JEREMIAH 38 COMMENTARYEDITED BY GLENN PEASE

Jeremiah Thrown Into a Cistern1 Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehukal[a] son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malkijah heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people when he said,

BARNES, "Had spoken - Spake; or, was speaking.CLARKE, "Then Shephatiah - This was the faction - what Dahler terms the

Antitheocratic faction - who were enemies to Jeremiah, and sought his life.

GILL, "Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur,.... Of these two persons we nowhere else read. Some think that Pashur, whose son Gedaliah was, is the same as is mentioned Jer_20:1; which is not likely, since he was a priest, and this son a prince: and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah; these had been sent by the king to Jeremiah, to inquire of the Lord, and to pray for him and his people, Jer_21:1; all four were princes, prime ministers of state, of great power and authority, and to whom the king could deny nothing, or withstand, Jer_38:4; these heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people; that is, to as many of them as came to the court of the prison to visit him; some out of good will, and some out of ill will; and others out of curiosity; being desirous to know by the prophet how things would go with them; and by which means what he said was spread all over the city, and came to the ears of the above princes; and no doubt there were persons enough officious enough to carry these things to them: saying; as follows:

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HENRY 1-13, "Here, 1. Jeremiah persists in his plain preaching; what he had many a time said, he still says (Jer_38:3): This city shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon; though it hold out long, it will taken at last. Nor would he have so often repeated this unwelcome message but that he could put them in a certain way, though not to save the city, yet to save themselves; so that every man might have his own life given him for a prey if he would be advised, Jer_38:2. Let him not stay in the city, in hopes to defend that, for it will be to no purpose, but let him go forth to the Chaldeans,and throw himself upon their mercy, before things come to extremity, and then he shall live; they will not put him to the sword, but give him quarter (satis est prostrasse leoni -it suffices the lion to lay his antagonist prostrate) and he shall escape the famine and pestilence, which will be the death of multitudes within the city. Note, Those do better for themselves who patiently submit to the rebukes of Providence than those who contend with them. And, if we cannot have our liberty, we must reckon it a mercy to have our lives, and not foolishly throw them away upon a point of honour; they m ay be reserved for better times. 2. The princes persist in their malice against Jeremiah. He was faithful to his country and to his trust as a prophet, though he had suffered many a time for his faithfulness; and, though at this time he ate the king's bread, yet that did not stop his mouth. But his persecutors were still bitter against him, and complained that he abused the liberty he had of walking in the court of the prison; for, though he could not go to the temple to preach, yet he vented the same things in private conversation to those that came to visit him, and therefore (Jer_38:4) they represented him to the king as a dangerous man, disaffected to his country and to the government he lived under: He seeks not the welfare of this people, but the hurt - an unjust insinuation, for no man had laid out himself more for the good of Jerusalem than he had done. They represent his preaching as having a bad tendency. The design of it was plainly to bring men to repent and turn to God, which would have been as much as any thing a strengthening to the hands both the soldiery and of the burghers, and yet they represented it as weakening their hands and discouraging them; and, if it did this, it was their own fault. Note, It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as their enemies, only because they show them what enemies they are to themselves while they continue impenitent. 3. Jeremiah hereupon, by the king's permission, is put into a dungeon, with a view to his destruction there. Zedekiah, though he felt a conviction that Jeremiah was a prophet, sent of God, had not courage to own it, but yielded to the violence of his persecutors (Jer_38:5): He is in your hand; and a worse sentence he could not have passed upon him. We found in Jehoiakim's reign that the princes were better affected to the prophet than the king was (Jer_36:25); but now they were more violent against him, a sign that they were ripening apace for ruin. Had it been in a cause that concerned his own honour or profit, he would have let them know that the king is he who can do what he pleases, whether they will or no; but in the cause of God and his prophet, which he was very cool in, he basely sneaks, and truckles to them: The king is not he that can do any thing against you. Note, Those will have a great deal to answer for who, though they have a secret kindness for good people, dare not own it in a time of need, nor will do what they might do to prevent mischief designed them. The princes, having this general warrant from the king, immediately put poor Jeremiah into the dungeon of Malchiah, that was in the court of the prison (Jer_38:6), a deep dungeon, for they let him downinto it with cords, and a dirty one, for there was no water in it, but mire; and he sunk in the mire, up to the neck, says Josephus. Those that put him here doubtless designed that he should die here, die for hunger, die for cold, and so die miserably, die obscurely,

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fearing, if they should put him to death openly, the people might be affected with what he would say and be incensed against them. Many of God's faithful witnesses have thus been privately made away, and starved to death, in prisons, whose blood will be brought to account in the day of discovery. We are not here told what Jeremiah did in this distress, but he tells us himself (Lam_3:55, Lam_3:57), I called upon thy name, O Lord! out of the low dungeon, and thou drewest near, saying, Fear not. 4. Application is made to the king by an honest courtier, Ebed-melech, one of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber, in behalf of the poor sufferer. Though the princes carried on the matter as privately as they could, yet it came to the ear of this good man, who probably sought opportunities to do good. It may be he came to the knowledge of it by hearing Jeremiah's moans out of the dungeon, for it was in the king's house, Jer_38:7. Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian, a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, and yet had in him more humanity, and more divinity too, than native Israelites had. Christ found more faith among Gentiles than among Jews. Ebed-melech lived in a wicked court and in a very corrupt degenerate age, and yet had a great sense both of equity and piety. God has his remnant in all places, among all sorts. There were saints even in Caesar's household.The king was now sitting in the gate of Benjamin, to try causes and receive appeals and petitions, or perhaps holding a council of war there. Thither Ebed-melech went immediately to him, for the case would not admit delay; the prophet might have perished if he had trifled or put it off till he had an opportunity of speaking to the king in private. Not time must be lost when life is in danger, especially so valuable a life. He boldly asserts the Jeremiah had a great deal of wrong done him, and is not afraid to tell the king so, though they were princes that did it, though they were now present in court, and though they had the king's warrant for what they did. Whither should oppressed innocency flee for protection but to the throne, especially when great men are its oppressors? Ebed-melech appears truly brave in this matter. He does not mince the matter; though he had a place at court, which he would be in danger of losing for his plain dealing, yet he tells the king faithfully, let him take it as he will, These men have done ill in all that they have done to Jeremiah. They had dealt unjustly with him, for he had not deserved any punishment at all; and they had dealt barbarously with him, so as they used not to deal with the vilest malefactors. And they needed not to have put him to this miserable death; for, if they had let him alone where he was, he was likely to die for hunger in the place where he was, in the court of the prison to which he was confined, for there was not more bread in the city: the stores out of which he was to have his allowance (Jer_37:21) were in a manner spent. See how God can raise up friends for his people in distress where they little thought of them, and animate men for his service even beyond expectation. 5. Orders are immediately given for his release, and Ebed-melech takes care to see them executed. The king, who but now durst do nothing against the princes, had his heart wonderfully changed on a sudden, and will now have Jeremiah released in defiance of the princes, for therefore he orders no less than thirty men, and those of the lifeguard, to be employed in fetching him out of the dungeon, lest the princes should raise a party to oppose it, Jer_38:10. Let this encourage us to appear boldly for God - we may succeed better that we could have thought, for the hearts of kings are in the hand of God. Ebed-melech gained his point, and soon brought Jeremiah the good news; and it is observable how particularly the manner of his drawing him out of the dungeon is related (for God is not unrighteous to forget any work or labour of love which is shown to his people or ministers, no, nor any circumstance of it, Heb_6:10); special notice is taken of his great tenderness in providing old soft rags for Jeremiah to put under his arm-holes, to keep the cords wherewith he was to be drawn 3

up from hurting him, his arm-holes being probably galled by the cords wherewith he was let down. Nor did he throw the rags down to him, lest they should be lost in the mire, but carefully let them down, Jer_38:11, Jer_38:12. Note, Those that are in distress should not only be relieved, but relieved with compassion and marks of respect, all which shall be placed to account and abound to a good account in the day of recompence. See what a good use even old rotten rags may be put to, which therefore should not be made waste of, any more than broken meat: even in the king's house, and under the treasury too, these were carefully preserved for the use of the poor or sick. Jeremiah is brought up out of the dungeon, and is now where he was, in the court of the prison, Jer_38:13. Perhaps Ebed-melech could have made interest with the king to get him his discharge thence also, now that he had the king's ear; but he though him safer and better provided for there than he would be any where else. God can, when he pleases, make a prison to become a refuge and hiding-place to his people in distress and danger.

JAMISON, "Jer_38:1-28. Jeremiah predicts the capture of Jerusalem, for which he is cast into a dungeon, but is transferred to the prison court on the intercession of Ebed-melech, and has a secret interview with Zedekiah.

All this was subsequent to his imprisonment in Jonathan’s house, and his release on his interview with Zedekiah. The latter occurred before the return of the Chaldeans to the siege; the similar events in this chapter occurred after it.Jucal — Jehucal (Jer_37:3).Pashur — (Jer_21:1; compare Jer_21:9 with Jer_38:2). The deputation in Jer_21:1, to whom Jeremiah gave this reply, if not identical with the hearers of Jeremiah (Jer_38:1), must have been sent just before the latter “heard” him speaking the same words. Zephaniah is not mentioned here as in Jer_21:1, but is so in Jer_37:3. Jucal is mentioned here and in the previous deputation (Jer_37:3), but not in Jer_21:1. Shephatiah and Gedaliah here do not occur either in Jer_21:1 or Jer_37:3. The identity of his words in both cases is natural, when uttered, at a very short interval, and one of the hearers (Pashur) being present on both occasions.unto all the people — They had free access to him in the court of the prison (Jer_32:12).

K&D 1-4, "In this chapter two events are mentioned which took place in the lastperiod of the siege of Jerusalem, shortly before the capture of the city by the Chaldeans. According to Jer_38:4, the number of fighting men had now very much decreased; and according to Jer_38:19, the number of deserters to the Chaldeans had become large. Moreover, according to Jer_38:9, famine had already begun to prevail; this hastened the fall of the city.Jer_38:1-4

Jeremiah is cast into a miry pit, but drawn out again by Ebedmelech the Cushite. Jer_38:1-6. Being confined in the court of the guard attached to the royal palace, Jeremiah had opportunities of conversing with the soldiers stationed there and the people of Judah who came thither (cf. Jer_38:1 with Jer_32:8, Jer_32:12), and of declaring, in opposition to them, his conviction (which he had indeed expressed from the beginning of the siege) that all resistance to the Chaldeans would be fruitless, and only bring 4

destruction (cf. Jer_21:9.). On this account, the princes who were of a hostile disposition towards him were so embittered, that they resolved on his death, and obtain from the king permission to cast him into a deep pit with mire at the bottom. In v. 1 four of these princes are named, two of whom, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, are known, from Jer_37:3 and Jer_21:1, as confidants of the king; the other two, Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, are not mentioned elsewhere. Gedaliah was probably a son of the Pashur who had once put Jeremiah in the stocks (Jer_20:1-2). The words of the prophet, Jer_38:2, Jer_38:3, are substantially the same as he had already uttered at the beginning of the siege, Jer_21:9 יחיה) as in Jer_21:9). Jer_38:4. The princes said to the king, "Let this man, we beseech thee, be put to death for the construction, see on Jer_35:14; for therefore i.e., because no one puts him out of existence - על־כן as in Jer_29:28 he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their ill." מרפא for מרפא, to cause the hands of any one to be relaxed, i.e., to make him dispirited; cf. Ezr_4:4; Isa_דרש .35:3 with ל htiw , as Job_10:6; Deu_12:30; 1Ch_22:19, etc., elsewhere with the accusatival את; cf. Jer_29:7 et passim. On this point cf. Jer_29:7. The allegation which the princes made against Jeremiah was possibly correct. The constancy with which Jeremiah declared that resistance was useless, since, in accordance with the divine decree, Jerusalem was to be taken and burnt by the Chaldeans, could not but make the soldiers and the people unwilling any longer to sacrifice their lives in defending the city. Nevertheless the complaint was unjust, because Jeremiah was not expressing his own personal opinion, but was declaring the word of the Lord, and that, too, not from any want of patriotism or through personal cowardice, but in the conviction, derived from the divine revelation, that it was only by voluntary submission that the fate of the besieged could be mitigated; hence he acted from a deep feeling of love to the people, and in order to avert complete destruction from them. The courage of the people which he sought to weaken was not a heroic courage founded on genuine trust in God, but carnal obstinacy, which could not but lead to ruin.CALVIN, "The Prophet now shews that he was again dragged from the court of the prison to the inner part, which was dark, filthy, and like a grave. The cause of this he states: it was because four of the princes had heard his words. It is probable that many of the people had come there for the purpose of hearing the Prophet, and that he, having received a message, delivered it to every one that came to him. Though then he was shut up in prison, yet the word of God could not be bound, as Paul says, who gloried in the fact, that though he was in chains, yet the truth spread far and wide. (2 Timothy 2:9.) Such was the case as to Jeremiah; though he was retained as a prisoner, he yet ceased not to discharge his office; and yet there is no doubt but that the purpose of the king was in this way to restrain him. The prison was, as it were, the captivity of prophetic truth. But the king and his counselors were mistaken; for Jeremiah was not less free in the court of the prison, than if he had walked through the city all the day, nay, he had many heralds.But the four princes mentioned here watched him, even Shephatiah, Gadaliah, Jucal, and Pashur. Then the four princes he names, having insidiously watched

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what he said, immediately made a commotion. They had, no doubt, contrived the ruin of the Prophet before they came to the king; for the unprincipled and wicked, we know, discuss matters together when intent on mischief, and their courtly arts must be taken to the account. As, then, the four were in authority, they must, doubtless, have influenced the greatest part of the king’s council, and led astray easy men, or such as were not of themselves bent on evil. The matter was at length brought before the king; and therefore he adds, that theycame to the king But he first explains the doctrine, on account of which these unprincipled men created so much ill-will to him, and endangered his life. Hence he says that the accusation was, that he had not only threatened with ruin all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but that he had also pro-raised life to all that would go out to the Chaldeans: Every one who abides in the city shall die by the sword, famine, or pestilence; but every one who goeth out to the Chaldeans shall live This was the accusation. COFFMAN, "Verse 1JEREMIAH 38JEREMIAH'S THIRD IMPRISONMENTThere are some similarities between the imprisonment mentioned in the preceding chapter and the one recounted here; but there is absolutely nothing that can justify the critical nonsense about these two chapters giving variable accounts of the same imprisonment. This was the third imprisonment of Jeremiah. The first was by Pashur (Jeremiah 21); the second is recorded in the preceding chapter, and the third imprisonment is the one recounted in this chapter.TWO IMPRISONMENTS; NOT ONEThe great Jewish historian Josephus preserved a record of both of these imprisonments, (the two in Jeremiah 37 and Jeremiah 38) adding significant details to each, noting, for example, that, in the imprisonment given in this chapter, "Jeremiah stood in the mire up to his neck," and that, "The intention of the rulers was that he might be suffocated."[1]The following irreconcilable differences deny that the two chapters refer to a single imprisonment: (1) The one occurred early in Nebuchadnezzar's attack on the city, during that intermission following the approach of the Egyptian army under Pharaoh-Hophra; the other took place almost at the very end of the siege, when supplies were low, defenders were few, and the fall of the city was imminent, about a year or more later than the other.(2) The charges upon which Jeremiah was seized and imprisoned were different. In the first, he was charged with desertion to the Chaldeans; but in the second, he was charged with treason and with damaging the morale of the people.

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(3) The prisons were different. The first was in the house of Jonathan; the second was within the court of the guard and belonged to Malchijah the king's son.(4) Jeremiah's enemies in the first imprisonment acted without the king's permission; but, in the second, they forced the king to grant permission.(5) The purposes of the imprisonments were not the same. In the first, they merely wanted to silence Jeremiah; but in the second they intended to destroy his life.(6) The duration of the imprisonments were not the same. The first lasted "many days"; and the second lasted probably less than a single day.(7) The first was terminated when the king sent for Jeremiah; and the second was terminated by Jeremiah's rescue at the hands of the Ethiopian eunuch Ebel-melech.(8) There was plenty of water available in the first imprisonment, or Jeremiah could not have survived for "many days"; but there was no water at all in the miry pit which was the scene of the second imprisonment.(9) The interviews with the king following each imprisonment were utterly unlike each other. Jeremiah spoke freely with Zedekiah in the first; but in the second Jeremiah did not respond at all until Zedekiah had sworn with an oath that he would neither put the prophet to death nor give him into the hands of those who would kill him. Note that this oath, if it had been in the first interview, would have prevented the king's giving Jeremiah into the hands of those who plotted to kill the prophet in this second imprisonment.(10) The king's delegation leading to the first imprisonment was led by Jehucal; and the delegation seeking the life of Jeremiah was led by Shephatiah.In this light, how could Thompson write that, "It is tempting to regard Jeremiah 37 and Jeremiah 38 as simply different accounts of the same course of events!"[2] And how could Anthony Ash declare that, "We consider it best to see them (the two chapters) as two accounts of the same series of events!"[3] This writer has found no satisfactory basis for the acceptance of such views as accurate. The text clearly speaks of two events. Significantly, none of the writers with such views attempts to give us the composite account of what really happened; nor do they attempt to reconcile the differences noted above. Our conclusion agrees with that of Green, writing in the Broadman Commentary, who declared that, "Jeremiah 37 and Jeremiah 38 present events in sequence and not in parallel accounts."Jeremiah 38:1-4THE DEATH OF JEREMIAH DEMANDED"And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the

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son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spake unto all the people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and his life shall be unto him as a prey, and he shall live. Thus saith Jehovah, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. Then the princes said unto the king, Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death; forasmuch as he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt."The leader of this delegation to the king, Shephatiah, is unknown except for what is written here. Pashur is the prince who cast Jeremiah into the stocks in Jeremiah 21. All of these appear to have been bitter enemies of Jeremiah."Let this man be put to death ..." (Jeremiah 38:4). From the ordinary viewpoint, this delegation appears to have been justified in their demand for the execution of Jeremiah; because, certainly, they were accurately reporting exactly what Jeremiah had prophesied; and there cannot be any doubt that such prophecies had destroyed the morale of the whole population, including that of the soldiers.Was Jeremiah, then, a traitor? Did he deserve to be put to death? Indeed, NO. The whole nation of Israel was a theocracy, their first allegiance belonging to God, as revealed by his servants the prophets. Their "sinful kingdom," from its inception was a rebellion against God and was thus foreordained to destruction. The real welfare of the nation lay in their repentance and return to the God of their fathers who had delivered them from slavery in Egypt. The dire extremities in which the nation, at this time, found itself could have been alleviated if the people had heeded Jeremiah.As Henderson noted, "The princes might have been correct in accusing Jeremiah of rebellion (1) IF he had not provided incontestable evidence that he held a divine commission, (2) and IF the government itself had not been in a false position."[4] Zedekiah himself, as a sworn servant of the king of Babylon, was the real traitor in their current situation; and he had completely betrayed the interests of his own nation by entering into a rebellion against Babylon, contrary to the will of God and totally impractical.Jeremiah was no glib supporter of those in political power, supporting "his country right or wrong!" "He so loved his country that he was not content until it became the embodiment of the highest social, moral, and spiritual ideals; and he was a splendid example of the enlightened type of patriotism so badly needed today."[5]ELLICOTT, "(1) Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan . . .—Of the four princes of Judah who are named here, Jucal or Jehucal has been mentioned in Jeremiah 37:3, and would appear, from the frequent occurrence of the name Shelomiah in 1 Chronicles 26:1-2; 1 Chronicles 26:9; 1 Chronicles 26:14, to have been a Levite;

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Pashur is named in Jeremiah 21:1. Of the other two nothing is known, but the name Shephatiah appears in three or four instances in the royal house of Judah, beginning with a son of David (2 Samuel 3:4; 2 Chronicles 21:2; Ezra 2:4; Nehemiah 7:9),·and may, perhaps, indicate a connexion with it, like that of Jerahmeel in Jeremiah 36:26. Gedaliah, the son of Pashur (possibly of the man of that name who is mentioned last in the list), must be distinguished from Jeremiah’s protector, the son of Ahikam (Jeremiah 26:24; Jeremiah 40:5). They all belonged obviously to the party of the prophet’s enemies.TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:1 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,Ver. 1. Then Shephatiah.] Here was aliud ex alio malum, one affliction on the neck of another. Matters mend with us as sour ale doth in summer, said Bishop Ridley once, when he was prisoner. Poor Jeremiah might well have said so, if ever any, as appeareth by this chapter, where we find him in a worse hole than was that of Jonathan; but his extremity was God’s opportunity.Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, &c.] These four princes here named to their eternal infamy were no small men, as appeareth in that the king was not he that could do anything against them. [Jeremiah 38:5] The grandees of the world are greatest enemies usually to the truth. Little they had to say against his doctrines; they quarrel with his affection, as a perturber of the public peace. [Jeremiah 38:4]Ahab charged the like crime upon Elijah; the Jews upon Christ, and afterwards upon Paul; the heathen persecutors upon the primitive Christians; the heretics still upon the orthodox, that they were seditious, antimonarchical, &c.WHEDON, "Verses 1-5THE COMPLAINT OF THE PRINCES, Jeremiah 38:1-5.Jeremiah’s imprisonment at the first was doubtless the fruit of personal malice. He had become offensive, and the object was to get him out of the way. But the change made by the king’s taking him out of the vaults and allowing him the liberty of the prison court, restored him to intercourse with his friends and contact with the people. Hence a new effort is made to get rid of both the presence and influence of this prophet and his offensive messages.PETT, "Verses 1-13Jeremiah Is Seen As A Traitor And Is Thrust Into A Well Filled With Deep Mud Which Was In The Court Of The Guard, Where He Would Have Died Had He Not Been Rescued By Ebedmelech, A Sudanese (Jeremiah 38:1-13).

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Even though he was in the court of the guard Jeremiah had access to the people who would gather there to hear what he had to say (compare Jeremiah 32:12). And nothing could prevent him from proclaiming the word of YHWH which announced the forthcoming surrender of the city. This displeased many of the king’s advisers who felt that he was weakening the city’s resistance and demanded that he be silenced. In consequence the king weakly acceded to their demands, allowing them to put Jeremiah into a deep well which rendered him inaccessible to the people and which would shortly, had he not been rescued, have resulted in his demise through starvation.Jeremiah 38:1‘And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,’In Jeremiah 38:4 these men are described as ‘princes. They were probably prominent among the king’s advisers. As such they would often pass through the court of the guard, and it was while doing so that they became aware of what Jeremiah was declaring to the people. Chronologically chapter 21 also occurred around this time.Neither Shephatiah nor Gedaliah are mentioned elsewhere. Gedaliah must not be confused with the later Gedaliah, son of Ahikam (Jeremiah 39:14) who would later be governor. Jucal the son of Shelemiah is mentioned in Jeremiah 37:3 where he was sent by the king along with Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah to seek for Jeremiah’s intercession on behalf of the nation, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah is mentioned in Jeremiah 21:1, where he also accompanied Zephaniah with a request to Jeremiah for intercession, when they received the same uncompromising message as the one found here. However the names of both Gedalyahu (Gedaliah) ben Pashhur and Yehu-kual (Yucal) ben Shelemyahu (Shelemiah) have been discovered on seals dug up in the City of David in Jerusalem.PETT, "Verses 1-28Jeremiah’s Experiences In The Court Of The Guard (Jeremiah 38:1-28).But even the fact that Jeremiah was in the court of the guard did not prevent him from further maltreatment by those who saw him as a traitor. This chapter divides into two sections each ending with a reference to his being in ‘the court of the guard’. The first describes how he was seen as a traitor and thrust into a muddy well or cistern where he would have died had he not been rescued by the intervention of Ebedmelech, and the second describes how he was again consulted by the king with strict injunctions to keep the fact a secret from the king’s counsellors.

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PULPIT, "The object of the princes being frustrated (for in the "court of the guard" Jeremiah had perfect freedom and opportunity of speech), the princes resolve upon a more effectual means of stopping the prophet's mouth. He is thrown into a miry pit, with the object that he may die of starvation.Jeremiah 38:1Two Pashurs appear to be mentioned here: one probably the same who put Jeremiah in the stocks (Jeremiah 20:1, Jeremiah 20:2); the other a member of the first of Zedekiah's two embassies to the prophet (Jeremiah 21:1). On Jucal, see Jeremiah 37:3. Had spoken; rather, kept speaking.BI, "The words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people.Unpatriotic in appearanceRays of hope had arisen in the clouded sky of the, nation. An Egyptian army was on its way to the city. Thus, it was believed, the Chaldeans would be compelled to raise the siege, which had been growing ever closer, so that first hunger and then starvation stared its inhabitants in the face. An escape from their horrible position seemed possible through an alliance with the Egyptian king. These hopes were dashed to the ground by the emphatic word of the prophet: This city shall assuredly be given into the hand of the army of the King of Babylon.” He even went beyond this, and urged desertion to the enemy: “He that abideth in the city shall die by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live.” All this seemed, not only unpatriotic, but treasonable. It has been well said, “No government conducting the defence of a besieged fortress could have tolerated Jeremiah for a moment. What would have been the fate of the French politician who should have urged the Parisians to desert to the Germans during the siege of 1870?” Jeremiah seemed a veritable Cassandra, and Cassandras, even if, as in this case, their warnings are but utterances of the inevitable, can only expect to be met with resentment and persecution. (W. Garret Horder.)

PatriotismTrue patriotism is love of one’s native land. A good deal of modern “patriotism” is love of some one else’s land, coupled with an unchristian hatred of other countries. Sometimes people ask whether Christianity and genuine patriotism can go together. For a sincere Christian will love all mankind. Racial hatred is a crime in the eyes of Christ, who teaches us that “One is our master, and all of us are brethren,” and that we are to love our neighbour as ourself. A Christian can be a most sincere patriot, indeed the only true patriot. Christians are to love the whole world, as Jesus did. Yet, by natural association the soil of our fatherland is endeared to us by a thousand hallowed memories, which the soil of another land cannot recall. I think the limestone hills of Galilee, and the lap of the waters on the shores of Gennesaret were dearer to Christ than the seven hills of Rome, or the flow of the golden Tiber. Our Lord broke His heart over Jerusalem, the city of His love, as He saw “the doom from its worn sandals shake the dust against that land.” Christ was a patriot, and the thing that cut His heart most painfully was not so much the coming destruction of Jerusalem, as the national sin which caused that national ruin. So,

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too, a Christian patriot will love his country’s honour even more than its wealth and material greatness. He will value the good name of his fatherland, and the moral and intellectual elevation of his countrymen, far more than mere additions to its territory or additions to its wealth. And a true patriot will love his own land without hating other countries. The Christian must love other lands too, and seek their highest welfare. Charity begins at home: but it is a poor charity that ends at home. Love for other lands prompted the founders of missionary societies, which have been of such incalculable blessing to the civilisation of mankind. A true patriot will stand up for his fatherland; if others seek to enslave it he will make sacrifices for the home of his birth, as England did when the Spanish Armada threatened our liberty and our religion. But a Christian patriot will not do anything to cause hatred of another country. He will aim at making all the nations love one another. If he finds others trying to sow the seed of wicked hate, or if he sees his own land doing wrong, the Christian patriot will dare to speak the truth. When Lord Chatham urged England not to make war on the United States he was howled down by the bastard patriots of the day. But history stamps him as the true patriot, his opponents as the false ones. When John Bright spoke against the folly of the Crimean War he was made the butt of newspaper gibes, and nine-tenths of his countrymen laughed at him or sneered at him. But history shows that John Bright was right. He was the true patriot. The false patriot holds that you must never criticise your country’s dealings with other lands. Perhaps the hardest duty that ever falls on a man who loves his fatherland is to point out that his country is doing wrong. That heavy duty fell often to the lot of Jeremiah. The Jews had so long persisted in idolatry that God’s marvellous patience could bear with them no longer. After repeated warnings, all in vain, God told the people, by His prophet, that they would go into the land of bondage as a punishment for their sin. God also told Jeremiah to inform his fellow-countrymen that it was useless to struggle against the troops of Nebuchadnezzar. God had sent that monarch to chastise the rebellious Jews, to take them into captivity, and to bring ruin to the nation, because of its sin. This painful duty of urging the Jews not to resist, not to persist in a hopeless struggle, was heartbreaking to a true patriot like Jeremiah. The princes, who had no real faith in God, naturally thought Jeremiah’s action most unpatriotic. Disbelieving in God, disbelieving in religion, disbelieving in Jeremiah’s prophecies, no wonder they said, “This man seeketh not the welfare of the people, but their hurt,” Poor Jeremiah! The bastard patriots of Jerusalem sneered at him, called him a Little Palestiner, said he was in the pay of the Chaldeans. Poor Jeremiah! He had no love for the Chaldeans in preference to his own nation. Nay, he loved the Jews with all their sins more than the heathen Chaldeans, who were only instruments in God’s hands for punishing the guilty Jews. But he knew it was no use to resist. He knew that he had received a message from God. He knew he must deliver that message, though at the risk of his life. Like a brave hero and a true patriot he told his people of their folly, of their sins, and of their approaching doom. He met with the usual brickbat argument, brute force; he was put into a well, put into captivity, and ill-treated in various ways. But every word he spoke came true. And when the Chaldeans had utterly destroyed the city and crushed its inhabitants, the captain of the guard set Jeremiah free and said, “Will you return with me and find a comfortable home in Babylon?” Jeremiah was a true patriot, therefore he chose to share the sufferings of his people, though they had so grievously wronged him. The comfort and luxury of Babylon were rejected by the simple, honest patriot, who preferred to dwell in poverty among the people of the land. If those false patriots, who cried him down, had had a chance of the ease and comfort offered to Jeremiah, how they would have jumped at it! They would have preferred Babylon’s 12

fleshpots to Palestine’s poverty and want. But Jeremiah chose to share his people’s abject poverty and utter wretchedness. The intense, broken-hearted patriotism of Jeremiah stands out for all time in the magnificent Lamentations that he wrote, with his pen dipped into his heart’s own blood. They are the saddest writings in the world. And what made the Jews’ ruin so intensely sorrowful to Jeremiah was the fact that it was so richly deserved. Therein was the sting. And he knew that there could be no improvement in their lot till their lives became better. He is the ideal of a patriot. Some false teachers have been and are trying to breathe into England a spirit of defiance to other lands, and an unbounded lust for territorial extension of our Empire. These teachers are attempting to stir up racial hatred. A very recent author declares that Germany must be blotted out by England, because she is our great rival in trade. As readers of history we know the curse of the racial hatred that existed between England and France in the time of the first Napoleon. And as Christians we know how fiendish is the advice to cut the throat of a neighbouring nation because she is a commercial rival. Christians do not advocate doing away at once with all soldiers and sailors. Like policemen, they are necessary at present. And we know that our sailors and soldiers will always do their duty bravely. The Christian Church protests against this modern bastard patriotism, which is much the same as piracy, against this glorification of brute force, against this reversion to savageism, against this contempt for all that is gentle, spiritual, Christ-like. Such principles work—1. Mischief in the social and political world;2. Mischief in the realm of literature, and all that leads to the higher development of man;3. Mischief to religion.

