HarperCollins Study Bible, page 288
6Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah: 7Thus says the LORD, God of Israel: This is what the two of you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to me to inquire of me: Pharaoh’s army, which set out to help you, is going to return to its own land, to Egypt. 8And the Chaldeans shall return and fight against this city; they shall take it and burn it with fire. 9Thus says the LORD: Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us,” for they will not go away. 10Even if you defeated the whole army of Chaldeans who are fighting against you, and there remained of them only wounded men in their tents, they would rise up and burn this city with fire.
Jeremiah Is Imprisoned
11Now when the Chaldean army had withdrawn from Jerusalem at the approach of Pharaoh’s army, 12Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to receive his share of propertya among the people there. 13When he reached the Benjamin Gate, a sentinel there named Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah arrested the prophet Jeremiah saying, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans.” 14And Jeremiah said, “That is a lie; I am not deserting to the Chaldeans.” But Irijah would not listen to him, and arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15The officials were enraged at Jeremiah, and they beat him and imprisoned him in the house of the secretary Jonathan, for it had been made a prison. 16Thus Jeremiah was put in the cistern house, in the cells, and remained there many days.
17Then King Zedekiah sent for him, and received him. The king questioned him secretly in his house, and said, “Is there any word from the LORD?” Jeremiah said, “There is!” Then he said, “You shall be handed over to the king of Babylon.” 18Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you and against this land’? 20Now please hear me, my lord king: be good enough to listen to my plea, and do not send me back to the house of the secretary Jonathan to die there.” 21So King Zedekiah gave orders, and they committed Jeremiah to the court of the guard; and a loaf of bread was given him daily from the bakers’ street, until all the bread of the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
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a Meaning of Heb uncertain
37.1–38.28 Jeremiah and Zedekiah. The prose narratives in these two chapters are sequential accounts of Jeremiah’s dealings with Zedekiah during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem.
37.1–10 News of an advancing Egyptian army led to Nebuchadrezzar’s withdrawal from Jerusalem to meet the threat (see 34.21). When Zedekiah sends emissaries to ask Jeremiah to intercede on the behalf of Jerusalem (see 21. 1–10), the prophet responds with an oracle that the Babylonians will return to destroy the city.
37.5 Pharaoh, Hophra (589–570 BCE). See 44.30. Zedekiah’s rebellion, which began in 589, was no doubt stimulated in part by an alliance with Egypt.
37.11–15 At the time of the lifting of the siege, Jeremiah is accused of deserting to the Babylonians when he attempts to travel to the territory of Benjamin to receive his share of the family property. This is probably not connected with the redeeming of the field in Anathoth (ch. 32), which occurred when he was in prison.
37.16–21 Zedekiah’s renewed efforts to find a hopeful prophetic word fail. Jeremiah does succeed in being transferred to more comfortable quarters.
JEREMIAH 38
Jeremiah in the Cistern
1Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah was saying to all the people, 2Thus says the LORD, Those who stay in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but those who go out to the Chaldeans shall live; they shall have their lives as a prize of war, and live. 3Thus says the LORD, This city shall surely be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon and be taken. 4Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to be put to death, because he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.” 5King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he is in your hands; for the king is powerless against you.” 6So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
Jeremiah Is Rescued by Ebed-melech
7Ebed-melech the Ethiopian,a a eunuch in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. The king happened to be sitting at the Benjamin Gate, 8So Ebed-melech left the king’s house and spoke to the king, 9“My lord king, these men have acted wickedly in all they did to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern to die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” 10Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian,b “Take three men with you from here, and pull the prophet Jeremiah up from the cistern before he dies.” 11So Ebedmelech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, to a wardrobe ofc the storehouse, and took from there old rags and worn-out clothes, which he let down to Jeremiah in the cistern by ropes. 12Then Ebedmelech the Ethiopiand said to Jeremiah, “Just put the rags and clothes between your armpits and the ropes.” Jeremiah did so. 13Then they drew Jeremiah up by the ropes and pulled him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
Zedekiah Consults Jeremiah Again
14King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah and received him at the third entrance of the temple of the LORD. The king said to Jeremiah, “I have something to ask you; do not hide anything from me.” 15Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I tell you, you will put me to death, will you not? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16So King Zedekiah swore an oath in secret to Jeremiah, “As the LORD lives, who gave us our lives, I will not put you to death or hand you over to these men who seek your life.”
