something in the main unknown in previous generations.

2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

GILL, "But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land,.... The king, his courtiers and subjects the royal family, nobility, and common people; they were all degenerate and corrupt. Jarchi observes, that Jehoiakim was wicked, and his people righteous; and that Zedekiah was righteous, and his people wicked but he seems to found his character on that single action of taking Jeremiah out of prison; whereas, according to this account, king and people were all wicked: for neither one or other did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he spake by Jeremiah the prophet; neither those which were spoken in the former nor in the latter part of his reign, concerning the destruction of the city by the Chaldeans. This short count is given to show how just it was to give up such a prince and people to ruin.

JAMISON, "Amazing stupidity, that they were not admonished by the punishment of Jeconiah [Calvin], (2Ch_36:12, 2Ch_36:14)!

3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of 11

Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the Lord our God for us.”

BARNES, "This embassy is not to be confounded with that Jer_21:1 which took place when Nebuchadnezzar was just marching upon Jerusalem; this was in the brief interval of hope occasioned by the approach of an Egyptian army to raise the siege. The Jews were elated by this temporary relief, and miserably abused it Jer_34:11. Zedekiah seems to some extent to have shared their hopes, and to have expected that the prophet would intercede for the city as successfully as Isaiah had done Isa_37:6. Jehucal was a member of the warlike party Jer_38:1, as also was the deputy high priest Zephaniah, but otherwise he was well affected to Jeremiah.

CLARKE, "Zedekiah - to the prophet Jeremiah - He was willing to hear a message from the Lord, provided it were according to his own mind. He did not fully trust in his own prophets.

GILL, "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, Jer_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.

JAMISON, "Zedekiah ... sent — fearing lest, in the event of the Chaldeans overcoming Pharaoh-hophra, they should return to besiege Jerusalem. See on Jer_21:1; that chapter chronologically comes in between the thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth chapter. The message of the king to Jeremiah here in the thirty-seventh chapter is, however, somewhat earlier than that in the twenty-first chapter; here it is while the issue

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between the Chaldeans and Pharaoh was undecided; there it is when, after the repulse of Pharaoh, the Chaldeans were again advancing against Jerusalem; hence, while Zephaniah is named in both embassies, Jehucal accompanies him here, Pashur there. But, as Pashur and Jehucal are both mentioned in Jer_38:1, Jer_38:2, as hearing Jeremiah’s reply, which is identical with that in Jer_21:9, it is probable the two messages followed one another at a short interval; that in this Jer_37:3, and the answer, Jer_37:7-10, being the earlier of the two.Zephaniah — an abettor of rebellion against God (Jer_29:25), though less virulent than many (Jer_29:29), punished accordingly (Jer_52:24-27).

CALVIN, "Jeremiah had briefly explained what was the state of the city and the land, that though they had been already severely chastised by God’s scourges, they yet remained obstinate in their wickedness. He now adds, that messengers were sent to him by King Zedekiah, when danger arose from the Chaldeans; and it is probable that this message came to Jeremiah when the siege was raised, or if the siege still continued, it was at a time when the Jews, no doubt, flattered themselves with the hope of receiving some aid, while yet they saw that the power of the king of Babylon was very great. For though they hoped for some help from the Egyptians, they were yet perplexed, and fear constrained the king to send messengers to the Prophet Jeremiah. But it appears from the answer that the Egyptians were already in arms, and had also come out for the purpose of raising the siege, and driving the Chaldeans from Judea. We hence see that the king was, in a measure, elated with vain confidence, seeing that the Egyptians were coming with a strong army to assist him, and yet he was full of anxiety, as the ungodly must ever be: while they seek to confirm themselves in a state of security, they are still tossed here and there, for God’s judgment is upon them. They are fearful, though they try to shake off fear. Hence Zedekiah, though he thought that he should soon be freed from all danger, yet could not wholly divest himself of anxiety, and therefore sent to Jeremiah: for the ungodly are wont to seek God, but not in earnest; they wish to discharge the outward duty, but they bring neither faith nor repentance, by which alone access to God is opened. COFFMAN, ""And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto Jehovah our God for us. Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison. And Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans that were besieging Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they brake up from Jerusalem.""Pharaoh ..." (Jeremiah 37:5). "This was Pharaoh-Hophra, the Apries of Herodotus; his intervention availed nothing."[2] Feinberg stated that the "Babylonians defeated the Egyptian army";[3] but Harrison was of the opinion that the Egyptians "withdrew without a battle."[4] History has no record of any battle having been fought; and the opinion of Harrison seems more likely to be correct.The reason for Zedekiah's request for Jeremiah to pray for the city seems to have

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been grounded in the hope that God would again spare the city from destruction as he had done by a miraculous intervention in the death of the entire army of Sennacherib in 701 B.C. Indeed, such a thing might have happened, if Zedekiah had been the kind of man that Hezekiah was; but Jeremiah 37:2, above, indicates that Zedekiah and all the people were solidly committed to wickedness and rebellion against God.PETT, "Jeremiah 37:3‘And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “Pray now to YHWH our God for us.”Yet even in his disobedience Zedekiah hoped that YHWH would look on the needs of His people, for he asked Jeremiah to pray to ‘YHWH OUR God for us’. It was a case of ‘any port in a storm’. It has always been man’s vain hope that when it comes down to the wire God will not take his sin too seriously. But as Jeremiah had already made clear, and will continue to make clear, God takes sin very seriously. That is why such a prayer would have been in vain. The time had come for final judgment. It had been long in coming, but now it was here.It is clear that Zedekiah was putting feelers out to Jeremiah because in his own heart he had great respect for him and his message. Note indeed how he sent high officials to consult with him rather than simply summoning him to court. But his problem was that the majority of his advisers were pressing him to rebellion, and had no time for Jeremiah whom they saw as a traitor, and he did not feel strong enough to resist them. He was overall a weak king. Both the men sent by the king to Jeremiah had elsewhere had dealings with him, Jehucal in Jeremiah 38:1 and Zephaniah (not the prophet) in Jeremiah 21:1; Jeremiah 29:25. Jehucal was his enemy, but Zephaniah appears to have been more neutral, and possibly even sympathetic.PULPIT, "And Zedekiah the king sent. This was Zedekiah's second embassy to Jeremiah. His request on the former occasion bad been for a prophecy; on the present it was for an "effectual fervent prayer," such as Hezekiah's embassy asked of Isaiah (Isaiah 37:6). But the issue was to be very different from that in the case of Sennacherib's invasion! Jehucal. The same man appears in Jeremiah 38:1, among those who brought about the imprisonment of Jeremiah. Zephaniah. The high priest's deputy, mentioned again in Jeremiah 21:1; Jeremiah 29:25; Jeremiah 52:24.

4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among 14

the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.

CLARKE, "Now Jeremiah came in and went out - After the siege was raised, he had a measure of liberty; he was not closely confined, as he afterwards was. See Jer_37:16.GILL, "Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people,.... Was at full liberty, and could go out of the city, and come in, when he pleased; or go into any part of it, and converse with the people, and prophesy to them; which he could not do in the latter part of Jehoiakim's reign, who sent persons after him and Baruch to take them, and they were obliged to hide themselves, yea, the Lord hid them, Jer_36:19; but now he was under no restraint, as least as yet: for they had not put him into prison; not yet; they afterwards did, Jer_37:15.

JAMISON, "Jeremiah ... not put ... into prison — He was no longer in the prison court, as he had been (Jer_32:2; Jer_33:1), which passages refer to the beginning of the siege, not to the time when the Chaldeans renewed the siege, after having withdrawn for a time to meet Pharaoh.CALVIN, "But Jeremiah tells us that he was then at liberty, coming in and going out among the people It may be that he had been in prison, but that after the rage of the king and of the people had cooled, he might have been set free. It is hence said that he was among the people, that is set at liberty, and at his own disposal, so that he could safely walk through the city; for to come and to go implies that he was free to follow his own business. He is said to come and to go who undertakes this or that concern as he pleases; for men, we know, are not engaged always in the same thing, but do various things as necessity requires. Such, then, was the condition of Jeremiah; he enjoyed common liberty. It is then added, that he was not as yet cast into prison, as it happened soon after. It is further said, that the army of Pharaoh was come out from Egypt to give aid to the Jews, and that thus the siege was raised, for the Chaldeans went forth to meet the Egyptians. At this time, then, Jeremiah received an answer from God. It seems not, therefore, probable that the messengers were sent, when the report spread through the city of the coming of the enemy, but rather when the city was relieved, for the condition of the people was still doubtful, as the liberty of the city and the land depended on the uncertain issue of the war. The Chaldeans had not yet come unto an engagement with the Egyptians. A victory gained by Pharaoh would have given the prospect of peace and safety to Zedekiah and the whole people; but if the Chaldeans gained the day, they saw that the greatest danger was at hand, for they would then be deprived of every assistance.It was in this state of things that Zedekiah sent messengers to Jeremiah, to solicit his

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prayers. Thus we see that hypocrites are driven by the fear of God, whom yet they proudly despise, to seek his aid when forced to do so; nor is this done, that they may appear to do so before men, but because God brings them to such straits, that they cannot but feel that they stand in need of his help. They wish, indeed, as I have said, to obliterate every recollection of God, and were they also able to do so, they would rob him of all power and authority; but as they are forced, willing or unwilling, to know that God so reigns in heaven that the whole world is subject to his power, necessity constrains them formally to pray, and, in a manner, to conciliate his favor, or, at least, to try to do so. But as I have already said, they ought to begin with repentance and faith. Hypocrites withdraw themselves as far as they can, both from the promises of God and from the duty of repentance. They so seek God that they at the same time shun him.We must also observe, that Zedekiah felt himself so guilty, that he could not pray himself. As, then, he was conscious of his own unworthiness, he put the Prophet, as it were, between himself and God, that he might suppliantly intercede for him. This also is what the faithful often do, for they seek aid here and there that they may be more readily heard by God; and this they do according to God’s command. But there is a great difference between the godly and hypocrites. The true worshippers of God, as I have said, are not content with their own prayers, but ask others to join them, while, at the same time, they pray God themselves. But hypocrites, what do they do? As they think that an access is forbidden them, and know that they are unworthy of being heard by God, they substitute others in their place to pray for them. Thus they do not seek themselves to know whether God will be propitious to them; and though they wish the whole world to pray for them, they do not yet pray themselves. Such, then, was the sottishhess of Zedekiah, who asked the holy Prophet to pray for him to God, while he himself was lying torpid in his own dregs; for he did not acknowledge that he was suffering a just punishment, nor had he recourse to the true remedy, that is, to return to God’s favor, to embrace his mercy and the promises of salvation. All these principal things he omitted, and only attended to what is, as they say, accessory.Now as to the time, we ought carefully to notice that it was when the Egyptians came to raise the siege. Thus God for a time permitted hypocrites to be deceived by a fortunate event; for the Jews then began to praise their own prudence in forming a league with the Egyptians, for that kingdom, as it is well known, was powerful, and at the same time populous, so that a large army could be raised. As, then, they saw that their treaty turned out beneficially to them, they, no doubt, assumed to themselves great credit, and thus their boldness increased. But God, however, so touched their liearts, that they continued in suspense, and, by turns, greatly feared: for Zedekiah would not have sent to Jeremiah, except, constrained by some great necessity; and yet, as it has been said, success might have inebriated him; but God rendered him anxious, so as to feel that the prayer of the Prophet was needed. PETT, "Jeremiah 37:4

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‘Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people, for they had not put him in prison.’Meanwhile it is emphasised that at this stage Jeremiah was not in prison. He was still free to go about among the people. In fact it is his imprisonments that will be the theme of this passage. For the king and the people still pinned their hopes in the power of Egypt and in the promises of the Pharaoh. Thus they were willing for a time to tolerate what they saw as Jeremiah’s pessimism.But Jeremiah would not have been alone in supporting the idea of yielding to Babylon. Even among the nobility there were many who sympathised with his message as we have already seen. The Lachish letters also tell us of ‘nobles who weaken the hands of the people’, presumably by calling for surrender to Babylon. The king’s advisers were thus torn between those who advised submission to Babylon, and those who called for resistance and trust in Egypt. But it was the Egyptian party who were winning. And after all, Egypt was local.

5 Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians[b] who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.

BARNES, "Then - And. Pharaoh-Hophra Jer_44:30, the Apries of Herodotus, probably withdrew without giving Nebuchadnezzar battle. After a reign of 25 years, he was dethroned by Amasis, but allowed to inhabit his palace at Sais, where finally he was strangled.

CLARKE, "Then Pharaoh’s army - This was Pharaoh-hophra or Apries, who then reigned in Egypt in place of his father Necho. See Eze_29:6, etc. Nebuchadnezzar, hearing that the Egyptian army, on which the Jews so much depended, was on their march to relieve the city, suddenly raised the siege, and went to meet them. In the interim Zedekiah sent to Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord to know whether they might consider themselves in safety.