These principles work mischief in the social and political world. At the end of last century and the beginning of this, how deplorable was the condition of the workers of this land. Why? Because of our incessant and unnecessary wars with France. These principles of false patriotism work much evil in the realm of literature, and all that leads to the higher development of man. The “patriotism” which means lust for other people’s land, and hatred of other nations, may produce a “Soldiers’ Chorus,” but it will produce no Tennyson, no Shakespeare. Since the German Empire became cursed with militarism it has produced no great writers. The essence of the highest literature is to be cosmopolitan for all the world. The Republic of Athens was a commercial, a scientific, an artistic city. The kingdom of Sparta was military to the highest degree. Military Sparta has left us no literature. Civic Athens has left us a literature which even to-day is a wonder of the world. That is natural. The habitual practice of blind obedience, necessary for the soldier, is the greatest foe to thought, and prevents men from learning how to form judgments and pass opinions. Militarism must be for the masses of the soldiery unintellectual. Our literature during the last few years has in some respects deteriorated sadly. One of the aspects of its decadence is its excessive glorifying of the military spirit. Swarms of books for boys have been published the last twenty years, and they are very largely glorifications of physical force. That is a reversion to the savage. The principles of this false patriotism work deadly mischief to religion. This spurious patriotism is not love of one’s country so much as love of more country. It is hatred of other men’s patriotism. It cannot understand that foreigners may and ought to love their fatherland even as we do ours. Such teachings lead to bitter hatred instead of love. Racial hatred is as ungodly as it is idiotic. Nelson used to say to his sailors, “Fear God, honour the king, and hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil.” How could they fear God if they hated 13

God’s children? Every Frenchman was as much loved by God as every Englishman was loved. The business of the Christian Church is to spread love and not hate, to tone down animosities, not to stimulate them. Though the student of history sees how insane and utterly unnecessary most wars have been, war may sometimes be a stern necessity. But the glorification of war is earthly and unchristian. The only argument for militarism worth anything is that it develops pluck. Well, so did gladiator fights. Shall we reintroduce them? Pluck may be learned on the football-field as well as on the field of slaughter, where the animal passions of savageism are let loose. If we are Christians we will turn away from this bastard patriotism which ends in hate of other lands. We will love our country dearly. If occasion comes, we must make great sacrifices for her. But we will ever preach the gospel of love against the badspel of hate. We will preach the superiority of intellectual pursuits to the pursuit of war. We will preach the blessedness of elevating mankind to the spiritual rather than drag humanity down to the animal. (F. W. Aveling, M. A.)

SBC, "Ropes and rags.I. Help always comes from above. Jeremiah found it so. It was useless to try to climb out of the dungeon,—it was only to fall deeper into the mire. "Salvation is of the Lord." Ebedmelech is only a very poor picture of Jesus. The Saviour does more than send down a rope. He comes Himself and lifts us up.II. Although Ebedmelech may be a very poor type of Jesus Christ, he is a very good picture of the style in which one man may help another. He had sympathy. His kind heart bled as he thought of the suffering prophet. Sympathy is the mother of help.III. Ebedmelech did not allow difficulty to deter him. He knew that the enemies of the prophet were unscrupulous, and would not hesitate to cut his throat, but he did not give up because of that. If you mean to help others you will have to pull hard against the stream.IV. Ebedmelech teaches us to spare the feelings of those we help. The rope of deliverance should not cut the flesh of those we save. We may wound men in helping them, and they may like the remedy less than the disease.V. Among the practical lessons of this story there is the great truth that one man may set others going. Ebedmelech went to the king for help, and he gave him thirty helpers. "So they drew up Jeremiah." The great mass of people are not original; they can imitate, and if you can show them the way they will follow.VI. Let us learn the value of despised and cast-off things. The prudent chamberlain had seen "under the treasury the old cast clouts and old rotten rags." No one else saw any value in them, but he knew where they lay and put them to a good use. VII. Ebedmelech found out that God pays the best wages.T. Champness, New Coins from Old God.

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2 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine or plague, but whoever goes over to the Babylonians[b] will live. They will escape with their lives; they will live.’

GILL, "Thus saith the Lord, he that remaineth in this city,.... Of Jerusalem; that does not go out of it, and surrender himself to the Chaldeans; but continues in it fighting against them: shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; that is, by one or other of these: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live: that goes out of the city, throws down his arms, delivers up himself to the Chaldean army, and submits to their mercy, shall have quarters given him, and his life shall be spared: for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live; or, "his soul, and it shall live" (n); comfortably and in safety; he shall escape with his life, and that shall be preserved from the sword, famine, and pestilence; and whereas it was, as it were, lost, it shall be recovered out of the jaws of death, out of the above calamities it was exposed to; and so be like a prey taken out of the hands of the mighty, and be quite safe.

JAMISON, "life ... a prey — He shall escape with his life; though losing all else in a shipwreck, he shall carry off his life as his gain, saved by his going over to the Chaldeans. (See on Jer_21:9).CALVIN, "We have seen elsewhere that the Prophet had before said the same; it was not, then, a new thing, for he had thirty years before that time dearly pronounced the same in the Temple, and it was then written as a prophecy and fixed to the doors of the Temple. It was, therefore, nothing new to hear all this from the mouth of Jeremiah. But as I have already said, the king and his couriers thought that he was so subdued by evils that he could hardly open his mouth. In short, they thought that the holy man had, in a manner, lost his tongue since he had been in prison. This, then, was the reason why they now accused him so gravely to the king, and declared him worthy of death. He had deserved death many years before, if he had now committed a capital offense. But as I have already stated, they regarded the Prophet as having designedly despised the king’s authority, and they were indignant

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because he could not be subdued, when yet he was a prisoner and might see danger at hand every hour. This, then, was the reason why they regarded as a new thing what Jeremiah said, Whosoever abides in the city shall perish, etc.As to these threatenings, we have elsewhere said, that all those who expected help from the Egyptians were willful despisers of God; for the Prophet had often exhorted them all, quietly and submissively to bear that temporary punishment which God had resolved to inflict on them. They wished in their perverseness to drive to a distance God’s judgment, and then when they saw that God was their enemy, they deemed it enough to have the Egyptians as their friends. It was then no wonder that the Prophet allotted to them the sword, and famine, and pestilence.He then adds, Whosoever passeth over to the Chaldeans shall live The condition, however, was very hard; his soul, he says, shall be for a prey, as though he had said, “He who flees to the Chaldeans shall only save his life, but must suffer the loss of all his property,” as when a shipwreck is dreaded, there is no one who is not ready to save his life at the loss of all his goods; and, therefore, in extreme danger the merchants are wont to cast into the sea all that they have, for they prefer to escape to the harbor empty and destitute of everything, than to perish together with their riches. It was, then, a hard condition; but the Prophet shews that they could not otherwise escape; they were to give up their own country, and all other things, and could only preserve their life. For this reason he says, that their life would be for a prey to them, as when anything is snatched from the fire, or as when one is exposed to plunder, he were content to take something away by stealth, for otherwise, if he sought to take away many things, he would have to contend with many enemies. The Prophet then intimates that the Jews could not save themselves from death in any other way than by casting away all they had, and by being solicitous only to save life. He again repeats, he shall live. By this repetition he more pressingly urged them, and with more earnestness exhorted them to save their life. ELLICOTT, "(2) Thus saith the Lord.—The words carry us back to Jeremiah 21:9, and in any chronological arrangement of the book the one chapter would follow the other. It is obvious that to all who did not recognise the divine mission of the prophet, words like those which he had then spoken would seem to come from the lips of a traitor. Desertion to the enemy was represented as the only way of safety, and this was the counsel given to those who were defending the city of their fathers against an alien invader. What made it appear worse was that the prophet himself had been caught in an act which, though he denied the charge, might not unnaturally seem like an act of treacherous desertion.TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:2 Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.Ver. 2. Thus saith the Lord, He that remaineth in the city.] This is the self-same truth which he had preached before, and for the which he suffered. See Jeremiah

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21:9. He is constant to his principles, and although it be commonly said and seen that he who receives a courtesy sells his liberty; yet it was not so with this holy prophet. He had received some enlargement, and care was taken by the king that a piece, or a roll of bread should be brought him daily to the prison out of the baker’s street: but that stoppeth not his mouth.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:2“Thus says YHWH, He who abides in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he who goes forth to the Chaldeans will live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he will live.”In spite of the danger that he was in Jeremiah continued to proclaim YHWH’s word faithfully without regard for the consequences. Counselling surrender to the enemy was hardly the best way of ingratiating himself with the authorities. Indeed it is indicative of the awe in which he was held as a prophet of YHWH that he was allowed for a while to get away with it.His message was that death awaited those who remained in the city, either through starvation and disease due to siege conditions, or through the sword when the city was taken, whilst those who surrendered to the Babylonians prior to the taking of the city would live (compare Jeremiah 21:9).‘His life will be to him for a prey.’ In other words he will seize it like a hunter would a prey and carry it off safely.

3 And this is what the Lord says: ‘This city will certainly be given into the hands of the army of the king of Babylon, who will capture it.’”

CLARKE, "This city shall surely be given - This was a testimony that be constantly bore: he had the authority of God for it. He knew it was true, and he never wavered nor equivocated.

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GILL, "Thus saith the Lord, this city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army,.... When those found in it should be put to the sword, or carried captive: this the prophet declares with the greatest certainty; and what he had often affirmed for twenty years past, and now stands to it, having had fresh assurances from the Lord that so it would be; and which he faithfully published; though he had received some favours from the court, had his liberty enlarged, and was now eating the king's bread, he was not to be bribed by these things to hold his peace; but the nearer the ruin of the city was, the more confident was he of its destruction: which shall take it; or, "that it may take it" (o); being delivered into its hands by the Lord, without whose permission the Chaldean army could never have taken it: or "and he shall take it" (p); that is, the king of Babylon. CALVIN, "Then follows a confirmation, Given up shall be this city into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and they shall take it The Prophet shews the reason why he exhorted the Jews to flee, because the city would at length be taken. This is substantially what he says. PETT, "Jeremiah 38:3“Thus says YHWH, This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.”An his message in Jeremiah 38:2 was based on the fact that the city would unquestionably be give into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar’s army because that was YHWH’s express word. It was not a message likely to endear him to those who were trying to bolster the resistance of the defenders. It just happened to be the truth.

4 Then the officials said to the king, “This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin.”

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BARNES, "For thus ... - Because he makes the men of war dispirited. No doubt this was true. Jeremiah, however, did not speak as a private person, but as the representative of the government; the temporal ruler in a theocracy being responsible directly to God.

CLARKE, "Let this man be put to death - And they gave their reasons plain enough: but the proof was wanting.

GILL, "Therefore the princes said unto the king,.... The four princes mentioned in Jer_38:1, having heard what Jeremiah said to the people, laid the case before the king, and addressed him upon it in the following manner: we beseech thee, let this man be put to death; or, "let this man now be put to death,'' as the Targum. They speak very disrespectfully of the prophet, him "this man"; and with great authority to the and not in a submissive supplicating way, as we render it; the king, being in distress, was in their hands; he stood in fear of them, and could do nothing against their will and pleasure; and they urge that he might die instantly; they were for taking away his life at once. The reason they give follows: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them; dispirited the soldiers who were set for the defence of the city, such of them as were left, who were not taken off by the sword, famine, or pestilence; since, if what Jeremiah said was true, all attempts to defend it must be in vain; and the people be without any hope of being delivered out of the hands of the enemy: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt; than which nothing was more false; for the prophet foreseeing that their lives were in danger, through the sword, famine, or pestilence, by continuing in the city, advised them to go out of it, and surrender to the Chaldeans, whereby they would be preserved.

JAMISON, "Had Jeremiah not had a divine commission, he might justly have been accused of treason; but having one, which made the result of the siege certain, he acted humanely as interpreter of God’s will under the theocracy, in advising surrender (compare Jer_26:11).CALVIN, "Now the princes add, Die let this man, because in this manner, or therefore, that is, on account of his bad counsel, he weakens the hands of the men of war, etc. Here hand is to be taken for valor, for deeds are mainly performed by the

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hands. Hence to loosen or weaken the hands means the same as to render men inert, or so idle as not to move a finger. Then the princes accused Jeremiah on this account, that he terrified the men of war and thus rendered them listless. It was a specious charge; but the slander had nothing to support it; for Jeremiah could not have been condemned as a public enemy to his country, when he earnestly exhorted them to flee and gave no hope to the people, in order they might all, despairing of deliverance, willingly surrender themselves to their enemies.A question may be raised here, whether it is lawful for a private individual to persuade subjects to violate their oath of allegiance to their king or prince. I now call Prophets private persons; for I have in view civil order. Jeremiah, indeed, sustained a public character, for he was God’s Prophet; but as to the government of the city he was a private individual, one of the people. It seems, then, that the Prophet had passed over the limits of what is right, when he persuaded the people to revolt, for that could not have been done without forfeiting allegiance to the king. To this I answer, that the Prophet was invested with a special command, and that, therefore, he did nothing presumptuously or rashly. Though, then, the people had pledged to the end their faith to the king, yet as God had now delivered the city to the Chaldeans, the obligation of the oath ceased; for when governments are changed, whatever the subjects had promised is no longer binding. As, for example, when any country has a prince, he binds the whole people to himself by an oath, so that they may all abide in their allegiance. When any one invades that country, the subjects incur the charge of perfidy if they come not forward and assist their prince, as they had promised; but when a foreign enemy takes possession of the whole land, the obligation of the oath ceases; for it is not in the power of the people to set up princes, because it belongs to God to change governments as he pleases. Since, then, this power belongs to God alone, while a prince rules, the people ought resolutely to continue obedient to him, as their legitimate prince, set over them by God. But this was not at that time the case with the Jews; for though the Chaldeans had not yet entered the city, yet God had declared that they were its masters. The people, then, were not to wait until the Chaldeans broke in into the city, burnt its houses, and killed all they met with; but it ought to have been sufficient for them that the prediction of the Prophet was the decree or sentence of God, by which they were given up to the Chaldeans.The question as to Jeremiah and all others in similar circumstances, is now answered: for when any one sees only some danger at hand, he ought not, on that account, to persuade the people to forsake their prince; but every one who seeks to be God’s faithful servant, will risk his own life in the defense of his king. When called to his council, he will advise what is useful and right; but he will not stir up commotions and tumults: on the contrary, he would rather die a hundred times than cause the people to revolt either by his counsels or by his influence. But the case of Jeremiah, as it has been said, was peculiar; for God had made known his purpose as to the Chaldeans. Hence Jeremiah did not only prudently persuade the people to do what he deemed necessary, but he also discharged faithfully his office as a Prophet: nor did he give any other counsel than what he had been commanded to give: nay,

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he commanded them, by authority, to pass over to the Chaldeans, for it was according to God’s will.The princes, however, brought this charge against him, that he weakened the hands, etc. ; and added, In this manner he seeks not the good of the people, when he thus speaks, (peace here is to be taken for what is good or useful,) but he seeks evil This they slanderously added, for Jeremiah, as far as he could, consulted the public good, he wished the city to continue safe; had it been in his power, he would have put to flight all the Chaldeans; but he could not carry on war with God, under whose banner the Chaldeans fought. Jeremiah then sought the good of the people, but he could not resist God, and therefore he gave way to the divine decree: he saw no other remedy than this, that the Jews should undergo a temporary punishment, and be chastised by an exile, so that they might return afterwards into their own country. Had it been possible, as I have said, he would have kept the people from every injury; but this was not now practicable; for God had pronounced that it was all over with the kingdom and the city, until the Jews were punished by an exile of seventy years. There was then a second good or benefit, so that exile might be: more tolerable to the miserable, or captivity become milder: and this good was, to come of their own accord to King Nebuchadnezzar, and to suffer themselves to be led forth to the Chaldeans. This was the second good.Jeremiah then, seeing that the city, the kingdom, and the Temple were not to stand, was anxious to urge with all his might what remained to be done, in order that the city might at least continue as it was, while the inhabitants migrated into another land, so that afterwards they might return to it. This was the best thing for the people, because God had determined to drive them all into exile. It was then absurd to bring against him this unjust charge, that he sought not the good of the people, but their ruin.But as we said yesterday, all the sayings and doings of the saints have been always unjustly condemned. And if the same thing happen to us at this day, let us patiently bear it. We also see that it has been always objected to the Prophets and faithful teachers, as a crime, that they did not consult the public good, as all ungodly men at this day bring the same charge against us, especially the couriers, who take it as granted, that were anything changed, it would be the cause of all kinds of disturbances; and hence they think, that their religion could not possibly fall without ruin to the public good. Hence it comes, that the free preaching of the Gospel is disliked by them, as though it brought with it some public calamity. Therefore they call us turbulent; and they say that we go astray through ignorance: though we are not avowedly enemies to the public good, yet we do not understand how kingdoms are to be governed; and hence we rashly stir up the greatest tumults. All these reproaches we have to bear, as Jeremiah did, when, with a quiet mind, he endured the hatred which the princes unjustly produced against him, on account of his doctrine, which yet he had announced by God’s command, and which was necessary for the safety of the city and people; for the Jews could not, against God’s will, remain in their city, from which God had resolved to remove them. When,

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therefore, Jeremiah saw that the city could not be defended against the Chaldeans, even had he been the only counselor of the king, and not God’s Prophet, what could he have advised better or more beneficial, than to anticipate the extreme cruelty of their enemies, and at least to do all they could, that the city might not be burnt with fire, and that the slaughter of the people might not be universal, but that they might continue alive, with the loss only of their property? He could not then have brought a better counsel. But, as I have already said, nothing is deemed good or useful by the ungodly, except liberty perversely to resist God. This was the reason why they so unjustly accused God’s Prophet. It follows — ELLICOTT, "(4) Let this man be put to death.—The hatred of the princes of Judah becomes more bitter than ever, and they seek to overcome the king’s lingering reverence for the prophet. In the reign of Jehoiakim they had said that he was worthy of death (Jeremiah 26:11). Within the last few weeks he had been thrown into a loathsome dungeon, from which the king had but just delivered him. Now they press for a yet severer sentence. The weak king, conscious of his want of power to resist, yields a reluctant consent. The whole history reminds us of Pilate’s conduct in circumstances more or less analogous.TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:4 Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.Ver. 4. For thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war.] Thus out of carnal policy is piety impugned. So 1 Kings 12:27, John 11:48, Jeremiah 38:1.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:4‘Then the princes said to the king, “Let this man, we pray you, be put to death, because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but the hurt.”Understandably from a human point of view these princes were angry at what Jeremiah was saying, because it weakened the will of the defenders at a time when it was important that their morale be maintained. It was suggesting that resistance was pointless. Thus in their view, far from considering the welfare of the city, Jeremiah was seeking to cause it considerable harm. "For thus; literally, for therefore; i.e. because he is left in impunity (camp. the use of the phrase in Jeremiah 29:28). He weakeneth the hands of the men of war; i.e. he dispirits them. It is important to get this "outside view" of the preaching of Jeremiah. There is evidently some excuse for the opponents of Jeremiah. It was a matter of life and death to resist the Chaldeans, and Jeremiah was, according to the politicians, playing into the hands of the enemy (see further in general Introduction). The addition of the words, that remain, shows that the bitter end of the resistance was fast approaching.

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PULPIT, "For thus; literally, for therefore; i.e. because he is left in impunity (camp. the use of the phrase in Jeremiah 29:28). He weakeneth the hands of the men of war; i.e. he dispirits them. It is important to get this "outside view" of the preaching of Jeremiah. There is evidently some excuse for the opponents of Jeremiah. It was a matter of life and death to resist the Chaldeans, and Jeremiah was, according to the politicians, playing into the hands of the enemy (see further in general Introduction). The addition of the words, that remain, shows that the bitter end of the resistance was fast approaching.

5 “He is in your hands,” King Zedekiah answered. “The king can do nothing to oppose you.”

BARNES, "All real power was in their hands, and as they affirmed that Jeremiah’s death was a matter of necessity, the king did not dare refuse it to them.

CLARKE, "He is in your hand - Ye have power to do as you please; I must act by your counsel. Poor weak prince! you respect the prophet, you fear the cabal, and you sacrifice an innocent man to your own weakness and their malice!

GILL, "Then Zedekiah the king said, behold, he is in your hand,.... In your power, to do with him as you please. This is either a grant of the king, allowing them to do as they thought fit; or a declaration of their power, supposing them to be the princes of the sanhedrim, as Grotius thinks, to judge of a false prophet, and condemn him; but that they were such does not appear; nor does their charge of the prophet, or their procedure against him, confirm it. The former sense seems best: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you; which is said either in a flattering way, that such was their interest in him, and so great his regard for them, that he could not deny them any thing. So it is in the old translations, "for the king may deny you nothing"; and, "the king can deny you nothing": or else in a complaining way, suggesting that, he was a king, and no king; that he had no power to oppose them; they would do as they pleased; and therefore it signified nothing applying to him; he should

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not say any thing against it; he would have no concern in it; they might do as they pleased, since he knew they would.JAMISON, "the king is not he — Zedekiah was a weak prince, and now in his

straits afraid to oppose his princes. He hides his dislike of their overweening power, which prevented him shielding Jeremiah as he would have wished, under complimentary speeches. “It is not right that the king should deny aught to such faithful and wise statesmen”; the king is not such a one as to deny you your wishes [Jerome].

K&D, "Jer_38:5The king said, "Behold, he is in your hand, for the king can do nothing alongside of you." This reply indicates not merely the weakness and powerlessness of the king against his princes, but also his inward aversion to the testimony of the man of God. "That he would like to save him, just as he afterwards does (Jer_38:10)," is not implied in what he says, with which he delivers up the prophet to the spite of his enemies. Though the princes had at once put Jeremiah to death, the king would not even have been able to reproach them. The want of courage vigorously to oppose the demand of the princes did not spring from any kindly feeling towards the prophet, but partly from moral weakness of character, partly from inward repugnance to the word of God proclaimed by

Jeremiah. On the construction אין ויכל instead of the participle from ל which does ,יכnot occur, cf. Ewald, §321, a. אתכם is certainly in form an accusative; but it cannot be such, since דבר follows as the accusative: it is therefore either to be pointed אתכם or to be considered as standing for it, just as ת א often occurs for את, "with," i.e., "along with you."CALVIN, "Zedekiah doubtless knew that wrong was done to the holy Prophet; for though he wished him to remain as he was, yet he knew that the Prophet had not threatened the people from ill-will or a hostile mind; and he was thus conscious that he had to do with God rather than with a mortal man. However this may have been, he knew that Jeremiah was not an enemy to the public safety according to the charge brought by the princes. He might then have wished to deliver the Prophet from their hands, but he submitted to their fury; for he was divested of all regal power, and was become, as it were, a slave to his own counselors, on whom depended the government of the kingdom.They wrongly explain this verse, who think that the king spoke honorably of his counselors, as though he had said, that such was their prudence and dignity, that nothing could be denied them. They pervert the meaning of the Prophet; for the king, on the contrary, acknowledges here, that he was reduced to such a condition, as though he were a private individual, he, in short, confessed that he was the servant of servants; “Now I see,” he says, “that I am no king, but that ye so rule, that, willing or unwilling, I am forced to yield to you, even in the best cause.” There is then no doubt but that it was the bitter complaint of the king when he said, The king can do nothing against you. (110)

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But Zedekiah deserved this degradation: for he ought to have been from the beginning more teachable, and to submit to God. But in the first place, as we have seen, he had despised prophetic doctrine, and hearkened not to the voice of God; and in the second place, he revolted perfidiously from the Chaldean king, and became thus guilty of ingratitude, for when his nephew was dethroned, that is, Jeconiah or Coniah, he obtained the regal power through the favor of the king of Babylon. He had therefore been ungrateful in denying tribute to him. But his impiety was the main cause of all evils. As then he had been such a rebel against God, he deserved that the princes should prove rebels to him. He then degraded himself, and deprived himself of royal authority, when he refused submission to the word of God, and also when he denied tribute to the king of Babylon. It was no wonder, then, that God made him subject to the princes and counselors, who were yet his servants.As to these couriers, their arrogance was inexcusable in daring to condemn Jeremiah; for this was to take away from the king his own right; Die let this man, for he is worthy of death. Why was it that they were not content with accusing him, without assuming also to be his sole judges? As, then, they treated the king so disrespectfully, there is no doubt but they were despisers of God, when they deemed as nothing the royal dignity. But as to the king, he reaped, as I have said, the fruit of his own impiety, for he had not given to God his due honor in embracing the truth taught by the Prophet. It was therefore necessary, that he should be unworthily and contumeliously treated, so that he dared not to say even one word in behalf of a just and good cause. This was the reason why he said, He is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you COFFMAN, ""And Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do anything against you. Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire."As noted above, this is impossible to reconcile as a variable account of that same imprisonment where Jeremiah stayed "for many days." Why don't the critics tell us which account is true, and which is false? The answer lies in human unbelief of what the holy Scriptures say."The king is not he that can do anything against you ..." (Jeremiah 38:5). What an admission on the part of a man who was called a king! As Smith noted, it is a statement that, "All power is in your hands, and you are ready to exercise it against the king's wishes."[6] All of the real power lay in the hands of the princes; and the king himself had little respect from them. Many of the people, including, no doubt, some of the princes, really wanted to defeat Babylon and bring back Jeconiah from Babylon as the king they really wanted.

