Jeremiah 38

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.

1. 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).

2. 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

(See on

Jer 21:9).

4. 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).

5. 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].

6. 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

(Ps 69:2, 14).

"I sink in deep mire," &c.

7. 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 believed in

Christ whom the Jews crucified, and Ethiopians were among the earliest

converts

(Ac 2:10, 41; 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.

8. went forth . . . and spake--not privately, but in public; a proof

of fearless magnanimity.

9. 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].

10. 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).

11. 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].

13. court of . . . prison--Ebed-melech prudently put him there to be

out of the way of his enemies.

14. 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, 12).

It was westward

(1Ch 26:16, 18;

2Ch 9:11)

[GROTIUS]. But in the future temple it is eastward

(Eze 46:1, 2, 8).

15. 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.

16. Lord . . . made us this soul--

(Isa 57:16).

Implying, "may my life (soul) be forfeited if I deceive thee" [CALVIN].

17. 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.

19. afraid of the Jews--more than of God

(Pr 29:25;

Joh 9:22; 12:43).

mock me--treat me injuriously

(1Sa 31:4).

22. 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;

Ps 41:9,

Margin). The king's ministers and the false prophets who misled

him.

sunk in . . . mire--proverbial for, Thou art involved

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).

23. children--

(Jer 39:6; 41:10).

"wives . . . children . . . thou"; an ascending

climax.

24. Let no man know--If thou wilt not tell this to the people, I will

engage thy safety.

25. Kings are often such only in title; they are really under the power

of their subjects.

26. 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

Ge 20:2, 12;

on the other hand,

1Sa 16:2, 5.

left off speaking with--Hebrew, "were silent from him," that is,

withdrawing from him they left him quiet

(1Sa 7:8,

Margin).

28. 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 English Version.