GILL, "Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt,.... At the time the 17

above message was sent to Jeremiah. Zedekiah, though he had took an oath of homage to the king of Babylon, rebelled against him, and entered into a league with the king of Egypt, to whom he sent for succours in his distress; and who, according to agreement, sent his army out of Egypt to break up the siege of Jerusalem; for though the king of Egypt came no more in person out of his land, after his defeat at Carchemish by Nebuchadnezzar, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, Jer_46:2; yet he sent his army to the relief of Jerusalem: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem; which was in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign that they first besieged it, and is the time here referred to, Jer_39:1; heard tidings of them; the Egyptian army, and of its coming out against them; the rumour of which might be spread by the Jews themselves, to intimidate them; or which might come to them by spies they had in all parts to give them intelligence of what was doing; and what they had was good and certain, and on which they acted: they departed from Jerusalem: not through fear, but to meet the Egyptian army, and give them battle, before they could be joined by any considerable force of the Jews. It was at this time the covenant was broken about the manumission of servants, Jer_34:10; which conduct ill agrees with their desire of the prophet's prayer.JAMISON, "After this temporary diversion, caused by Pharaoh in favor of Jerusalem, the Egyptians returned no more to its help (2Ki_24:7). Judea had the misfortune to lie between the two great contending powers, Babylon and Egypt, and so was exposed to the alternate inroads of the one or the other. Josiah, taking side with Assyria, fell in battle with Pharaoh-necho at Megiddo (2Ki_23:29). Zedekiah, seeking the Egyptian alliance in violation of his oath, was now about to be taken by Nebuchadnezzar (2Ch_36:13; Eze_17:15, Eze_17:17).

COKE, "Jeremiah 37:5. Pharaoh's army was come forth— Zedekiah, contrary to the oath that he had taken to Nebuchadnezzar, made an alliance with the king of Egypt, and contracted with him for assistance against the king of Babylon; accordingly the king of Egypt sent an army to his relief, which obliged the Chaldeans to raise the siege of Jerusalem, in order to fight this Egyptian army. Calmet is of opinion, that the Pharaoh here mentioned was the Apries of Herodotus, called Hophra in Scripture. See ch. Jeremiah 44:30. Instead of They departed, we may read, They were forced to depart. PETT, "Jeremiah 37:5‘And Pharaoh’s army had come forth out of Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they decamped from Jerusalem.’And for a while the Egyptian party appeared to have been right. News came that Pharaoh Hophra had come out of Egypt at the head of a large army, in order to relieve Jerusalem, in response to Zedekiah’s previous negotiations with him (Ezekiel

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17:15-18). It must have appeared to them as though Jerusalem had been saved. Who could stand against the might of the Egyptians with their powerful chariots and horsemen?Indeed to all outward appearances that was the case, for on hearing the news of the Egyptian advance the Chaldean army raised the siege, departed from Jerusalem and went out to face the Egyptians. The people were jubilant. Once more Jerusalem had been delivered! It was, however, to prove a false dawn.PULPIT. "Then Pharaoh's army, etc.; rather, And Pharaoh's army had, etc.; as a further description of the circumstances under which the embassy was sent. The withdrawal of the Chaldeans seemed to offer a gleam of hope. The Pharaoh referred to was the Hophra of the Jews, the Apries of Herodotus, the Uah-ab-ra of the monuments. His interference was useless; indeed, Hophra was one of the most unfortunate of the Egyptian kings (see Jeremiah 44:30).

6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet:

BARNES, "Then came the word of the Lord unto the Prophet Jeremiah,.... At the time when the messengers came to him from the king to pray for them; for Jer_37:4are to be included in a parenthesis: saying; as follows: which is an answer to the messengers.GILL, "Then came the word of the Lord unto the Prophet Jeremiah,.... At the time when the messengers came to him from the king to pray for them; for Jer_37:4 are to be included in a parenthesis: saying; as follows: which is an answer to the messengers.COFFMAN, ""Then came the word of Jehovah unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to inquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh's army which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire. Thus saith Jehovah, Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten the whole army of the

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Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire."Contrary to what would most certainly have been in the prophet's own personal best interests, Jeremiah gave the same message he had already repeated to Zedekiah so often, namely, that God would destroy the city by the hand of the Chaldeans; and that this would surely come to pass, even if Judah were to kill their whole army except a few wounded men. This shows how certain was the fulfillment of what God had prophesied, and it was even a more unfavorable answer than the one Zedekiah had received in Jeremiah 21:4-7."Deceive not yourselves" (Jeremiah 37:9). "Satan himself, though he is the great deceiver, could not deceive us if we did not deceive ourselves. Sinners are their own destroyers, being their own deceivers, despite the fact of their being so frequently warned against it, and also having in their possession the Word of God, the great design of which is to undeceive them!"[5]This expression, "Do not deceive yourselves," is a translation of a remarkable Hebrew idiom, the literal meaning of which is, "Do not cause your souls to rise (lift up)."[6]Jeremiah 37:10 stresses the certainty of fulfillment of God's purpose of destroying the apostate Israel, which had long ago reached a point of no return in their iniquity. The prophecy states that even if the Babylonian army itself had been practically destroyed, with only a few wounded men surviving, even to that pitiful remnant God would give the victory over Jerusalem!PETT, "Verses 6-10Jeremiah Prophesies The Failure Of The Egyptians, The Reviving Of The Siege And The Destruction Of Jerusalem Because It Was YHWH’s Fixed Purpose (Jeremiah 37:6-10).Jeremiah dismissed the good news. He pointed out that it was so much YHWH’s purpose that Jerusalem be destroyed that even if the Babylonians were left few in number, and ailing at that, they would still succeed in their purpose.Jeremiah 37:6‘Then came the word of YHWH to the prophet Jeremiah, saying,’Once again Jeremiah is in receipt of ‘the word of YHWH’. Even though they were not listening, YHWH had not ceased from speaking to His people.

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7 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.

BARNES, "Jeremiah’s answer here is even more unfavorable than that which is given in Jer_21:4-7. So hopeless is resistance that the disabled men among the Chaldaeans would alone suffice to capture the city and burn it to the ground.

CLARKE, "Pharaoh’s army - shall return to Egypt - They were defeated by the Chaldeans; and, not being hearty in the cause, returned immediately to Egypt, leaving Nebuchadnezzar unmolested to recommence the siege.GILL, "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel,.... Which are the usual titles and characters the Lord takes to himself, when he spake by the prophet; see Jer_34:2; thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me, to inquire of me; in an oracular way; for by this it seems that they were not only sent to desire the prophet to pray for them, but to obtain an oracle from the Lord, confirming it to them, that the Chaldean army which was gone would not return any more; this they were willing to believe, but wanted to have a confirmation of it from the Lord; and so the Targum, "to seek an oracle from me;'' or to ask instruction or doctrine from me: now these messengers are bid to go back and tell the king, his nobles, and all the people of the land, what follows: behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt, into their own land; being afraid to face the Chaldean army; or being defeated and driven back by it. Josephus (a) says there was a battle fought between the Egyptians and Chaldeans, in which the latter were conquerors, and put the former to flight, and drove them out of all Syria. Jarchi relates a fable, how that the Egyptian army came by ships, and that at sea they saw strange appearances, upon which they said one to another, what means this? they replied, these are our fathers, whom the fathers of those we are going to help drowned in the sea; and immediately returned to their own land.

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JAMISON, "shall return — without accomplishing any deliverance for you.

CALVIN, "Now follows the answer: Jeremiah says that the word of Jehovah came to him, and that he was to tell the messengers of Zedekiah, that the Chaldeans would shortly return. He then says, Behold the army of Pharaoh, which has come forth to deliver you, shall return to their own land; that is, being compelled to do so, the Egyptians being either conquered in battle or smitten with fear, and returning of their own accord to secure themselves in their own cities. The Prophet says, that no advantage could be expected from the Egyptians, for the soldiers of Pharaoh would return to their own land; and then he adds, and the Chaldeans shall return and fight against this city, until they take and burn it This was a hard answer, and Zedekiah was, no doubt, greatly exasperated at hearing the message, and also very angry with the Prophet, who thus dared plainly to threaten the city and the people with final ruin. But here the Prophet disregarded the pride of the king, for it was necessary for him to obey God’s command, he therefore boldly performed his office; and, at the same time, he touched the king Zedekiah to the quick, say to the king who sent you to inquire of me, etcThe word דרש daresh, means indeed to ask in general, but the Prophet means here that he was to inquire; and yet this was not said before; for he only told us that messengers had been sent to ask him to pray for the safety of the king and the people. But Scripture, we know, often omits one of the two things that are included; and we may easily conclude, that the king had not only sent to Jeremiah to pray, but also to bring some favorable prophecy from the Lord. For why did he apply to him rather than to the chief priest or some others, except that he knew him to be the true Prophet of God? Then Zedekiah requested Jeremiah to pray, but he tried also to draw from him some favorable prophecy, by which he might be relieved. Hence Jeremiah indirectly reproved him, because he feignedly sent to him as though he was ready to hear whatever God might declare by the mouth of his servant, — “He sent you to inquire of me; he is mistaken, for he will not get what he seeks; for thus saith God, ‘The Egyptians shall avail you nothing, and the Chaldeans shall return and take and burn the city.’”We now perceive that when hypocrites pretend in a circuitous way to seek God, they do not obtain what they wish; for God justly disappoints them, inasmuch as they do not come to him with sincere hearts and desires; for they wish to transform God into their own nature and character, and they bend not themselves to his service nor submit to his word. Thus it comes that God will not answer their prayers; but the faithful, who seek God sincerely and from the heart, always find him propitious; and though he may not hear them immediately, yet he really shews that he cares for their safety. But hypocrites, whose confidence God regards with disdain, deserve that it should be empty and vain. This, then, is the reason why the Prophet gave such a severe answer to Zedekiah and his messengers. It now follows, —

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PETT, "Jeremiah 37:7“Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel, Thus shall you say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to enquire of me, ‘Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, will return to Egypt into their own land. ’ ”YHWH’s reply to Zedekiah was forthright, and it was that the Egyptians would fail as deliverers. They would turn tail and return to their own land.

8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.’

GILL, "And the Chaldeans shall come again ,.... To Jerusalem, after they have defeated or drove back the Egyptian army:and fight against this city ; with fresh rigour and resolution; being exasperated by the methods taken to oblige them to raise the siege:and take it, and burn it with fire ; as they did, Jer_39:8.

9 “This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will

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surely leave us.’ They will not!

GILL, "Thus saith the Lord, deceive not yourselves ,.... Or, "your souls"; with a false opinion, a vain persuasion and belief of the departure of the Chaldeans never to return; which they would have confirmed by the Lord; or, "lift not up your souls" (b); with vain hopes of the above things: self or soul deception is a dreadful thing; and sad is the disappointment when men are elated with a false and vain hope:saying, the Chaldeans shall surely depart from us ; they had departed from Jerusalem; but they were persuaded they would depart out of the land of Judea, and go into their own land, the land of Babylon, from whence they came, and never return more:for they shall not depart ; out of the land of Judea, into their own land; at least not till they had done the work they were sent about.

JAMISON, "yourselves — Hebrew, “souls.”CALVIN, "The Prophet confirms the former verse, and it was indeed necessary that this should be added, for though Zedekiah might not have divested himself of all anxiety and fear, he must yet have been moved by that prophecy, and thus he might have become more hardened in his obduracy, as it is the case with hypocrites; who, when they find that they can gain nothing, become furious against God, and run on headlong in their course. This might then have been the case with Zedekiah and also the Jews; hence Jeremiah adds, by way of confirmation, Elate not your hearts, or, Deceive not yourselves; that is, on account of the report respecting the Egyptian army. Thus he told the Jews that they had no reason to expect any alleviation. And the reason is added, For if, he says, ye had smitten, the Chaldeans so that few remained, yet they would rise up every one from his tent, and burn this city

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PETT, "Jeremiah 37:9“Thus says YHWH, Do not deceive yourselves, saying, ‘The Chaldeans will surely depart from us,’ for they will not depart.”.So they were not to be deceived into thinking that the Chaldeans would depart (which was the general position held in Jerusalem). For the fact was that the Chaldeans would not depart. They had come to fulfil a purpose, and fulfil that purpose they would.

10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian[c] army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”

BARNES, "Jeremiah’s answer here is even more unfavorable than that which is given in Jer_21:4-7. So hopeless is resistance that the disabled men among the Chaldaeans would alone suffice to capture the city and burn it to the ground.

CLARKE, "For though ye had smitten the whole army - Strong words; but they show how fully God was determined to give up this city to fire and sword, and how fully he had instructed his prophet on this point.

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GILL, "For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you,.... Supposing the whole army of the Chaldeans had been vanquished and slain by the Egyptians, the confederates of the Jews; or should they be slain by them in a second siege of them, excepting a few next mentioned:and there remained but wounded men among them; and supposing that those of them that were left, that were not slain, were everyone of them wounded men, and so disabled for fighting, as might be thought:yet should they rise up every man in his tent ; where he was smitten, and lay wounded; or where he was carried to be cured of his wounds; such should rise up like persons from the dead almost, and fight with such strength and spirit, that they should soon take the city, though in such a condition:and burn this city with fire ; this being a thing determined by the Lord, and nothing should hinder it; for it matters not what the instruments are; though ever so impotent and disabled, they shall do the work allotted to them. Wherefore all the hopes of the Jews, founded upon the departure of the Chaldean army, were vain ones.