17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, If you will only surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live. 18But if you do not surrender to the officials of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be handed over to the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand.” 19King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for I might be handed over to them and they would abuse me.” 20Jeremiah said, “That will not happen. Just obey the voice of the LORD in what I say to you, and it shall go well with you, and your life shall be spared. 21But if you are determined not to surrender, this is what the LORD has shown me—22a vision of all the women remaining in the house of the king of Judah being led out to the officials of the king of Babylon and saying,
‘Your trusted friends have seduced you
and have overcome you;
Now that your feet are stuck in the mud,
they desert you.’
23All your wives and your children shall be led out to the Chaldeans, and you yourself shall not escape from their hand, but shall be seized by the king of Babylon; and this city shall be burned with fire.”
24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone else know of this conversation, or you will die. 25If the officials should hear that I have spoken with you, and they should come and say to you, ‘Just tell us what you said to the king; do not conceal it from us, or we will put you to death. What did the king say to you?’ 26then you shall say to them, ‘I was presenting my plea to the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’” 27All the officials did come to Jeremiah and questioned him; and he answered them in the very words the king had commanded. So they stopped questioning him, for the conversation had not been overheard. 28And Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
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a Or Nubian; Heb Cushite
b Or Nubian; Heb Cushite
c Cn: Heb to under
d Or Nubian; Heb Cushite
38.1–13 Jeremiah’s enemies, officials who were pro-Egyptian and supportive of the rebellion, succeed in having the prophet imprisoned and presumably left to die in a muddy but waterless cistern.
38.4 The charge of treason against Jeremiah is similar to a charge in letter six of the Lachish letters against some officials in Jerusalem (see note on 34.7).
38.7 Ebedmelech, an Ethiopian and either a eunuch or palace official (Hebrew saris). Later he receives an oracle from Jeremiah promising he would survive the destruction of Jerusalem (39.15–18).
38.14–28 In this final consultation between Jeremiah and Zedekiah, Jeremiah advises the king to surrender in order to save the city and himself. Zedekiah’s fear of both the pro-Babylonian and pro-Egyptian factions is obvious.
38.14 Third entrance. The various entrances to the temple are not currently known.
38.16 Oath. See note on 4.2.
JEREMIAH 39
The Fall of Jerusalem
1In the ninth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the tenth month, King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem and besieged it; 2in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, a breach was made in the city. 3When Jerusalem was taken,a all the officials of the king of Babylon came and sat in the middle gate: Nergalsharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, with all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon. 4When King Zedekiah of Judah and all the soldiers saw them, they fled, going out of the city at night by way of the king’s garden through the gate between the two walls; and they went toward the Arabah. 5But the army of the Chaldeans pursued them, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho; and when they had taken him, they brought him up to King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon, at Riblah, in the land of Hamath; and he passed sentence on him. 6The king of Babylon slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah at Riblah before his eyes; also the king of Babylon slaughtered all the nobles of Judah. 7He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters to take him to Babylon. 8The Chaldeans burned the king’s house and the houses of the people, and broke down the walls of Jerusalem. 9Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard exiled to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. 10Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
Jeremiah, Set Free, Remembers Ebed-melech
11King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon gave command concerning Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying, 12“Take him, look after him well and do him no harm, but deal with him as he may ask you.” 13So Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the chief officers of the king of Babylon sent 14and took Jeremiah from the court of the guard. They entrusted him to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan to be brought home. So he stayed with his own people.
15The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guard: 16Go and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian:b Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to fulfill my words against this city for evil and not for good, and they shall be accomplished in your presence on that day. 17But I will save you on that day, says the LORD, and you shall not be handed over to those whom you dread. 18For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have trusted in me, says the LORD.
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a This clause has been transposed from 38.28
b Or Nubian; Heb Cushite
39.1–40.6 The fall of Jerusalem.