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TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:5 Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he [is] in your hand: for the king [is] not [he that] can do [any] thing against you.Ver. 5. Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand.] O nihil regem, qui ne verbulo quidem cruentis viris obluctatur! O king of clouts, saith one, who, knowing the prophet’s innocence and these princes’ blood thirstiness, durst not say a word for him or against them! This inconsistancy of his, and impotence of spirit, proceeded merely from diffidence and distrust in God.WHEDON, "5. For the king, etc. — The exact construction of the original is doubtful and disputed. But following the Masoretic text, we must translate, The king cannot as to you a word, (or matter;) that is, the king cannot over-bear you in any matter. It is a confession of imbecility, indeed, but also suggests a real dislike of Jeremiah.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:5‘And Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand, for the king is not he who can do anything against you.”Zedekiah was reluctant to act against Jeremiah himself because he recognised that he was a genuine prophet of YHWH. On the other hand he did not feel able to support him, because to do so might add to the weakening of morale. Thus while making clear that he was not in agreement with the situation he gave them permission to act against Jeremiah in any way that they thought best. As Pilate would later with Jesus, he washed his hands with regard to Jeremiah, thereby no doubt hoping to escape YHWH’s condemnation in respect of what would happen.

6 So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

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BARNES, "the king is not he — Zedekiah was a weak prince, and now in his straits afraid to oppose his princes. He hides his dislike of their overweening power, which prevented him shielding Jeremiah as he would have wished, under complimentary speeches. “It is not right that the king should deny aught to such faithful and wise statesmen”; the king is not such a one as to deny you your wishes [Jerome].

CLARKE, "So Jeremiah sunk in the mire - Their obvious design was, that he might be stifled in that place.

GILL, "Then took they Jeremiah,.... Having the king's leave, or at least no prohibition from him; they went with proper attendants to the court of the prison, and took the prophet from thence: and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that wasin the court of the prison; this was a dungeon that belonged to the prison which Malchiah had the care of, or which belonged to his house, which was contiguous to the court of the prison. The Targum renders it, Malchiah the son of the king; and so the Septuagint and Arabic versions; but it is not likely that Zedekiah should have a son that was set over his dungeon, or to whom one belonged, or should be called by his name: here the princes cast the prophet, in order that he should perish, either with famine or suffocation, or the noisomeness of the place; not caring with their own hands to take away the life of a prophet, and for fear of the people; and this being a more slow and private way of dispatching him, they chose it; for they designed no doubt nothing less than death: and they let down Jeremiah with cords; there being no steps or stairs to go down into it; so that nobody could come to him when in it, or relieve him: and in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; so Jeremiah sunk in the mire; up to the neck, as Josephus (q) says. Some think that it was at this time, and in this place, that Jeremiah put up the petitions to the Lord, and which he heard, recorded in Lam_3:55; and that that whole chapter was composed by him in this time of his distress. JAMISON, "

dungeon — literally, the “cistern.” It was not a subterranean prison as that in Jonathan’s house (Jer_37:15), but a pit or cistern, which had been full of water, but was emptied of it during the siege, so that only “mire” remained. Such empty cisterns were often used as prisons (Zec_9:11); the depth forbade hope of escape.Hammelech — (Jer_36:26). His son followed in the father’s steps, a ready tool for evil.sunk in the mire — Jeremiah herein was a type of Messiah (Psa_69:2, Psa_69:14). “I sink in deep mire,” etc.

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K&D, "Jer_38:6The princes (שרים) now cast Jeremiah into the pit of the king's son ( see on ,בן־מל

Jer_36:26) Malchiah, which was in the court of the prison, letting him down with ropes into the pit, in which there was no water, but mud; into this Jeremiah sank. The act is first mentioned in a general way in the words, "they cast him into the pit;" then the mode of proceeding is particularized in the words, "and they let him down," etc. On the expression ר הב the pit of Malchiah," cf. Ewald, §290, d: the article stands" ,מלכיהוhere before the nomen regens, because the nomen rectum, from being a proper name, cannot take it; and yet the pit must be pointed out as one well known and definite. That it was very deep, and that Jeremiah must have perished in it if he were not soon taken out again, is evident from the very fact that they were obliged to use ropes in letting him down, and still more so from the trouble caused in pulling him out (Jer_38:10-12). That the princes did not at once put the prophet to death with the sword was not owing to any feeling of respect for the king, because the latter had not pronounced sentence of death on him, but because they sought to put the prophet to a final death, and yet at the same time wished to silence the voice of conscience with the excuse that they had not shed his blood.CALVIN, "HERE is narrated the extreme presumption as well as cruelty of the princes; for they cast the holy Prophet into a pit, where he sank in the mire. It was a proof of hardened impiety not to spare so excellent a servant of God; and it was also a savage cruelty, when they had no cause of being so filled with rage, except that Jeremiah had obeyed God, and faithfully performed the office committed to him.Let us at the same time learn from this example, whenever it pleases the Lord to try our patience, to bear with resignation what we see to have been borne by the holy Prophet. If, then, we shudder at any time at the horrors of the cross, so that it may seem hard to us to bear persecution, let us remember this example of the Prophet. In a word, there is here, on the one hand, shewn to us, as in a picture, the wickedness of the world; and on the other, the wonderful constancy and also the singular meekness of God’s servant shine forth gloriously.Jeremiah then says, that he was taken by the princes and cast into a pit, which was in the court of the prison; and in that part, where one of the counselors dwelt, even Malchiah the son of Hamelech And at the same time he describes the state of the place, that it was a miry pit, so that he sank down in the mud. He does not mean that he was covered with mud, but that he was fixed in it, as the Hebrew word intimates; and we may thus rightly render the words, “He lay fixed in the mud.” It now follows —COKE, "Jeremiah 38:6. Then took they Jeremiah— It is commonly thought that Jeremiah, during his abode in this loathsome place, composed the melancholy meditations inserted in the third chapter of his Lamentations. See Lamentations

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3:53; Lamentations 3:55. Josephus asserts, that he sunk up to his neck in the mire; and adds, that their intention in putting him into so noisome a place was, that he might perish in it. See Antiq. lib. 9: cap. 10 and Calmet. This account of the dungeon accords with what was mentioned in the note on ch. Jeremiah 37:16. For if the dungeon was in the open court, and left open like a well at top, there being no other way of giving it air and light, the falling of rain mixing with the earth below would occasion mud in a place where the sun's rays could not reach to dry up the moisture.ELLICOTT, "(6) The dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech.—Literally, the pit, or cistern. The LXX. agrees with the marginal reading in describing him as “a son of the king.” The same phrase is so translated in 1 Kings 22:26; 2 Chronicles 28:7, and would seem to have been an official or court title, applied to one of the royal house, as distinguished from. others. (See Note on Jerahmeel in Jeremiah 36:26.) We have no data for judging whether this Malchiah is identical with the lather of Pashur in Jeremiah 38:1; but it is not unlikely. In Lamentations 3:53-55 we have probably a reminiscence of these days of horrible suffering. The cistern had been partly dried up (possibly through the supply of water having been cut off during the protracted siege), but there remained a thick deposit, three or four feet deep, of black foetid mud,, and there, it is obvious from Jeremiah 38:9 of this chapter, his enemies meant to leave him to die of hunger. They probably shrank from the odium of a public execution, or thought, with the strange superstition of the Eastern mind, that in this way they could escape the guilt of shedding the prophet’s blood. The death by starva-tion might easily be represented, even to themselves, as a death by disease.TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that [was] in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon [there was] no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.Ver. 6. Then took they Jeremiah.] Whom the king had now (against his conscience, as afterwards Pilate dealt by Jesus), either through fear or favour, betrayed unto his deadly enemies; and so he was in a pitiful plight, in a forlorn condition. But Jeremiah, de profundis, out of the deep called upon God (whom he found far more facile than these princes did Zedekiah), "Thou drewest near," saith he, "in the day when I called upon thee; thou saidst, Fear not." [Lamentations 3:57] I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.And they let down Jeremiah with cords.] With a murderous intent there to make an end of him privily, ut ibi praefocatus moreretur; ille vero usque ad collum mersus ibi manebat, said Josephus, that he might there pine and perish; but God graciously prevented it.And in the dungeon there was no water but mire.] A typical hell it was, worse than Joseph’s pit, [Genesis 37:24] or Heman’s lake, [Psalms 88:6] or any prison that ever Brown the sect master ever came into, who used to boast that he had been

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committed to thirty-two prisons, and in some of them he could not see his hand at noonday. He died at length in Northampton jail, A.D. 1630, whereto he was sent for striking the constable requiring rudely the payment of a rate. (a)So Jeremiah sunk in the mire.] Up to the neck, saith Josephus, and so became a type of Christ. [Psalms 69:2] WHEDON, " JEREMIAH’S CLOSER CONFINEMENT AND RELEASE, Jeremiah 38:6-13.6. Dungeon — Literally, as above, cistern. As every house was supplied with these they easily served as ready-made prisons. In a cistern like to these, in the field or pasture, Joseph was placed by his brethren at Dothan. This explains the allusion in Zechariah 9:11, “prisoners out of the pit in which is no water.” Hence also the use of cords to let down Jeremiah into the prison.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:6‘Then they took Jeremiah, and cast him into the pit of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the pit there was no water, but mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire.’For Jeremiah it was a case of ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’. Having previously escaped from the pit in the house of Jonathan (Jeremiah 37:15), he found himself in an even worse situation in being lowered down by means of ropes into a pit which had previously been filled with water, and whose bottom was now covered with a thick layer of mud. It was probably in fact a cistern. It would have a narrow entrance at the top and widen out below the point of entry. The fact that it was empty drew attention to the water shortage in the city, whilst the fact that the mud was still soft indicates that it had not been empty very long.Jeremiah’s predicament is emphasised by the fact that he sank into the mud. It was not a very happy position to be in.Malchijah may have been the father of the Pashhur mentioned in Jeremiah 38:1. His description as ‘the king’s son’ (compare Jeremiah 36:26) indicates royal connections, although not necessarily strictly as a son. It is, however, sufficient to demonstrate the high level of the opposition which was against Jeremiah. His cistern would not have been available had he not been in agreement with the princes involved.It may be asked why they did not immediately put him to death? One possible answer is that that was the one restriction that the king had put on them. This could be seen as supported by his immediate response when he learned that Jeremiah was in danger of death (Jeremiah 38:9). But the answer may well lie in his prophetic status. To have slain a prophet of YHWH directly could have been seen by the

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people as automatically bringing doom on the city, and could have worsened the very situation that they were trying to alleviate (loss of morale). And they may well themselves have been equally superstitious. On the other hand leaving him in the pit to die could well have been seen as an easy way out. Then they could be seen as throwing the onus on YHWH, in the same way as with Joseph long before (Genesis 37:22-24). Their argument could have been that it would then be up to YHWH to determine whether he survived or not (which they were sure he would not).PULPIT, "The dungeon; more literally, the cistern. "Every house in Jerusalem was supplied with a subterranean cistern, so well constructed that we never read of the city suffering in a siege from want of water" (Dr. Payne Smith). A grotto bearing the name of Jeremiah has been shown at Jerusalem since the fifteenth century. Under its floor are vast cisterns, the deepest of which professes to be the prison into which the prophet was thrown. The objection is that the sacred narrative proves that the prison was in the city, whereas "the present grotto was not included within the walls until the time of Herod Agrippa". The son of Hammelech; rather, a royal prince (as Jeremiah 36:26).

7 But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite,[c] an official[d] in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,

BARNES, "Ebed-melech - i. e., the king’s slave. By “Ethiopian” or Cushite is meant the Cushite of Africa, or negro. It seems (compare 2Ki_23:11) as if such eunuchs (or, chamberlains) took their names from the king, while the royal family and the princes generally bore names compounded with the appellations of the Deity.

CLARKE, "Ebed-melech - The servant of the king one of the eunuchs who belonged to the palace. Perhaps it should be read, “Now, a servant of the king, a Cushite, one of the eunuchs,” etc.

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The king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin - To give audience, and to administer justice. We have often seen that the gates of cities were the places of public judicature.GILL, "Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian,.... The Targum renders it, "a servant of King Zedekiah;'' which Jarchi, and other writers, following, make Zedekiah to be the Ethiopian; so called, because as an Ethiopian differs in his skin, so Zedekiah differed in his righteousness, from the rest of his generation; and this his servant, he, with others (r), takes to be Baruch the son of Neriah, but without any foundation; but, as Kimchi observes, with whom Abarbinel and Ben Melech agree, had this word "Ebedmelech" been an appellation, the usual article would have been prefixed before the word "king", as in the next clause; and somewhere or other his name would have been given; but it is a proper name, as Ahimelech, and Abimelech. A servant of the king he might be, and doubtless he was; and perhaps had this name given him when he became a proselyte; for such he seems to be, and a good man; who had a great regard to the prophet, because he was one; and had more piety and humanity in him, though an Ethiopian, than those who were Israelites by birth: one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house; an officer at court; one of the gentlemen of the bedchamber. Josephus (s) says he was in great honour; so the Targum renders it, "a great man;'' a man in high office, of great authority; taking it to be a name of office, as it sometimes is; though it may be understood, in a proper sense, of a castrated person; for such there were very commonly in kings' palaces, employed in one office or another, and especially in the bedchamber: now this man heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; for though the princes did it with all possible secrecy, it was known at court, and came to the ears of this good man; and indeed the dungeon was not far from the court; and some have thought he might have heard the groans of Jeremiah in it; however, he came to the hearing of it, and was affected with the relation of his case, and determined to save him, if possible: the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin; the same in which the prophet was taken, Jer_37:13; here he sat to hear and try causes, courts of judicature being held in gates of cities; or to receive petitions; or rather it may be to consult about the present state of affairs, what was best to be done in defence of the city, and to annoy the besiegers; and it may be to have a view of the enemy's camp, and to sally out upon them; for that he was here in order to make his escape is not likely.

JAMISON, "Ebed-melech — The Hebrew designation given this Ethiopian, meaning “king’s servant.” Already, even at this early time, God wished to show what good reason there was for calling the Gentiles to salvation. An Ethiopian stranger saves the prophet whom his own countrymen, the Jews, tried to destroy. So the Gentiles

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believed in Christ whom the Jews crucified, and Ethiopians were among the earliest converts (Act_2:10, Act_2:41; Act_8:27-39). Ebed-melech probably was keeper of the royal harem, and so had private access to the king. The eunuchs over harems in the present day are mostly from Nubia or Abyssinia.

K&D, "Jer_38:7-9The deliverance of Jeremiah. Ebedmelech the Cushite, a eunuch, heard of what had

happened to Jeremiah. איש סריס .haimer signifies a eunuch: the איש shows that סריס is here to be taken in its proper meaning, not in the metaphorical sense of an officer of the court. Since the king had many wives (Jer_38:22.), the presence of a eunuch at the court, as overseer of the harem, cannot seem strange. The law of Moses, indeed, prohibited castration (Deu_23:2); but the man was a foreigner, and had been taken by the king into his service as one castrated. עבד מל is a proper name (otherwise it must have been written המל); the name is a genuine Hebrew one, and probably may have been assumed when the man entered the service of Zedekiah. - On hearing of what had occurred, the Ethiopian went to the king, who was sitting in the gate of Benjamin, on the north wall of the city, which was probably the point most threatened by the besiegers, and said to him, Jer_38:9, "My lord, O king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the pit; and he is dying of hunger on the spot, for there is no more bread in the city." הרעו :,.lit ,את־א "they have done wickedly what they have done." וימת cannot be translated, "and he died on the spot," for Ebedmelech wishes to save him before he dies of hunger. But neither does it stand for וימת, "so that he must die." The imperfect with Vav consecutive expresses the consequence of a preceding act, and usually stands in the narrative as a historic tense; but it may also declare what necessarily follows or will follow from what precedes; cf. Ewald, §342, a. Thus וימת stands here in the sense, "and so he is dying," i.e., "he must die of hunger." תחתיו, "on his spot," i.e., on the place where he is; cf. 2Sa_2:23. The reason, "for there is no longer any bread (הלחם with the article, the necessary bread) in the city," is not to be taken in the exact sense of the words, but merely expresses the greatest deficiency in provisions. As long as Jeremiah was in the court of the prison, he received, like the officers of the court, at the king's order, his ration of bread every day (Jer_37:21). But after he had been cast into the pit, that royal ordinance no longer applied to him, so that he was given over to the tender mercies of others, from whom, in the prevailing scarcity of bread, he had not much to hope for.CALVIN, "Jeremiah relates here how he was delivered from death; for he could not have lived long in the mire; partly, because he must have died through want; and partly, he must have been starved through cold and suffocated with the filth of the dungeon. But God rescued him in a wonderful manner through the aid of Ebedmelech, an Ethiopian. He was an alien, and this is expressly said, that we may know, that among the king’s counselors there was no one who resisted so great a wickedness. But there was one found, an Ethiopian, who came to the aid of God’s Prophet.There is then implied here a comparison between an Ethiopian, an alien, and all the

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Jews, who professed themselves to be the holy seed of Abraham, who had been circumcised, and boasted loudly of God’s law and covenant; and yet there was not one among them, who would stretch forth his hand to the holy servant of God! It may be there were some who pitied him, but courage was wanting; so that no one dared to open his mouth, for it was a reproach to patronize the holy man. They, then, preferred the favor of the ungodly to their own duty. But there was an Ethiopian so courageous, that he dared to accuse all the king’s couriers and the other princes. There is, then, no doubt but that the Spirit by the mouth of the Ethiopian brought a perpetual disgrace on the king’s princes, who passed themselves as the children of Abraham, and boasted in high terms of God’s covenant. A similar case is represented by Christ in a parable, when he says that a Levite and a priest passed by a wounded man and disregarded him, but that help was brought to him by a Samaritan. (Luke 10:30.) His purpose, no doubt, was to condemn the Jews, even the Levites and the priests, for their barbarity in caring nothing for the life of a miserable man in his extremity. So also, in this place, the Ethiopian is set forth to us as an example, for he alone had the feeling of kindness and humanity, so as to bring help to the holy Prophet, and to rescue him, as it were, from immediate death and the grave: but we see all the king’s couriers either wholly torpid or influenced by the same spirit of rage and cruelty, as to be mortal enemies to the holy man, because he freely and openly declared to them the command of God.And Jeremiah says that Ebed-melech heard, etc. We may hence conclude, that he was anxious about the safety of the holy Prophet, and that he had his friends who watched the proceedings. It is then added, that he was in the palace, but that the king was sitting in the gate of Benjamin; for kings were wont to administer justice in the gates, and to have there their tribunal; and it was there that the people held their regular assemblies. The king, then, was sitting in the gate of Benjamin But, in the meantime, his palace was a place of execution and the den of robbers. We hence see that the sloth of the king is here denoted, for he apparently performed the proper office of a king, but neglected the principal part of it, for he suffered a holy man to be east into a pit. As, then, he thus exposed the Prophet’s life to the will of the princes, it is evident that he was but an empty shadow, though he stood there as the judge of the people, and had there a sacred tribunal. COFFMAN, "Verse 7AN ETHIOPIAN RESCUES JEREMIAH"Now when Ebel-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin). Ebel-melech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king, saying, My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king commanded Ebel-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence

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thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. So Ebel-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. And Ebel-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put these rags and worn-out garments under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.""Ebel-melech the Ethiopian ..." (Jeremiah 38:7,10,12). Three times here the fact of Ebel-melech's being an Ethiopian is expressly mentioned. Why? It indicates that in all the land of Judah only a despised foreigner found the grace to intercede for Jeremiah!"A eunuch ..." (Jeremiah 38:7). There is no need for men to define this as merely "a prominent official in the government." "The Hebrew text shows that the word (eunuch) is to be taken in its proper meaning, and not in the metaphorical sense of an officer of the court."[7] There is nothing strange about a eunuch's being in the court of Zedekiah. "Since the king had many wives, a eunuch was the overseer of the harem; and as the Mosaic law forbade the castration of a Hebrew (Deuteronomy 23:2), Zedekiah's eunuch was an Ethiopian."[8]"Take thirty men ... and take up Jeremiah ..." (Jeremiah 38:10). The radical critics suppose that was too many men to take, and "Against the authority of all the versions of the Hebrew text, and solely upon the appearance in the Septuagint (LXX) and a single manuscript of the number three in this place have changed the number."[9] The king, knowing what was needed, both for the task itself, and for protection of the rescue group, sent thirty men; and there is no need whatever to allow fallible, unbelieving men, to change the sacred text upon any whim they might have. Why were so many needed? At least four men would have been needed to pull Jeremiah up from a mud-bath reaching up to his neck. One or two men would have been needed to go get the ropes; two more would have been necessary to get the rags and worn-out garments; and one, Ebel-melech the Ethiopian would have commanded the operation. The others, fully armed, would have protected the rescue mission from all interference by the princes. We are still waiting for some radical critic to explain how all of this could have been done with three men!The providence of God in this rescue of Jeremiah is very evident. "On that day when the greatest of the Benjaminites (Jeremiah) was in his greatest need, the king was already in the Gate of Benjamin, as if waiting to hear his case."[10]Speaking of the specious arguments vainly proposed in favor of changing the number in this mission from thirty to three, Keil stated that. "The arguments are quite invalid";[11] and Feinberg declared that, "Such slight evidence is insufficient to overrule the MT, and only this kind of hypercriticism would call in question Biblical numbers on such grounds."[12]

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COFFMAN, "Jeremiah 38:7. Ebed-melech, &c.— Ebed-melech the Cushite, &c. It may be supposed, that God intended to give some distant hints of his justice in calling the Gentiles to embrace the gospel; for this Ethiopian or Cushite preserves the prophet, whom the Jews would have destroyed; and again the Gentiles believed in Christ, whereas the Jews crucified him. The Lord, who put these sentiments of compassion for Jeremiah into the heart of this officer, afterwards recompensed him, by delivering him from death at the siege of Jerusalem. See chap. Jeremiah 39:15-16., and Calmet. ELLICOTT, " (7) Bbed-melech the Ethiopian.—The name signifies “servant of the king,” but the absence of the article in the Hebrew makes it probable that it had come to be used as a proper name, and so both the LXX. and Vulgate take it. The use of Ethiopian or Cushite slaves in the king’s household, probably as keeping guard over the harem, had been of some standing; perhaps even as early as the time of David, as in the case of Cushr (or the Cushite), in 2 Samuel 18:21. Then, as in other countries and times (Terent., Eunuch, i. 2), there was a fashion which led princes and men of wealth to think that eunuchs were part of their magnificence. The law of Moses, it may be noted, forbade such mutilation in the case of Israelites (Deuteronomy 23:1). In Psalms 87:4, we find probably a record of the admission of such persons on the register of the citizens of Zion. Of the previous history of the Eunuch thus named we know nothing but he appears here as the favourite of the king, using his influence to protect the prophet. The Ethiopian descent of Jehudi (Jeremiah 36:21) may probably have brought him into contact with an officer of the king’s household of the same race, and Ebed-melech’s feelings may have been drawn to the prophet by what he thus heard.In the gate of Benjamin.—This was on the northern wall of the city, the most exposed to the attack of the invading army, and the king apparently had gone there either to direct the operations of the defence, or, perhaps, to prevent others from following, as they might think, Jeremiah’s example, and either deserting to the enemy or abandoning the defence of the city (Jeremiah 37:13). Ebed-melech had accordingly to leave the palace, and went to seek the king at his post, in order to obtain an order of release in time to save the prophet’s life. He alone, as if inheriting the blessing of Isaiah 56:3-6, has the courage to appear as the friend of the persecuted.TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:7 Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;Ver. 7. Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian.] But a proselyte, and a religious prince; a stranger, but (as that good Samaritan in the Gospel) more merciful than any of the Jewish nation, who gloried in their privileges. See Romans 2:26-27.One of the eunuchs.] And eunuchs, say the Rabbis, are ordinarily more cruel than other men; but so was not this Cushite. Piety is the fountain of all virtues

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whatsoever.Which was in the king’s house.] As Obadiah was in Ahab’s, Nehemiah in Artaxerxes’s; some good people in Herod’s; [Luke 8:3] and Nero’s; [Philippians 4:22] Cromwell and Cranmer in Henry VIII’s.The king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin.] Sitting in judgment, where Jeremiah’s enemies had once apprehended him for a fugitive, but durst not try it out with him, though Ebedmelech there entreated with the king for him in the presence of some of them, as it is probable.WHEDON, "7. Ebed-melech the Ethiopian — The import of the name is “servant of the king.” In 2 Kings 23:11, another eunuch is called Nathan-melech — “gift of the king.” From such examples it would seem not improbable that it was not unusual for slaves to take their names from their masters. He was an Ethiopian, and so it was given to an Ethiopian to be a saviour of the prophet. As he is mentioned, we cannot but think of another Ethiopian, also a eunuch, who became the messenger of salvation to his own country, as related in Acts 8.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:7‘Now when Ebed-melech the Sudanese, a high official (eunuch), who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin,)’News of what had happened did not immediately reach the king because he had temporarily housed himself at the Gate of Benjamin, one of the key defence points for the city, and the gate by which deserters would normally leave if they wished to submit themselves to the Babylonians. It may well have been with the intention of maintaining the morale of the defenders, or he may have been hearing the complaints of disgruntled inhabitants. He may even have been determining who should be allowed to desert to the enemy (leaving less mouths to feed in the city). Whichever it was he was taking his duties seriously.One whom the news did reach, however, was Ebed-melech (‘servant of the king’), who was a high official in the king’s house. He may indeed have genuinely been a eunuch as superintendent of the king’s harem, but the noun does not necessarily indicate it, and we would not expect such an official to have great influence over the king. On the other hand it would explain his presence at the palace at such a time. It is, however, more likely that Ebed-melech (a Cushite from the Upper Nile region e.g. Northern Sudan) was of higher status, with sufficient influence to stand up to the princes. Why he thus supported Jeremiah we do not know, but he may well have feared that Jeremiah’s death would bring calamity on Jerusalem. As a foreigner or a proselyte he may well have been in greater awe of YHWH than the natives were.PULPIT, "Ebed-melech the Ethiopian. The name means "the king's slave." Ebers

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remarks that the eunuchs employed in the modern East are nearly all negroes, on whom the shameful operation has been performed by Copts in Upper Egypt. Zedekiah's harem is referred to in Jeremiah 38:22, Jeremiah 38:23.BI 7-13, "Ebed-melech the Ethiopian.Ebed-melech the EthiopianA slave from the Soudan, an eunuch in the household of Zedekiah, King of Judah, is by the side of the great Jeremiah, a humble servant yet an efficient protector. The slave and the prophet in our thought abide together.I. the circumstances which brought the two together and caused the strange conjunction. The prophet is cast into a dungeon, deep and loathsome. Into the slime of its unfloored depths he sinks, and there he lies. Left to die and rot in the dungeon’s mud! No. One man’s voice is raised, one man’s hand works. But no son of Israel is he; only a slave of the royal household, a heathen from a far-off land, with a black skin but a pure heart.II. The deliverer. What his own name was we know not, for among the royal servants he was known only as Ebed-melech, “the king’s slave.” Whether he was of the original Hamitic or of the invading Semitic stock we cannot conjecture, save that, from his position, there is an inherent probability that he was of the former. We are at liberty, then, to conceive of him as a black, though probably not a negro, torn from his home, either as a boy or youth, to meet the demands of the market at Meroe; and then, in the way of traffic, passed on through Egypt, till at last he passed into the palace of the King of Judah. We can next conceive of him, by the exercise of the qualities of intelligence, fidelity, and prudence, promoted to the important post of superintendent of the royal harem. He would thus come into contact with Jeremiah, who, as “the last of the prophet statesmen of Judah” (as he has been called), had for many years compelled for himself a place in the councils of the nation The simple nature of the Ethiopian, uncorrupted by the vices of palace life, would recognise the moral and spiritual elevation of the prophet, and would yield a homage and a love of which the heartless courtiers Who despised him were incapable. His position brought him into frequent intercourse with the king; perhaps gave him a free access to his presence. None could know better than he his weaknesses and his vices; hut he would also know, as most could not, that in his debased mind were certain possibilities of justice and generosity to which an appeal might be made. Hopeful or hopeless, the brave heathen resolves that appeal there shall he. And after a right honest and straightforward fashion he sets him to his task. Well done, slave! Bravely spoken, Soudanee! Was there another man in all Jerusalem man enough to have done thy work! I trow not. But it is an ill turn thou hast done for thyself! Where is thy prudence, man? Who is this Jeremiah for whom thou art pleading? The lost and almost the last advocate of a lost cause. Who are “these men whom thou art arraigning? The magnates of the realm, in whose hands the king is but a feeble, though it may be a well-meaning puppet. What supports canst thou expect to secure? None, unless it be the secret friendship of a few frightened men, whose favour is nought. What enemies canst thou not fail to make? The princes of Judah, whose frown may be death. But “fear not, thou king’s slave! Chariots and horsemen are upon the hills round about thee. There is an unseen Friend whose favour is life; and there is an immortal Church to call thee blessed.” The king’s better nature is roused by the appeal. Rising for the moment above the unkingly fear of his nobles, he exercises his royal prerogative, and commissions

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Ebed-melech, to take a sufficient force and release the prophet from the dungeon. Speedily, tenderly, and joyfully it is done. The forethought displayed, the various precautions to secure the exhausted victim from further danger or discomfort, are minutely and gratefully detailed.III. Thoughts which such an incident arouses in the mind. It would be easy to descant upon the moral lessons which the incident teaches, to make Ebed-melech the peg on which to hang edifying reflections. He might easily be made into a lay figure to do duty for the showing off of such thoughts as these: that God uses instruments selected from among the lowly as well as the lofty; that the faithful discharge of the offices of commonest humanity is noted, approved of, and will finally be owned by the God of providence; that in most unlikely places, among most unlikely classes, God’s servants, His because servants of righteousness and humanity, are to be found; that He has His “hidden ones” where the eye of man suspects not; and that the faith that God desires to see in men is that trust in Him and that supreme homage to the claims of charity and truth which will cause them to do right, and leave the issues to work themselves out as they may in subjection to His will. But I do not desire the man to he lost in the meditations. I want us to see men under the influence of motives that may he ours, to enter into the human feeling, to sympathise with the human surrender, and to behold in these that which God loves to behold in His creature-children. Jehovah says, “Thy life shall be for a prey unto thee, because thou hast put thy trust in Me.” A thought of comfort, quickening, and strength is here suggested; those who do right, follow charity, work humanely—not because these things will pay, but because they are what they are, leaving consequences to come as come they may—these are trusting God, these are His worshippers, even though they have never learned His name. (G. M. Grant, B. D.)