JAMISON, "yet ... they — Even a few wounded men would suffice for your destruction.CALVIN, "The Prophet shews how foolishly and absurdly the Jews acted, in casting their eyes on fortunate events, and thus forming their opinions. He therefore exhorts them to cease to rely on such a confidence as would deceive them; for he says, that though they gained many battles, and the war turned on their side, yet they could not escape final ruin, for they had to do with God. It was hence the same thing, as though he had said, that they were not to judge by their state at that time, as to what it would be, because God was at war with them; and therefore if God had resolved to destroy them, though there were no enemy, yet he could by one breath slay them all. And for the same reason he concludes that he could employ the Chaldeans, Though few in number remained, and even wounded, yet riley would rise up from their tents, and set the buildings of Jerusalem on fire. This city, therefore, shall be burnt; ask not by whom or when: God will in this work employ the Chaldeans, for he hath so determined.

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We may hence conclude, that the Jews had been for a time victorious, at least had successfully repelled their enemies in their attacks on the city; for the Prophet would not have said this, had he not seen that the Jews entertained hope of deliverance on account of some success they had in the war. He therefore says, that all this was of no importance, for their city was to perish by fire. But the principle which I have mentioned must be borne in mind, for Jeremiah took it as granted that the destruction of the city Jerusalem was not to be effected by the forces of the King Nebuchadnezzar, neither by the power or number of his army, nor by the valor of his soldiers, but by the judgment of God. Since it is so, he says, though few remained, and they wounded, even lying as half dead, yet they will rise up every one from his tent, that is, not together, nor in a regular order, nor under a banner, as soldiers are wont to do, but each one, though no comrade were near, though scattered here and there, would yet rise up from his tent. He intimates, in short, that though the contest were only with shadows, they yet could not escape that extreme vengeance which God had threatened. Hence he says, they shall rise up every one from his tent, and burn this cityNow he says not that the Chaldeans would take possession of the city, he speaks not of the assault, but only of the burning, he hence intimates, that though the Chaldeans might have in themselves no power to hurt them, yet it was sufficient that they were armed by God, for the purpose of setting fire to the houses, like women and children, who often burn whole cities and villages; for in this case there is no need of valor or of any great skill. So then God declares, that though the Chaldeans might not be prepared to fight, yet they were strong enough, yea, even though they were lying down and half-dead after having been wounded. This is the meaning.PETT, "Jeremiah 37:10“For though you had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. ”

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And that purpose was to burn Jerusalem with fire. And so great was their zeal, and so firmly was YHWH on their side, that even if the whole army had been smitten, leaving only a small band of wounded men, yet they would still rise up against Jerusalem and take it and burn it with fire, because it was the determined will of YHWH.PULPIT, "Even if the Jews had defeated the whole Chaldean army, and there remained but a group of sorely wounded men, these in their weakness would be enabled to carry out God's sure purpose. But wounded men hardly brings out the force of the Hebrew; the word rendered "men" is emphatic, and expresses paucity of numbers, and that rendered "wounded" is, literally, pierced through.

11 After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army,

BARNES, "Was broken up for fear of - Or, “had got them up from the face of.” It was simply a strategic movement.GILL, "And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans were broken up from Jerusalem,.... When the siege of the city was broken up and raised: or, when they "went up from Jerusalem" (c); were gone from it;for fear of Pharaoh's army; or rather "because of Pharaoh's army" (d). The word "fear" is not in the text; nor did they leave Jerusalem for fear of his army, but to meet it, and give it battle, as they did; however, by this means there was a freer egress and regress from and to the city.

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COFFMAN, ""And it came to pass that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the midst of the people. And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou art falling away to the Chaldeans. Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him; so Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah and brought him to the princes. And the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonothan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.""Jeremiah went forth ... to go into the land of Benjamin ..." (Jeremiah 37:12) Jeremiah's home was in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, only a short distance from Jerusalem; and there were many excellent reasons which might have prompted Jeremiah to make that short trip. It is impossible for men to know exactly why he attempted to do so, for God's Word does not tell us."To receive his portion there ..." (Jeremiah 37:12) This is ambiguous and has been variously understood as a reference to his seeking a supply of bread, or attending to that business about buying a field, or (following the KJV) merely seeking to find a place of retirement. Able scholars have supported all of these suppositions."In the midst of the people ..." (Jeremiah 37:12). Does this refer to the people in the midst of whom Jeremiah would "receive his portion," or to the throng of people in the gate of Benjamin rushing out into the country during the intermission in the siege of the city in order to procure supplies to last through the siege? Again, no one can be sure of the meaning; but Dummelow's comment seems to be fully justified. "There was naturally a rush to get out of the city on account of the confinement as well as the scarcity of provisions."[7]"Thou art falling away to the Chaldeans ..." (Jeremiah 37:13). This charge of

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Irijah was a fabrication of his own evil mind, there being no evidence whatever to support his false allegation. "The charge was vicious and nonsensical; and some have suggested that Irijah's charge was motivated by his desire for revenge against Jeremiah for predicting the death of his grandfather Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:16)."[8]"Irijah... brought him to the princes ..." (Jeremiah 37:14). And what a dishonorable reprobate gang of "princes" these proved to be! Without mercy, reason, or honor, they scourged and imprisoned the man of God! They were a different group altogether from those princes who, at an earlier time, had treated Jeremiah with favor upon the occasion of Jehoiachim's having the scroll read to him and then cutting it in pieces and burning it.PETT, "Verses 11-15When Seeking To Take Possession Of His Land In Benjamin During The Lull In The Siege Jeremiah Is Falsely Accused Of Treachery And Thrown Into Prison (Jeremiah 37:11-15).Jeremiah’s family appears to have had much land in Anathoth, and with the siege of Jerusalem temporarily lifted it gave him the opportunity to once again take possession of it and its produce. This lifting of the siege would also give an opportunity to all the people of Jerusalem to resupply themselves with food, and Jeremiah may well also have had this in mind. But on going out through the Benjamin gate he was seized by the officer in charge of the gate whose duty it was to watch who went in and out. Being one of those who were antagonistic towards Jeremiah (whom he no doubt saw as undermining the morale of the people) he convinced himself that Jeremiah was slipping out in order to join the Babylonians, as others had previously done (Jeremiah 38:19; Jeremiah 39:9; Jeremiah 52:15). So he handed him over to the authorities, no doubt making clear to them his opinion of what the situation was, and they in turn threw him into prison. These were the new authorities who had replaced the previous ones when the latter were exiled to Babylon in 597 BC. (It was now around 587 BC).

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Jeremiah 37:11‘And it came about that, when the army of the Chaldeans was decamped from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,’The decamping of the Chaldeans as they went off to meet the Egyptian threat opened up the opportunity for people to take advantage of the situation in order to see to their possessions outside Jerusalem, and in order to reprovision themselves. The opportunity would especially be taken by those who believed Jeremiah’s words that the enemy would be returning to renew the siege.MACLAREN, "THE WORLD’S WAGES TO A PROPHETJeremiah 37:11 - Jeremiah 37:21.SOME sixteen years had passed since Jehoiakim had burned the roll, during all of which the slow gathering of the storm, which was to break over the devoted city, had been going on, and Jeremiah had been vainly calling on the people to return to Jehovah. The last agony was now not far off. But there came a momentary pause in the siege, produced by the necessity of an advance against a relieving army from Egypt, which created fallacious hopes in the doomed city. It was only a pause. Back came the investing force, and again the terrible, lingering process of starving into surrender was resumed. Our text begins with the raising of the siege, and extends to some point after its resumption. It needs little elucidation, so clearly is the story told, and so natural are the incidents; but perhaps we shall best gather its instruction if we look at the three sets of actors separately, and note the hostile authorities, the patient prophet and prisoner, and the feeble king. The play of these strongly contrasted characters is full of vividness and instruction.I. We have that rough ‘captain of the ward,’ who laid hands on the prophet at the gate on the north side of the city, leading to the road to the territory of Benjamin. No doubt there was a considerable exodus from Jerusalem when the Assyrian lines were deserted, and common prudence would have

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facilitated it, as reducing the number of mouths to be fed, in case the siege were renewed; but malice is not prudent, and, instead of letting the hated Jeremiah slip quietly away home to Anathoth, and so getting rid of his prophecies and him, Irijah {‘the Lord is a beholder’} arrested him on a charge of meditating desertion to the enemy. It was a colourable accusation, for Jeremiah’s constant exhortation had been to ‘go out to the Chaldeans,’and so secure life and mild treatment. But it was clearly false, for the Chaldeans were for the moment gone, and the time was the very worst that could have been chosen for a contemplated flight to their camp.The real reason for the prophet’s wish to leave the city was only too simple. It was to see if he could get ‘a portion’-some of his property, or perhaps rather some little store of food-to take back to the famine-scourged city, which, he knew, would soon be again at starvation-point. There appears to have been a little company of fellow-villagers with him, for ‘in the midst of the people’ [Jeremiah 37:12] is to be construed with ‘to go into the land of Benjamin.’ The others seem to have been let pass, and only Jeremiah detained, which makes the charge more evidently a trumped-up excuse for laying hands on him. Jeremiah calls it in plain words what it was- ’a lie’-and protests his innocence of any such design. But the officious Irijah knew too well how much of a feather in his cap his getting hold of the prophet would be, to heed his denials, and dragged him off to the princes.Sixteen years ago ‘the princes’ round Jehoiakim had been the prophet’s friends; but either a new generation had come with a new king, or else the tempers of the men had changed with the growing misery. Their behaviour was more lawless than the soldiers’ had been. They did not even pretend to examine the prisoner, but blazed up at once in anger. They had him in their power now, and did their worst, lawlessly scourging him first, and then thrusting him into ‘the house of the pit’-some dark, underground hole, below the house of an official, where there were a number of ‘cells’-filthy and stifling, no doubt; and there they left him. What for?The charge of intended desertion was a mere excuse for wreaking their malice on him. They hated Jeremiah because he had steadily opposed the

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popular determination to fight, and had foretold disaster. Add to this that he had held up a high standard of religion and morality to a corrupt and idolatrous people, and his ‘unpopularity’ is sufficiently explained.Would that the same causes did not produce the same effects now! Individuals still think an honest rebuke of their faults an insult, and a plain statement of their danger a sign of ill-feeling. Try to warn a drunkard or a profligate by telling him of the disease and misery which will dog his sins, or by setting plainly before him God’s law of purity and sobriety, and you will find that the prophet’s function still brings with it, in many cases, the prophet’s doom. But still more truly is this the case with masses, whether nations or cities. A spurious patriotism resents as unpatriotic the far truer love of country which sets a trumpet to its mouth to tell the people their sins. In all democratic communities, whether republican or regal in their form of government, a crying evil is flattery of the masses, exalting their virtues and foretelling their prosperity, while hiding their faults and slurring over the requirements of morality and religion, which are the foundations of prosperity. What did England do with her prophets? What did America do with hers? What wages do they get to-day? The men who dare to tell their countrymen their faults, and to preach temperance, peace, civic purity, personal morality, are laid hold of by the Irijahs who preside over the newspapers, and are pilloried as deserters and half traitors at heart.II. We see the patient, unmoved prophet. One flash of honest indignation repels the charge of deserting, and then he is silent. ‘As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. ’ It is useless to plead before lawless violence. A silent martyr eloquently condemns an unjust judge. So, without opposition or apparent remonstrance, Jeremiah is cast into the foul den where he lies for ‘many days,’ patiently bearing his fate, and speaking his complaint to God only. How long his imprisonment lasted does not appear; but the context implies that during it the siege was resumed, and that there was difficulty in procuring bread. Then the king sent for him secretly.Zedekiah’s temper at the time will be considered presently. Here we have to

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do with Jeremiah’s answer to his question. In it we may note, as equally prominent and beautifully blended, respect, submission, consciousness of peril and impending death, and unshaken boldness. He knew that his life was at the disposal of the capricious, feeble Zedekiah. He bows before him as his subject, and brings his ‘supplication’; but not one jot of his message will he abate, nor smooth down its terribleness an atom. He repeats as unfalteringly as ever the assurance that the king of Babylon will take the city. He asserts his own innocence as regards king and courtiers and people; and he asks the scornful question what has become of all the smooth-tongued prophets of prosperity, as if he were bidding the king look over the city wall and see the tokens of their lies and of Jeremiah’s truth in the investing lines of the all but victorious enemy.Such a combination of perfect meekness and perfect courage, unstained loyalty to his king, and supreme obedience to his God, was only possible to a man who lived in very close communion with Jehovah, and had learned thereby to fear none less, because he feared Him so well, and to reverence all else whom He had set in places of reverence. True courage, of the pattern which befits God’s servants, is ever gentle. Bluster is the sign of weakness. A Christian hero-and no man will be a Christian as he ought to be, who has not something of the hero in him-should win by meekness. Does not the King of all such ride prosperously ‘because of truth and meekness, ’ and must not the armies which follow Him do the same? Faithful witnessing to men of their sins need not be rude, harsh, or self-asserting. But we must live much in fellowship with the Lord of all the meek and the pattern of all patient sufferers and faithful witnesses, if we are ever to be like Him, or even like His pale shadow as seen in this meek prophet. The fountains of strength and of patience spring side by side at the foot of the cross.III. We have the weak Zedekiah, with his pitiable vacillation. He had been Nebuchadnezzar’s nominee, and had served him for some years, and then rebelled. His whole career indicates a feeble nature, taking the impression of anything which was strongly laid on it. He was a king of putty, when the times demanded one of iron. He was cowed by the ‘princes.’ Sometimes he was afraid to disobey Jeremiah, and then afraid to let his masters know that