39.1–10 A summary of 52.4–16 (see 2 Kings 25.1–12).
39.3 Nergalsharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim the Rabsaris, Nergalsharezer the Rabmag, possibly combinations of proper names and titles (see v. 13). Some scholars suggest: “Nergal-sharezer the Simmagir, Nebushazban the chief court official, and Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag,” in which Simmagir and Rabmag are understood as Babylonian official titles. Some scholars identify Nergal-sharezer (here and in v. 13) as Nergalsharusur (Neriglissar), Nebuchadrezzar’s son-in-law, who succeeded to the Babylonian throne in 560 and ruled until 556 BCE, but this identification is not universally accepted.
39.6 Riblah, a city in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon that guarded the highway between Egypt and Mesopotamia. It was an important military base in the seventh and sixth centuries BCE.
39.11–14 For a slightly different account regarding Jeremiah’s release from prison, cf. 40.1–6.
39.15–18 See 38.7–13.
JEREMIAH 40
Jeremiah with Gedaliah the Governor
1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah, when he took him bound in fetters along with all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon. 2The captain of the guard took Jeremiah and said to him, “The LORD your God threatened this place with this disaster; 3and now the LORD has brought it about, and has done as he said, because all of you sinned against the LORD and did not obey his voice. Therefore this thing has come upon you. 4Now look, I have just released you today from the fetters on your hands. If you wish to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will take good care of you; but if you do not wish to come with me to Babylon, you need not come. See, the whole land is before you; go wherever you think it good and right to go. 5If you remain,a then return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed governor of the towns of Judah, and stay with him among the people; or go wherever you think it right to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him an allowance of food and a present, and let him go. 6Then Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.
7When all the leaders of the forces in the open country and their troops heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam governor in the land, and had committed to him men, women, and children, those of the poorest of the land who had not been taken into exile to Babylon, 8they went to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan son of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, Jezaniah son of the Maacathite, they and their troops. 9Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan swore to them and their troops, saying, “Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Stay in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall go well with you. 10As for me, I am staying at Mizpah to represent you before the Chaldeans who come to us; but as for you, gather wine and summer fruits and oil, and store them in your vessels, and live in the towns that you have taken over.” 11Likewise, when all the Judeans who were in Moab and among the Ammonites and in Edom and in other lands heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan as governor over them, 12then all the Judeans returned from all the places to which they had been scattered and came to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah; and they gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance.
13Now Johanan son of Kareah and all the leaders of the forces in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah 14and said to him, “Are you at all aware that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam would not believe them. 15Then Johanan son of Kareah spoke secretly to Gedaliah at Mizpah, “Please let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one else will know. Why should he take your life, so that all the Judeans who are gathered around you would be scattered, and the remnant of Judah would perish?” 16But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Do not do such a thing, for you are telling a lie about Ishmael.”
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a Syr: Meaning of Heb uncertain
40.7–41.18 The governorship and assassination of Gedaliah. See 2 Kings 25.22–26.
40.7–16 After the fall of Jerusalem Judah was incorporated into the provincial system of the Babylonian Empire. With the destruction of its cities, the decimation of its economy, and the deportation of its leaders, including the best educated and the highly skilled artisans, Judah was left largely with poor peasants. Nebuchadrezzar appointed as governor Gedaliah, the son of the same Ahikam who set Jeremiah free at the conclusion of the trial in ch. 26, and the grandson of Shaphan, Josiah’s royal secretary (2 Kings 22). How long Gedaliah’s government lasted is unclear, although certainly no longer than 582 BCE. He set up his government in Mizpah, probably modern Tell en-Nasbeh, about eight miles north of Jerusalem on the border between Benjamin and Judah.
JEREMIAH 41
Insurrection against Gedaliah
1In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah son of Elishama, of the royal family, one of the chief officers of the king, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, at Mizpah. As they ate bread together there at Mizpah, 2Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam son of Shaphan with the sword and killed him, because the king of Babylon had appointed him governor in the land. 3Ishmael also killed all the Judeans who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, and the Chaldean soldiers who happened to be there.