Deliverance from an unwonted quarterStrange, too, was the quarter from which deliverance came to the prophet. Not from the company of priests to which he belonged; not from that of the prophets of which he was the greatest member of that age; not even from his “brethren according to the flesh,” but from an alien to the commonwealth of Israel—an Ethiopian, a son of the despised Ham. It is very curious and beautiful to find these Scriptures—Jewish though they be—studded over with bright examples of goodness from the nations around. One of its noblest prophecies is from the mouth of Balaam the Midianite. Deliverance came to its greatest prophet (so far as action goes) from “Zarephath, which belongeth to Sidon,” from “a woman that was a widow.” What Thomas Carlyle called the grandest thing in all literature is from Job, who probably was not of the seed of Abraham. And when we come to the New Testament, in a Roman soldier Christ found faith nobler than that of any in Israel, and in a Samaritan woman He found His first missionary. The Jew might stand aloof in proud isolation, but the Book he reverenced called “nothing common or unclean.” (The Quiver.)

Ebed-melech, the model of kindnessI. It is easy to show kindness. Some things are very hard to do. We know for how many years the Government of England, of our own country, and of other nations, have been trying to find the way to the North Pole. How much money has been spent, and how

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many valuable lives have been test in these attempts! And vet they have never succeeded. Getting to the North Pole is a very hard thing to do. Some things can only be done by those who have plenty of money. But it is very different with the work of showing kindness. There is nothing hard about this. We do not need much money to do it. The poor can show kindness, as well as the rich. Ebed-melech was a poor coloured man—the slave of King Zedekiah; yet he managed to show real kindness to the prophet Jeremiah. He wag the means of saving his life.II. Kindness is useful. Ebed-melech’s kindness was useful to Jeremiah, because it saved his life. He lived for years after this, and was the means of doing a great deal of good to the people of Israel who were living then. Jeremiah has been useful to the Church of God, ever since that day, by the prophecies which he wrote. And a large portion of those prophecies was written after the day in which Ebed-melech saved his life. And this shows us how great the usefulness was of Ebed-melech’s kindness. And in learning to show kindness to others, there is no telling how much good we may do.III. Kindness is profitable. God sent word to Ebed-melech, by Jeremiah, that when Jerusalem should be taken by the Assyrians, He would put it into their hearts to show kindness to him by sparing his life. And so it came to pass. (R. Newton, D. D.)

Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine arm-holes under the cords.Gentleness in doing goodI. The example of Ebed-melech should be followed by those who wish to show real kindness to the poor. When “poverty cometh as an armed man” (Pro_6:11), blighting hope, and bringing wretchedness in his train, a heart must be harder than stone, which is not moved with compassion. To show kindness to the needy, at the right time, and in the best way, should be the study of those who would be followers of Jesus. Experience has shown that it is generally far better to put people in the way of getting employment, than to make them feel their dependence by directly relieving their wants.II. A lesson for those who are anxious to rescue perishing sinners from going down to the pit. Harsh words are quite out of place, even to the most depraved; and we can hardly claim to be disciples of Him who will not “break the bruised reed,” nor “quench the smoking flax” (Isa_42:3), if we venture to speak them. It is far better to lower the silken cords of Divine love, and the soft cushions of the promises, and to address words of encouragement to those who are groping in darkness. “He that winneth souls is wise” (Pro_11:30). The word “winneth” is the important one. It suggests something besides labour and painstaking. Winning implies gentleness, and a sincere interest in the souls of others. No one will be made better by scolding, or sarcasm; but he who will imitate Ebed-melech, in his thoughtful tenderness, will be successful in his work.III. The example of Ebed-melech deserves to be remembered by those who would bring others into the fold of Christ’s Church. Very little is ever accomplished for the Master by harsh and uncharitable controversy. (J. N. Norton, D. D.)

The captive rescued

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Here we see tenderness and compassion. There is much in doing a kind action in a kind way. A charity may be so given as to wound the recipient; and a good deed, accompanied by kind words, is like a gem set in pure gold. Let us ever be careful that when we try to help others, we do our task with tenderness to the feelings and prejudices of those we would aid. But the events of old times were full of foreshadowings of the great central fact of the world’s redemption.1. In Ebed-melech, therefore, we may behold a type of One who comes forth from the palace of the Great King to loose the captive’s chains. Our Saviour stoops down to help us. The cords of His love and compassion lift us up, and restore us to that “service which is perfect liberty.”2. But again, in this narrative there is a very good illustration of the too often forgotten truth that in man’s redemption he has his own part to do. If it was Ebed-melech who let down the cords, yet Jeremiah had to fix them under his arms to such a position that he might safely be drawn up. “Work out your own salvation” is the plain direction of the apostle.3. Again, there seems to be a lesson of instruction in this point—that the rags and castaway fragments of garments were made useful in the way of making easier the deliverance of Jeremiah, things which were worthless in themselves used for a good and excellent purpose. So many things, at which men scoff, saying, “How can they save souls?” are, by God’s blessing, made of use.4. Lastly, let us take Ebed-melech for an example. Can we not strive to rescue some soul! Cannot we, like the thirty servants of the king, aid in letting down the cords, or protect those who are doing so? We may at least lower down the cords of prayer and entreaty. (W. Hardman, LL. D.)

Ropes and ragsThe story is an illustration of the way God saves men. Jeremiah’s danger and deliverance were very real. In that dungeon he is, indeed, in “an horrible pit.” No hope of escape. No light, no firm standing, every prospect of death, and in no long time either. Would to God that we preachers could see the real danger to which sinners are exposed! Jeremiah was delivered, brought up out of the miry clay. But the prophet’s salvation was only a feeble picture of what God’s grace does for those who take hold on Jesus. He remained in the courts of the prison. “Whom the Son makes free are free indeed.” We who rest in Jesus may walk about the courts of the King’s palace.I. Mark you, help always comes from above. Jeremiah found it so. It was useless to try to climb out of the dungeon, it was only to fall deeper into the mire. “Salvation is of the Lord.” You cannot save yourself. The effort will only exhaust you. Cry unto the Lord. Say, “O Lord, deliver my soul.” He is sure to hear your cry. Ebed-melech is only a very poor picture of Jesus. The Saviour does more than send down a rope. He comes Himself and lifts us up. Although Ebed-melech may be a very poor type of Jesus Christ, he is a very good picture of the style in which one man may help another.II. He had sympathy. Now, sympathy is the mother of help.III. Ebed-melech did not allow difficulty to deter him. Some men can work hard so long as there are no difficulties; opposition to them is like a hill on a jibbing horse; they must

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stop now: they “did not look for this sort of thing, you know.” Just so, the eunuch found it was not easy—it never is—to undo wrong. “A stout heart to a stiff brae,” is common sense as well as right. If you mean to help others, you will have to pull hard against the stream.IV. Ebed-melech teaches us to spare the feelings of those we help. He lowered down the old rags and clouts he had gathered, and bade the prophet put them under his armpits, so as not to have them cut by the ropes. The rope of deliverance should not cut the flesh of those we save. This is not always thought of. We may wound men in helping them, and they may like the remedy less than the disease. We should think of the feelings, as well as the wants of those we help. Shall we not imitate Him of whom it is said, “He will not break the bruised reed”? When we take the rope, let us not forget the old rags as well.V. Among the practical lessons of this story, there is the great truth that one man may set others going. Ebed-melech went to the king for help, and he gave him thirty helpers. In the thirteenth verse, we read, “So they drew up Jeremiah.” How many times this happen! Robert Raikes had no idea how many wheels his would set in motion. Muller of Bristol has many imitators, and thousands of orphans are fed and clothed that he will never know of. If you will only begin, others will follow you. Do not wait for others to start with you; be content to go alone. It was David Livingstone that set Stanley and Cameron to work, and the end of that lonely traveller’s work will be seen when “a highway shall be there, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, and sorrow and sighing shall nee away”; but if Livingstone had waited for others, he would have died, in comfort, it may be, but could not have had a grave in Westminster Abbey, nor have set in motion the plans which are sure to issue in Africa’s deliverance.VI. Let, us learn the value of despised and cast-off things. The prudent chamberlain had seen “under the treasury the old cast clouts, and old rotten rags.” No one else saw any value in them, but he put them to a good use. What a number of things are cast aside, like these old rags! Do you see yonder woman in such dismay? She has been upstairs looking at some old dresses, and finds that the moth has been there before her, and they are useless. Would it not have been better to have given them to her poor relations, or to that widow who has such difficulty to find clothes for her little ones? Have you not old magazines that would gladden the heart of some of those intelligent paupers who never get any lively reading, or save from ennui some convalescent in the hospital? Look and see what you have “under the treasury.” (T. Champness.)

The tenderness of Ebed-melechNegro though he was, Ebed-melech was a gentleman. He is not so bent on delivering the prophet that he cares not how it is done. He will not bruise the prophet’s skin in saving the prophet’s life. These old cast clouts and rotten rags do not present a very savoury picture; but the feeling that prompted their use is both pleasant and thoughtful. Many a good deed is spoilt by the manner of its doing. Some people pride themselves upon their roughness; they think it a sign of manliness. Their idea of manliness wants revision. Do such ever think of the meaning of the very name they claim—gentleman? Do such realise that it is not only manlike, but Godlike, to be gentle! Did not one of the psalmists exclaim, “Thy gentleness hath made me great”? Ebed-melech’s deliverance of the

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prophet from the mire was a great deed, but the tenderness with which it was done makes it many times greater. (The Quiver.)

8 Ebed-Melek went out of the palace and said to him,

GILL, "And Ebedmelech went forth out of the king's house,.... As soon as he heard of the prophet's distress, he immediately went out from his apartments in the king's palace, where he performed his office, and his business chiefly lay, or where he dwelt, to the gate of Benjamin, where the king was; and if he was here for the administration of justice, it was a proper time and place for Ebedmelech to lay the case of Jeremiah before him: and spake to the king; freely, boldly, and intrepidly, in the presence of his nobles: saying; as follows:

JAMISON, "went forth ... and spake — not privately, but in public; a proof of fearless magnanimity.

K&D, "Jer_38:10Then the king commanded the Ethiopian, "Take hence thirty men in thine hand, and

bring up Jeremiah out of the pit before he dies." in thine hand," i.e., under your" ,בי דdirection; cf. Num_31:49. The number thirty has been found too great; and Ewald, Hitzig, and Graf would read שלשה, because the syntax requires the singular איש after and because at that time, when the fighting men had already decreased in ,שלשיםnumber (Jer_38:4), thirty men could not be sent away from a post in danger without difficulty. These two arguments are quite invalid. The syntax does not demand איש; for with the tens (20-90) the noun frequently follows in the plural as well as in the singular, if the number precede; cf. 2Sa_3:20; 2Ki_2:16, etc.; see also Gesenius' Grammar, §120, 2. The other argument is based on arbitrary hypotheses; for the passage neither speaks of fighting men, nor states that they would be taken from a post in danger. Ebedmelech was to take thirty men, not because they would all be required for drawing out the

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prophet, but for making surer work in effecting the deliverance of the prophet, against all possible attempts on the part of the princes or of the populace to prevent them.CALVIN, "It now follows, that Ebed-melech went forth from the palace and came to the king’s tribunal, that he might there plead the cause of the Prophet. It is right to notice this circumstance as well as the former. For if Ebedmelech had met the king accidentally, he might have spoken to him in passing; but as he went forth from the palace, it is clear that he had been meditating on what he was going to do, and that he had not felt only a sudden impulse of compassion: but that when he might have rested quietly in the palace, he came of his own accord to the king to make known his complaint. And further, he did not address the king in a room or in some private corner of the palace, but he spoke to him in the gate, that is, in a public assembly. We hence see that the previous circumstance commends to us the perseverance of this man, for he was not only suddenly moved, but persevered in his holy purpose; and the second circumstance commends to us his magnanimity, for he did not shun ill-will, but openly and boldly spoke for Jeremiah before the people; and he amplified the excellency of the Prophet by bringing an accusation against the princes. He no doubt knew that he was bringing himself into danger, but he exposed his own life that he might aid the Prophet. TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:8 Ebedmelech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying,Ver. 8. Ebedmelech.] Not more the king’s servant (so his name signifieth) than God’s. Joseph of Arimathea was such another, who went boldly to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus. Faith quelleth and killeth distrustful fear.

9 “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city.”

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CLARKE, "My lord the king, these men have done evil - He must have been much in the king’s confidence, and a humane and noble spirited man, thus to have raised his voice against the powerful cabal already mentioned.

There is no more bread in the city - They had defended it to the last extremity; and it appears that bread had been afforded to the prophet according to the king’s commandment, as long as there was any remaining. See Jer_36:21.

GILL, "My lord the king,.... He addresses him as a courtier, with great reverence and submission, and yet with great boldness: these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet; meaning the princes, who might be present, and whom he pointed at, and mentioned by name; which showed great courage and faithfulness, as well as great zeal for, and attachment to, the prophet; to charge after this manner persons of such great authority so publicly, and to the king, whom the king himself stood in fear of: he first brings a general charge against them, that they had done wrong in everything they had done to the prophet; in their angry words to him; in smiting him, and putting him in prison in Jonathan's house; and particularly in their last instance of ill will to him: whom they have cast into the dungeon; he does not say where, or describe the dungeon, because well known to the king, and what a miserable place it was; and tacitly suggests the cruelty and inhumanity of the princes: and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is, for there is no more bread in the city; or very little; there was none to be had but with great difficulty, as Kimchi observes; and therefore though the king had ordered a piece of bread to be given him daily, as long as there was any in the city; yet it being almost all consumed, and the prophet being out or sight, and so out of mind, and altogether disregarded, must be in perishing circumstances, and near death; and must inevitably perish, unless some immediate care be taken of him. It may be rendered, "he will die" (t), &c. or the sense is, bread being exceeding scarce in the city, notwithstanding the king's order, very little was given to Jeremiah, while he was in the court of the prison; so that he was half starved, and was a mere skeleton then, and would have died for hunger there; wherefore it was barbarous in the princes to cast such a man into a dungeon. It may be rendered, "he would have died for hunger in the place where he was, seeing there was no more bread in the city" (u); wherefore, if the princes had let him alone where he was, he would have died through famine; and therefore acted a very wicked part in hastening his death, by throwing him into a dungeon; this is Jarchi's sense, with which Abarbinel agrees.

JAMISON, "die for hunger in the place where he is; for ... no ... bread in ... city — (Compare Jer_37:21). He had heretofore got a piece of bread supplied to him. “Seeing that there is the utmost want of bread in the city, so that even if he were at large, there could no more be regularly supplied to him, much less now in a place where none remember or pity him, so that he is likely to die for hunger.” “No more bread,” that is, no more left of the public store in the city (Jer_37:21); or, all but no bread left anywhere [Maurer].

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CALVIN, "He then said, that the king’s counselors had done wickedly in all the things which they had done against Jeremiah the Prophet, because they had cast him into the well: and he added, There he will die under himself, or as some render it, and rightly, “in his own place.” But the expression is striking, but cannot be fully expressed in our language: for Ebedmelech meant that Jeremiah would die, though no one molested him, though no evil or harm were done to him by another. He will, then, die in his own place, that is, he will die, if left where he is; because he lay, as it has appeared, sunk in mire. And then he said, He will die through famine; for he had been cast into the pit as into a grave. And as scarcity prevailed among the whole people, Jeremiah could not have hoped for any aid; and bread, as we shall hereafter see, could not have been thrown to him. Then Ebedmelech says here first, that Jeremiah had been unworthily treated, because he was God’s Prophet; for he honors him with this title, that he might expose the impiety of the princes; and secondly, he shews how miserably he lay in the pit, because no one could supply him with food, and there was no more bread in the city. It now follows — COKE, "Jeremiah 38:9. And he is like to die for hunger, &c.— Particularly when he would have died by hunger where he was, if bread was wanting in the city. As much as to say, "There was no need for those who desired his death to put him into so filthy and loathsome a place;" since, if he had continued in the court of the prison, he must have died through the famine which threatens the city, if there were no bread. See Houbigant. ELLICOTT, " (9) These men have done evil. . . .—It is noticeable that some MSS. of the LXX., following apparently a different text, represent the Eunuch as assuming that the king himself had given the order, “Thou hast done evil in all that thou hast done.”He is like to die for hunger.—Literally, and he dies . . . painting vividly what would be the certain issue if no help were sent. It lies in the nature of the case that those who had thrown the prophet into the pit were not likely to continue the supply of his daily rations (Jeremiah 37:21), and the scarcity that prevailed in the besieged city made it all but impossible that his friends, even if they could gain access to him, should help him out of their own resources. Ebed-melech had obviously no power to help him without the king’s sanction.TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for [there is] no more bread in the city.Ver. 9. My lord the king, these men have done evil.] What a brave man was this, to oppose so many princes, and so potent that the king himself dared not displease them! It was God’s holy Spirit that put this mettle into him, and gave him the freedom of speech. [Psalms 119:46]

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And he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is.] Or, Who would have died for hunger in the place where he was.For there is no more bread in the city.] Cum panum annona sit pauca et parca. What need he to be doubly murdered?PETT, "Jeremiah 38:9“My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the pit, and he is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.’Once there he explained what had happened. He pointed out the evil that there was in all that the princes had done to the prophet of YHWH, in that they had cast him into the pit where, in view of the famine, he was likely to die of starvation, for who would bother to feed such a prisoner when the whole city was starving and without bread?‘He is likely to die.’ Literally ‘he is dying’. In other words he was as good as dead.

10 Then the king commanded Ebed-Melek the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”

BARNES, "Thirty men - So large a number suggests that Zedekiah expected some resistance. (Some read “three” men.)

CLARKE, "Take from hence thirty men - The king was determined that he should be rescued by force, if the princes opposed.

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GILL, "Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian,.... Being affected with the case of the prophet; and repenting of the leave he had given the princes to do with him as they pleased, gave orders as follows: saying, take from hence thirty men with thee; from the place where the king was, the gate of Benjamin; where very probably at this time was a garrison of soldiers, thirty of which were ordered to be taken; or these were to be taken out of the king's bodyguard, he had here with him. Josephus (w) calls them thirty of the king's servants, such as were about the king's person, or belonged to his household; and so the Syriac version of Jer_38:11 says that Ebedmelech took with him men of the king's household; but why thirty of them, when three or four might be thought sufficient to take up a single man out of a dungeon? Abarbinel thinks the dungeon was very deep, and Jeremiah, ah old man, could not be got out but with great labour and difficulty. Jarchi and Kimchi say, the men were so weakened with the famine, that so many were necessary to draw out one man; but the true reason seems rather to be, that should the princes, whom the king might suspect, or any other, attempt to hinder this order being put in execution, there might be a sufficient force to assist in it, and repel those that might oppose it: and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he die; the king speaks honourably of Jeremiah, giving him his title as a prophet, and expresses great concern for him; and orders them to hasten the taking him up, lest he should die before, which he suggests would give him great concern. JAMISON, "

with thee — Hebrew, “in thine hand,” that is, at “thy disposal” (1Sa_16:2). “From hence,” that is, from the gate of Benjamin where the king was sitting (Jer_38:7).thirty men — not merely to draw up Jeremiah, but to guard Ebed-melech against any opposition on the part of the princes (Jer_38:1-4), in executing the king’s command. Ebed-melech was rewarded for his faith, love, and courage, exhibited at a time when he might well fear the wrath of the princes, to which even the king had to yield (Jer_39:16-18).

CALVIN, "We here see, what I have already said, that; the Prophet’s deliverance was wholly from above. The king, smitten with fear, had lately given over the holy Prophet to the cruelty of his princes; and had confessed that he had no longer any authority: “for it is not the king,” he said, “who now governs you.” As, then, the king had not dared resolutely to contend against his princes:, how was it, that he now ventured to extricate Jeremiah from the pit? We hence see that the king’s mind had been changed; because he was lately so stunned with fear, that he dared not to plead the cause of the holy man; but now he commands the Ethiopian totake him out from the pit It then appears that this was over-ruled by a divine power.But let us hence learn to be courageous, when necessity requires, though there may not be a hope of a favorable issue. Ebedmelech might have thought within himself that his attempt would be in vain, however strenuously he might have pleaded for Jeremiah. He might, then, have thus relinquished that purpose which he had so

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boldly undertaken; for thus they who are over-wise are often led, as it were, into inertness: “What can you effect? thou art but one, and they are many; and then the thing is done. If the king himself has been forced to yield to their fury, and thou being a private individual, with what. confidence can you resist them? and further, a tumult will be raised, and thou wilt perish in it; and in the meantime they will perhaps stone with stones that unhappy man, whom thou seekest to help.” All these things might have occurred to Ebedmelech, and thus he might have desisted. But we see that he rested in confidence on God’s favor. Let us, then, remembering his example, hope beyond hope, when God requires us to do a thing, that is, when faith, the obligation of duty, demands anything from us, and which may be done, if we close our eyes to all obstacles and go on in our work; for events are in God’s hands alone, and they will be such as he pleases. In the meantime it is simply our duty to proceed in our course, though we may think that our labors will be in vain and without any fruit. Ebedmelech happily succeeded, and how? because he performed the part of a pious and upright man. Thus God will extend his hand to us; whatever difficulties may meet us, we shall overcome them all by his power and aid.Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, Take hence thirty men with thee and extricate Jeremiah from the well Ebedmelech might even then have relinquished his undertaking; for he might not have been able with thirty men to overcome so great a power; for all the king’s counselors had united together, and no doubt they had enlisted many others. We thus see that Ebedmelech did not rely on human aid, but that being strengthened by invincible confidence he undertook this office, so that he dared to draw Jeremiah out of the pit. It hence follows — ELLICOTT, "(10) Take from hence thirty men.—The number seems a large one for the purpose, especially when we consider that the men were sent from a post from which they could ill be spared, but the king may have wished to guard against resistance on the part of the princes. Hitzig, however, conjectures that “three men” was the original reading of the Hebrew text.TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:10 Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.Ver. 10. Then the king commanded Ebedmelech.] A sweet providence of God thus to incline the heart of this effeminate, cruel, inconstant, and impious king, to hearken to the motion, and to give order for the prophet’s deliverance from that desperate and deadly danger. A good encouragement also to men to appear in a good cause, and to act vigorously for God, notwithstanding they are alone, and have to encounter with divers difficulties.Take from hence thirty men with thee.] Four or fewer might have done it; but perhaps the princes with their forces might have endeavoured to hinder them, but that they saw them so strong.

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WHEDON, " 10. Thirty men — This great number has been a difficulty to many, and such bold and free critics as Ewald have conjectured an emendation of the text, substituting three for thirty. They support this by the fact that the word for “men” is plural in the original, whereas the ordinary Hebrew usage is to use the singular form of the noun with all numerals above ten.But, a) This rule of Hebrew syntax, though general, is not invariable. There are many instances in which, when the numeral precedes, the plural form of the noun is used. b) And we know too little to object to the number thirty. They were not necessarily fighting men, nor does it follow that so many were actually needed to execute the order; but so many were given to make sure of the execution of the order.PETT. "Jeremiah 38:10‘Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite (Ethiopian/Sudanese), saying, “Take from where you are thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the pit, before he die.”The king responded immediately, something which suggests that it had never been his intention that Jeremiah should die. He commanded Ebed-melech to take a platoon of soldiers (‘ a thirty’) with a view to bringing Jeremiah out of the pit before he should die. The number of soldiers supplied suggests that the king recognised that there might be violent opposition to Jeremiah’s release. Feelings were running high. But he clearly felt the situation important enough to take men away from their defence duties. There was still within him a certain awe of YHWH.

11 So Ebed-Melek took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn-out clothes from there and let them down with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.

BARNES, "Old cast clouts ... - Rags of torn garments and rags of worn-out 50

garments.

CLARKE, "Went into the house of the king - and took thence - The eastern kings had their wardrobes always well furnished; as garments were a usual present to ambassadors, etc. I cannot think that, in the proper acceptation of the words, these were in any part of the king’s house.

Old cast clouts, and old rotten rags - The fact seems to be this: there were several garments that had been used, and would not be used again; and there were others which, through continuing long there, had by insects, etc., been rendered useless. These he took, tied to the cord, let down to the prophet, that he might roll them round the ropes, and place them under his arm-pits, so that in being hauled up he might not suffer injury from the ropes, which in this case must sustain the whole weight of his body.

GILL, "So Ebedmelech took the men with him,.... The thirty men, as the king ordered: as soon as ever he had got the grant, he immediately set about the work, and lost no time to save the prophet's life: and went unto the house of the king under the treasury; from the gate of Benjamin he went to the king's palace, and to a particular place under the treasury; by which "treasury" may be meant the treasury of garments, or the royal wardrobe, under which was a place, where clothes worn out, or cast off, were put: the Septuagint represent it as underground, a cellar under the wardrobe: and took thence old cast clouts, and old rotten rags: the Syriac version has it, such as cattle were wiped and cleaned with: and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah; for it was so deep, that men could not reach to put them into the hands of the prophet; and, had they been thrown in, they might have been scattered about and be out of his reach, who stuck in the mire; or they would have been in all likelihood greatly bedaubed with the mire.

JAMISON, "cast clouts — “torn clothes” [Henderson].rotten rags — “worn-out garments.” God can make the meanest things His instruments of goodness to His people (1Co_1:27-29).under ... armholes — “under the joints of thine hands,” that is, where the fingers join the hand, the clothes being in order that the hands should not be cut by the cords [Maurer].

K&D, "Jer_38:11-13Ebedmelech took the men at his hand, went into the king's house under the treasury, and took thence rags of torn and of worn-out garments, and let them down on ropes to Jeremiah into the pit, and said to him, "Put, I pray thee, the rages of the torn and cast-off clothes under thine arm-pits under the ropes." Jeremiah did so, and then they drew

him out of the pit by the ropes. תחת is a room under the treasury. וי in Jer_38:12 ,ב51

אים ת .to be worn away (of clothes), are rags ,בלה from ,בל סחב (from סחב, to drag, drag about, tear to pieces) are torn pieces of clothing. מלחים, worn-out garments, from ת in Niphal, Isa_51:6, to vanish, dissolve away. The article at ,מלח הסחב is expunged from the Qeri for sake of uniformity, because it is not found with מלחים; but it may as well be allowed to stand as be removed. ת אציל properly the roots of the hands, are ,ידיםnot the knuckles of the hand, but the shoulders of the arms. מתחת under the ,לחבליםropes; i.e., the rags were to serve as pads to the ropes which were to be placed under the arm-pits, to prevent the ropes from cutting the flesh. When Jeremiah had been drawn out in this way from the deep pit of mire, he remained in the court of the prison.