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he was so. Thus he sends for the prophet stealthily, and his first question opens a depth of conflict in his soul. He did believe that the prophet spoke the word of Jehovah, and yet he could not muster up courage to follow his convictions and go against the princes and the mob. He wanted another‘word’ from Jehovah, by which he meant a word of another sort than the former. He could not bring his mind to obey the word which he had, and so he weakly hoped that perhaps God ’s word might be changed into one that he would be willing to obey. Many men are, like him, asking, ‘Is there any word from the Lord?’ and meaning, ‘Is there any change in the condition of receiving His favour?’He had interest enough in the prophet to interfere for his comfort, and to have him put into better quarters in the palace and provided with a ‘circle’{a round loaf} of bread out of Baker Street, as long as there was any in the city-not a very long time. But why did he do so much, and not do more? He knew that Jeremiah was innocent, and that his word was God ’s; and what he should have done was to have shaken off his masterful ‘servants,’ followed his conscience, and obeyed God. Why did he not? Because he was a coward, infirm of purpose, and therefore ‘unstable as water.’He is another of the tragic examples, with which all life as well as scripture is studded, of how much evil is possible to a weak character. In this world, where there are so many temptations to be bad, no man will be good who cannot strongly say ‘No.’ The virtue of strength of will may be but like the rough fence round young trees to keep cattle from browsing on them and east winds from blighting them. But the fence is needed, if the trees are to grow. ‘To be weak is to be miserable,’ and sinful too, generally. ‘Whom resist’ must be the motto for all noble, God-like, and God-pleasing life.BI 11-21, "And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem.Jeremiah persecutedAfter the captivity and death of Jehoiakim, his brother Zedekiah, another son of Josiah, sat upon the throne. He seems to have been of weak and superstitious rather than of vicious character, though it is said that neither he nor his servants, nor the

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people of the land, hearkened unto the words of Jeremiah. They Seemed to be infatuated with the idea that Jerusalem had, with the help of their Egyptian allies, strength to resist the assaults and siege of the Chaldeans. False prophets had persuaded the king that he would break the Chaldean yoke, and as this event was more favourable to his own wishes than were the stern words of Jeremiah, they had been accepted as truthful, while the true prophet was discredited. Jeremiah seems to have been at liberty in the meantime. The king had sent a message to him to pray for the deliverance of the city from the besieging Chaldeans. Jeremiah had again told the king plainly that the city was doomed. The Egyptian army had in the meantime come up, and the Chaldeans had withdrawn. Yet the Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah to tell the king that this was but a temporary withdrawal of the enemy; that they would return again; and, moreover, that even though the Chaldeans should be reduced to a few wounded men, even they should rise up and burn the city. When God was for Jerusalem, He could make them victorious over their foes, though they were but a handful, and without weapons; but when He was against them, He could make their foes, however small a company of wounded men, to have complete victory over them.I. Jeremiah imprisoned. The advent of the Egyptian allies had compelled the Chaldeans to raise the siege; and the gates of the city were opened so that the people could go in and out again at will. This opportunity was seized on by Jeremiah to leave the city for the country, which action led to his arrest and imprisonment.

1. Jeremiah goes forth. The question of what was the object for which the prophet left the city, has given rise to much discussion. The reading of the authorised version simply is that “he went” (or purposed) “to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people. ” This is not very intelligible. It has been supposed that there was a new allotment of land in the tribe of Benjamin, and that Jeremiah had gone up to secure his portion. The simple fact is that, having left the city or been observed in the act of so doing, suspicions as to his purpose were aroused in the mind of the keeper of the gate, and so he was arrested. Jeremiah was perfectly free and within his rights as a citizen to depart from the city if he chose, and to go up into the land of Benjamin, where he belonged; but whether he was wise under the existing circumstances is a question2. Accused and arrested. As the prophet was departing from the city by the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard being there and recognising him, either suspected him of desertion to the enemy, or hating him for his prophecies

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against Jerusalem, feigned suspicion, charged him with the treason of intending to desert the city and go over to the Chaldeans, and arrested him. The times were critical, and suspicions were rife on every hand. Jeremiah had persistently declared that the city would fall into the hand of the Chaldeans; had advised the king and the people quietly to accept the situation and surrender; had warned them again and again that resistance was not only useless, but would bring worse calamities upon them. All this, of course, irritated the people, and made Jeremiah very unpopular. Though he was free in the city, he was the object of universal execration and hatred. Under these circumstances it would have been wiser for Jeremiah to have remained in the city and taken his part with the inhabitants; certainly it was unwise to lay himself open to a suspicion of desertion by leaving the city at such a time, just after the delivery of his last message to the king. Possibly he did not think that his visit to the country would be misconstrued. Innocent men are not always men of prudence. Jeremiah’s visit to the country may have been perfectly justifiable and harmless, yet it had She appearance of evil to those who were of suspicious inclinations. It is not always wise to do the lawful things which lie before us, even though there be no actual harm in the action. The prophet ’s business to the country seems to have been entirely of a private character. Perhaps he was disgusted with the king and people, and just left the city in that state of mind. In any case he should have taken counsel of God and considered the circumstances before exposing himself to the suspicions and malice of his enemies. In times of excitement and contention between God and an evil-thinking generation, His servants have need to walk with the greatest circumspection. On the other hand, the action of the captain of the guard was most reprehensible, and illustrates the injustice with which unbelieving and wicked men are commonly disposed to treat God’s people. He had no real ground for suspecting Jeremiah of treachery and desertion to the enemy. But enemies who wish to find an occasion against God’s people can readily do so. Unbelievers are apt to judge the actions of God ’s people by their own method of procedure. I heard an officer in the English army say last autumn that all missionaries in India were the merest mercenaries; that their only motive in coming out here was salary. I asked him why, and on what ground he made such a charge. His reply was that he could conceive of no other motive, and admitted that nothing would induce him to devote his life to trying to convert heathen but a good round salary. I immediately denounced him as a mere mercenary soldier and not a patriot.3. Jeremiah’s denial. Upon being charged with treasonable intentions m leaving

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the city, Jeremiah indignantly denied that he had any such purpose. He met the charge with a simple sharp word. “It is false”; or, as the margin has it: “A lie; I fall not away to the Chaldeans.” He was both indignant at his arrest, and, perhaps, from the heat of his denial, more so still at the charge of treachery. To defame a man’s good name is often more intolerable than the prospect of endurance of any amount of physical suffering. Joseph in Egypt thus suffered, being innocent; Moses suffered in like manner; David seemed to care more that Saul could think him capable of conspiring against his life than for the persecution with which he was pursued, and sought more earnestly to clear his name than to save his life. The first question that arises out of this part of the story is: How should we meet such false charges as this, under which Jeremiah was arrested? That must depend on circumstances. Paul defended himself by an elaborate argument. Jesus adopted more than one method. Oftentimes He refuted the charges which the Jews brought against Him, by showing them how absurd their statements were, as in the case when they charged Him with being the agent of the devil. Again, when He was under the cruel and awful charge of blasphemy, when death was hanging over Him, He met the judge and false witnesses with perfect silence. Silence does not always give consent. There are circumstances when it is better to suffer both in reputation and body rather than attempt a defence. There may be higher interests involved even than the preservation of a good name and life itself. While it is perfectly right to assert innocence if one be innocent, sometimes silence is a more effectual answer than denial. Time often proves the best vindicator. I once heard Mr. Spurgeon say that he never attempted to brush off mud that was thrown at him, for he was sure that to attempt to do so would only result in smearing himself with the filth; but that he always waited till it was dry, and then he could deal with it as dust, and get rid of it without a stain being left behind. It has been truly said that if we only take care of our characters, God will in the end vindicate our reputations (Mat_5:11-12). Though Jeremiah indignantly denied the charge, the denial did him no good. It was not the truth which his enemies were seeking, but only an occasion to persecute him. So we are told that the captain “hearkened not to him,” but carried him to the princes.4. He is imprisoned. Irijah took the prophet to the princes. These were not the same who befriended him in the previous reign and took measures to conceal him from the wrath of Jehoiakim, but another cabinet who were in authority under Zedekiah. They were as willing to believe the charge of treason against Jeremiah as was the captain to prefer it. We have, however, learned that to

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suffer for Christ’s sake is a part of the privilege which is accorded to every disciple. There seems to be a double necessity for this. First we must ourselves, even as did Jesus Himself, learn obedience by the things which we suffer, and so to be “perfected through suffering” (Heb_5:8; Heb_2:10; comp. 1Pe_2:21; 1Pe_2:23; 1Pe_5:10). Besides, it is a matter of clear demonstration that suffering for the truth has always been the most powerful testimony thereto.

II. The king and Jeremiah. After the prophet had been many days in prison, the weak king sent for him secretly, and brought him out of prison to make inquiry of him. This was a triumph for Jeremiah and a humiliation for the king. In the long-run, the highest and haughtiest enemies of God will have to bow to the lowliest of His friends. There are many instances where men who have scoffed at religion and mocked at His messengers have, in moments of great fear and extremity, sought out the very people whom they have despised and persecuted to beg for intercession with God on their behalf. The city was apparently re-invested by the Chaldeans, and in great straits for food (verse 21), and the king hoped that at last the prophet would relent and secure some favourable word from the Lord. He seems, like all unbelievers, to have had the curious idea of God, that He might be brought round to favour if only the prophets could be won over first (Num_22:23.).

1. Is there any word from the Lord! This was the king ’s question put to Jeremiah. The Lord had previously given to the king a very sure word (verse 10), but he still vainly clung to the hope that the word of God would be altered, though there was not the least evidence that the king or the people had altered their lives. There are many persons in our day expecting that in the end, notwithstanding that the word of God, finally communicated to us in the Bible, is God’s last word to this world, the Almighty will change His mind and not punish persistent sinners. Yet there was a word from the Lord. It was very brief, and exactly to the point. “And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said He, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. ” Now this was a very brave and courageous action on the part of Jeremiah. If ever a man might have been tempted to temporise and prophesy smooth things, this was the time. There is nothing more sublime in this world than a clear and undisguised declaration of the truth under any and all circumstances.2. Jeremiah pleads his own cause. Having first delivered the message from the Lord, wholly regardless of what might be the effect upon the mind and disposition of the king, he now ventures to plead for his own release from prison. It is a great testimony to Jeremiah ’s loyalty to God that he suffered his own private and personal interests to be in the background until he had

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delivered the Lord ’s message. He put his plea on two grounds: First, his absolute innocence of any wrong done to either the king or the people. Why had he been cast into prison? The only thing that could be said against him was that he had delivered the Lord ’s word as he had received it. Could he do less than that? (Act_4:19.) Would the king have had him speak lies to please the princes and the people, which must ultimately have brought them much damage? Secondly, he appeals to the truth of his predictions, and asks the king to produce the false prophets who had flattered him and the people with pleasant lies ( Jer_28:1, &c., 29:27-32). Had their false prophecies done the king any good? Was it not now manifest that they were false friends as well as false prophets? He therefore pleaded with the king not to add to his already heavy account of iniquity by keeping him unjustly in prison.3. The prophet’s sufferings mitigated. The king was evidently moved by the prophet’s plea; but he was afraid of his princes, and did not dare to grant the full petition of the prophet, but he so far ordered a mitigation of his imprisonment, that he was taken out of the stocks and the dungeon and simply confined in the gaol court. Jeremiah was, as we have said, a shrinking and retiring man by nature, and keenly sensitive to physical pain. His imprisonment was very severe, though there was worse in store for him (see the next chapter). He felt that to stay in that dungeon and in the “cabins” would end in his death. The king softened his imprisonment and ordered the prophet to be fed with a piece of bread from the baker ’s street as long as there was bread to be had in the besieged city. In this incident we see how God tempers the severity of suffering even when He does not entirely deliver us from it. ( G. F. Pentecost, D. D.)

12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there.

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BARNES, "To separate himself thence ... - To receive a share thence. When the siege was temporarily raised, the first object would be food, and, accordingly, Jeremiah accompanied by others, who, like himself, had a right to share in the produce of the priests ’ lands at Anathoth, started there to see whether any stores remained which might be available for their common use.

CLARKE, "Jeremiah went forth - At the time that Nebuchadnezzar had raised the siege, and gone to meet the Egyptian army.

Go into the land of Benjamin - To Anathoth, his native city.To separate himself thence - “To receive a portion thereof among the people; ” -

Blayney: who supposes that Jeremiah went to receive a portion of the proceeds of his patrimony at Anathoth, which had, previously to the siege, been in the hands of the Chaldeans. The siege being now raised, he thought of looking thus after his own affairs. The Chaldee is to the same sense. “He went that he might divide the inheritance which he had there among the people. ” Dahler translates, ‘He went to withdraw himself from the siege, as many others of the inhabitants. ” I believe he went to withdraw himself from a city devoted to destruction, and in which he could no longer do any good.

