Jeremiah 38

Chapter context

What is happening in Jeremiah 38?

judgmenttearsnew covenantfalse worship

Jeremiah 38 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as book of consolation and new covenant. Jeremiah combines fierce warning, autobiographical anguish, symbolic action, the promise of a new covenant, and the trauma of Jerusalem’s fall. Read this chapter with the wider themes of judgment, tears, and new covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

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, 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. ³ Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it. 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. 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. 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. 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; ⁸ Ebedmelech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me. 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 hearken unto me? 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. 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: 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. 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. 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. ²¹ But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath shewed me: 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. 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. ²⁴ Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. 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: 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. 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. 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.

Study helps

Glossary

Gedaliah Person v. 1: Made great by Jehovah. (1. ) the son of Jeduthum ( 1 Chr. 25:3 , 9). (2. ) The grandfather of the prophet Zephaniah, and the father of Cushi ( Zeph. 1:1 ). (3. ) One of the Jewish nobles who conspired against Jeremiah.
Jeremiah Person v. 1, 6-7, 9-17, 19-20, 24, 27-28: Raised up or appointed by Jehovah. (1. ) A Gadite who joined David in the wilderness ( 1 Chr. 12:10 ). (2. ) A Gadite warrior ( 1 Chr. 12:13 ). (3. ) A Benjamite slinger who joined David at Ziklag ( 1 Chr. 12:4 ).
Malchiah Person v. 1, 6: Jehovah’s king. (1. ) The head of the fifth division of the priests in the time of David ( 1 Chr. 24:9 ). (2. ) A priest, the father of Pashur ( 1 Chr. 9:12 ; Jer. 38:1 ).
Mattan Person v. 1: Gift. (1. ) A priest of Baal, slain before his altar during the reformation under Jehoiada ( 2 Kings 11:18 ).
Pashur Person v. 1: Release. (1. ) The son of Immer (probably the same as Amariah, Neh. 10:3 ; 12:2 ), the head of one of the priestly courses, was “chief governor [Heb. paqid nagid, meaning “deputy governor”] of the temple” ( Jer. 20:1 , 2).
Shelemiah Person v. 1: Whom Jehovah repays. (1. ) Ezra 10:39 . (2. ) The father of Hananiah ( Neh. 3:30 ). (3. ) A priest in the time of Nehemiah (13:13). (4. ) Father of one of those who accused Jeremiah to Zedekiah ( Jer. 37:3 ; 38:1 ).
Shephatiah Person v. 1: Judged of the Lord. (1. ) A son of David by Abital ( 2 Sam. 3:4 ). (2. ) A Benjamite who joined David at Ziklag ( 1 Chr. 12:5 ). (3. ) A Simeonite prince in David’s time ( 1 Chr. 27:16 ).
Chaldea Place v. 2, 18-19, 23: Biblical region. Modern identification: Tell el Muqayyar.
City People v. 2-4, 9, 17-18, 23: The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain ( Gen. 4:17 ). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12).
Jerusalem Place v. 2-3, 28: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Babylon Place v. 3, 17-18, 22-23: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Babylon.
Zedekiah Person v. 5, 14-17, 19, 24: Righteousness of Jehovah. (1. ) The last king of Judah.
Hammelech Person v. 6: The king’s, the father of Jerahmeel, mentioned in Jer. 36:26 . Some take this word as a common noun, “the king”, and understand that Jerahmeel was Jehoiakim’s son. Probably, however, it is to be taken as a proper name.
Benjamin Person v. 7: Son of my right hand. (1. ) The younger son of Jacob by Rachel ( Gen. 35:18 ). His birth took place at Ephrath, on the road between Bethel and Bethlehem, at a short distance from the latter place.
Benjamin Gate Place v. 7: Biblical gate. Modern identification: Jerusalem.