CALVIN, "Here Jeremiah goes on with the history of his deliverance. The courage of Ebedmelech ought ever to be noticed by us, for he went immediately to the holy Prophet. And it is said, that he took from some hidden place old tatters, De vieux haillons , as we call them. It is properly a noun substantive. But if its harshness be displeasing, we may give this rendering, “old tatters which had been dragged, and old tatters which were rotten.” Yet some render the words thus, “Worn out clothes and rotten clothes.” But the former is more properly the meaning; for סחב, sacheb, means to drag, and it may be rendered in French, Vieux haillons trainez, ou, qui avoyent traine Then we have סלחים, salechim, corrupted or marred, usez ; for סלח, salech, means to salt; but it is a verb in Hophal, and in that form it means to corrupt. They were torn or rotten garments, des vieux haillons a demi pourris It is said then that Ebedmelech took these old, torn, and rotten garments, and which had been used. This ought to be carefully noticed; for it appears that Ebed-melech was afraid of the violence of the princes, not so much on his own account, but lest he should be hindered in effecting his purpose.For if he had provided other things, he might have been apprehended; report might have been brought to the princes, who would have immediately assembled and put a stop to his efforts. There is then no doubt but that Ebedmelech, being very confident, prudently considered what might prevent him in his attempt of bringing help to the holy Prophet. Hence it was, that he stealthily took from a hidden place these worn-out and marred garments. This is one thing. Then we see the miserable state of the holy Prophet; he lay half buried in mud, and he was to be drawn out by ropes or cords, and to have these torn and worn-out garments under his arms. And we are afterwards expressly told for what purpose these clothes were sent down to him. ELLICOTT, " (11) Under the treasury . . .—This was obviously what we should call the “lumber-room” of the palace. Nothing could show the acuteness of the prophet’s sufferings more vividly than the precautions which the thoughtful kindness of the Eunuch thus suggested. The pit was so deep that ropes were needed to draw him up, as they had been to let him down, and lest they should cut into the flesh of Jeremiah’s emaciated form, improvised cushions had to be fastened to the ropes,

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that he might rest his arm-pits on them. He was, however, at last rescued, and re-instated in his former position, as a prisoner under the king’s protection.“Clout” in old English was used for a patch of cloth as distinct from the “rags,” which were of linen. So Spenser, “His garments nought but many ragged clouts.”TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:11 So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.Ver. 11. So Ebedmelech took the men with him and went.] The labour of love that this Ethiopian performed to the man of God is particularly and even partly described, for his eternal commendation, and all men’s imitation.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:11‘So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.’Ebed-melech promptly did as he was commanded, and his genuine humanity was demonstrated in that he took steps to make Jeremiah’s release as painless as possible. He went directly to the store-houses under the king’s treasury and obtained from there patches of cloth and linen which could be used by Jeremiah with his emaciated body to protect his armpits when the cords went under his arms. These he let down to Jeremiah in the pit.

12 Ebed-Melek the Cushite said to Jeremiah, “Put these old rags and worn-out clothes under your arms to pad the ropes.” Jeremiah did so,

GILL, "And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah,.... Being come to the dungeon, and at the mouth of it, he addressed him in a very humane and friendly manner, and directed him how to make use of the rags he let down for his ease and benefit:

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put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine arm holes under the cords; the cords were first put under his arm holes to draw him up with, and then these clouts and rags were put under the cords; lest they should cut into his flesh, at least hurt him, and give him pain, the whole weight of his body resting on them; and perhaps these parts had received some hurt when he was let down into the dungeon with cords, when they were not so careful of him; and therefore needed some soft rags the more to be put under them at this time; all which shows what an affection this man had for the prophet and holy tender he was of him: and Jeremiah did so; he put the rags between the cords and his arm holes.CALVIN, "We find the same words here as before, Put now the old tatters, dragged or torn and rotten, (111) under the pits of thy hands underneath the cords. This is an improper mode of speaking in Latin, but not in Hebrew. Then it is, “Put them under thine armpits underneath the cords.” This was to be done, lest the Prophet should receive any hurt; for he was to be drawn up by the cords, and he was fixed in the mud: and this could not have been done without lacerating his skin and injuring his armpits, for that part, we know, is tender. Then Ebedmelech ordered the Prophet to take these old tatters and to put them under the cords, so that he might be drawn up by the men with the least injury. This was the advice of Ebedmeleeh, and Jeremiah did as he was bidden.God thus delivered his Prophet in a wonderful manner from death: but we hence see how miserable was his condition; for the Prophet could not have otherwise escaped than by using these worn-out and rotten tatters and by being drawn up by cords. There is no doubt but that he had thought of the difficulty; for he had been there now some time; and he was not so strong that he could trust to his own arms, and he knew that his hands were not strong enough to hold fast the cords. But he doubtless east all his cares on God and his providence. Though then he does but briefly tell us that he did as he was bidden, he yet has left us to consider how much confidence he had, when he immediately obeyed, and did not decline what he might have justly feared, that he was feeble and weak; nor did he know whether his hands were strong enough to hold the cords, nor how the cords were to be applied to his shoulders. He therefore did what Ebedmelech had told him, for he knew that the advice came from God. It afterwards follows — TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:12 And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now [these] old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.Ver. 12. Put now these cast clouts.] Hence some gather that the prophet was put into this loathsome hole naked, or very ill clad at least. The fathers allegorise this story to set forth the vocaation of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:12‘And Ebed-melech the Cushite (Ethiopian) said to Jeremiah, “Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armholes under the cords.” And Jeremiah did so.’

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He then advised Jeremiah to put the pieces of cloth and linen under his armpits so that they would be protected from the harshness of the ropes, and Jeremiah did as he suggested.

13 and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

GILL, "So they drew up Jeremiah with cords,.... The men that were with Ebedmelech, as many as were necessary; he overlooking, directing, and encouraging: and he took him out of the dungeon; alive, according to the king's orders and design, and in spite of the prophet's enemies: the thing succeeded according to wish; the Lord ordering and prospering every step: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison; from whence he had been taken, and where he was replaced; Ebedmelech having no warrant to set him at entire liberty; nor would it have been prudent to have solicited that, which might too much have exasperated the princes; and besides, here, according to the king's order, bread was to be given him, as long as there was any in the city; so that it was the most fit and proper place for him to remain in; wherefore what Josephus (x) says, that he dismissed him, and set him free, is not true.

JAMISON, "court of ... prison — Ebed-melech prudently put him there to be out of the way of his enemies.CALVIN, "We here see that the Prophet was rescued from death, not however that he might be set at liberty, and sent home, for that would not have been for his benefit, as he would have been taken again by the king’s counselors. Ebedmelech could not, therefore, save his life otherwise than by having him confined in another part of the prison. He could have wished, no doubt, to have him as a guest in his own house: he doubtless wished to do for him more than he did. But his prudence deserves to be commended, that he placed the Prophet again in prison; for otherwise the fury and cruelty of the princes could not have been mitigated. Then Jeremiah

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dwelt in the court of the prison.He was evidently led there by Ebedmelech. If one were to object and say that this was a proof of too much timidity; to this the answer is, that Ebedmelech was not fearful on his own account, but because he saw that he had to do with wild beasts; and he saw that their rage could not otherwise be calmed than by having Jeremiah confined in the prison. Indeed, the whole city was then like a prison, as it is well known; for they were oppressed everywhere with want, and no one could hardly go out of his house. This state of things was then wisely considered by Ebedmelech, for he had not only his own business to attend to, but he also labored to preserve God’s Prophet.When God at any time relieves our miseries, and yet does not wholly free us from them at once, let us bear them patiently, and call to mind this example of Jeremiah. God, indeed, manifested his power in delivering him, and yet it was his will that he should continue in prison: even thus he effects his work by degrees. If then the full splendor of God’s grace does not shine on us, or if our deliverance is not as yet fully granted, let us allow God to proceed by little and little; and the least alleviation ought to be sufficient for comfort, resignation, and patience. It now follows, — TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:13 So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.Ver. 13. So they drew up Jeremiah with cords.] And God was not unrighteous to forget this their work and labour of love. [Hebrews 6:10 Jeremiah 39:17-18]And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.] Manacled and fettered, as some (a) gather from Jeremiah 40:4. NISBET, "A FRIEND IN NEED‘They drew up Jeremiah with cords.’Jeremiah 38:13I. The dungeon.(1) Jeremiah, because he spoke the unpopular truth, though he knew it must give offence, was thrown into a dungeon. It was a deep hole in the ground into which the prisoner was lowered with ropes; the floor of it was mire, and with that simplicity which in the Bible so often embraces a world of misery or horror, it is said that Jeremiah ‘sank in the mire.’ The French had a name for such dungeons which is vivid and significant. They called them ‘oubliettes,’ which means places where people are forgotten. The idea of the oppressor was to put those who offended or gave trouble both out of sight and out of mind, and sometimes, if they did not starve, they lingered on until it was forgotten who they were or why they had been

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imprisoned. Such things are instances not only of ‘man’s inhumanity to man,’ but also of human folly, for to put the truth-speaker out of sight is not to kill the truth, and the truth cannot be forgotten or quenched in darkness. It abides in the mind of God, and if it is not accepted as a guiding light it will come as a consuming fire.(2) If the light of the future had been cast upon the darkness of the dungeon, Jeremiah might have seen the innumerable company of noble spirits in all ages who were committed to a like darkness for the same cause. Among them are John the Baptist, the Apostles James and John and Peter, St. Paul, of the first Christian era, the countless martyrs of the Roman persecutions, such as Bruno and Galileo, for the truth of science, John Bunyan, and even in the nineteenth century, such as Joseph Mazzini. It is evident that if men had been successful in the attempt to put out these God-given luminaries of the dark centuries, they would have put every star of hope or guidance out of their sky, and condemned themselves to a miry dungeon of barbarism and despair. But God is merciful, and frustrates blind human violence; and when the world puts forth all its force against one of His servants, the voice of Jesus is heard through its clamour and calming its storm, ‘Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’II. The rescue.(1) It is a pleasant thing to find that the first to pity Jeremiah’s state was Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian eunuch, a man of a race and a condition which the Jews despised. It is pleasant because it shows that at heart and at their best there is no absolute difference or impassable gulf between the races of mankind. All are capable of pity, love, and kindly service. Race-pride makes one branch of humanity think itself superior to every other, and sceptical of the power even of the Gospel to raise the lowest to the level of the highest; and yet there are countless instances of lowest inhumanity in the superior races and most heroic humanity in those counted inferior. The Chinaman makes a brave martyr for the truth of Christ, the negro servants of Livingstone show an incredible heroism of affection, the women of the South Seas are capable of an angelic pity. One of the earliest Gentile converts was an Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:27). There is an admirable thoughtfulness, one may add, in Ebed-melech’s pity; for the method of lifting the prophet out of the dungeon is designed to save him pain as much as possible (Acts 8:11-12).(2) The king, having released Jeremiah, is eager for a favourable prophecy. Here was a temptation to a man just out of a horrible pit to say the smooth and pleasing word which would gain him favour. But Jeremiah was prepared to undergo the same horrors rather than prophesy falsely, ‘choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.’ He made reasonable conditions, however, for there was no need to throw away his liberty; and, having secured the king’s promise of safety, proceeded inflexibly to repeat the alternative of submission to the Chaldeans at once, or resistance, and a more abject submission later after the hardships and calamity of a siege. Zedekiah was so weak that he could not protect Jeremiah from his nobles except by keeping the more

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important part of the interview a secret. The prophet remained in a milder imprisonment until the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:13‘So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the pit, and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.’Then they drew Jeremiah out of the pit by means of the ropes, and he was reinstated in the prison in the court of the guards. There does not appear to have been any reaction to his release. Perhaps the princes realised that they had exceeded their remit and kept silent.

Zedekiah Questions Jeremiah Again14 Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance to the temple of the Lord. “I am going to ask you something,” the king said to Jeremiah. “Do not hide anything from me.”

BARNES, "The third entry - There was probably a passage from the palace to the temple at this entry, and the meeting would take place in some private chamber close by.

CLARKE, "Into the third entry - A place to enter which two others must be passed through.

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GILL, "Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him,.... When the prophet was taken out of the dungeon, and brought to the court of the prison, of which the king had knowledge, he sent some person or persons to bring him to him, to have some private conversation with him: into the third entry that is in the house of the Lord; what place is meant Jarchi confesses his ignorance of, but conjectures it was the court of the Israelites; the outward court, and the court of the women, being before it. Kimchi rightly takes it to be a place through which they went from the king's house to the house of the Lord; no doubt the same that is called the king's ascent, by which he went up thither, shown to, and admired by, the queen of Sheba, 1Ki_10:5; in which there were three gates or entrances, as Dr. Lightfoot observes (y); the first, the gate of the foundation; the second, the gate behind the guard; and the third, the gate Coponius; and here the king and the prophet had their interview: and the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing, or "a word"; a word of prophecy; or whether there was a word of prophecy from the Lord, concerning him, his people, and city, and what it was; and what would be the event of the present siege, whether it would issue well or ill: hide nothing from me; be it what it will, whether grateful or not; he had been told again and again how things would be; but still he was in hopes that something more favourable and consolatory would come from the Lord to him.

HENRY, "In the foregoing chapter we had the king in close conference with Jeremiah, and here again, though (Jer_38:5) he had given him up into the hands of his enemies; such a struggle there was in the breast of this unhappy prince between his convictions and his corruptions. Observe,

I. The honour that Zedekiah did to the prophet. When he was newly fetched out of the dungeon he sent for him to advise with him privately. He met him in the third entry, or (as the margin reads it) the principal entry, that is in, or leads towards, or adjoins to, the house of the Lord, Jer_38:14. In appointing this place of interview with the prophet perhaps he intended to show a respect and reverence for the house of God, which was proper enough now that he was desiring to hear the word of God. Zedekiah would ask Jeremiah a thing; it should rather be rendered, a word. “I am here asking thee for a word of prediction, of counsel, of comfort, a word from the Lord, Jer_37:17. Whatever word thou has for me hide it not from me; let me know the worst.” He had been told plainly what things would come to in the foregoing chapter, but, like Balaam, he asks again, in hopes to get a more pleasing answer, as if God, who is in one mind, were altogether such a one as himself, who was in many minds.JAMISON, "third entry — The Hebrews in determining the position of places faced

the east, which they termed “that which is in front”; the south was thus called “that which is on the right hand”; the north, “that which is on the left hand”; the west, “that which is behind.” So beginning with the east they might term it the first or principal entry; the south the second entry; the north the “third entry” of the outer or inner court [Maurer]. The third gate of the temple facing the palace; for through it the entrance lay from the palace into the temple (1Ki_10:5, 1Ki_10:12). It was westward (1Ch_26:16, 59

1Ch_26:18; 2Ch_9:11) [Grotius]. But in the future temple it is eastward (Eze_46:1, Eze_46:2, Eze_46:8).

K&D 14-16, "Conversation between the king and the prophet. - Jer_38:14. King Zedekiah was desirous of once more hearing a message of God from the prophet, and forthis object had him brought into the third entrance in the house of the Lord. Nothing further is known about the situation and the nature of this entrance; possibly it led from the palace to the temple, and seems to have been an enclosed space, for the king could carry on a private conversation there with the prophet. The king said to him, "I ask you about a matter, do not conceal anything from me." He meant a message from God regarding the final issue of the siege, cf. Jer_37:7. Jeremiah, knowing the aversion of the king to the truth, replies, Jer_38:15 : "If I tell thee [sc. the word of the Lord], wilt thou not assuredly kill me? And if I were to give thee advice, thou wouldst not listen to me."Jer_38:16. Then the king sware to him secretly, "As Jahveh liveth, who hath made us this soul, I shall certainly not kill thee, nor deliver thee into the hand of these men who seek thy life." את as in Jer_27:8, properly means, "with regard to Him who has ,אשרcreated us." The Qeri expunges את. "These men" are the princes mentioned in Jer_38:1.

CALVIN, "Here is added another narrative, — that King Zedekiah again sent for Jeremiah to come to him in the Temple, that is, in the court of the Temple; for it was not lawful for the king to enter into the Sanctuary, and the court is often called the Temple. But there were, as it is well known, many entrances. The largest gate was towards the east, but there were gates on the other sides. The court also had several parts, separated from each other. Then Zedekiah, that he might speak privately to Jeremiah, came to the third entrance of the court, and there he asked the Prophet faithfully to explain to him what he had received from God.There is no doubt but that Zedekiah in course of time entertained a higher regard for Jeremiah as God’s faithful servant. Yet he was not, as we have said, really attentive to the teaching of the Prophet. Hence the mind of the king was in a dubious state, like those hypocrites, who, having some seed of God’s fear remaining in them, fluctuate and continually change, and have nothing solid and fixed. They dare not, indeed, to despise either God or his servants; nay, they acknowledge that they are under God’s authority, and that his word is not evanescent; and yet they make evasions as much as they can, and seek to change, as it were, the nature of God. Such was the character of Zedekiah. For he was not one of those who grossly and openly despise God, as we see at this day, the world being full of Epicureans, who regard religion as a fable. Such, then, was not Zedekiah, but he retained some fear of God; nay, he even shewed regard for the Prophet; and yet he was unwilling to submit to God, and to follow the counsels of the Prophet. He was, therefore, suspended, as it were, between two opinions. But it is probable that he entertained some hope, because he had saved the life of Jeremiah. he might, then, have thought that God was pacified, or that he would remit in some degree his severity, as

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hypocrites always flatter themselves. For if they do the least thing, they think that they merit some favor, I know not what, at God’s hand. Hence Zedekiah, when he had relieved the holy Prophet, and fed him during the greatest scarcity, thought that this service was acceptable to God; and it was in part acceptable; but he was mistaken in thinking this to be a kind of expiation. Hence then it was that he sent for the Prophet; he expected some favorable answer, even that God’s wrath was pacified, or at least mitigated. But we must defer the rest till to-morrow. COFFMAN, "Verse 14PRIVATE MEETING OF ZEDEKIAH AND JEREMIAH"Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of Jehovah: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me. Then Jeremiah said, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me. So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, as Jehovah liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.""The third entry into the house of Jehovah ..." (Jeremiah 38:14). Nothing is definitely known about this entry into the temple. "It was probably an entry from the palace into the temple; and it must have been a private place, else it would not have been chosen for this interview."[13]"As Jehovah liveth, that made us this soul ..." (Jeremiah 38:16). "This very unusual addition to the formula of a oath was no doubt intended to strengthen it ... For the usual formula, see 1 Samuel 20:3; 25:16."[14] By his acknowledgment here that God had made his soul, Zedekiah also implied his belief that God continued to have power over it.ELLICOTT, "(14) The third entry that is in the house of the Lord.—In 2 Kings 16:18 we read of” the king’s entry without,” an outside entrance, and of “a covert,” or covered gallery, both leading from the palace to the Temple. The passage now mentioned (the name does not occur elsewhere) was probably distinct from both these, leading from the lower city, and may therefore have been chosen by Zedekiah as a more suitable place for a private interview with the prophet. It seems probable from 2 Kings 23:11, that there was a chamber for the chief Eunuch, or chamberlain of the king’s household, and if, it may have been arranged by Ebed-melech that the meeting should take place there. As in Jeremiah 37:17, the king has still a secret respect for Jeremiah’s mission, and, it may be, guided now by the Eunuch’s better counsels, hankers after a word of the Lord from him. Will the prophet, after what has passed, tell him the whole truth?TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:14 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that [is] in the house of the LORD: and the

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king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.Ver. 14. Then Zedekiah … took Jeremiah into the third entry.] Which was right over against the king’s house. This wretched king was so overawed by his counsellors that he dared not advise with God’s prophet in their presence, or with their privity.WHEDON, " JEREMIAH’S SUBSEQUENT CONFERENCE WITH THE KING, Jeremiah 38:14-28.14. Then Zedekiah, etc. — The imbecile and helpless king oscillated betwixt the prophet and the princes. The overshadowing peril and his own sense of helplessness forbade him to be at rest.Third entry — Nothing is known of this passage way, but Keil and others conjecture that it may have been an enclosed space leading from the palace to the temple. Hence it might be a convenient place for a private interview.PETT, "Verses 14-28Zedekiah Once Again Consults Jeremiah And Keeps Him Safely In The Court Of The Guard Until Jerusalem Is Taken (Jeremiah 38:14-28).This was to be Zedekiah’s last consultation with Jeremiah. During it he was offered a lifeline if he was willing to obey YHWH and surrender to the Babylonians. But there were huge pressures on him not to do so from his band of ‘princes’ who were firmly against such a surrender. We must presume that they still hoped that Egypt would come to their aid. And the consequence was that he refused to obey YHWH, with the result that in the end Jerusalem suffered for his disobedience. It was taken, and burned and turned into a ruin. Such is often the case if we listen to the voice of men rather than responding to the voice of God.Jeremiah 38:14‘Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet to him into the third entry that is in the house of YHWH, and the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Do not hide anything from me.”Zedekiah was clearly torn in his mind about what he should do, and he wanted assurance from YHWH that at least YHWH was on his side. Thus he hoped that perhaps YHWH’s message though Jeremiah may have changed. That is presumably why he had him brought to him to a private place in the Temple where he may well have been praying. But prayer is of little value if we are walking in disobedience towards God..‘The third entry that is in the house of YHWH’ was presumably an easily

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recognisable spot and may well have been restricted to the king and the royal family, for it would appear that he chose it so that he could meet Jeremiah privately. There was probably a private room in the gateway, suitable for Zedekiah’s purpose. There the king informed Jeremiah that he had something to ask him, and that he wanted him to be totally honest when giving him an answer. We are never in fact told what he wanted to ask him, but in all probability it was as to the options open to him from YHWH’s point of view.

15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I give you an answer, will you not kill me? Even if I did give you counsel, you would not listen to me.”

BARNES, "Wilt thou not hearken ...! - Rather, Thou wilt not hearken.GILL, "Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah,.... Here follows the prophets answer, in which he tacitly desires to be excused saying any thing upon this head, since it might be attended with danger to himself, and be of no service to the king; and therefore prudently thought fit to come into some agreement with the king, to secure himself, if he insisted upon it: if I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? this he might fear, from past experience of the king's conduct; for, though he might not slay him with his own hands, or give orders to others to do it; yet he might deliver him up to the will and mercy of his princes, as he had done before; not that the prophet was afraid to die, or was deterred through fear of death from delivering the word of the Lord, and doing his work; but he thought it proper to make use of prudent means to preserve his life; besides, he had no express order from the Lord to say anything concerning this matter at this time: and if give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken to me? or, "thou wilt not hearken to me" (z); so the Targum, Syriac, and Vulgate Latin versions; and therefore it was to no purpose to give him any advice; from all this the king might easily understand the prophet had nothing to say that would be agreeable to him; however, he was very desirous to know what it was, and therefore promises indemnity and security, as follows:

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HENRY 15-19, "The bargain that Jeremiah made with him before he would give him his advice, Jer_38:15. He would stipulate, 1. For his own safety. Zedekiah would have him deal faithfully with him: “And if I do,” says Jeremiah, “wilt thou not put me to death? I am afraid thou wilt” (so some take it); “what else can I expect when thou art led blindfold by the princes?” Not that Jeremiah was backward to seal the doctrine he preached with his blood, when he was called to do so; but, in doing our duty, we ought to use all lawful means for our own preservation; even the apostles of Christ did so. 2. He would answer for the success of his advice, being no less concerned for Zedekiah's welfare than for his own. He is willing to give him wholesome advice, and does not upbraid him with his unkindness in suffering him to be put into the dungeon, nor bid him go and consult with his princes, whose judgments he had such a value for. Ministers must with meekness instruct even those that oppose themselves, and render good for evil. He is desirous that he should hear counsel and receive instruction: “Wilt thou not hearken unto me? Surely thou wilt; I am in hopes to find thee pliable at last, and now in this thy day willing to know the things that belong to thy peace.” Note, Then, and then only, there is hope of sinners, when they are willing to hearken to good counsel. Some read it as spoken despairingly: “If I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me; I have reason to fear thou wilt not, and then I might as well keep my counsel to myself.” Note, Ministers have little heart to speak to those who have long and often turned a deaf ear to them. Now, as to this latter concern of Jeremiah's, Zedekiah makes him no answer, will not promise to hearken to his advice: though he desires to know what is the mind of God, yet he will reserve himself a liberty, when he does know it, to do as he things fit; as if it were the prerogative of a prince not to have his ruin prevented by good counsel. But, as to the prophet's safety, he promises him, upon the word of a king, and confirms his promise with an oath, that, whatever he should say to him, no advantage should be taken against him for it: I will neither put thee to death nor deliver thee into the hands of those that will, Jer_38:16. This, he thought, was a mighty favour, and yet Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, when Daniel read their doom, not only protected him, but preferred and rewarded him, Dan_2:48; Dan_2:29. Zedekiah's oath on this occasion is solemn, and very observable: “As the Lord liveth, who made us this soul, who gave me my life and thee thine, I dare not take away thy life unjustly, knowing that then I should forfeit my own to him that is the Lord of life.” Note, God is the Father of spirits; souls are his workmanship, and they are more fearfully and wonderfully made than bodies are. The soul both of the greatest prince and of the poorest prisoner is of God's making. He fashioneth their hearts alike easily. In all our appeals to God, and in all our dealings both with ourselves and others, we ought to consider this, that the living God made us these souls.

III. The good advice that Jeremiah gave him, with good reasons why he should take it, not from any prudence or politics of his own, but in the name of the Lord, the God of hosts and God of Israel. Not as a statesman, but as a prophet, he advises him by all means to surrender himself and his city to the king of Babylon's princes: “Go forth to them, and make the best terms thou canst with them,” Jer_38:17. This was the advice he had given to the people (Jer_38:2, and before, Jer_21:9), to submit to divine judgments, and not think of contending with them. Note, In dealing with God, that which is good counsel to the meanest is so to the greatest, for there is no respect of persons with him. To persuade him to take this counsel, he sets before him good and evil, life and death. 1. If he will tamely yield, he shall save his children from the sword and Jerusalem from the flames. The white flag is yet hung out; if he will be acknowledge God's justice, he shall experience his mercy: The city shall not be burnt, and thou shalt live and thy house. But, 64

2. If he will obstinately stand it out, it will be the ruin both of his house and Jerusalem (Jer_38:18); for when God judges he will overcome. This is the case of sinners with God; let them humbly submit to his grace and government and they shall live; let them take hold on his strength, that they may make peace, and they shall make peace; but, if they harden their hearts against his proposals, it will certainly be to their destruction: they must either bend or break.IV. The objection which Zedekiah made against the prophet's advice, Jer_38:19. Jeremiah spoke to him by prophecy, in the name of God, and therefore if he had had a due regard to the divine authority, wisdom, and goodness, as soon as he understood what the mind of God was he would immediately have acquiesced in it and resolved to observe it, without disputing; but, as if it had been the dictate only of Jeremiah's prudence, he advances against it some prudential considerations of his own: but human wisdom is folly when it contradicts the divine counsel. All he suggests is, “I am afraid,not of the Chaldeans; their princes are men of honour, but of the Jews, that have already gone over to the Chaldeans; when they see me follow them, and who had so much opposed their going, they will laugh at me, and say, Hast thou also become weak as water?” Isa_14:10. Now, 1. It was not at all likely that he should be thus exposed and ridiculed, that the Chaldeans should so far gratify the Jews, or trample upon him, as to deliver him into their hands; nor that the Jews, who were themselves captives, should be in such a gay humour as to make a jest of the misery of their prince. Note, We often frighten ourselves from our duty by foolish, causeless, groundless, fears, that are merely the creatures of our own fancy and imagination. 2. If he should be taunted at a little by the Jews, could he not despise it and make light of it? What harm would it do him? Note, Those have very weak and fretful spirits indeed that cannot bear to be laughed at for that which is both their duty and their interest. 3. Though it had been really the greatest personal mischief that he could imagine it to be, yet he ought to have ventured it, in obedience to God, and for the preservation of his family and city. He thought it would be looked upon as a piece of cowardice to surrender; whereas it would be really an instance of true courage cheerfully to bear a less evil, the mocking of the Jews, for the avoiding of a greater, the ruin of his family and kingdom.JAMISON, "wilt thou not hearken unto me — Zedekiah does not answer this

last query; the former one he replies to in Jer_38:16. Rather translate, “Thou wilt not hearken to me.” Jeremiah judges so from the past conduct of the king. Compare Jer_38:17 with Jer_38:19.CALVIN, "THE Prophet seems here to have acted not very discreetly; for when he ought of his own accord to have announced to the king the destruction of the city, being asked he refused to answer, or at least he took care of his life, and secured himself from danger before he littered a word. And the Prophets, we know, disregarding their own life, ought to have preferred to it the commands of God, as we find was often the case with Jeremiah, who frequently at the risk of his life proclaimed prophecies calculated to rouse the hatred of all the people, and to create the greatest danger to himself. It seems, then, that he had made no good progress, since he now fails, as it were, in this hazardous act of his vocation, and dares not to expose himself to danger.