GILL, "Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem,.... At least he attempted to do so, taking the opportunity of the siege of the city being broke up: what were his reasons for it are not certain; whether that he might not be put into prison, which he might fear for what he had just prophesied of concerning the return of the Chaldean army, that should take the city, and burn it; or to save himself from the destruction which he was sure would come upon it; or because he found he could do no good by his preaching and prophesying in it: however his view was to go into the land of Benjamin; his native country, the tribe he belonged to; and very likely to Anathoth in that tribe, where he was born, and had lived. Josephus (e) is express for it, which he says was twenty furlongs from Jerusalem:

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to separate himself thence in the midst of the people: or, "to slip away thence in the midst of the people" (f); the siege being raised, the people that had fled to Jerusalem for safety crowded out again to go into their own countries, which the prophet thought to take the advantage of, and slip away in a crowd unobserved; though the words may be rendered, "to take part from thence in the midst of the people" (g); either to take part of the spoil left there by the Chaldean army; or with the priests there, of what belonged to them, of whose number he was, Jer_1:1. The Targum is, "to divide an inheritance which he had there in the midst of the people;'' and to the same sense are the Vulgate Latin and Syriac versions (h).

JAMISON, "Benjamin — to his own town, Anathoth.to separate himself — Margin translates, “to slip away,” from a Hebrew root, “to

be smooth,” so, to slip away as a slippery thing that cannot be held. But it is not likely the prophet of God would flee in a dishonorable way; and “in the midst of the people” rather implies open departure along with others, than clandestine slipping away by mixing with the crowd of departing people. Rather, it means, to separate himself, or to divide his place of residence, so as to live partly here, partly there, without fixed habitation, going to and fro among the people [Ludovicus De Dieu]. Maurer translates, “to take his portion thence,” to realize the produce of his property in Anathoth [Henderson], or to take possession of the land which he bought from Hanameel [Maurer].CALVIN, "Here Jeremiah tells us how, and on what occaision, he was cast into prison. He had said shortly before, that he was in the middle of the people, or among them; but now he gives an account of the cruelty of the princes, that they not only cast him into prison, but even into a grave, for they put him, as we shall see, in a dungeon, so that it was a miracle that he did not die there; and this was not done only once; but we shall hereafter see, before the end of the chapter, that he was unhumanly treated, so that he was afraid to return to the same place, lest it should prove fatal to him. He mentions the time when this was done, that is, when the Chaldean army went forth to meet the Egyptians. He was then free to leave the city: no one before could have gone out, because the gates were closed, and the city was also surrounded by enemies. It was then, he says, that he went out, that he

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might go to the land of Benjamin, where, as it has elsewhere appeared, he was born.COKE, "Jeremiah 37:12. To separate himself, &c.— That he might have there a possession for himself with the people. Houbigant; who understands this with the Chaldee as relating to the possession of Anathoth, which Jeremiah had purchased by the command of God. Others read it variously thus: To withdraw himself from among the midst of the people;—or, thence to take rents among his people.PETT, "Jeremiah 37:12‘Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the midst of the people. ’In the course of this Jeremiah decided to go to his lands at Anathoth to‘receive his share there’ among the people. This may indicate his taking over the family lands from those who were watching over it, or indeed his claiming his ‘rents’ in the form of provisions. It was a matter of sorting out his affairs while the opportunity offered. No doubt many others were leaving for the same reason. ‘In the midst of the people ’ stresses his good intentions. There was nothing surreptitious about his actions.

13 But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”

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BARNES, "A captain of the ward - Captain of the watch, whose business was to examine all who went in and out.

The gate of Benjamin - The northern gate, also called the gate of Ephraim.Thou fallest away ... - His well-known views made Jeremiah a suspected person,

though the charge was groundless.

CLARKE, "Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans - Thou art a deserter, and a traitor to thy country. As he had always declared that the Chaldeans should take the city, etc., his enemies took occasion from this to say he was in the interest of the Chaldeans, and that he wished now to go to them, and betray the place.

GILL, "And when he was in the gate of Benjamin ,.... One of the gates of the city so called, either because it stood in the tribe of Benjamin, as part of Jerusalem did; or because it led to the land of Benjamin, whither the prophet was going: and just as he had got to that gate, and was going through it, he was stopped bya captain of the ward there ; who was placed at this gate, that none should go out to the Chaldeans, according to Kimchi; but rather he was the keeper of the gate, not at this time only, but always; Josephus (i) calls him one of the rulers:whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah : the grandson as some think, of that Hananiah the false prophet, of whose death Jeremiah the prophet prophesied, Jer_28:16; and the Jews have a tradition that Hananiah ordered his son Shelemiah, that if he ever had an opportunity to bring Jeremiah to ruin, to do it; and the same charge Shelemiah gave to his son Irijah, who, having this opportunity, laid hold on him; Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel, make mention of it:and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, thou fallest away to the Chaldeans ; it looks as if, though he might not have a family grudge against him, as the Jews suggest, yet had a hatred of him for his prophecies, and therefore fixes this calumny on him; for otherwise, why did he suffer the people to pass in great numbers without any such charge?

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JAMISON, "ward — that is, the “guard,” or “watch.”Hananiah — whose death Jeremiah predicted (Jer_28:16). The grandson in revenge

takes Jeremiah into custody on the charge of deserting (“thou fallest away,” Jer_38:19; Jer_52:15; 1Sa_29:3) to the enemy. His prophecies gave color to the charge (Jer_21:9; Jer_38:4).CALVIN, "But he then adds, that he was intercepted by the prefect of the ward in the gate of Benjamin That gate had its name from its situation, for a part of Jerusalem belonged to the tribe of Benjamin; and hence it was not strange that the gate which led to the heritage of the tribe of Benjamin was so called. There then was Jeremiah intercepted by Irijah, the prefect of the ward, and not without a grievous charge, that he was escaping to the Chaldeans. The Prophet attempted to clear himself, but with no effect; for an opinion had prevailed, that he was already in league with the enemies. He thus gained nothing by defending himself, but was taken to the princes, the king’s counsellors.This passage teaches us that God ’s servants cannot escape without being exposed to many calumnies and false suspicions. Jeremiah might at the beginning have evaded this, and according to the perception of the flesh, his exemption or immunity might have been viewed as lawful, for there was now before his eyes the danger, not only of losing his life, but also of his name and reputation, which, to ingenuous and wise men, is of much more value. Had Jeremiah then chosen to evade, he might have made this pretense, — “I am indeed ready to offer my life as a sacrifice a hundred times, but what will it avail me, if I am to be regarded as a revolter?” For he must have thus exposed the very name of God to many blasphemies: they might have said,” This is the Prophet who boasted that he had been sent from above, but he is now become perfidious and a traitor to his own countw, and has tried to deliver up the city into the hands of enemies.” Jeremiah then might have shaken off this burden laid on him; but it was nccessary for him to bear this reproach, with which he was falsely charged. Faithful teachers ought indeed to remove, as far as they can, all calumnies, and to check the wicked and malicious, so that they may not have the occasion to speak evil; but when they have done all, they will not yet exempt themselves from calumny; for their words and their deeds will be misconstrued. Thus Jeremiah was loaded with false charges; for all had persuaded themselves, that as he had so much extolled the power of King Nebuchadnezzar, he had been hired by him for the purpose of depressing the people by fear; and it may be that the violent among them did

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wilfully and knowingly make his case to appear worse to the ignorant, even by false reports. As then this conviction respecting him prevailed everywhere, he was apprehended as a revolter, as he was going out of the city.But he says, that he intended to go into the land of Benjamin, so as to separate himself. The verb חלק, chelak, means to divide, to scatter, to dissipate; and hence some have given this meaning, that he went into the land of Benjamin in order to divide his heritage; but this seems harsh and forced. They add, “In the midst of the people,” as though Jeremiah wished to make his land common, and to give it to the people: but in this explanation there is nothing probable or suitable. I therefore doubt not but that Jeremiah sought this as a quiet place, as it is understood by most interpreters, he then went forth towards the land of Benjamin, that he might separate himself; that is, that he might be secluded there in the midst of his people. It is, indeed, a brief mode of speaking, but the meaning is not ambiguous, —that he might be there, where he might separate himself from the people, as the places were distant from one another. (107) For he was tired with the city, because he saw that he spent his labor in vain. Some think that he was afraid of being cast into prison, because he had just announced a command greatly disliked; but it is more probable that, he was worn out with weariness, because he saw that he made no impression on men so hard and refractory. Hence then it was, that he wished to withdraw from the presence of the whole people.Then follows what we have already mentioned, that he was taken in the gate by the keeper Irijah, as though he were revolting to the Chaldeans. We have stated how this suspicion arose, even because he had faithfillly proclaimed the commands of God. We hence see how God tried his servant, when he thus constrained him to speak, so that his words became suspected. And hence also we may gather how thoroughly fixed in the minds of men was that false opinion, for Jeremiah was not heard in his own defense. He indeed said openly that he was not fleeing away, nay, that this was a false charge. It is a lie, he says, I am not fleeing to the ChaldeansI have already reminded you that the verb נפל nuphal, found here, means properly to fall, but it is to be taken here metaphorically, as signifying to fall away, or to incline to another side. Thou then fallest away or inclinest to the Chaldeans, which was the same thing as to revolt. We see that the Prophet was not charged with a common offense, for it would have been the highest to forsake his own country and to pass over to the enemies: it would have been better for him to die a hundred deaths. But, as I have already said, the servants of God ought to be so courageous as to despise the slanders of the unprincipled, and, when it so pleases God, to prepare themselves for patience whenever any reproach is to be undergone, only let their conscience be always clear before God and angels; and let also their integrity confute all slanders, and let them disprove them too, provided there be those who

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can bear to hear them: but if a defense be not always admitted, let them patiently bear this indignity. And this also we ought to notice, that God’s servants, though ready to clear themselves of crimes ascribed to them, and to defend their innocence at the peril of life, are yet often repelled and condemned unheard. This is, indeed, a great indignity; but yet as Jeremiah met with such a treatment, it ought not at this day to appear to us unendurable or new. It now follows —PETT, "Jeremiah 37:13‘And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, and he laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “You are falling away to the Chaldeans.” ’But when he reached ‘the gate of Benjamin’, which was the gate that led out onto ‘the way to Benjamin’, he was spotted by Irijah, the officer of the gate. It was his responsibility to observe who sought to use the gate and to deal with any irregularities. His view on seeing Jeremiah was stated to be that he was sneaking out in order to join the Chaldeans, although as the city as a whole probably thought that they had seen the last of the Chaldeans that may well simply have been a means of getting his own back on the prophet for being ‘a troublemaker’ who had constantly weakened the morale of the troops.PULPIT, "The gate of Benjamin; i.e. the gate looking northwards towards Benjamin (comp. Jeremiah 20:2; Jeremiah 38:7; Zechariah 14:10). It appears to be the same as the gate of Ephraim (2 Kings 14:13; Nehemiah 8:16). Thou fallest away, etc. Perhaps an allusion to Jeremiah's declaration (Jeremiah 21:9) that "he that falleth away to the Chaldeans … he shall live,"

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14 “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.

BARNES, "The princes - Not the noblemen trained in the days of Josiah and Jeremiah’s friends Jer_26:16, but those described in Jer_24:8. They assumed that the accusation was true; they first scourged and then imprisoned Jeremiah.

GILL, "Then said Jeremiah, it is false,.... Or a "falsehood" (k); as undoubtedly it was; I fall not away to the Chaldeans; for the Chaldean army was gone from the city; nor did Jeremiah like so well to be with an idolatrous people; for after the city was taken, when Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard gave him his choice, either to go with him to Babylon, where he promised to take care of him; or to go to Gedaliah, who was made governor of Judah; he chose rather to be with him, and his poor company: but he hearkened not to him; would not hear his defence, or however would not give any credit to it, being unwilling to let slip this opportunity of doing him ill will: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes; the princes of Zedekiah's court, or the princes of the people, the civil magistrates; or it may be the great sanhedrim, who he knew had no good disposition towards the prophet.

15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made

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into a prison.

BARNES, "The house - Probably the official residence of the secretary of state.

CLARKE, "And smote him - Without any proof of the alleged treachery, without any form of justice.In prison to the house of Jonathan - In Asiatic countries there is an apartment in the houses of the officers of the law, to confine all the accused that are brought before them. Jonathan was a scribe or secretary, and had a prison of this kind in his house.

GILL, "Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah,.... For attempting to depart the city, and go off to the Chaldeans, as Irijah had suggested to them, and to whom they hearkened; and perhaps would not hear what the prophet had to say for himself; and if they did, it had no weight with them: and smote him; either with their fists, or with rods, or a scourge; perhaps he underwent the punishment of forty stripes save one, according to the law; and they may be said to smite or beat him, because they ordered it to be done: and put him in prison, in the house of Jonathan the scribe; or secretary of state; such an one as Elishama was in Jehoiakim's time, who had a house or apartment at court as he had, who was now dead or removed, Jer_36:12; for they had made that the prison; which had not used to be; but by the courtiers, and with the consent of this scribe, secretary, or chancellor, it was made a prison; not for common malefactors, but for state prisoners; and a bad prison it seems it was. Very probably this scribe was a very cruel wicked man, who used those very ill that were his prisoners; and indeed, if he had not been of such a character, he would scarcely have suffered his house to have been made a prison.

JAMISON, "scribe — one of the court secretaries; often in the East part of the private house of a public officer serves as a prison.

CALVIN, "Here Jeremiah pursues the same narrative, and shews how unjustly 49

he was treated, for he found no equity at the hands of the princes any more than in the keeper of the ward. He was no doubt prepared to defend himself before them, and sufficient proof was ready at hand, only he would have had to speak to the deaf. But here he shews by one word that the liberty of speaking was precluded, for a furious madness seized them that they would not hear him. And here we may notice how much opposed is wrath to just and peaceable decisions; for if we wish to be right and equitable judges, self-government is especially necessary. When, therefore, our minds are inflamed with anger or wrath, it is impossible that any rectitude or humanity should prevail. So Jeremiah complains that he was oppressed, because the princes boiled with rage, so that they suffered him not to give the explanation which he had prepared.He then adds, that they smote him They no doubt ordered their servants to smite him; for it would have been more than strange, had the princes themselves risen up to strike the Prophet with their fists, or to smite him with their hands. It is then probable that he was smitten by their orders and at their bidding. This is the reason, if I mistake not, why some have given this rendering, “They caused him to be smitten.” But he is often said to have killed a man, who has ordered him to be killed, while he himself had not touched him with his finger. Even so Jeremiah was smitten by the princes, because they had commanded him to be smitten. And this passage shews also, as in a glass, how miserable would be the condition of God ’s servants, were he not to sustain them by the power of his Spirit. For here is a holy Prophet overwhelmed with unjust accusations and also reproaches, and the princes abstained not from stripes, and at last he was cast into a pit. Whenever, then, such, a thing happens to us, let us cast our eyes on Jeremiah, and let it not be grievous to us to follow the steps of the holy Prophet; nor let us think it hard to endure the trials with which God was pleased to exercise him. They put him, he says, in the house, and then the word is changed, the prison, האסור easur, but; the same thing is meant. It now follows what sort of prison it was —COKE, ". Wherefore the princes, &c. — And the princes, &c.For they had made that the prison— There is nothing extraordinary in making the

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dwelling-house of a great man a prison, according to either the ancient or modern manners of the east. See Genesis 39:20. Even in the royal palace itself we find there was a prison; ch. Jeremiah 32:2. Mr. Harmer (Obs. ch. 8 Obs. 37.) gives the following passage concerning eastern prisons, out of a manuscript of Sir John Chardin. "The eastern prisons are not public buildings erected for that purpose, but a part of the house in which their criminal judges dwell. As the governor or provost of a town, or the captain of the watch, imprison such as are accused in their own houses, they set apart a canton of it for that purpose, when they are put into these offices, and choose for the jailor the most proper person they can find of their domestics."PETT, "Jeremiah 37:15‘And the princes were furious with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for they had made that the prison.’These authorities were not the ones mentioned in the previous chapter, who would have been carried off to Babylon ten years previously, but were their replacements from among the lower levels of society who were left in Jerusalem once the cream of the inhabitants had been taken away. They were small-minded men who were filled with hatred at Jeremiah because of his prophesying, and they took the word of the officer and had him beaten and placed in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, which had seemingly been made into a prison. Such prisons were unpleasant places, and this one probably had subterranean dungeons into which prisoners would be lowered. It would appear from what follows that there he was badly treated.PULPIT, "The princes were wroth with Jeremiah. As Graf has pointed out, the princes, who had evinced their respect for Jeremiah on former occasions (Jeremiah 26:1-24; Jeremiah 36:1-32) had probably shared the captivity of Jehoiachin; Zedekiah's "princes" would be of a lower origin and type, and ready (like the judges in the French "terror") to accept any charge against an unpopular person without proper examination. The house of Jonathan the scribe. "Scribe," i.e. one of the secretaries of state. The house of Jonathan seems to have been specially adapted for a prison, as the next verse shows. Chardin, the old traveller, remarks, "The Eastern prisons are not public buildings erected for that purpose, but a part of the house in which the

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criminal judges dwell. As the governor and provost of a town, or the captain of the watch, imprison such as are accused in their own houses, they set apart a canton of them for that purpose when they are put into these offices, and choose for the jailor the most proper person they can find of their domestics" (Chardin).

16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time.

BARNES, "Dungeon - literally, house of a cistern or pit, and evidently underground. In this cistern-like excavation were several cells or arched vaults, in one of which with little light and less ventilation Jeremiah remained a long time.

CLARKE, "Entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins - The dungeon was probably a deep pit; and the cabins or cells, niches in the sides, where different malefactors were confined. See Blayney.

GILL, "When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon,.... Or, "into the house of the pit" (l); a dungeon, like a pit or ditch, dark, dirty, or dismal: and into the cabins; or "cells" (m); into a place more inward than the cells, as the Targum; into the innermost and worst part in all the prison, where a man could not well lie, sit, nor stand: and Jeremiah had remained there many days; in this very uncomfortable condition; very probably till the Chaldean army returned to Jerusalem, as he foretold it should.

JAMISON, "dungeon ... cabins — The prison consisted of a pit (the “dungeon”) with vaulted cells round the sides of it. The “cabins,” from a root, “to bend one’s self.”

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CALVIN, "The particle כי, ki, is to be taken here as an adverb of time, as I think, though interpreters have not observed this, When Jeremiah, he says, came into the house of the pit or dungeon, or of the prison. The word בור means also sometimes the grave, but is to be taken here for a pit or a deep place: he means that it was a dark and filthy prison. And he adds, and to the dwellings I know not why some have rendered it, “victualling houses;” for the word החניות , echeniot, means narrow prisons, which we call at this day cachots: (108) he was therefore cast into a dungeon, where there were narrow places, that, the holy man had no space either freely to rise or to stand or to sit down, or to he down. Then the Prophet shews that he was so confined by the straitness of the place, that he could hardly sit or lay down or stand erect.; and he says that he was there many days. (109)We must notice the circumstances of the case: It was a thing cruel enough in itself, that an innocent man, after having been beaten, should be thrust into prison: but when a dark and deep prison was chosen, and when he was confined to a narrow place, as though he was in fetters, it was a great addition to the indignity offered to him. Since then the holy Prophet was so atrociously treated, let us not think it strange, when the same thing at this day is endured by God’s children, and for the same cause, even for bearing testimony to celestial truth. When the length of time is added, it increased the evil; for he was not retained in prison for a few days or for a month, but until the city was taken; not indeed in that prison, for the king, as we shall presently see, removed him into the ccurt of the prison. He was, however, the second time cast into a filthy prison, as though he was destined to die; thence he was afterwards removed also by the order of the king. But the Prophet says, that he was in that dungeon many days. It now follows —COFFMAN, ""When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon-house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days; then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. Moreover Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, Wherein have I sinned against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? Where now are your prophets that prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?""The dungeon-house, and the cells ..." (Jeremiah 37:16). The prison

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mentioned here was a huge cistern-like excavation beneath the house of Jonathan, with cells excavated into the side of it, having no light or ventilation. Inmates were expected to die from such treatment; and yet Jeremiah survived it many days."The king asked him secretly in his house ..." (Jeremiah 37:17). Zedekiah's secrecy was due to his fear of his ministers who hated Jeremiah and who urgently desired to murder him; but the king's conscience no doubt drove him to arrange this secret interview. Also, the conceited arrogance of the whole Jewish nation continued right down to the very day the city fell and Nebuchadnezzar removed the survivors to Babylon. Despite their consummate wickedness, they still believed Jerusalem and the temple were invulnerable and that God would yet spare them. Therefore Zedekiah asked, "Is there any word from Jehovah?""Wherein have I sinned against thee, etc. ..." (Jeremiah 37:18). It should be noted that Jeremiah here accused the king of being responsible for his imprisonment, pressing, at the same time, his plea of innocence from any wrong-doing."Where now are your prophets that prophesied, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you ..." (Jeremiah 37:19)? What a powerful argument is this! "The implication is, `Why should a truth-teller be in jail, and the tellers of lies be free'"?[19] Having laid such a foundation for it, Jeremiah skillfully presented his plea for mercy.COKE, "Jeremiah 37:16. When Jeremiah was entered, &c. — But Jeremiah was brought into a deep and secret dungeon. Houbigant. From comparing this place with ch. Jeremiah 38:6 it seems likely that the dungeon was a deep pit, sunk perpendicularly like a well, in the middle of the open court or quadrangle, around which the great houses were built; and that in the sides of it, near the bottom, were scooped niches, like the cabins of a ship, for the separate lodgment of the unfortunate persons who were let down there. Hence also it may be, that the same word בור bor, is frequently put for the grave; the ancient repositories of the dead being often constructed with niches in the same manner, in which the bodies were placed separately. Accordingly we read, Isaiah 14:15. But thou shalt be brought down to the grave, to the sides of the pit. See the Hebrew.

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PETT, "Verses 16-21After Having Spent Some Time In Prison Jeremiah Was Summoned To Appear Before King Zedekiah Who Secretly Sought His Counsel, Giving Jeremiah The Opportunity To Appeal Against His Situation. As A Result He Was Transferred To The Prison In The Palace-Complex Which Was For Important State Prisoners Where He Was Better Treated (Jeremiah 37:16-21).Having been put in prison under unpleasant circumstances it appears that Jeremiah was badly treated, for he would later speak to the king of the possibility that he might have died under his ill-treatment. Common prisons were at their best very unpleasant and unwholesome places, and as an enemy of the state he was probably put in the part where conditions were at their worst and the warders least sympathetic. Furthermore one of YHWH’s charges against the people had been the way in which they treated each others and their tendency to violence. Thus we may assume that Jeremiah discovered this aspect of their behaviour to the full.Fortunately for his wellbeing, however, Zedekiah eventually decided to consult him secretly, and called for him, no doubt under the pretence of examining his case. By this time the siege had probably been renewed, and it is probable that Zedekiah was desperately seeking a way out, and wanted to know if YHWH had any word for him. YHWH had, and it was simple. ‘You will be delivered into the hands of the Babylonians’.Jeremiah then appealed against the conditions under which he was being held and Zedekiah had him moved to the prison for important state prisoners, where he was treated as befitted such prisoners.Jeremiah 37:16-17‘When Jeremiah had come into the dungeon-house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days, then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him. And the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from YHWH?” And Jeremiah said, “There is.” He also said, “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”Jeremiah was placed in a dungeon (house of a pit) which was seemingly separated into separate pits or cells (the word is used only here). The aim was both to prevent him being able to speak to the people, and in order to vent their spite on him for his pro-Babylonian views. And he was held there for some weeks. It would appear that he received little food (prisoners were rarely fed, it was left to relatives to bring them food) but much rough treatment. Eventually he was summoned before the king, purportedly in order to be examined. But the real reason was because Zedekiah wanted to consult him privately. He therefore got him alone in his palace and asked him whether there was any word from YHWH. The siege may well by

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now have been recommenced, and he possibly hoped that he would hear something comforting.Jeremiah assured him that not only had he received a word from YHWH, but that that word had not changed. It was that ‘you’ (the king and his people) would be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon. We should not that even his desire to escape from the awful conditions under which he was being held did not dissuade Jeremiah from proclaiming the true word of YHWH.

17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the Lord?”“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.”

CLARKE, "Is there any word from the Lord? - Is there any farther revelation?There is: - thou shalt be delivered - What bold faithfulness! And to a king, in whose hands his life now lay.

GILL, "Then Zedekiah the king sent and took him out,.... After Jeremiah had been in prison for some time; and the Chaldean army being returned, and having renewed their siege, the king is frightened; and knowing the prophet was in prison, sends a messenger to take him out from thence, and bring him to him; which was accordingly done: and the king asked him secretly in his house; he took him into some private apartment, and there alone conferred with him, for fear of his princes and courtiers; who he knew bore no good will to the prophet, and would be ready to charge him with timidity; and said unto him,

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is there any word from the Lord? he means any particular word of prophecy, any late one, and what concerned their present circumstances, showing what would be the issue of the return of the Chaldean army; for prophecy did not come at all times, nor even according to the will of man, but always according to the will of God, and when he thought fit; this the king knew very well, and he wanted a comfortable word, some good news of the failure of the present attempt: and Jeremiah said, there is; but not such an one as he wanted; it was of the same strain with the former, and confirmed all that the prophet had from time to time told him and his predecessor what would certainly be the case: for, said he, thou shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon; which was boldly and faithfully said, to be said to the face of the king himself, risking his life in so doing; or, at least, exposing himself to severer treatment, if severer could be used.

JAMISON, "secretly — Zedekiah was ashamed to be seen by his courtiers consulting Jeremiah (Joh_12:43; Joh_5:44; Joh_19:38).

thou shalt be delivered — Had Jeremiah consulted his earthly interests, he would have answered very differently. Contrast Jer_6:14; Isa_30:10; Eze_13:10.CALVIN, "From these words we learn, that King Zedekiah, though he had not obeyed good and wise counsels, nor even God and his truth, was not yet one of the worst, for of his own self he called the Prophet to him, and wished to find out whether he could in any way appease God. There is here, in short, a description given of the character of Zedekiah: he was unwilling to submit to God and his word, and yet he was not so cruel as to become enraged against the Prophet; nor had he wholly cast away all fear of God, all concern for religion, and all regard for prophetic teaching. For he no doubt sent for Jeremiah as God’s true servant, and in some degree honored him, and wished God to be propitious to himself. But this is usually the case with hypocrites: they would willingly be reconciled with God, but at the same time they wish to remain free, that is, to retain their own sinful dispositions; in short, they wish so to live as that God should give place to them, and allow them to sin as they please. Such was Zedekiah, and yet he had not reached to the highest pitch of impiety, for as yet he had some regard for the Prophet; nor was he so savage and cruel as his counsellors. He then called him to himself and asked him privately, that he might not depart, as we shall see in another place, in any measure from his royal dignity: for he simply asked the Prophet not to speak openly, because he would thus lose his own authority.He then asked him in secret, because he had been perplexed. He wished indeed for some favorable answer, but he hardly dared to hope for it; and therefore he led the Prophet to a secret place, and asked him without any being a witness, Is there, he said, a word from God? Some explain this, as though Zedekiah had asked whether the prophecies of Jeremiah were true, as though he had said, “What thou hast hitherto spoken, has it come from God?” but this is no suitable explanation; on the contrary, he asked, Whether the Prophet had lately received any word from God?