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But it ought to be observed, that the Prophets had not always an express command to speak. For had God bidden Jeremiah to declare what we shall hereafter meet with, he would not have evaded the question; for he had been so trained up for a long time, that he feared not for himself so as to turn aside from the straight course of his office. That he now, then, seems to draw back, this he did because God had not as yet commanded him to explain to the king what we shall presently see. For he would have done this without benefit: and he had often admonished the king, and had seen that his counsel was despised. No wonder, then, that he was unwilling to endanger his life without any prospect of doing good. If any one brings this objection, that it is then lawful for us to do the same; to this I answer, that we are not thoughtlessly to cast pearls before swine; but until we try every means, we ought to hope for the best, and therefore to act confidently. But Jeremiah had fully performed his duty: for the king could not have pleaded mistake or ignorance, since the Prophet had so often testified that there was no other remedy for the evil but to pass over to the Chaldeans.As then the Prophet had so often warned the king, he might now be silent, and thus excuse himself, “Thou wilt kill me, and at the same timethou wilt not believe me, or, thou wilt not obey, if I give thee counsel.” These two clauses ought to be read together; for if Jeremiah had seen that there was a prospect of doing good, he would doubtless have offered his life a sacrifice. But as he saw that his doe-trine would be useless, and that his life was in danger, he did not think it right rashly to expose his life, when he could hope for no benefit. The Prophet then did not regard only his own danger, but was also unwilling to expose heavenly truth to scorn, for it had often been already despised. He then did not answer the king’s question, because he was convinced that he would be disobedient, as he had ever been up to that very time. It follows — COKE, "Jeremiah 38:15. If I declare it unto thee, &c.— The prophet had so often experienced the unsteadiness of the king's temper, his backwardness to follow good counsel, and his want of courage to support those who dared to give him proper advice, that he might very reasonably determine not to venture his life to serve a man who was in some measure incapable of being directed: and, although God had shewn the prophet what would be the effect of this advice if it were followed, yet it does not appear that he had commanded him to make it known to Zedekiah. See Lowth. Instead of Wilt thou not hearken? Houbigant reads, Thou wilt not hearken. ELLICOTT, "(15) Wilt thou not surely put me to death?—The prophet obviously speaks as if he believed the king to have sanctioned the severe measures that had been taken against him, and having no other “word of the Lord” to speak than that which he had spoken before, fears to provoke his wrath. The latter part of the sentence is better taken with the LXX., Vulg., and Luther, “thou wilt not hearken unto me “; or the form of the question altered so as to imply that answer.TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:15 Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare [it] unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not

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hearken unto me?Ver. 15. If I declare it unto thee.] It is for the sins of a people that a hypocrite reigneth over them. [Job 34:30] Such a one was Zedekiah; and the prophet here freely reproveth him for his hypocrisy.And if I give thee counsel, will thou not hearken?] Or, And though I advise thee, thou wilt not hearken to me. Thou art set, and hast made thy conclusion beforehand.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:15‘Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me.”But Jeremiah pointed out that this put him in an invidious position, for if he told him the truth he would have him put to death, and if he gave him advice it would not be listened to. What then was the point of his speaking?

16 But King Zedekiah swore this oath secretly to Jeremiah: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has given us breath, I will neither kill you nor hand you over to those who want to kill you.”

BARNES, "That made us this soul - This very unusual addition to the formula of an oath 1Sa_20:3 was intended to strengthen it. By acknowledging that his soul was God’s workmanship Zedekiah also implied his belief in God’s power over it.

CLARKE, "As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul - He is the living God, and he is the Author of that life which each of us possesses; and as sure as he lives, and we live by him, I will not put thee to death, nor give thee into the hands of those men who seek thy life. A very solemn oath; and the first instance on record of the profane

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custom of swearing by the soul.

GILL, "So Zedekiah the king swore secretly unto Jeremiah,.... The king not only gave the prophet his word, but also annexed to it his oath, that his life should be in no danger, either from him or his princes; this oath was made secretly, both for the honour of the king, he swearing to a subject, and that it might not be known by the princes, and for fear of them: saying, as the Lord liveth, that made us this soul; or "these souls", as the Targum: here a superfluous word, את, is used; which, as the Jews observe, is one of the eight words which are written, but not read: he swears by the living God, by whom only men should swear, whenever it is necessary; this is the proper form of an oath; the appeal is to be made to the eternal God, that knows all things, the Father of spirits, the Maker of souls, and giver of the lives of all men, and who can take them away when he pleases. The sense is, may the living God, who has made my soul and yours, and given life to us both, may he take away my soul, my life, from me, if ever I make any attempt upon yours; I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of those that seek thy life; he not only promises and swears to it, that he would not take awake his life with his own hands, or give orders to take it away; but he would not deliver him into the hands of his princes, who he knew were implacable enemies, and sought all opportunities and advantages against him; but then he makes no promise that he will take any counsel or advice that should be given him; as to this, he would lay himself under no obligation to observe, resolving to take his own way; if he liked it, to follow it; if not, to reject it; he would not be bound by it.

JAMISON, "Lord ... made us this soul — (Isa_57:16). Implying, “may my life (soul) be forfeited if I deceive thee” [Calvin].CALVIN, "The king, desirous of having a new revelation, promised safety to the Prophet by an oath. He then swore that he would not take revenge, though he might be displeased with the Prophet’s answer he might indeed have conjectured, though Jeremiah had not expressly said anything, that the answer would be unfavorable, and by no means agreeable to his wishes. For if some pleasant and joyful oracle had been given to the Prophet, he would not have made a preface respecting his own danger, and the wrath of the king, and also respecting his obstinacy. Zedekiah then could have concluded, that nothing but what was sad could be expected. For this reason he made an oath, that whatever might be the answer, he would not be so offended as to cause any harm to the Prophet.He said, I will not kill thee, nor deliver thee into the hand of those who seek thy life, that is, who are enemies to thy life: for to seek life is the same thing as to pursue man to death. It is a way of speaking that often occurs, especially in the Psalms. (Psalms 38:12; Psalms 40:14.) Then he refers to the mortal enemies of Jeremiah: and he promises at the same time that he would, with undisturbed mind, receive

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whatever he might hear from the Prophet.Let us notice the form of the oath, Live does Jehovah, who made for us this soul He first made an oath by the life of God, that is, by the immortal God. The word חי, chi, when applied to God, denotes a life different from what is in men or in brute animals; for men live by the will of another, that is, while God gives them life. It belongs then to God alone to live, for we do not live, nor move, nor have any being but in him, as Paul says, in Acts 17:28; and hence he teaches us in another place, that God alone is immortal. (1 Timothy 6:16) At the same time comprehended in this word is everything that peculiarly belongs to God; for God does not live to enjoy ease and indulge in idleness, but to govern the universe, to exercise his power throughout heaven and earth, to judge men, to render to every one his own just reward. Then life in God is not an idle life, as ungodly men imagine, but includes his infinite power, justice, wisdom, and all that peculiarly belongs to him. Whenever then we speak of the life of God, let us know that we do not live but through him, and also that he does not sit idly and carelessly in heaven, but that he governs the whole world, and is the judge of men.According to this meaning, then, Zedekiah said, Live does Jehovah, and then he added, who made for us this soul. He expresses more clearly what I have already stated, and it is the same as though he had offered his own life before God as a pledge. He then prayed for the punishment of perjury on himself; for when he made an oath by God, the giver of life, it was the same as though he had said, “Let my life be forfeited, if I deceive thee, or turn false.” We hence see what is the end of an oath, even that God’s sacred name may be for us a pledge, that our word may be relied on. It hence follows, that God’s name, whenever we swear, cannot be taken with impunity: for we expose our life to his judgement, that he may revenge the wrong done to him; for his name, as it is sufficiently known, is profaned by perjuries. It now follows — ELLICOTT, " (16) As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul.—The formula of the oath was obviously intended to be one of unusual solemnity; more so even than the simpler form of “The Lord liveth” (Jeremiah 16:14-15). The king swears by Jehovah as the living God, author and giver of his own life. The two-fold promise shows that the king felt the implied reproof of Jeremiah’s question. He separates himself from those who sought the prophet’s life, and declares that for the future he will not give them even the sanction of acquiescence. It is characteristic of his weakness that even now the oath is given secretly.TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:16 So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, [As] the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.Ver. 16. So the king Zedekiah sware secretly unto Jeremiah.] But what credit was to be given to his oath, who was notoriously known to be a perjured person, as having broken his oath of fidelity to Nebuchadnezzar?

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As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul.] Hence the truth of that assertion is cleared up unto us, that men’s souls drop not down from heaven, nor are propagated by their parents, but are created by God, and infused into their bodies.I will not put thee to death, neither will I, &c.] The former part of the prophet’s condition he sweareth to perform, but saith nothing to the latter, as having no such liking to it. So many come today to hear, who resolve to practise only so far as they see good.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:16‘So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As YHWH lives, who made us this soul, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”The king then swore to Jeremiah secretly man to man that no matter what he said to him he would not have him put to death, nor would he again hand him over to the princes who were seeking Jeremiah’s life.

17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down; you and your family will live.

CLARKE, "Wilt assuredly go - On the king’s obedience to the advice of the prophet the safety of the city depended.

Unto the king of Babylon’s princes - The generals of the army then returning to the siege from the defeat of the Egyptians; for Nebuchadnezzar himself was then at Riblah, in Syria, Jer_39:5, Jer_39:6.

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GILL, "Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah,.... Being thus indemnified and secured by the king's word and oath, he proceeds freely to lay before the king the whole matter as from the Lord: thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; the prophet does not give the following advice in his own name, but in the name of the eternal Jehovah, the Lord of armies above and below, and who had a special regard to the people of Israel, and their welfare; and therefore it became the king to show the more regard unto it: if thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes; the generals of his army, whose names are mentioned, Jer_39:3; the king not being with his army at this time, but at Riblah, Jer_39:5; the meaning is, if he would open the gates of Jerusalem, and go forth from thence to the Chaldean army, and surrender himself and the city into the hands of the princes in it, and general officers of it: then thy soul shall live; in thy body, and not be separated from it; or live comfortably, in peace and safety, though not in so much splendour and glory as he had done: and this city shall not be burned with fire; as had been threatened; and as the Chaldeans would be provoked to do, should it hold out to the last extremity; but should preserve it upon a surrender: and thou shall live, and thine house; not only himself, but his wives and children, and servants.

JAMISON, "princes — (Jer_39:3). He does not say “to the king himself,” for he was at Riblah, in Hamath (Jer_39:5; 2Ki_25:6). “If thou go forth” (namely, to surrender; 2Ki_24:12; Isa_36:16), God foreknows future conditional contingencies, and ordains not only the end, but also the means to the end.

K&D, "After this solemn asseveration of the king, Jeremiah said to him, "Thus saith Jahveh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt assuredly go out to the princes of the king of Babylon [i.e., wilt surrender thyself to them, cf. 2Ki_18:31; 2Ki_24:12], then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and thou and thy house shall live. But if thou dost not go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, then this city will be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand." The word of God is the same that Jeremiah had already repeatedly announced to the king, cf. Jer_34:2-5; Jer_32:4; Jer_21:4-10. The princes (chiefs, generals) of the king of Babylon are named, because they commanded the besieging army (Jer_39:3, Jer_39:13); Nebuchadnezzar himself had his headquarters at Riblah, Jer_39:5.

CALVIN, "A question may be raised here, Whether God had again bidden his Prophet to repeat what he had so often spoken in vain? To this we cannot say anything certain, except that the probability is, that the Prophet did not open his

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mouth without being guided by the Holy Spirit. For though he had not received any new command, yet the Spirit of God influenced him, and ruled his tongue as well as his heart. We shall indeed presently find, that what was nigh at hand had been revealed to him; not what he had before, but it was added as a new confirmation of former doctrine. But this is only a probable conjecture; let then every one take his own view of the question.That he might now gain credit to his answer, he prefaced it by saying, that he did not speak except from God’s mouth. He had often declared this, having testified that what he said was made known to him by God. But it is not now known whether he had been bidden to repeat the same things; though it is certain that he did not make a wrong use of God’s name, nor did he, without authority, assert that it was God’s word. The Spirit, therefore, as I have said, was his guide and ruler, though we may grant that he did not receive any divine command.He calls God, the God of hosts, and the God of Israel. By the first title he denotes the omnipotence of God; and by the second, the covenant which he had made with the Jews. He then did set forth the immeasurable power of God, that he might make Zedekiah to fear; for hypocrites, though they are constrained to dread God’s name, yet afterwards do, in a manner, become hardened: it is therefore necessary to rouse them, as the Prophet did here. He then touched on the impiety of Zedekiah; for he not only professed himself to be one of God’s elect people, but he was also the king and head; he ruled over the heritage of the Lord. And yet he did not believe any of the prophecies. There is therefore implied a reprobation, when the Prophet says, the God of IsraelA mitigation of punishment is added, provided Zedekiah willingly put his neck under the yoke. And it was no common mercy from God, that he could yet escape extreme punishment; for he was unworthy to be regarded by God, since for some years he had not attended to what he had heard from the mouth of Jeremiah, that he was to surrender himself, his people, and the city to the Chaldeans. he had refused, nay, he had been refractory and obstinate against God. We hence see, that he was unworthy of any alleviation; and yet God was still ready to forgive him, as to his life, provided he passed over, of his own accord, to the Chal-deans. And thus he was made more inexcusable, inasmuch as when he heard that God would be propitious if he submitted to due punishment, he was still unwilling to obey, as afterwards we shall see. And thus we see that Jeremiah had not said without reason, “If I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hear nor obey me;” for the event proved this. This is one thing. Then he said, Thou shalt live; and in the first place, he said, Thy soul shall live; and then, This city shall not be burned, and thou shalt live; and he repeated the words, Thou shalt live, thou and thy house Now follows the threatening — COFFMAN, "Verse 17JEREMIAH'S MESSAGE TO ZEDEKIAH

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"Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and his city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thy house. But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen away to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me. But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of Jehovah, in that which I speak unto thee: so it shall be with thee, and thy soul shall live. But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that Jehovah hath showed me: Behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and these women shall say, Thy familiar friends have set thee on, and have prevailed over thee: now that thy feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back. And they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire."Significantly, the message of Jeremiah to the king in this circumstance was exactly the same as it was given in Jeremiah 21:8-10.Why did Zedekiah not heed the prophetic warning of Jeremiah? He feared the taunting mockery of the Jews who had already defected to Babylon; but Jeremiah revealed here that if he did not heed God's Word, he would be even more severely taunted by the members of his household, his extensive harem being mentioned here.One of the reasons why Zedekiah refused to believe Jeremiah might have been the fact that Ezekiel had prophesied that Zedekiah should never see Babylon, Josephus has the following. "Zedekiah did not believe their prophecies for the following reasons: (1) it happened that Ezekiel and Jeremiah agreed with one another in what they had said in all other things, that the city should be taken, and that Zedekiah himself should be taken captive; but Ezekiel disagreed with Jeremiah, and said that Zedekiah should not see Babylon, while Jeremiah said to him, that the king of Babylon should carry him away thither in bonds (Ezekiel 12:13)."[15]Thus, Zedekiah was only another sinner who fancied that he had found a contradiction in God's Word! Well, we know what happened. He went to Babylon just like the prophets said, but he never saw the place because Nebuchadnezzar slew his sons before him and then put out his eyes! This wicked king was neither the first nor the last to make the same mistake.Long before Zedekiah, the wicked Ahab also believed that he had found a

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contradiction in God's Word. Elijah the Tishbite prophesied to Ahab that in the same place where the dogs had licked up the blood of Naboth, namely the vineyard of Naboth where the pool of Samaria was located, and in which the harlots bathed themselves, there in that very place, the dogs would lick up the blood of Ahab. Three years later, another prophet of God, Micaiah, prophesied that Ahab would fall in battle at Ramoth-Gilead. (See 1 Kings 21:19,22:20-37). A clear contradiction, right? So Ahab went on up to Ramoth Gilead, was struck by a random arrow, bled all day, fell at Ramoth-Gilead; and then the soldiers took the blood-soaked chariot to the old site of Naboth's vineyard and washed it out by the pool of Siloam where the harlots bathed; and the dogs licked up Ahab's blood in the very place where he had murdered Naboth, just like the prophet had said.Today, when sinners excuse themselves for not heeding the Word of God on the grounds that they think the Bible contradicts itself, they are doomed to the same kind of disappointment.This picture of the transfer of Zedekiah's harem was a prophecy of the fall of Jerusalem; because, "In those times, a conquering king customarily took over the harem of a defeated monarch."[16]ELLICOTT, "(17) If thou wilt assuredly go forth.—Literally, If going thou wilt go, the Hebrew idiom of emphasis. The prophet places before the king the alternative of surrender and safety, resistance and destruction, and leaves him to make his choice. The princes of the king of Babylon were those in command of the army by which Jerusalem was invested. The king himself was at Riblah, on the Orontes, in Northern Syria (Jeremiah 39:5).TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:17 Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:Ver. 17. If thou wilt assuredly go forth.] Jeremiah was semper idem, one and the same still; no changeling at all, but a faithful and constant preacher of God’s Word.WHEDON, "17. King of Babylon’s princes — This language suggests that the king may not himself have been present with the army at this time. As intimated in Jeremiah 39:5, and 2 Kings 25:6, he was probably at this time at Riblah, and hence we have here a minute and apparently altogether undesigned coincidence, but one which stamps on the whole the image of verisimilitude.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:17-18‘Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah,“Thus says YHWH, the God of hosts, the God of Israel.

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“If you will go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes,Then your soul will live,And this city will not be burned with fire,And you will live, and your house.”But if you will not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes,Then will this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans,And they will burn it with fire,And you will not escape out of their hand.”As a consequence of Zedekiah’s promise Jeremiah reiterated what had previously been said. The choice for Zedekiah was clear. If he surrendered to the Babylonians all would be well. If he did not, then disaster awaited both Zedekiah and Jerusalem.It would seem quite possible that this interview was a consequence of an offer having come from Nebuchadnezzar offering surrender terms, for only such an offer would explain why options were still open. Normally a city that had resisted this long would be automatically doomed. It may therefore be that Nebuchadnezzar was aware of pressures elsewhere and, wanting to bring the siege to a rapid end, had offered favourable terms. And it may have been partly this that was encouraging the princes to hope for his withdrawal without having taken the city.Looking at the carefully constructed parallels ‘your soul’ may well be referring to Jerusalem as being the king’s very soul. Thus it is stressing that YHWH’s offer would result in life both for Jerusalem and for the royal house.

18 But if you will not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be given into the hands of the Babylonians and they will burn it down; you yourself will not escape from them.’”75

GILL, "But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes,.... And surrender to them: then shall this city be given into the hands of the Chaldeans; if not willingly delivered up by the king of Judah, it shall be forcibly taken by the king of Babylon's army, through the permission of God; with respect to whom it is said to be given unto them, even by him who has the disposing of cities and kingdoms: and they shall burn it with fire; as it had been often foretold it should, and as it accordingly was, Jer_39:8; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand; though he might hope he should, and would attempt to do it, yet should be taken; and though he should not be slain, yet should never regain his liberty, or get out of their hands, when once in them; see Jer_52:7.CALVIN, "The Prophet gave to the king the hope of pardon; not that he promised impunity, but that the king might at least hope that God would be merciful to him, if he anticipated his extreme vengeance. But as hypocrites are not easily moved when God allures them by the sweetness of his promises, hence a threatening is added, “Except thou deliverest thyself up,” says the Prophet, “to the. Chaldeans, thou shalt not escape, and the city shall be taken and burnt by the Chaldeans.”Zedekiah might have had hope in part, and thus have found the mercy which God offered to him. As he had profited nothing in this respect, it was necessary, in another way, to arouse him, by setting before him the destruction of the city, and his own death. But he was not prevailed upon either by fear or by hope, to obey the advice of the Prophet. We hence see, that though he did not avowedly despise God, he was yet neither cold nor hot, but wished to be wholly spared. Hence then it was, that he rejected the favor offered to him by the Prophet. However his excuse follows — TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.Ver. 18. But if thou wilt not go forth.] See Jeremiah 32:39. Thus Zedekiah hath it both ways, that it may abide by him; but he was uncounselable and irreclaimable.

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19 King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have gone over to the Babylonians, for the Babylonians may hand me over to them and they will mistreat me.”

BARNES, "The Jews that are fallen to the Chaldaeans - These deserters probably formed a numerous party, and now would be the more indignant with Zedekiah for having rejected their original advice to submit.

CLARKE, "They mock me - Insult me, and exhibit me in triumph.

GILL, "And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah,.... In answer to this advice he gave him, persuading him to give up himself and the city into the hands of the Chaldeans: I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans; who did go out of the city, and surrendered to the Chaldeans, whom Zedekiah had cruelly used, or severely threatened: lest they deliver me into their hands, and they mock me; that is, lest the Chaldeans should deliver him into the hands of the Jews, and they should jeer and scoff at him, for doing the same thing he had forbidden them on the severest penalty; or lest they should put him to death in the most revengeful and contemptuous manner, as Kimchi's note is: but all this was either a mere excuse, or showed great weakness and pusillanimity, and was fearing where no fear was; for, on the one hand, it was not reasonable to think that the Chaldeans, when they had got such a prize as the king of the Jews, that they should easily part with him, and especially deliver him up into the hands of his own people; and, on the other hand, it is not likely, that, should he be delivered into their hands, they would ever have treated him in so scornful and cruel a manner, who was their prince, and a partner with them in their captivity.

JAMISON, "afraid of the Jews — more than of God (Pro_29:25; Joh_9:22; Joh_12:43).

mock me — treat me injuriously (1Sa_31:4).K&D 19-23, "Against the advice that he should save his life by surrendering to the

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Chaldeans, Zedekiah suggests the consideration, "I am afraid of the Jews, who have deserted [נפל אל as in Jer_37:13] to the Chaldeans, lest they give me into their hands and maltreat me." התעלל -illudere alicui, to abuse any one by mockery or ill ,ב treatment; cf. Num_22:29; 1Ch_10:4, etc. Jeremiah replies, Jer_38:20., "They will not give thee up. Yet, pray, listen to the voice of Jahveh, in that which I say to thee, that it may be well with thee, and that thy soul may live. Jer_38:21. But if thou dost refuse to go out i.e., to surrender thyself to the Chaldeans, this is the word which the Lord hath shown me has revealed to me: Jer_38:22. Behold, all the women that are left in the house of the king of Judah shall be brought out to the princes of the king of Babylon, and those [women] shall say, Thy friends have misled thee and have overcome thee; thy feet are sunk in the mud, they have turned away back. Jer_38:23. And all thy wivesand thy children shall they bring out to the Chaldeans, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand; for thou shalt be seized by the hand of the king of Babylon, and thou shalt burn this city with fire." - After Jeremiah had once more assured the king that he would save his life by voluntary surrender, he announces to him that, on the other alternative, instead of his becoming the sport of the deserters, the women of his harem would be insulted. The women who remain in the king's house, as distinguished from "thy wives" (Jer_38:23), are the women of the royal harem, the wives of former kings, who remain in the harem as the concubines of the reigning king. These are to be brought out to the generals of the Chaldean king, and to sing a satire on him, to this effect: "Thy friends have misled thee, and overpowered thee," etc. The first sentence of this song is from Oba_1:7, where השיאו ere stands instead of הסיתו. The friends (אנשי מ _cf. Jer ,ש20:10) are his great men and his false prophets. Through their counsels, these have led him astray, and brought him into a bog, in which his feet stick fast, and then they have gone back; i.e., instead of helping him out, they have deserted him, leaving him sticking in the bog. The expression is figurative, and the meaning of the figure is plain ( רגל is plural). בץ, ἁπ λεγ.., is equivalent to בצה, a bog, Job_8:11. Moreover, the wives and children of Zedekiah are to fall into the hand of the Chaldeans. צאים the participle, is ,מused instead of the finite tense to express the notion of indefinite personality: "they bring them out." תתפש ביד ".tuo meht gnirb , properly, "to be seized in the hand," is a pregnant construction for, "to fall into the hand and be held fast by it." "Thou shalt burn this city," i.e., bring the blame of burning it upon thyself. Ewald, Hitzig, and Graf, following the lxx, Syr., and Chald., would change תשרף into תשרף, but needlessly.

CALVIN, "Zedekiah seems, here to have had a good reason why he should not immediately obey the Prophet. And often the best of the faithful openly set forth their anxieties, and we have seen that even the Prophet, when any apprehension of danger was entertained, sometimes mentioned it. It was not then a thing to be blamed, that Zedekiah ingenuously confessed that he was prevented by the fear of those who had revolted to the Chaldeans. For we know that subjects, having once cast off the yoke, and violated their pledged faith, conduct themselves in an insolent way; for they know that those to whom they have not performed their duty would be implacable to them. Zedekiah then was justly anxious, and his simplicity in explaining to the Prophet his fear, seemed worthy of an excuse, for he seemed to give some sign of obedience. But the event at length will shew us, that he was so bound

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by fear, that he refused the counsel of God and the Prophet. It often happens, as I have just said, that the faithful also fear, and thus vacillate or stand still, when God commands them anything hard and difficult, and they would willingly withdraw from the contest, but they at length obey God, and surrender their own thoughts, and submit in obedience to God. But Zedekiah so feared, (112) that he could not partake of God’s goodness promised to him.We hence see what the faithful have in common with the reprobate, and also how they differ from one another. At first the faithful fear as well as the unbelieving; they are anxious, they vacillate, and make known their perplexities: the unbelieving at the same time indulge themselves, and become hardened in their perverse purposes; but the faithful fight with themselves, and subject their thoughts to the will of God, and thus overcome fear by faith; they also crucify the flesh, and give themselves up wholly to God. We have seen the same thing before in the Prophet. But we shall now see the obstinacy of King Zedekiah, to which we have referred. Then Zedekiah feared lest the Jews, who had revolted to the Chaldeans, should treat him with insolence. The Prophet thus answered him — ELLICOTT, " (19) I am afraid of the Jews . . .—The special form of fear was characteristic of the weak and vacillating king. It was not enough to know that his life would be safe. Would he also be saved from the insults of his own subjects, who had already deserted to the enemy? These were, in the nature of the case, friends and followers of the prophet, and had acted on his advice (Jeremiah 21:9). The king, who had shrunk from Jeremiah’s taunts (Jeremiah 37:19), could not, for very shame, expose himself to the derision of others. Perhaps even he feared more than mere derision—outrage, death, mutilation, such as Saul feared at the hands of the Philistines (1 Samuel 31:4).(20–22) Obey, I beseech thee. . . .—The king’s misgiving is met in part by an earnest entreaty to obey the voice of the Lord, in part by the assurance that thus it “shall be well with him” (literally, there shall be peace to thee); in part also by bringing before him the mockery which is certain to await him if he persists in his defiance. The women of the harem, the surviving wives and concubines of former kings, as well as his own, should become the spoil of the Chaldæan princes, and should take up their taunting proverbs against him. “Thy friends” (literally, the men of thy peace, as in Jeremiah 20:10; the men who promised peace and safety), “they set thee on, and having dragged thee into the mire of shame, have left thee there.” The imagery of the taunt seems drawn from the prophet’s recent experience (Jeremiah 38:6). The king was plunging into a worse “slough of despond” than that into which Jeremiah had sunk in the dungeon of Malchiah.TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:19 And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.Ver. 19. Then Zedekiah said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews.] Thus

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hypocrites will at one time or other detect themselves, as Zedekiah here plainly declareth that he more feared the loss of his life, honour, wealth, &c., than of God’s favour and kingdom; so do the most among us. Pilate feared how Caesar would take it if he should release Jesus. Herod laid hold on Peter, after he had killed James, that he might please the people. The Pharisees could not believe, because they received glory from men. This generous king cannot endure to think that his own fugitives should flout him; but to be ruled by God, and his holy prophet advising him for the best, he cannot yield. Thus still vain men are niggardly of their reputation and prodigal of their souls. Do we not see them run wilfully into the field, into the grave, into hell? and all lest it should be said they have as much fear as wit.NISBET, "A ROYAL PUPPET‘And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, ‘I am afraid.’Jeremiah 38:19I. It is strange to think of the contrast between this reed shaken with the wind, and the stalwart oak, defying every storm, which Jeremiah was.—The prophet stood alone. He stood as adamant against every foe. He held by his testimony. Nothing could shake him. He was not to be bribed nor cajoled, nor terrified into silence. He was a pulpit that all the wealth of the state could not tune. He delivered the same message to the king in secret audience as to the people in public assembly. Yet to that timid, cowering, pithless man he could impart no breath of his own dauntless spirit and iron will. He clings to Jeremiah: he shows him favours: he believes that what the prophet speaks is the word of God, and yet he never has a grain of courage to act according to his counsel.II. If decision of character be lacking in any man, that indeed is a fatal want.—We habitually underrate the seriousness of such a defect. We so often apologise for a man, saying, ‘There is no evil in him, but he is weak.’ Now in this world, where the forces of evil are so aggressive, where the current flows so fiercely towards evil, where temptation is so insistent, that is a sentence of doom. We are apt to think of such a man as Zedekiah, that if only he had been a private citizen he would have been inoffensive and respectable. He was amiable and religiously inclined, and had nothing vicious in him. He was a weak man in a false position, in a place that before all things else required force of character. He was without conviction, without strength of will, without resolution. Now, we had better awaken to the brutal fact that God does not supply cloisters and sequestered retreats, sheltered from all rough blasts, for such effeminate souls. They are like the rest of us, thrust out into life, and they go under. They cannot swim against the stream. Invertebrate they are, and without force to resist, and the decision ever to say no. The only thing they can do is weakly to yield. Now it follows that such a fatal temperament shuts a man out of the ranks of Christians. Christ’s appeal is always to decision. He puts iron into the blood. He calls us to follow Him, to take up our cross, to deny ourselves. If all we can do or care to do is to go with the crowd, then we cannot have part or lot with

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Him. It may all the more open our eyes to the evil of this disposition if we follow the career of this last king of Judah, who to his own and his nation’s ruin was cursed with feebleness of will.Illustration‘What a pitiable character is this weak king, shuttle-cocked between stronger wills, sometimes sending for Jeremiah and having secret talks with him, which he is desperately afraid may leak out, sometimes listening to the princes, and then again doing as Ebed-melech urges. There is a dash of bitterness in his answer to the truculent demand for the prophet’s life: “The king is not he that can do anything against you.” Like all weak men, he resents the dominance of the stronger will to which he yields, and yet yields to the dominance which he resents. Poor creature! the times were “out of joint,” and he, certainly, was not the man “to set them right.” So he “hobbled along on both knees,” to use Elijah’s contemptuous simile, and, of course, ruined himself and all that was entrusted to him. Such men always do. This is no world for an irresolute man to make his way in.’PETT, "Jeremiah 38:19‘And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who are fallen away to the Chaldeans, in case they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.”That Zedekiah may have been contemplating surrender comes out in these fears. One thing that was preventing him was his fears lest when he surrendered he might be handed over to ‘the Jews who had fallen over to the Chaldeans’ who would then mock him, and worse. These would themselves have suffered mockery and hatred from Zedekiah and his princes. He thus feared reciprocation.BI 19-20, "I am afraid of the Jews.Fatal timidityI remember very well, when I first went out to Australia, that one fine evening a little bird was seen to be following the ship, evidently a land-bird driven out to sea. When the little thing got tired it tried to alight on some portion of the rigging, though it seemed afraid to do so. On one occasion the captain stretched forth his hand and tried to take hold of the little bird, but it eluded his grasp and went back far away into the darkness of the night, falling upon the waves without the hope of rescue. (T. Spurgeon.)

Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord.ObedienceI remember, years ago, entering the bed-chamber of an eminent saint, one autumn morning, whose diminishing candles told how long he had been feeding on the Word of God. I asked him what had been the subject of his study. He said he had been engaged since four o’clock in discovering all the Lord’s positive commandments, that he might be

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sure that he was not wittingly neglecting any one of them. It is very sad to find how many in the present day are neglecting to observe to do the Lord’s precepts—concerning His ordinances, concerning the laying-up of money, the evangelisation of the world, and the manifestation of perfect love. They know the Lord’s will, and do it not. They appear to think that they are absolved from that “observing to do,” which was so characteristic of Deuteronomy. As though love were not more inexorable than law! (F. B. Meyer, B. A.).

20 “They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Obey the Lord by doing what I tell you. Then it will go well with you, and your life will be spared.

GILL, "But Jeremiah said, they shall not deliver thee,.... To take off the above excuse, or remove that objection, the prophet assures the king that the Chaldeans would never deliver him into the hands of the Jews; he might depend upon it, it would never be done: obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee; the counsel he had given him, to surrender to the Chaldeans, was not from himself, but from the Lord: and though he had no express order to give it at that time, yet it was what was agreeable to the will of God, and what he had exhorted the people to in the beginning of this chapter; and therefore, since it came from the Lord, as it ought to be attended to, so he might be assured of the divine protection, should he act according to it: so it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live; that is, it would not only be much better with him than he feared, but than it would be with him should he obstinately stand out to the last; he should have more respect and honour from the king of Babylon; and not only have his life spared, but enjoy more of the comforts of life; particularly the sight of his eyes, which he lost when taken.

HENRY 20-23, "The pressing importunity with which Jeremiah followed the advice he had given the king. He assures him that, if he would comply with the will of God herein, the thing he feared should not come upon him (Jer_38:20): They shall not deliver thee up, but treat thee as becomes thy character. He begs of him, after all the foolish games he had played, to manage wisely the last stake, and now at length to do well for himself: Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, because it is his voice, so it

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shall be well unto thee. But he tells him what would be the consequence if he would not obey. 1. He himself would fall into the hands of the Chaldeans, as implacable enemies, whom he might now make his friends by throwing himself into their hands. if he must fall, he should contrive how to fall easily: “Thou shalt not escape, as thou hopest to do,” Jer_38:23. 2. He would himself be chargeable with the destruction of Jerusalem, which he pretended a concern for the preservation of: “Thou shalt cause this city to be burnt with fire, for by a little submission and self-denial thou mightest have prevented it.” Thus subjects often suffer for the pride and wilfulness of their rulers, who should be their protectors, but prove their destroyers. 3. Whereas he causelessly feared an unjust reproach for surrendering, he should certainly fall under a just reproach for standing it out, and that from women too, Jer_38:22. The court ladies who were left when Jehoiakim and Jeconiah were carried away will now at length fall into the hands of the enemy, and they shall say, “The men of thy peace, whom thou didst consult with and confide in, and who promised thee peace if thou wouldst be ruled by them, have set thee on, have encouraged thee to be bold and brace and hold out to the last extremity; and see what comes of it? They, by prevailing upon thee, have prevailed against thee, and thou findest those thy real enemies that would be thought thy only friends. Now thy feet are sunk in the mire, thou art embarrassed, and hast noway to help thyself; thy feet cannot get forward, but are turned away back.” Thus will Zedekiah be bantered by the women, when all his wives and children shall be made a prey to the conquerors, Jer_38:23. Note, What we seek to avoid by sin will be justly brought upon us by the righteousness of God. And those that decline the way of duty for fear of reproach will certainly meet with much greater reproach in the way of disobedience. The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him, Pro_10:24.

CALVIN, "Here again Jeremiah strengthens Zedekiah, that he might not hesitate to make the trial, since God would yet give him pardon, so that at least his chastisement would be paternal and light He then promised to Zedekiah that he would be safe from all the insults about which he was anxious. They will not deliver thee, he says; as though he had said, “Leave this to God’s providence, resign thyself to God, and doubt not but that he will keep thee safe.” God, in his kindness, as I have said, allows the faithful to cast their cares into his bosom: but at the same time, if any disobey, when he confirms them, it is a sign of deliberate wickedness, and such perverseness extinguishes all the light of grace. Such was the stupidity of Zedekiah, that he did not accept of this second promise. He might indeed have confessed his fear, but he ought also to have received the remedy. The Prophet assured him that his life would be safe in God’s hand; what more could he have wished? But this was said to no purpose, because fear fully occupied his mind, so that there was no entrance for the promise. Now this ought to be carefully noticed; for there are none of us whom many cares do not disturb, and many fears do not perplex; but a place ought to be given to a remedy. God succors us when he sees us distressed by anxious thoughts; but if fear so prevails, that all the promises by which God raises us up avail nothing, it is a sign of hopeless unbelief.It afterwards follows, Hear the voice of Jehovah, which I utter to you, that it may be well with thee, and that thy soul, may live The promise is again added, to lead

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Zedekiah to submit more willingly to God. For though we know that we cannot escape his power, it will yet be dreaded by us, except he favors us with the promises of grace. In this way, then, the Prophet endeavored to lead Zedekiah to render obedience to God: Hear, he says, the voice of Jehovah, that it may be well with thee He shewed that it was yet in the power of Zedekiah to provide for his own safety, if only he obeyed the word of God. And this passage teaches us, that the Prophet had not spoken thoughtlessly and in vain, but under the guidance and teaching of God’s Spirit For though it may not have been, that he had received a new command, he yet knew that it was God’s will, that he should confirm and reassert the previous oracles; for he did not falsely assume God’s name, when he bade Zedekiah to hear God’s voice which he had made known.Now, though this discourse was especially directed to Zedekiah, we may yet conclude, that it is always for our good to embrace whatever God declares to us, though it may apparently be hard and unpleasant, as it was to Zedekiah; for it was by no means an agreeable thing to him to deliver up himself to his enemies, to be deprived of his regal power, to be drawn into exile, and from a king to become a slave; and yet nothing was better for him, in order to save his life, than to obey God. Though, then, the words of God contain what is contrary and grievous to our flesh, yet let us feel persuaded that God always speaks what is good for our salvation. It would then have been well for Zedekiah, had he obeyed the counsel of the Prophet; for he would have found in captivity that God would be propitious to him, and this would have been an invaluable comfort; and then he might have been brought back from exile, at least he would have preserved the city and the Temple: but by his obstinacy he betrayed the city to his enemies, and hence it was also that the Temple was burnt. TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:20 But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver [thee]. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.Ver. 20. They shall not deliver thee.] This the good prophet speaketh from the mouth of the Lord, to cure him of that causeless fear, and to bring him to a better obedience; but it was past time of day with him to be wrought upon by anything that could be spoken, though never so well.So it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.] This is also the voice of the gospel, and the result of all the promises.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:20‘But Jeremiah said, “They will not deliver you. Obey, I beg you, the voice of YHWH in what I speak to you. So it will be well with you, and your soul will live.”Jeremiah then assured him that his fears were groundless. If only he would obey YHWH all would be well. Furthermore he himself would prosper. It is very possible

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that Jeremiah, as one who was recognised as an influential Babylonian supporter, had received assurances through a secret emissary that if only he could persuade the king to surrender the king would be treated reasonably.

21 But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me:

GILL, "But if thou refuse to go forth,.... Out of Jerusalem, to the Chaldean army, and submit to them: this is the word that the Lord hath showed me, or the thing which should certainly come to pass; the word of prophecy the Lord had showed to the prophet, and which he now declares to the king; who asked of him a word, was desirous to know whether there was a word from the Lord, and what it was; and this it is which follows, in case he continued impenitent, obstinate, and disobedient.CALVIN, "He then adds, If thou refuse to go forth, this is the word which God hath shewed to me Jeremiah again declares that Zedekiah resisted in vain, because he kicked, as it is said, against the goad, for he could not possibly escape from coming into the hand of his enemies; which, when done, then neither the city nor the Temple would be spared. But the Prophet repeats again, that it had been shewn to him what to speak, he then spoke not in his own name, but by God’s command; which, it may be, was not then given him: but the Prophet knew that God’s decree, of which he had been the herald, could not be abolished. He then says, that this word had been shewed to him by God, even what follows — TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:21 But if thou refuse to go forth, this [is] the word that the LORD hath shewed me:Ver. 21. Bat if thou refuse to go forth.] Promises and threatenings make an excellent mixture; the tartness of the one giveth us better to taste the sweetness of the other.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:21“But if you refuse to go forth, this is the word that YHWH has shown me,”On the other hand if he refused to go forth and surrender, then he would have to

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bear the full weight of the word of YHWH, in the way now described, and paradoxically this WOULD result in him being mocked, for he would be mocked by the women of his own harem.

22 All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:“‘They misled you and overcame you— those trusted friends of yours.Your feet are sunk in the mud; your friends have deserted you.’

BARNES, "But if thou refuse to go forth,.... Out of Jerusalem, to the Chaldean army, and submit to them: this is the word that the Lord hath showed me, or the thing which should certainly come to pass; the word of prophecy the Lord had showed to the prophet, and which he now declares to the king; who asked of him a word, was desirous to know whether there was a word from the Lord, and what it was; and this it is which follows, in case he continued impenitent, obstinate, and disobedient.

CLARKE, "All the women - brought forth - I think this place speaks of a kind of defection among the women of the harem; many of whom had already gone forth privately to the principal officers of the Chaldean army, and made the report mentioned in the end of this verse. These were the concubines or women of the second rank.

GILL, "And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house,.... That were left in the royal palace when Jehoiakim and Jeconiah were carried captives; or which were left of the famine and pestilence in, Zedekiah's house; or would be left there when he should flee and make his escape; meaning his concubines, or maids of honour, and court ladies;

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shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes: who shall use them as they think fit, and dispose of them at pleasure: and those women shall say, thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: or, "the men of thy peace" (a); the false prophets, and the princes that hearkened to them, and promised and flattered him with peace and prosperity, these deceived him; they set him on to hold out against the Chaldeans, and not believe the Prophet Jeremiah; and they prevailed with him to do so, though it was against himself, and his own interest: thy feet are sunk in the mire; not literally, as some Jewish writers suppose, that he got into a quagmire when he fled; though there may be a hint in the expression to the miry dungeon in which he suffered the prophet to be cast; and was now got into one himself, in a figurative sense, being involved in difficulties, out of which he could not extricate himself: and they are turned away back; meaning either his feet, which were distorted, and had turned aside from the right way; or now could go on no further against the enemy, but were obliged to turn back and flee; or else the men of his peace, the false prophets and princes, who had fed him with vain hopes of safety, now left him, and every man shifted for himself. This would be said by the women, either in a mournful manner, by way of complaint; or as scoffing at the king, as a silly foolish man, to hearken to such persons; and so he that was afraid of being mocked by the Jews is jeered at by the women of his house.

JAMISON, "women — The very evil which Zedekiah wished to escape by disobeying the command to go forth shall befall him in its worst form thereby. Not merely the Jewish deserters shall “mock” him (Jer_38:19), but the very “women” of his own palace and harem, to gratify their new lords, will taunt him. A noble king in sooth, to suffer thyself to be so imposed on!

Thy friends — Hebrew, “men of thy peace” (see Jer_20:10; Psa_41:9, Margin). The king’s ministers and the false prophets who misled him.sunk in ... mire — proverbial for, Thou art involved by “thy friends’” counsels in inextricable difficulties. The phrase perhaps alludes to Jer_38:6; a just retribution for the treatment of Jeremiah, who literally “sank in the mire.”they are turned ... back — Having involved thee in the calamity, they themselves shall provide for their own safety by deserting to the Chaldeans (Jer_38:19).

CALVIN, "Behold, the women who as yet remain in the palace of the king, shall go forth to the princes of the king of Babylon, that is, having left the city they will betray thee to thine enemies; and they shall say, The men of thy peace have deceived thee, or persuaded thee, and have prevailed; thus fixed in the mire are thy feet, and they have turned backward There is here a part stated for the whole, for under one thing is included the whole calamity of the city. We indeed know that the female sex do not stand in the ranks to fight, and that when a city is taken, women are commonly spared. When, therefore, the Prophet says, Go forth shall women who

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are yet remaining in the king’s palace, it is the same thing as if he had said, “Even the women shall be compelled to go forth to the enemies, and give themselves up into their power; what then will become of the men, when such shall be the hard condition of the women?”We now perceive the meaning of the Prophet: Go forth then shall women, that is, when the city is taken, the women in the palace shall be drawn forth from their hiding-places, and be constrained to appear before their enemies. And then he adds, and, behold, they shall say, etc. He used the particle הנה, ene, twice, in order to lead Zedekiah into the very scene itself; for it is necessary thus to rouse those who are torpid in their apathy. And, behold, he says, they will say Here Jeremiah declares that women would be witnesses to bear testimony to the folly of the king, and also to the wickedness and obstinacy of the princes, as though he had said, “Thou wilt not obey me to-day, and thy counsel-lors also pertinaciously resist; God has already pronounced judgment on you: ye despise, and regard it as nothing: God will at length rouse up women, who will openly proclaim thy folly, O king, and the perverseness of thy counselors, for having despised all the prophecies.” COKE, "Jeremiah 38:22. And, behold, all the women, &c.— Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah's house, go forth to the king of Babylon's princes: lo, they say of thee, His friends deceive and delude him, they have placed his feet in the mire, and have turned away from him; Jeremiah 38:23. Lo, all thy wives and thy children shall go forth to the Chaldeans, neither shalt thou escape their hands; for thou shalt be taken by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned with fire. Jeremiah in the 21st verse says, This is the word which the Lord hath shewed me; namely, what follows in the two next verses; in the first of which he speaks of what passed before his eyes in the present tense; and in the 23rd, explaining what he had seen, he speaks in the future. Houbigant. TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:22 And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house [shall be] brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those [women] shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, [and] they are turned away back.Ver. 22. And, behold, all the women that are left.] These shall mock thee and make songs of thee, exagitantes regem socordissimum, for a simple and sorry man, who hath undone them altogether with himself, by listening to flatterers and false prophets.Thy feet are sunk in the mire.] In the mire of misery, where the prophet’s unworthy usage in the miry dungeon is hinted, and the king twitted with it, as some hold. Some again think that Zedekiah in his flight did run into some quagmire, where he was taken.And they are turned away backward.] Thy flatterers have now left thee in the lurch.

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WHEDON, " 22. All the women — As the alternative of the mocking that might come to him should he go over to the Chaldeans, the prophet intimates that if he fails to do so the women of his household shall be insulted, and shall take up a satire against him.In the mire — A very expressive figure, setting forth the difficulties into which he had been led, and then deserted by his friends.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:22“Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house will be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women will say,‘Your friends who suggested you would have peace have set you on,And have prevailed over you,Your feet are sunk in the mire,They are turned away back.’ ”The women who remained in the king’s house would, because of Jerusalem’s demise, become members of the harems of Nebuchadnezzar’s princes. And they themselves would mock Zedekiah and point out to him that he had allowed himself to be over-persuaded and to be led into the mire by his ‘friends’.‘Your friends who suggested you would have peace’ is literally ‘the men of your peace’, but in context the meaning is clear. It is referring to the men who set Zedekiah on his false course (or ‘deceived’ him), and persuaded him to make the wrong decision, by declaring that by following their advice he would achieve peace and wellbeing. But the only consequence would be that his feet would be as though stuck in the mud (just as Jeremiah had been left in the mud in the cistern - Jeremiah 38:6), while his friends would turn round and desert him leaving him starkly alone. The first two lines of the women’s words reflect Obadiah 1:7.PULPIT, "All the women that are left; i.e. probably the wives of Zedekiah's royal predecessors, who had passed into his own harem as concubines. Even Hezekiah, as Payne Smith well points out, had a numerous harem ('Records of the Past,' 1:39, where "daughters" is equivalent to "girls"). Zedekiah's own wives are spoken of in the next verse. Thy friends have set thee on, etc. The first half of this taunting song (mashal) reminds of Obadiah 1:7 (for other points of contact with Obadiah, see on Jeremiah 49:7-22). The meaning is that, after urging the weak-minded Zedekiah on to a conflict with the Chaldeans, they have left him involved in hopeless difficulties.

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23 “All your wives and children will be brought out to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from their hands but will be captured by the king of Babylon; and this city will[e] be burned down.”

BARNES, "So - And. In addition to the ridicule there shall be the miseries of the capture.

Thou shalt cause this city to be burned - literally, as margin. It shall be thy own act as completely as if done with thine own hand.

CLARKE, "They shall bring out all thy wives and thy children - These were the women of the first rank, by whom the king had children. These had no temptation to go out to the Chaldeans, nor would they have been made welcome; but the others being young, and without children, would be well received by the Chaldean princes.

GILL, "So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans,.... Not the citizens of Jerusalem; but, as Kimchi observes, the Chaldeans that should enter the city shall bring them out to the Chaldeans without: or it may be rendered impersonally, "they shall be brought out": not only the ladies at court, that waited on him and his queen, as before; but all his wives and concubines, and his children, or his sons rather; for at the taking of the city no mention is made of daughters, only of sons, who were slain before his eyes, Jer_39:6; and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon; not by him personally, for he was not present at the taking of him, but by his army, who having taken him, brought him to him, and delivered him into his hand, Jer_39:5; and thou shalt cause this city to be burnt with fire; or, "thou shall burn this city with fire" (b); be the moral cause of it; through his sin and obstinacy, impenitence and unbelief, the burning of the city might be laid to his charge; his sin was the cause of it; and it was all one as if he had burnt it with his own hands. All this is said to work upon him to hearken to the advice given; but all was in vain.

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JAMISON, "children — (Jer_39:6; Jer_41:10). “wives ... children ... thou”; an ascending climax.CALVIN, "Jeremiah pursues the same subject; but he sets forth at large the calamity, that the king being at least frightened with horror, might submit to a right counsel; for when we hear that death is at hand, this indeed fills us with horror; and when many evils are mentioned, we must necessarily be roused; and this, no doubt, was what the Prophet looked for. Then he says that Zedekiah would come into the hands of his enemies, hut he adds other indignities, which would bring greater bitterness, They shall draw out, he says, all thy wives and thy children, etc. Had Zedekiah been right-minded, he would have preferred to die a hundred times, and thus to have died for them all, than to have been the cause of so many evils. For we know that many have boldly exposed themselves to danger in defending the chastity of their wives; and doubtless such a reproach is far harder to be endured by ingenuous minds than a hundred deaths. We hence see what was the design of the Prophet; for he saw that Zedekiah could not be sufficiently roused by merely setting his own death before him, hence he added other circumstances, calculated to affect him still more, They shall draw out, he says, thy wives and thy childrenWe hence learn how conjugal fidelity was then with impunity violated. It was, we know, an ancient evil, but it had now passed into general practice, so that it was, as it were, the common law: and yet what God had once established continued unchanged, even that every man should have only his own wife. As, then, polygamy had so prevailed and had become so licentious among the Jews, we see that the fear of God was in fact extinguished and all regard to purity. More liberty was indeed allowed to kings, but they were not on that account to be excused, because their life ought to have been an example to others, a mirror of uprightness and chastity. When, therefore, they married a number of wives, it became an intolerable evil. And now when mention is made of all the wives, we conclude that the king had not only three or four wives or concubines, but a large number, that he might gratify his lust. hence then we learn how great was the corruption of that age. It is also a wonder that the king was thus given to his lusts, and not brought back to some degree of moderation when necessity itself constrained him. We hence see that he must have been extremely insensible in retaining so many concubines, when his only city was hardly safe, and the whole country in the possession of enemies. But thus perverse men despise God and his scourges. For though all confess, according to the common proverb, that necessity is a mistress whom all are forced to obey, yet the greater part struggle with necessity itself, as we see was the case with Zedekiah, who refused to bend or turn, though very poor and miserable, and who suffered nothing of his royal pomp and splendor to be diminished. Hence it was that he had a large number of wives or concubines, as mentioned here.It then follows, This city shalt thou burn with fire It is certain that the torch was not

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applied by Zedekiah, nor was he the agent in the burning. But the Prophet reminded him that the cause of all the evils might justly be attributed to his obstinacy; as though he had said, that the Chaldeans would indeed be the authors of the burning, as they would with their own hands set the houses on fire, and yet that the first and the chief fault would be in Zedekiah himself, because he obstinately resisted God. (114)But as to the women, this brief notice must be added: other kings, indeed, had been very dissolute; but God now applied the remedy when the court was purged from all its old filth. For with Jeconiah, we know, the royal dignity ceased; and the city was exposed to plunder; and yet some concubines remained; and these passed as by hereditary right to other kings, as they succeeded to the wives as to the kingdom. But when wickedness became incorrigible, all the concubines were taken away also. It was then a sign of final destruction. It follows — ELLICOTT, " (23) So they shall bring out . . .—The picture of defeat and destruction is once more repeated from Jeremiah 38:18. Probably, the last clause should be read with a different punctuation of the Hebrew, “This city shall be burnt with fire.” As the text now stands, the marginal rendering, Thou shalt burn, gives the true force of the word. The king himself would have that destruction to answer for. It would be his own act and deed.(24–26) Let no man know . . .—The weak king vacillated to the last moment. He feared the prophet, he feared the princes yet more. To hush up all that had passed in the interview, to urge the prophet to baffle the eager suspicions of the princes by a prevaricating statement, as if it had been he who had sought the meeting, and had petitioned the king, as before (Jeremiah 37:20), to protect him from the cruelties which he had suffered in the house of Jonathan: this was the only course he could bring himself to follow. The plan so far succeeded that the prophet returned and gave the evasive answer which the king suggested. The nature of the interview was concealed, and events took their course; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison till the city was taken. The king’s suggestion as to the house of Jonathan implies either that he believed that the princes would urge that Jeremiah should be sent there after his rescue from the dungeon of Malchiah, or else a wish to slur over that transaction altogether.TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:23 So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.Ver. 23. So shall they bring out all thy wives and thy children.] Or, Thy women (whether wives or concubines, that crew of wanton creatures) and thy sons; for his daughters were left behind. [Jeremiah 41:10; Jeremiah 43:6] If, therefore, thou hast any care of those that are, or ought to be, most dear unto thee, be ruled by me.And thou shalt cause this city to be burnt with fire.] Heb., Thou shalt burn this city:

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“ Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi. ”PETT, "Jeremiah 38:23“And they will bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans; and you will not escape out of their hand, but will be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon, and you will cause this city to be burned with fire.”And not only the royal harem (which would always be taken over by the conqueror in order to demonstrate his superiority, compare 2 Samuel 16:22), but also all the wives and children of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, would be handed over to the Chaldeans, and the city itself would be burned with fire as one that was continually rebellious. Furthermore Zedekiah himself, and his household, would also not escape out of his hand. All would be doomed. (The lack of mention of his being blinded confirms that here we have a prophecy before the event, for an inventor would hardly have failed to mention it).‘And you will cause this city to be burned with fire.’ Literally ‘and you will burn this city with fire’. Zedekiah would be directly responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem because of his failure to obey YHWH.Once again we get the feeling that special terms must have been offered in one way or another, for otherwise this would already be the natural consequence of having resisted for so long.PULPIT, "So they, etc.; rather, and they, etc. The women spoken of are different from those in Jeremiah 38:22. Thou shalt cause this city to be burned. The literal rendering is, Thou shalt burn this city; but the Septuagint, Peshito, and Targum have "As for this city it shall be burned," which suits the parallelism better.

24 Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die.

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GILL, "Then said Zedekiah to Jeremiah,.... Not a word signifying his approbation of the counsel given him, or that he intended to take it; his silence showed the reverse: let no man know of these words: that had passed between them; of the conference and conversation they had had together, at least not the particulars of it; the thing itself was known, as appears by what follows, that the king and prophet had been discoursing together; but what they talked of, he desires might be concealed, pretending the prophet's good, though it was his own honour and safety he sought: and thou shall not die; as he had promised he should not, and had sworn to it; but suggests by this, that if he disclosed the conversation, he should took upon himself free from his word and oath; so that this carried something menacing in it: or it may be rendered "that thou die not" (c); intimating, that if the princes should come to the knowledge of what he had said, of the advice he had given, they would surely put him to death; and therefore, for his own safety, he desires the whole may be kept a secret.

HENRY 24-28, " The care which Zedekiah took to keep this conference private (Jer_38:24): Let no man know of these words. he does not at all incline to take God's counsel, nor so much as promise to consider of it; for so obstinate has he been to the calls of God, and so wilful in the ways of sin, that though he has good counsel given him he seems to be given up to walk in his own counsels. He has nothing to object against Jeremiah's advice, and yet he will not follow it. Many hear God's words, but will not do them. 1. Jeremiah is charged to let no man know of what had passed between the king and him. Zedekiah is concerned to keep it private, not so much for Jeremiah's safety (for he knew the princes could do him no hurt without his permission), but for his own reputation. Note, Many have really a better affection to good men and good things than they are willing to own. God's prophets are manifest in their consciences (2Co_5:11), but they care not for manifesting that to the world; they would rather do them a kindness than have it known that they do: such, it is to be feared, love the praise of men more than the praise of God. 2. He is instructed what to say to the princes if they should examine him about it. He must tell them that he was petitioning the king not to remand him back to the house of Jonathan the scribe (Jer_38:25, Jer_38:26), and he did tell them so (Jer_38:27), and no doubt it was true: he would not let slip so fair an opportunity of engaging the king's favour; so that this was no lie or equivocation, but a part of the truth, which it was lawful for him to put them off with when he was under no obligation at all to tell them the whole truth. Note, Though we must be harmless as doves, so as never to tell a wilful lie, yet we must be wise as serpents, so as not needlessly to expose ourselves to danger by telling all we know.