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He wished then for some new message, and to hear something respecting the future deliverance of the city: for he was no doubt persuaded that Jeremiah had been hitherto discharging the office of a Prophet, as it became him; for he did not ask him as a common man, nor did he regard him as an impostor, but inquired whether there was a word from God. True is what I before stated, that hypocrites always seek God’s favor in a foolish way; for they would have God to gratify their sinful lusts, but God cannot deny himself. Hence Zedekiah, though he shewed apparently some regard for religion, yet foolishly asked, Whether there was a word from Jehovah? that is, Whether any message had been lately made known to Jeremiah? He answered, There is, even this, Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the ChaldeansHere we may notice the boldness of the Prophet; he had not been broken down by all the evils he had met with, but ever faithfully performed the office committed to him. He therefore answered the king honestly, though not without danger, Thou shalt be delivered, he said, into the hands of the Chaldeans: for he had hardly come out of prison, where he had been buried as in a grave, and we shall see that the prison had been to him like death; and the Prophet was not divested of infirmity and fear, as he will presently shew; yet fear did not prevent him from faithfully performing the office committed to him. Though the Prophet dreaded the sufferings of the prison, though he also feared death, he yet overcame all these feelings, and presented his life as a sacrifice, when he openly and boldly answered the king, that the Chaldeans would shortly be conquerors, and make him a captive. Then follows the expostulation which the Prophet made to the king —

18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison?

BARNES, "Moreover, Jeremiah said unto King Zedekiah,.... Having this opportunity with him alone, and perhaps observing the king was melted and softened with what he had said; however, finding liberty in his own mind, he enlarges his discourse, and freely expostulates with him in the following manner:

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what have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? or, "what have I sinned?" have I been guilty of treason against thee, O king? or of scandal and defamation of any of thy nobles and courtiers? have I done any injury to any of the king's subjects? has there been any falsehood in my prophecies? has not everything appeared to be true that I have spoken, concerning the coming of the Chaldeans to invade the land, and besiege the city? and concerning the return of the Chaldean army when broken up? why then should I be cast into prison, and detained there? is it not a clear case that what I have said comes from the Lord? and therefore ought not to be used in this manner.GILL, "Moreover, Jeremiah said unto King Zedekiah,.... Having this opportunity with him alone, and perhaps observing the king was melted and softened with what he had said; however, finding liberty in his own mind, he enlarges his discourse, and freely expostulates with him in the following manner: what have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? or, "what have I sinned?" have I been guilty of treason against thee, O king? or of scandal and defamation of any of thy nobles and courtiers? have I done any injury to any of the king's subjects? has there been any falsehood in my prophecies? has not everything appeared to be true that I have spoken, concerning the coming of the Chaldeans to invade the land, and besiege the city? and concerning the return of the Chaldean army when broken up? why then should I be cast into prison, and detained there? is it not a clear case that what I have said comes from the Lord? and therefore ought not to be used in this manner.

JAMISON, "What — In what respect have I offended?CALVIN, "Though the Prophet had spoken what was displeasing to the king, he yet complains that wrong had been done to him, as he had been cast into prison; and thus he shews that he had been unjustly condemned for having threatened ruin to the city and destruction to the kingdom, because he was constrained to do this by the obligations of his office. Hence the Prophet shews that he had not sinned in this — that he had proclaimed God’s commands, however bitter they were to the king and to the people.This passage deserves special notice: earthly princes are so proud, that as soon as they order anything, they wish every dispute about their authority to be suspended; for they will have their own ordinances to be counted laws, and their own decrees to be sacred and authoritative; and yet we know, that by following their own wills, they decree often what is wholly unjust and inconsistent with everything that is reasonable. This passage then, as I have said, deserves special notice; for Jeremiah boldly declares that he had not sinned, because he had threatened the king, displeased his counsellors, inveighed against the impiety of the people, and denounced utter ruin on the city and the Temple. He then denies that in all this he had done anything wrong. So also Daniel said,“Against God and the king have I not sinned,” (Daniel 6:22)

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and yet he had disregarded the king’s decree, and firmly refused by an impious flattery to put the king in the place of God: he however denied that he had done anything wrong against the king, because his decree was unjust and wicked. Let us then bear in mind, that though princes may in bear their decrees to be disregarded by us, they are yet not absolved before God and his angels, and also that we can boldly, openly, and with a full mouth, as they say, assert our innocence, when religion constrains us, and when it is not lawful to obey the impious and unjust edicts of kings. He afterwards adds —PETT, "Jeremiah 37:18‘Moreover Jeremiah said to king Zedekiah, “In what way have I sinned against you, or against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison?”But recognising the king’s sympathy he then asked him why he was being kept under such awful conditions. How, he asked, had he sinned against the king and his council, or indeed against the people, in telling them the truth? Had not what he said come about?

19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’?

CLARKE, "Where are now your prophets - They told you that the Chaldeans should not come; I told you they would. According to my word the Chaldeans are come, and are departed only for a short time.

GILL, "Where are now your prophets that prophesied unto you,.... Your false prophets, as the Targum; what is become of their prophecies? where is the truth of them, to which general credit has been given? where are they? let them appear and defend themselves, if they can, from the charge of lying, and of being false prophets? or where are they? tacitly suggesting the different circumstances of him and them; he, who was a true prophet, was laid in a prison; they, who were false prophets, were caressed in the palaces of the king and his nobles, and in favour with the people in general:

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saying, the king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? gave out that the king of Babylon would never invade the land of Judea, or besiege the city of Jerusalem, which proved false; and still they had the front to say, that when the siege was raised, he would never come again; whereas he was then returned to it, and was now besieging it; so that here were notorious falsehoods delivered out by them.JAMISON, "Where are now your prophets — The event has showed them to be

liars; and, as surely as the king of Babylon has come already, notwithstanding their prophecy, so surely shall he return.CALVIN, "Here Jeremiah, taking confidence, advances to a higher ground; for he reprobates the folly of Zedekiah, because he had given ear to the false prophets and their flatteries. But this he did, that he might more fully confirm his own innocence, as though he had said, “I indeed am grievously blamed, because I threatened ruin to the city and the Temple; but what if the Lord had constrained me to do so? and it is evident that I was commissioned by God, and that I alleged nothing without authority; for I have always declared what has happened, and events have proved that I was sent from above, when I announced to you what was to be. But where are your prophets? for they have been always flattering you; and it has happened through their falsehoods, that ye have not returned to the right way. It was yet in your power to be reconciled to God, when I at first warned you; and all my labor and endeavors were for this end, that you might anticipate God’s wrath by a willing repentance. Since then your prophets have deceived you, and the event now clearly proves this, know, O king, that I have been sent from above.”We thus see that Jeremiah was not so anxious about his life, but that he always remained stedfast to his purpose; and thus he turned not aside from making an honest profession of the truth, so as to provide for his own safety, as they do, who are fearful and think that they act prudently, when they are compliant and try to please men opposed to them at the expense of truth. This was not done by Jeremiah. He had indeed a regard for his life, as we shall now see; but he went on in the discharge of his office, and valued the truth communicated to him from above more than hundred lives. It is then with reference to this that he says, Where are your prophets? as though he had said, “You see that you have all been deceived by their false prophecies.” It follows — COKE, "Jeremiah 37:19. Where are now your prophets— "Where are now your false prophets? The event surely demonstrates how much they have deceived you. The siege is again renewed, and the city in imminent danger of being taken." Jeremiah does not abate any of his zeal and spirit on account of the confinement and persecution which he underwent. PETT, "Jeremiah 37:19“Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of

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Babylon will not come against you, nor against this land?’ ”Why, he was asking, are you consulting me when you have your own prophets? Was it not clear from Zedekiah’s own words that he had little confidence that they had any word from YHWH. And no wonder, for their prophecies had proved false. Surely it was the prophets who had misinformed them by declaring that the king of Babylon would never come against the city who should have been being punished, rather than him. Why then was he suffering because he had prophesied what had actually happened?

20 But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”

CLARKE, "Cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan - He had been ill used in this man’s custody, so as to endanger his life, the place being cold, and probably unhealthy.

GILL, "Therefore hear now, one pray thee, O my lord the king,.... When the prophet spoke in the name of the Lord, and the words of the Lord, it was with great boldness and majesty; but when he spoke for himself, and on his own behalf, it was with great submission, as it became a subject to his king; and whom he owns as his sovereign lord, though a wicked prince, and whose destruction he knew was at hand: let my supplication be accepted before thee; or, "fall before thee": see Jer_36:7; which was as follows: that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe; but that he might be discharged from his confinement; or however be removed into another prison, not so uncomfortable and disagreeable as this man's house or prison was; and which perhaps was still the worse through his cruel and ill natured carriage to him; and which all together endangered his life: wherefore he adds, lest I die there; for though he had continued there many days, yet the place was so exceedingly noisome, that he thought he could not long continue there, was he

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remanded back to it.JAMISON, "be accepted — rather, “Let my supplication be humbly presented” (see

on Jer_36:7), [Henderson].lest I die there — in the subterranean dungeon (Jer_37:16), from want of proper sustenance (Jer_37:21). The prophet naturally shrank from death, which makes his spiritual firmness the more remarkable; he was ready to die rather than swerve from his duty [Calvin].

CALVIN, "This verse shews that Jeremiah was not destitute of human feelings, for he, as other men, dreaded death. But yet he could so control himself, that no fear made him to turn aside from his duty. Fear, then, did not dishearten him, as the boldness which we have noticed was a manifest proof of his constancy. The Prophet therefore overcame, as to his work, every anxiety and the fear of death; and yet he did not disregard his life, but sought, as far as he could, deliverance from his evils. He asked for some alleviation from the king. We hence see that the Prophets were not logs of wood, nor had iron hearts; but though subject to human feelings, yet they elevated themselves to an invincible courage as to their work, so as to fulfill their office.As to the words, Let my prayer fall before thee, they mean a humble supplication; it is a mode of expression derived, as we have before seen, from what was done by men in prostrating themselves in prayer, and is transferred here from God to mortals. The Prophet then humbly asked, that he might not be cast again into that horrid prison where he had been confined — and why? that he might not die We see that he shunned death, for this was natural; and yet he was prepared to die, whenever necessary, rather than to turn aside in the least from discharging the duty imposed on him by God. COFFMAN, ""And now hear, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication be presented before thee, that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe lest I die there. Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard: and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.""Lest I die there ..." (Jeremiah 37:20). This was no remote possibility but a practical certainty if Jeremiah had been returned to that evil dungeon in the house of Jonathan."The king commanded ..." (Jeremiah 37:21). Jeremiah had not asked to be released, recognizing the practical impossibility of it, due to the murderous hatred of Zedekiah's ministers and advisers; and to the credit of the king he honored Jeremiah's request for a less intolerable confinement."The bakers' street ..." (Jeremiah 37:21). "This is the only place in Scripture where

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the name of a street in Jerusalem appears. It was a Near Eastern custom to name streets after those who worked in them."[10] We see the same phenomenon in New York City and other large cities where industries and professions tend to proliferate on certain streets. The garment district, the floral district, and the millinery streets, and the financial district are the result.This change for Jeremiah, placing him in the house of the guard, was fortunate indeed for mankind, because, as Payne Smith pointed out, "That was the place and the time during which Jeremiah wrote the cheerful prophecies contained in Jeremiah 30-33."[11] These included the magnificent prophecy of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31.PETT, "Jeremiah 37:20“And now hear, I pray you, O my lord the king, let my supplication, I pray you, be presented before you, that you do not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.’So he asked Zedekiah to prevent him from being sent back to the prison in the house of Jonathan the Scribe lest he die there. The conditions in that prison were clearly very bad.

21 King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

BARNES, "The prison - the watch (marginal reference).Piece - literally, a circle, i. e., a round cake.The bakers’ street - It is usual in oriental towns for each trade to have a special place set apart for it. Compare Act_10:6.

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CLARKE, "Then Zedekiah - the court of the prison - Was contiguous to the king’s house, where the prisoners could readily see their friends.

Give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street - From the public stores; which he received till all the provisions were spent.

GILL, "Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison,.... He did not think fit to discharge him entirely, lest it should give offence to the princes, who had committed him; but he ordered him to be put in a court belonging to the prison, where he might breathe in a freer air, and have liberty of walking to and fro, where his friends might be admitted to come and see him: and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street; it seems there was a street in Jerusalem so called, where the bakers lived; and perhaps the king's bakers; who had orders to deliver to the prophet every day a piece or loaf of bread, as much as was sufficient for a man; or, however, as much as the scarcity of provisions in a siege would allow. Kimchi makes mention of a Midrash, which interprets this of bread made of bran, which was sold without the palace; as if it was coarser bread than what was eaten at court: until all the bread in the city was spent; that is, as long as there was any. These were the king's orders: thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison: until the city was taken; unless a small time that he was in the dungeon of Malchiah, out of which he was taken again, and restored to the court of the prison, and there continued; see Jer_38:6.

JAMISON, "court of the prison — (Jer_32:2; Jer_38:13, Jer_38:28).bakers’ street — Persons in the same business in cities in the East commonly reside in the same street.all the bread ... spent — Jeremiah had bread supplied to him until he was thrown into the dungeon of Malchiah, at which time the bread in the city was spent. Compare this verse with Jer_38:9; that time must have been very shortly before the capture of the city (Jer_52:6). God saith of His children, “In the days of famine they shall be satisfied” (Psa_37:19; Isa_33:16). Honest reproof (Jer_37:17), in the end often gains more favor than flattery (Pro_28:23).

CALVIN, "The Prophet tells us, that God regarded the miseries to which he had been unjustly exposed: and the king no doubt became humane towards Jeremiah, because God turned his heart towards what was just and right. We said, indeed, yesterday, that the king was not in disposition cruel or sanguinary; yet he would not have been so easily eritreated by the Prophet, had he not been influenced by the hidden working of God’s Spirit. We hence see how God favors his servants and has

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regard for their infirmity when necessary. We yet see also that the Prophet was not so kindly dealt with as to be allowed to return free to his own house, but that he was removed to another prison, where his condition was more tolerable. He was then in the court of the prisonHe says, that a crust of bread was given to him daily, or every day. The word ככר , kekar, is by some rendered “mass,” or lump, and means sometimes a large loaf; but it is probable, that during so much scarcity the Prophet had but a scanty living. He had then a crust or piece of bread every day We see how mean was his food; but God often tries his servants in this way, withholding from them all the delicacies of this world. It is added, from the street of the bakers; by these words is meant, I think, that it was coarse bread, not made of fine flour, such as rich men did eat, for their mouths could not endure what was rough and course. Then God ’s holy Prophet was content with the common bread. The king and his counsellors had their own bakers; but it is said that bread was brought to the Prophet from a common place, the street of the bakers And the bread then sold during such a scarcity was no doubt black bread. We hence see what kind of bread it was, because it was sold for the common use of the people.Thus the Prophet shews, that though some relaxation was allowed him, he was still confined in prison, and also that no meat nor any delicacies were given him, but a crust of bread only. He however commemorates the favor of God, inasmuch as in so great a scarcity he was not without bread. He had, then, his daily bread until all provisions failed.And hence we learn, that God often so provides for his servants, that he appears to have forsaken them; and yet he then especially takes care of them and supplies them with what is needful for their support. Had Jeremiah been at home, he might have been at any time stoned by the people; for there were not wanting those disposed to stir up famished men against him. He might then have been every moment in danger of his life at home. But now in prison, he was safe, and no one could do him any harm. Besides, had he been at home, many might have robbed him, so as to leave him nothing to preserve life; but in prison he had his daily allowance. Thus, then, God often conducts his servants in a manner that is wonderful and beyond what we can

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conceive, and in the meantime acts as the head of a family, in supplying their wants. In short, the Prophet here intimates that he was cared for by God, so that during the famine and scarcity among the whole people, his bread was yet given to him, when he could not have begged it. When he could not have procured bread for himself either by labor, or by industry, or by begging, or by money, he shews that God took care of him so as to feed him during that distress.He however adds, that he was in the court of the prison, in order to shew that God tried his patience, for a prison was a place of degradation. The Prophet was exposed to the reproaches of all; and then the princes might have often threatened him with danger, and might have also transferred him to another place, as we shall hereafter see. Therefore, in a measure only did God bring aid to his Prophet, for it was not his pleasure wholly to deliver him, and yet he suffered him not to be reduced to extremities. Now follows —COKE, "Jeremiah 37:21. A piece of bread out of the bakers' street— Though among the easterns an oven was designed only to serve a single family, and to bake for them no more than the bread of one day, in ancient times;—a circumstance which ought to be recollected in order to enter into the force of Leviticus 26:26 and which is a usage still continued in some places of the east;—yet it should seem that there were anciently, as there now are, some public bake-houses. Thus we read of the bakers' street in the passage before us; which might possibly be only a temporary regulation, to supply the wants of the soldiers, assembled from other places to defend Jerusalem, who might receive daily a proper quantity of bread from the royal bake-houses, as is the case at Algiers at this time, according to Dr. Shaw: besides some money, their soldiers, who are unmarried, receive each of them such a number of loaves every day: and if so, nothing could be more natural than for the king to order thence for Jeremiah a piece or a cake of bread every day, after the same manner. But be this as it may, Pitts informs us, that they have public bake-houses at Algiers for the people in common, the women only preparing the dough at home, and other persons making it their business to bake it, who send their boys for that purpose about the streets to give notice of being ready to receive the people's bread, and to carry it to the bake-houses; "Upon which the women within come and knock on the inside of the door; which the boy hearing, makes towards the house; then the women open the door a very little way, and, hiding their faces, deliver the cakes to him: which when baked he brings to the door again, and the women receive them in the same manner as they gave them." He adds, that they bake their cakes thus every day, or every other day, and give the boy who brings the bread, a piece or

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little cake, for the baking, which the baker sells. According to this account then, small as the eastern loaves are, they break them it seems, and give a piece only to the baker, as a gratification for his trouble. This will illustrate Ezekiel's account of the false prophetesses receiving as gratuities pieces of bread; Ezekiel 13:19. These are compensations still in use in the east, but compensations of the meanest kind, and for services of the lowest sort. See the Observations, p. 145.REFLECTIONS.—1st, When Nebuchadnezzar had slain Jehoiakim, and taken away Coniah his son, that shadow of royalty, he placed on the throne of Zedekiah a younger son of Josiah.1. His ill conduct is remarked. He copied too closely after his evil predecessors; and, though he saw in them the fatal consequence of slighting the word of God, he took not warning; neither he nor his courtiers paying any regard to the calls and admonitions delivered by Jeremiah.2. Though he neglected the prophet in his prosperity, when his distresses came upon him, he made application to him, earnestly intreating his prayers; for at that time the prophet enjoyed his liberty, and was not, as afterwards, shut up in prison. The Chaldeans, according to his prediction, had already begun the siege of Jerusalem; but, on hearing that an army of Egyptians were advancing to assist the Jews, though their king returned no more after his first defeat, 2 Kings 24:7. Nebuchadnezzar marched to give them battle. Zedekiah, therefore, begs the prophet to interest himself in their behalf, and pray the Lord to defeat the Chaldean army and prevent their return to Jerusalem. Note; (1.) Many, who despise God's ministers when in health and at their ease, are glad to fly to them and beg their prayers in the day of their calamity. (2.) Many also, like Zedekiah, are very earnest to be delivered from their sufferings, who have no heart to part with their sins.3. Jeremiah answers not like a courtier; but, as a prophet, he tells them plainly, the Egyptians shall retreat or be defeated, the Chaldeans return to the siege, and never cease their attacks till they have taken the city and burnt it to the ground. Therefore the hopes which they entertained were groundless: they deceived themselves, when they thought that the Chaldeans would no more return, or not be able to succeed in their attempt; for, since God had decreed the fall of Jerusalem, though the Chaldeans had been smitten by them or their confederates, and none remained of their army but wounded men, such vigour would God put into them, that even they should rise up in their tents, whither they had been carried to be dressed, scale the walls, and burn the city with fire. Note; (1.) Sinners usually flatter themselves to their ruin, and easily believe the lie which their corrupted hearts wish to be true. (2.) All human help is vain when God is against us. (3.) When God hath work to do, he can make the weakest and most unlikely instruments effectual to accomplish his purposes.2nd, Shortly after the message that he had delivered, foreseeing the impending evils, Jeremiah began to consult his own safety; and to this end,

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1. He attempted to retire from Jerusalem into Benjamin, perhaps to Anathoth, or some place of safety, to separate himself from a people doomed to destruction, or to slip away thence in the midst of the people, which probably he thought he might now do unperceived, when multitudes, who had flocked to Jerusalem on the invasion of the Chaldeans, were ready to take the opportunity of their departure, to return again into the country. Note; When we have no call from God to stay, it is prudent to hide ourselves from the evils that we foresee.2. He is arrested as a deserter, and imprisoned. A captain, who kept ward at the gate of Benjamin, a descendant of Hananiah, probably the false prophet whose death Jeremiah had foretold, and who seems to have waited to do the prophet a mischief, seized him as he was passing through, and charged him with falling away to the Chaldeans; an accusation false and malicious, and which Jeremiah, with all the confidence of conscious innocence, denied; but in vain; he would not let him go, but drew him before the magistrates, too ready to receive any accusation against a man whom they hated: they condemn him in a passion, without hearing his defence, and, after beating him, committed him to prison, thrusting him into the dungeon, the worst and most dismal cell of that dark and melancholy abode, where he continued many days. Note; (1.) The purest characters are often blackened with the vilest aspersions; and the best friends of the state reviled and secured as the enemies and betrayers of the nation. (2.) When prejudice and passion sit in the chair of magistracy, no justice can be hoped for. (3.) Every lie, however improbable, is easily believed against a man obnoxious to their hatred for his piety and reproofs. (4.) It has been the lot of the best of men to suffer for conscience' sake. We need not be ashamed of a prison, when such as Jeremiah and Paul have gone thither before us.3. When the Chaldean army returned, Zedekiah's fears drove him once more to seek the prophet's assistance: but being ashamed to have it known, he sent for him secretly from the miserable dungeon where he lay, and asked him if there was any word from the Lord? any new revelation made to him, or hope that the Chaldeans would raise the siege? And the prophet, not intimidated by all the rigours of a prison, nor fearing what might be the consequence of his fidelity, plainly tells him, there is not a word of comfort, but of despair; for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. And, seizing the moment when the king seemed affected with his message, he expostulates with him on the cruelty and injustice of the treatment which he had suffered merely for delivering the word that he received from God, which the event had now verified; and upbraids him with the sin and folly of believing those false prophets who had flattered him and the people that the Chaldeans would no more return; when lo, their lies were now manifest to all men; and yet they were honoured and respected, while he was persecuted and perishing in a prison. Note; (1.) They who will not hearken to the voice of God's prophets, calling them to repentance, may in vain expect to hear from them messages of peace. (2.) They deserve to be upbraided with their folly who wilfully shut their eyes to their danger, and choose their own delusions. (3.) No danger will discourage those who know the value of God's regard; their life is no longer dear to

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them, when it must be exposed for their fidelity to him.4. He prefers an earnest request to the king for his enlargement, who could not but be sensible of the injustice of his imprisonment: and such treatment as he had met with, must shortly, if continued, be his death. He begs therefore, with great humility, that at least he may not be remanded to Jonathan's house. Note; Though we must be ready to part with our lives when God calls, we are bound to use all prudent means for our preservation.5. The king grants his request, yea, exceeds it. He dared not discharge him, through fear of the princes; but he brings him into the court of the prison, where he was more at liberty, and enjoyed the air; and gave orders, notwithstanding the scarcity of provisions, that every day, while any bread remained, he should have a loaf for his subsistence. Thus his imprisonment really became his mercy; and he was protected both from the famine and the sword, to which those who were at large in the city were exposed. Note; God can make the events which appeared most afflictive turn out to us the most substantial blessings.PETT, "Jeremiah 37:21‘Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard, and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers ’street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.’Zedekiah responded to his plea and commanded that he be committed to the court of the guard, which was adjacent to the palace (Jeremiah 32:12; Nehemiah 3:25) and was where the high level prisoners would be kept, watched over by elite troops. And there, while rations held out, he received a daily allowance of food, a loaf of bread from the court bakers. The city had been able to renew its resources somewhat, but it was still on strict rations. Note the ominous ‘until all the bread in the city was spent ’. Things would by then be getting to starvation level.‘The baker’s street.’ Like many large cities, in Jerusalem different occupations had their own streets and local markets (compare Nehemiah 3:8; Nehemiah 3:32). This was the street of the bakers.‘Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard. ’ Note the repetition of

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this idea in Jeremiah 38:6; Jeremiah 38:13; Jeremiah 38:28. What follows therefore is a description of what occurred to him in the court of the guard once rations had run out.PULPIT, "Court of the prison; rather, court of the watch (as Jeremiah 32:2). A piece of bread; literally, a circle (i.e. round cake) of bread. This is mentioned elsewhere in descriptions of poverty (1 Samuel 2:36; Proverbs 6:26); but as the ancient Oriental bread was not our delicate white bread, it was a real "staff of life." The Syrian peasants still eat cakes of coarse meal, of about the thickness of parchment, and equal in size to a large plate (Orelli's 'Travels'). The bakers' street. Probably the several trades were confined to special quarters and streets. In Cairo each trade has still its own bazaar (saddlers, carpets, hardware, goldsmiths, sweetmeats, etc.).

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