JAMISON, "Let no man know — If thou wilt not tell this to the people, I will engage thy safety.

K&D 24-26, "From the king's weakness of character, and his dependence on his evilcounsellors, neither could this interview have any result. Partly from want of firmness, but chiefly from fear of the reproaches of his princes, he did not venture to surrender himself and the city to the Chaldeans. Hence he did not wish that his interview with the

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prophet should be known, partly for the purpose of sparing himself reproaches from the princes, partly also, perhaps, not to expose the prophet to further persecutions on thepart of the great men. Accordingly, he dismissed Jeremiah with this instruction: "Let no man know of these words, lest thou die." But if the princes should learn that the king had been speaking with him, and asked him, "Tell us, now, what thou hast said to the king, do not hide it from us, and we will not kill thee; and what did the king say to thee?" then he was to say to them, "I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not send me back to the house of Jonathan, to die there." As to the house of Jonathan, see on Jer_37:15. On מפיל תחנתי cf. Jer_36:7; Jer_37:20.

CALVIN, "Here is seen the miserable condition of the king. Had he no faith in the answer of Jeremiah, he would not have thus feared. But he acknowledged that what he had heard from the mouth of the Prophet was true. In the meanwhile he delayed and extended time as far as he could, and chose rather to spend his life in trembling than to be immediately freed from all care and anxiety. This was by no means to act like a king; for had he any courage, he would not have waited to the last hour. We indeed know that men of courage boldly meet death, when they see no hope of honor remaining. Zedekiah had lost his authority; he held indeed the title of a king, but he was without power; for he was compelled servilely to obey his counselors; and now he feared his own shadow, and yet protracted time, as I have said, as much as he could; and on this account he requested the Prophet, that this conversation might remain as buried.By saying, thou shalt not die, he did not threaten the Prophet, but intimated that silence would not be less a benefit to Jeremiah than to himself: “Thou wilt rouse the fury of all against thyself, if thou speakest of this interview, for no one can bear to hear anything of the ruin of the city: if then thou consultest thine own benefit, say not a word of this, and let it not come to the people nor to my counselors.” Under the color of an advice then he said to Jeremiah, “See lest thou die (115) He therefore did not speak threateningly. COFFMAN, "ZEDEKIAH PLEDGES JEREMIAH TO SECRECY"Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou has said unto the king; hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee: then, thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there. Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived. So Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.""My supplication ... that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die

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there ..." (Jeremiah 38:26). The mention of Jonathan's house in this passage is alleged to support the notion that only one imprisonment is in view in these two chapters; but such a view is a total misunderstanding.This was a master-stroke on the part of Zedekiah. By the mention of Jeremiah's petition not to be sent back to Jonathan's house, the princes would have concluded immediately that Zedekiah, displeased with their placement of Jeremiah in the miry cistern, had told Jeremiah that he would send him back to the house of Jonathan where Jeremiah would have been silenced as in the second imprisonment; and they would have instantly supposed that this "second plea" of Jeremiah not to be sent back to the house of Jonathan was a response to Zedekiah's threat, a threat that never took place at all, but from this misunderstanding of the real nature of Jeremiah's supplication, doubtless caused them to accept what they understood as Zedekiah's action as compatible with what they desired.Thus Jeremiah told nothing but the truth, but not all of the truth, and it served the wishes of both Zedekiah and Jeremiah perfectly. We have yet to find the writing of any scholar which acknowledges what to us is the perfect explanation of this episode.We have no patience whatever with "scholars" who criticize the "ethics of Jeremiah," suggesting that perhaps he told a lie on this occasion. Nonsense! Jeremiah obeyed his king, which he was honor bound to do; what he said was absolutely true. Of course, it was not "the whole truth," but Jeremiah was under no oath nor any responsibility whatever to tell those crooked murderers the "whole truth." It was not Jeremiah's error that his supplication not to be sent back to the house of Jonathan had occurred at the end of the second imprisonment, and not at the end of the third.One may only marvel at the genius of Zedekiah who arranged this skillful deception of the crooked princes who were his bitterest enemies.Keil and many other commentators have pointed out that Jeremiah 38:28 here actually belongs to Jeremiah 39, and "forms the introductory sentence of the passage ending in Jeremiah 39:3."[17]TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:24 Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die.Ver. 24. Let no man know of these words,] Muliebriter deprecatur rex incredulus fidelem. Thus he who feareth not God, feareth his own servants and counsellors.And thou shalt not die.] The crafty king would seem to be solicitous of the prophet’s safety, but mainly intendeth his own.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:24

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‘Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no man know of these words, and you will not die.”Zedekiah then swore Jeremiah to silence about their conversation and promised him that in return he would ensure Jeremiah’s safety. This brings out the huge pressure that was being exerted by the princes who were against surrender at any price. The king did not dare to let them know that he had even contemplated it.The warning about death may be an additional assurance of the king’s protection as long as he remained silent, or a warning of what the princes would seek to bring about if they learned that Jeremiah had again exhorted the king to surrender to the Babylonians, or indeed both.

25 If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,’

GILL, "But if the princes hear that I have talked to thee,.... Which the king suspected they would; and could hardly think but somebody or other would see him and the prophet talking together; who would be officious enough to go and acquaint the princes with it, though he had endeavoured to be as private as possible; however, to provide against the worst, he instructs Jeremiah what to say to them, should they hear of their being together: and they come unto thee: as he did not doubt but they would, as soon as ever they had notice of it: and say unto thee, declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king; hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee: the king knew how inquisitive they would be, and sift the prophet to the bottom, to know both what the prophet said to the king, about the state of affairs respecting the Chaldeans, and the surrender of the city to them, which they supposed to be the subject of the discourse; and what were the king's thoughts about it, and his determinations concerning it; and in order to make the prophet easy, and more free and open to tell the whole matter, he suggests they would promise him his life should not be taken away.

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JAMISON, "Kings are often such only in title; they are really under the power of their subjects.CALVIN, "Here again Zedekiah shews his anxiety, lest Jeremiah should be apprehended, were the princes unexpectedly to assail him; for he might in this respect have stumbled, though admonished. Then the king intimated to him what to answer, in case the counselors came to him and made inquiry respecting their intercourse. He then advised him simply to say, that he entreated him not to send him back to the filthy pit, where he almost perished. The miserable servitude of the king appears now still evident; for he feared his own counselors, lest they should revolt from him. he might easily have made a spontaneous surrender of himself, but he dared not, lest he should be killed by them in a tumult; and yet, on the other hand, he feared lest the princes should despise him, and so redeem themselves by the sacrifice of his life.We see in what straits he was, but God rendered to him a just recompense for his obstinacy. It was indeed a miserable thing to hear that the king’ was thus oppressed on every side, but the cause of all this ought ever to be borne in mind; which was, that he had despised God and his Prophet. He then deserved to be in this state of anxiety, to fear death on every side, and not to be able to extricate himself from those cares and perplexities which tormented him.Let us then learn to cast all our cares on God, so that our life may be safe, and that we may have calm and tranquil minds: otherwise what is written in the Law must necessarily happen to us,“Our life will hang on a thread, so that we shall say in the morning, Who will give us to see the evening? and in the evening, How can we live to the morning?” (Deuteronomy 28:66)Lest then the same thing happen to us as to this miserable king, let us learn to re-cumb on God, for this is the only way to obtain peace.For though Zedekiah set before Jeremiah the danger which he might bring on himself, if he confessed what took place between them, he yet had a regard no doubt to his own safety, for his care for the Prophet was not very great. If, then, he says, the princes will hear that I have spoken to him, etc. We see here, that as kings very curiously inquire into the sayings and actions of all, so they in their turn are exposed to innumerable spies, who observe all their secret proceedings. Zedekiah, as we have already seen, left his palace, sought some secret place, and at the third entrance called to him Jeremiah. This place might be deemed in some measure secret, yet he knew that he was observed even by his own servants.Thus kings, while they seek immoderate splendor, renounce the main good, which

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ought to be preferred to all other things. For it is commonly said that liberty is an invaluable gift, and it is very true: but were we to seek for liberty among mankind, we should by no means find it in courts; for all there are slaves, and slavery begins with the most elevated. Kings, then, while they thus seek from their height to look down on all mankind, are placed, as it were, in a theater, and the eyes of all turn to them, so that no liberty remains for them; and they who hang on their favor are also in constant fear. This, then, ought to be noticed by us; for there is no one who does not seek splendor; but yet we know how anxious is the life of princes. Their external appearance is indeed very flattering; but we do not see what inward torments harass them. When, therefore, it is said of Zedekiah, that he could not have a secret conference, it hence appears that kings are by no means free. TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:25 But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee:Ver. 25. But if the princes hear.] In such fear stood he of his princes, and might truly say, as the Assyrian once did, Are not my princes altogether kings? [Isaiah 10:8] or as the Emperor of Germany did, I am king of kings, meaning that the princes of his empire would do what they wished for all him. Zedekiah was only an image of a king.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:25-26“But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you, and say to you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king. Do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death, also what the king said to you,’ then you shall say to them, ‘I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.’ ”The uneasy relationships between the king and his chief advisers is brought out here. He was even afraid that his princes would seek to undermine him, and that to such an extent that he considered that they would give Jeremiah immunity instead if only they could get cause against the king. That is why he now enjoined total silence on Jeremiah concerning their conversation. As the conversation was from the start private, and was between the king and his subject, that was a perfectly reasonable request. A firm promise to remain silent must be observed. But in view of the fact that the princes might question Jeremiah about what had been discussed, Zedekiah said that he could release the fact of his request that he not be sent back to the prison in Jonathan’s house where he had been treated so badly. That that idea came up may well indicate that both were aware of pressures for such a move being made, which would serve to confirm that that matter was discussed. Furthermore we should note that in these circumstances Jeremiah would be acting on the king’s command which was sacred. To release a state secret would be a great sin.

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The duty of a godly man to tell the truth must certainly take into account a guarantee of privacy for matters which are essentially and specifically private, especially when they concerned someone like the king. It was perfectly reasonable not to reveal the whole of such a conversation, and it was therefore by no means deceitful not to do so. It was no business of the princes what Zedekiah had spoken to Jeremiah about, so they had no right to the information. They only wanted it so as to stir up trouble. Thus Jeremiah cannot be faulted for doing what the king asked as long as the matter that he did speak of was also discussed. And this was especially so as disobedience to the kings command might have resulted in a revolution. After all, a prophet of YHWH had to be able to be trusted with secrets, otherwise no one would have consulted him.

26 then tell them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there.’”

CLARKE, "I presented my supplication - This was telling the truth, and nothing but the truth, but not the whole truth. The king did not wish him to defile his conscience, nor did he propose any thing that was not consistent with the truth.

GILL, "Then thou shalt say unto them,.... Here the king puts words into the prophet's mouth, what he should say to the princes, to put them off from inquiring further, and so keep the matter a secret: I presented my supplication before the king; or "caused it to fall" (d); delivered it in an humble and submissive manner: that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die there; this he had entreated of the king before, Jer_37:20; and now, no doubt, renewed his request, having this fair opportunity with the king alone to do it; or, however, it is highly probable he did it upon this hint of the king. This shows how much the king stood in fear of his princes in this time of his distress; and that he had only the name of a king, and had not courage and resolution enough to act of himself, according to the dictates of his mind; yea, that he feared men more than he feared the Lord.

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JAMISON, "presented — literally, “made my supplication to fall”; implying supplication with humble prostration (see on Jer_36:7).

Jonathan’s house — (Jer_37:15), different from Malchiah’s dungeon (Jer_38:6). This statement was true, though not the whole truth; the princes had no right to the information; no sanction is given by Scripture here to Jeremiah’s representation of this being the cause of his having come to the king. Fear drove him to it. Compare Gen_20:2, Gen_20:12; on the other hand, 1Sa_16:2, 1Sa_16:5.left off speaking with — Hebrew, “were silent from him,” that is, withdrawing from him they left him quiet (1Sa_7:8, Margin).

CALVIN, "He says, “Though they promise thee impunity, trust them not.” Zedekiah feared lest the Prophet should be too credulous, and should freely relate to the counselors what he had said. But he no doubt had reflected on the fact, that the Prophet had already announced the destruction of the city. He then could have hardly hoped for the silence which he required. Hence then it was, that he so earnestly bid him to be careful; and though the counselors should promise that there would be no danger to him, he yet bade him to be silent. Say to them, he said, I humbly prayed the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan, that I might not die there It was not indeed a falsehood, but this evasion cannot be wholly excused. The Prophet justly feared, and, as we have before seen, he was perplexed and anxious, for that prison was horrible, and it would have been better at once to die than to have been thus buried alive in the earth. But it is certain that he did not come to the king for this purpose, for he had been sent for. Though, then, the Prophet did not expressly or in so many words say what was false, yet it was a kind of falsehood; and what follows, in reference to himself, cannot be excused. TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:26 Then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.Ver. 26. Then shalt thou say unto them, I presented my supplication.] This was to tell part of the truth only (which might lawfully be done), and not to tell an officious, or at least an oblique lie, as some would make it to be.WHEDON, "26. I presented my supplication, etc. — True, but misleading. In this it has several parallels in the Bible. If asked whether it was right, the only safe answer is, We cannot fully decide. There may have been much affecting the case which we do not know. It is very certain that a man has a right to withhold the truth when to tell it would do harm.

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27 All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.

CLARKE, "The matter was not perceived - They did not question him farther; and the king’s commandment to remove him from the house of Jonathan being well known, they took for granted that they had all the information that they sought. And he was most certainly not obliged to relate any thing that might embroil this weak king with his factious but powerful princes, or affect his own life. He related simply what was necessary, and no more.

GILL, "Then came all the princes to Jeremiah, and asked him,.... After he had parted with the king, and was come back to the court of the prison; as soon as the princes had been informed of the interview between the king and the prophet, which soon came to their ears, they came in a body to him, to the court of the prison, where he was, and asked him of what passed between him and the king: and he told them according to all those words that the king had commanded; what he told them, no doubt, was truth; though he did not tell them all the truth; which he was not obliged to do, having no command from God, and being forbid by the king: so they left off speaking with him; or, "were silent from him" (e); went away silent, not being able to disprove what he had said, or object unto it, and finding they could get nothing more out of him: for the matter was not perceived; or, "was not heard" (f); though there were persons that saw the king and the prophet together, yet nobody heard anything that passed between them; and therefore Jeremiah could not be confronted in what he had said, or be charged with concealing anything.

K&D, "What the king had supposed actually occurred, and Jeremiah gave theprinces, who asked about the conversation, the reply that the king had prepared for him. יחרשו ממנו .mih rof deraperp, they went away in silence from him, and left him in

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peace; cf. 1Sa_7:8. כי לא נשמע , for the matter, the real subject of the conversation did not become known. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison till the day of the capture of Jerusalem. - The last sentence of Jer_38:28 belongs to the following chapter, and forms the introductory sentence of the passage whose conclusion follows in Jer_39:3.

CALVIN, "Here, indeed, the Prophet confesses that he did as the king had commanded him; but he does not commend what he had done. There is no doubt but that on the one hand he placed before his eyes the timidity of the king, who, being forgetful of plain dealing, slavishly feared his own counselors; and that., on the other hand, he manifested that he was not sufficiently discreet, for when the princes came, even if he wished not to deceive them, he yet concealed the main thing, and said that he went to the king to pray for his own life, which was not true. Though then what he said was in part true, that he prayed not. to be sent back to prison, yet he could not by this evasion be wholly exempted from blame.In short, we see that even God’s servants have sometimes spoken evasively, when oppressed with extreme fear; and thus we are reminded to seek of God magnanimity of mind and resolute firmness; for he alone can strengthen and sustain us when we are terrified by any fear of danger.He says, that he did as the king had commanded him; but he ought rather to have hearkened to God’s word, in which simplicity is enjoined. It is also said, that the princes were silent, that is, departed in silence; for no one had been a witness to the conference, and the matter had not spread farther; for the king was silent through fear, and the Prophet also had not made known the secret interview. Hence it was that the princes departed, and thought that the matter was as represented. In short, Jeremiah intimates that they were deceived by this pretext. It follows at last, — COKE, "Jeremiah 38:27. He told them according to all these words— Jeremiah evidently had besought the king not to suffer his being remanded to his former prison, and had thanked him for the favour he had shewn him in drawing him thence; for otherwise, how could he have truly told them that he had made his remonstrances, as in Jeremiah 38:26. I presented my supplication, &c. It is certainly allowable, in various cases, not to tell all one knows, and to conceal the truth; but it is not permitted to speak falsely, or to intermix falsehood with truth, or to deny one part of the truth by affirming another part, on any occasion. All this is an offence against veracity, and cannot be exculpated. See Calmet.REFLECTIONS.—1st, Jeremiah's troubles are not yet ended. We have,1. A fresh accusation brought against him by the princes. Though he was a prisoner, many came to him, whom he failed not faithfully to admonish of the determined destruction of Jerusalem, and to counsel them, as the only way of securing their

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lives, to cast themselves on the mercy of the Chaldeans, who would certainly spare all that surrendered; while those who persisted in a fruitless defence would miserably perish by famine, pestilence, and the sword. Such discourse the princes regarded as highly treasonable, tending to weaken the hands of the people, and betray the city: fain, therefore, would they have the king put him to death as a public enemy, who sought not the welfare of the people, but their hurt. Note; (1.) It is a mercy, in times of calamity, if but our lives be given us for a prey. (2.) The enemies of God's faithful ministers often paint them as traitors and troublers of the state, when, in truth, all their warnings and advice are designed purely for the lengthening of the nation's prosperity.2. Jeremiah is, by the king's permission put into the dungeon. Unable to resist the authority of the princes in the present distracted state of things, or willing to gratify them, though at the expence of sacrificing a man whom he knew in be innocent, and a prophet of the Lord, he is given up to their hands, and from them he must expect no mercy. They drag the prophet from the court of the prison unto another, over which Malchiah presided; and, intending secretly to destroy him, which they dared not publicly do, they let him down with cords into a deep and noisome dungeon, where was no water, but mire, into which he sunk, says Josephus, up to the neck; and there left him, not doubting but hunger, cold, the damp and the loathsomeness of the place, would soon put an end to his life; and then he would appear to have died a natural death. Here he is supposed to have offered the prayer recorded, Lamentations 3:55-57.3. God yet remembers him, and raises him up a friend at court, when his case appeared desperate. Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian by birth, but possessed of more humanity and piety than any native Israelite; a great man in office, yet a good man in the worst of times and most corrupted court; not ashamed to own the suffering cause of God and truth, he no sooner heard of the prophet's miserable situation, than he immediately sought the king, who was now sitting in the gate of Benjamin, hearing causes, or holding some council of war or state; and boldly, in the presence of all his nobles, and many of the princes who were probably the authors of Jeremiah's suffering, charges them with a most unjust and cruel procedure, and that the consequence must necessarily be the prophet's death, famished with hunger, unless speedily relieved. Note; Zeal for God makes men bold as lions.4. Zedekiah gives Ebed-melech orders immediately to draw the prophet from his dungeon, and a guard of soldiers to assist him, if any dared attempt to oppose his release; and, with the greatest humanity and tenderness, he took care to bring some soft rags to put under Jeremiah's arms, that the cords which drew him up might not hurt him: and now, once more brought forth from the dark and dismal pit, he is re-conveyed to the court of the prison. Probably Ebed-melech thought that safer for the prophet than his discharge, as he would be there sheltered from danger, and fed from the king's stores. Note; (1.) When we dare be faithful, we shall frequently find more favour than we expected. (2.) The least circumstances which bespeak the tenderness and humanity of a charitable heart, shall be remembered and

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recompensed at the resurrection of the just.2nd, Severe struggles, no doubt, passed in the bosom of this unhappy monarch, halting between two opinions, divided between the fear of man and the fear of God, and perplexed with the warnings of conscience and the strivings of corruption.1. He seeks another interview with the prophet; appoints the place of meeting, for secresy probably, at the third entry or gate, as it is supposed, of the ascent which went up from the king's house to the temple; and, having ordered the prophet thither, he came to him, earnestly adjuring him to tell him if he had any farther word from the Lord; in hopes, perhaps, that there might be some comfort yet in store for him. Vain expectation! while his heart continued impenitent and unhumbled.2. Before he answers the king's question, he begs a solemn assurance from him, that he will not put him to death for speaking the truth; and, what was as much his concern as his own preservation, that he would follow the advice he gave him. Note; (1.) Readiness to die in the cause of truth is not at all inconsistent with every prudent precaution to preserve our lives. (2.) True ministers have the most earnest solicitude, that sinners should hear and comply with the advice on which their life, their eternal life, depends.3. The king solemnly swears to save him harmless; as the Lord liveth, that made us this soul, may he take my life, if ever I attempt to destroy thee. He will not himself put him to death, nor suffer the princes to hurt him. As to obeying the advice, he is silent, designing to follow it only so far it pleased him.4. Jeremiah fairly sets before him the only step which yet remained to be taken, in order to preserve himself and the city. By an immediate surrender, and casting himself on the clemency of the king of Babylon, the city should be preserved from ruin, himself be permitted to live in peace, if not in splendor, and his family be preserved: but, if he refused, there was no hope; the Chaldeans would infallibly force their way into the city, and burn it with fire; and, though he might attempt to escape, he should certainly be seized. Note; There is but one way in which sinners can be safe, and that is by an entire submission to the righteousness of God, and casting their souls on the mercy of God revealed in the gospel. They who refuse to do this must perish.5. Zedekiah hesitates, and suggests his fears of the ignominy to which he should be exposed, if the Chaldeans delivered him up to the Jews that had fallen to them, who would now treat him with contempt, or revenge themselves on him for the threatenings that he had uttered against them for deserting him: fears in themselves indeed groundless, and especially when, in obedience to a divine command, he cast himself on the Lord's protection. Note; (1.) When our foolish reasoning is heard, in opposition to God's word, we are sure to act wrong. (2.) For fear of being laughed at, many dare not seek to be saved. (3.) Many terrify themselves with groundless

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apprehensions of danger, when the path of duty is the only path of safety.6. Jeremiah silences the objection, with an assurance that his fears were without foundation. They shall not deliver thee up, but treat thee with respect and kindness: it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live. But, as each moment of delay was dangerous, he urges him to an immediate compliance with the voice of the Lord; otherwise, the reproach that he feared would come more bitterly upon him from his own house, who would upbraid his folly for hearkening to the false prophets, those pretended friends, but real enemies, to his peace, when he might have prevented their ruin and his own by hearkening to Jeremiah; for the city shall be taken, his wives and children dragged forth to the tents of the Chaldeans, himself unable to escape, and made prisoner by the king of Babylon; and he will cause Jerusalem to be burnt with fire through his folly and obstinacy. Note; (1.) They who seek by sin to avoid shame, will but expose themselves more bitterly to the reproach which they desire to shun. (2.) Wicked rulers are chargeable with all the evils that they bring upon their unhappy subjects.7. They part hereupon; Zedekiah not being persuaded to yield to his advice, and, for the sake of his reputation, willing to keep the subject of this conference a secret from the princes, who would probably hear of it, and be curious to know what passed: he therefore confirms his promise of protecting him, if he concealed the conversation; but charges him not to divulge to them any thing that he said, except his request not to be sent back again to Jonathan's house, to die there; which request, no doubt, the prophet had made: and when the princes came to Jeremiah, with this he easily put them off, and thus abode in safety in the court of the prison till Jerusalem was taken. Note; (1.) Many testify greater concern for their worldly reputation than for their salvation. (2.) We are not always obliged to tell all that we know to every impertinent inquirer. Though we must never utter an untruth, we may safely conceal what others have no right to know, and it would be dangerous to ourselves to discover. The wisdom of the serpent is commendable, when joined to the harmlessness of the dove. TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:27 Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.Ver. 27. So they left off speaking with him.] Indigni utique qui ultra monerentur. The princes were far worse than the king, (a) who yet himself was one of the best. They therefore were slain by the Babylonian princes, when the king’s life was preserved, though with the loss of his eyes, which yet might be a means to open the eyes of his mind.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:27‘Then all the princes came to Jeremiah, and asked him, and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him,

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for the matter was not perceived.’Sure enough the princes did come to Jeremiah and question him about his meeting with the king, and it was no doubt in not too pleasant a way. Jeremiah responded to them in the way that the king had commanded. Eventually they appear to have been satisfied that there was no more to be discovered from Jeremiah for they let him be. Consequently, whatever their suspicions, they never discovered what had been the main item in the conversation. The uneasy truce between the king and the princes continued.

28 And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.The Fall of JerusalemThis is how Jerusalem was taken:

BARNES, "And he was there when ... - These words are altered by some to “and it came to pass when” etc., and taken to form the opening of Jer. 39.GILL, "So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison,.... Where he was ordered to be by the king, before he was cast into the dungeon, and where he was replaced by Ebedmelech; and which was now confirmed by the king, and here he continued: until the day that Jerusalem was taken; but how long it was from his conversation with the king, to the taking of the city, is not certain: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken; as appears from Jer_39:14. Kimchi connects this with the beginning of the next chapter; and so the Targum, rendering it, "and it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken;'' namely, what is related in the following chapter.

JAMISON, "he was there when Jerusalem was taken — These words are made the beginning of the thirty-ninth chapter by many; but the accents and sense support

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English Version.CALVIN, "Some render the last words simply thus, “And it happened that Jerusalem was taken;” and others, “It happened accordingly that Jerusalem was taken;” but this seems unnatural. Others take the relative as a demonstrative pronoun, and of this I approve, “For it happened that according to this Jerusalem was taken.”He first says that he dwelt in the court of the prison. It hence appears that he was not even then at liberty; for though the king wished him to be free, yet he dared not to release him. This is one thing. Then he says, that he was there until the day the city was taken We shall hereafter see that he was saved by the king’s command, and was brought out of prison. He was, then, until that day in the court of the prison, as though he had said, that he was a prisoner until the king was taken prisoner, together with his counselors, and also until the day the whole city was taken. And here we may see, as in a vivid form, the wonderful judgment of God. As long as the Jews boasted that they offered sacrifices to God, they kept Jeremiah shut up in prison, so that he was not a free man until the king was taken, the city perished, and almost all were driven into exile. I have no doubt but that he added the following by way of explanation, And it happened that according to this Jerusalem was taken; that is, he reminds readers in these words, that he had not been a false Prophet, but a true and faithful witness as to God’s judgment, for all his prophecies were verified by the event. (116) He then says that the city was taken, not by chance, but because God had so declared. He now begins to narrate historically the destruction and the burning of the city. He therefore says, — TRAPP, "Jeremiah 38:28 So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was [there] when Jerusalem was taken.Ver. 28. So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison.] Which now God had made to him a sanctuary of safety, and a very Bethlehem, or house of bread. God can easily turn a prison into a paradise, and brown bread and water into manchet and wine, as he did to the martyrs. One of them dated his letter thus, From the delectable orchard of the Leonine prison.PETT, "Jeremiah 38:28‘So Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.’And in consequence of all this Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard right up to the taking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. He was no longer subjected to vile conditions and was no doubt given such scraps of food as were available, for all would by this time be living on starvation rations.

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The treatment of the prophet of YHWH who had brought the word of YHWH that is described in these last two chapters was final proof of the attitude of Jerusalem towards Him. They had broken His covenant (as regards slavery) after having renewed it (chapter 34), they had disobeyed their ‘Father’s’ commands in contrast with the obedience of the Rechabites (chapter 35), they had burned the word that came from YHWH as a deliberate act of rejection (chapter 36), and now finally they had continually mistreated Jeremiah, the very prophet of YHWH (chapters 37-38).PULPIT, "And he was there when, etc. The words, of which this is an incorrect version, ought to begin the first verse of the next chapter. Render (with Coverdale), And it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken (in the ninth year of Zedekiah came Nebuchadrezzar, etc.; in the eleventh year …the city was cleft open) that all the princes, etc. The correctness of the reading is, however, open to some doubt (see introduction to next chapter)

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