Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.
15. the princes were wroth with Jeremiah ] These were not the princes who had looked upon the prophet with favour in the reign of Jehoiakim (Jer 26:16, Jer 36:19). Those were now no doubt exiles, and these their successors, as thoroughly opposed to the Chaldaean rule, and sympathising with their compatriots of Babylon, had no favour to bestow upon Jeremiah. They would remember how he had likened them to evil figs (ch. 24), and had denounced their conduct towards their slaves (ch. 34).
Jonathan ] Shaphan, the scribe of seventeen years before (Jer 36:10), was now probably dead or among the exiles.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The house – Probably the official residence of the secretary of state.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 15. And smote him] Without any proof of the alleged treachery, without any form of justice.
In prison to the house of Jonathan] In Asiatic countries there is an apartment in the houses of the officers of the law, to confine all the accused that are brought before them. Jonathan was a scribe or secretary, and had a prison of this kind in his house.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
These princes seem more fierce against the prophet than those that were in the time of Jehoiakim, for they proceed here upon the captains information, cause the prophet to be beaten, and send him to prison, a prison within the compass of the court, bad enough, as appeareth by Jeremiahs complaint of his condition there to the king, Jer 37:20, and by what followeth in the next verse.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. scribeone of the courtsecretaries; often in the East part of the private house of a publicofficer serves as a prison.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah,…. For attempting to depart the city, and go off to the Chaldeans, as Irijah had suggested to them, and to whom they hearkened; and perhaps would not hear what the prophet had to say for himself; and if they did, it had no weight with them:
and smote him; either with their fists, or with rods, or a scourge; perhaps he underwent the punishment of forty stripes save one, according to the law; and they may be said to smite or beat him, because they ordered it to be done:
and put him in prison, in the house of Jonathan the scribe; or secretary of state; such an one as Elishama was in Jehoiakim’s time, who had a house or apartment at court as he had, who was now dead or removed, Jer 36:12;
for they had made that the prison; which had not used to be; but by the courtiers, and with the consent of this scribe, secretary, or chancellor, it was made a prison; not for common malefactors, but for state prisoners; and a bad prison it seems it was. Very probably this scribe was a very cruel wicked man, who used those very ill that were his prisoners; and indeed, if he had not been of such a character, he would scarcely have suffered his house to have been made a prison.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Here Jeremiah pursues the same narrative, and shews how unjustly he was treated, for he found no equity at the hands of the princes any more than in the keeper of the ward. He was no doubt prepared to defend himself before them, and sufficient proof was ready at hand, only he would have had to speak to the deaf. But here he shews by one word that the liberty of speaking was precluded, for a furious madness seized them that they would not hear him. And here we may notice how much opposed is wrath to just and peaceable decisions; for if we wish to be right and equitable judges, self-government is especially necessary. When, therefore, our minds are inflamed with anger or wrath, it is impossible that any rectitude or humanity should prevail. So Jeremiah complains that he was oppressed, because the princes boiled with rage, so that they suffered him not to give the explanation which he had prepared.
He then adds, that they smote him They no doubt ordered their servants to smite him; for it would have been more than strange, had the princes themselves risen up to strike the Prophet with their fists, or to smite him with their hands. It is then probable that he was smitten by their orders and at their bidding. This is the reason, if I mistake not, why some have given this rendering, “They caused him to be smitten.” But he is often said to have killed a man, who has ordered him to be killed, while he himself had not touched him with his finger. Even so Jeremiah was smitten by the princes, because they had commanded him to be smitten. And this passage shews also, as in a glass, how miserable would be the condition of God’s servants, were he not to sustain them by the power of his Spirit. For here is a holy Prophet overwhelmed with unjust accusations and also reproaches, and the princes abstained not from stripes, and at last he was cast into a pit. Whenever, then, such, a thing happens to us, let us cast our eyes on Jeremiah, and let it not be grievous to us to follow the steps of the holy Prophet; nor let us think it hard to endure the trials with which God was pleased to exercise him. They put him, he says, in the house, and then the word is changed, the prison, האסור easur, but; the same thing is meant. It now follows what sort of prison it was —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) The princes . . . put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe.The house was probably chosen as being under the direct control of one who, as scribe, exercised functions like those of a minister of police. It had not only the subterranean dungeon and pit common to all Eastern prisons, but separate cabins or cells (the Hebrew word does not occur elsewhere) for the confinement of individual prisoners (Jer. 37:16). Of the severity with which the prophet was treated there, we may judge from his entreaty not to be taken back there after his release (Jer. 38:26). We have fairly adequate data for measuring the duration of the many days of his imprisonment. It began before the second siege of Jerusalem, which lasted for nearly two years (2Ki. 25:1-3), and when the city was taken he was still in the court of the prison. The incidents of Jeremiah 32-34 belong to this period.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. Put him in prison As appears more clearly from the following verse, this was a subterranean prison having its wards or vaults. Its relation to the house of Jonathan the scribe indicates that he was an executive or police officer.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 37:15. Wherefore the princes, &c. And the princes, &c.
For they had made that the prison There is nothing extraordinary in making the dwelling-house of a great man a prison, according to either the ancient or modern manners of the east. See Gen 39:20. Even in the royal palace itself we find there was a prison; ch. Jer 32:2. Mr. Harmer (Obs. ch. 8 Obs. 37.) gives the following passage concerning eastern prisons, out of a manuscript of Sir John Chardin. “The eastern prisons are not public buildings erected for that purpose, but a part of the house in which their criminal judges dwell. As the governor or provost of a town, or the captain of the watch, imprison such as are accused in their own houses, they set apart a canton of it for that purpose, when they are put into these offices, and choose for the jailor the most proper person they can find of their domestics.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 37:15 Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.
Ver. 15. Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah. ] Upon the captain’s false suggestion, which they should better have sifted into first before they had believed it; for pellucet mendacium, nec per omnia quadrat, a lie is oft so thin, that it may be seen through and soon found out.
And smote him.
And put him in prison.
In the house of Jonathan the scribe.
a De Consider., lib. ii.
b Acts and Mon.
smote = scourged.
put him in prison. Note Jeremiah’s prison experiences:. (1) put in on false charge (Jer 37:11-15); (2) released, but confined in the court of the prison; (3) imprisoned again in Malchiah’s miry dungeon (Jer 38:1-6); (4) released again as before (Jer 38:13-28); (5) carried away in chains by Nebuchadnezzar, but released at Ramah (Jer 40:1-4).
in prison = in the house of bonds.
the prison = the house of detention.
the princes: Jer 20:1-3, Jer 26:16, Mat 21:35, Mat 23:34, Mat 26:67, Mat 26:68, Luk 20:10, Luk 20:11, Luk 22:64, Joh 18:22, Act 5:28, Act 5:40, Act 16:22-24, Act 23:2, Act 23:3, 2Co 11:23-27, Heb 11:36-38
put: Gen 39:20, 2Ch 16:10, 2Ch 18:26, Act 5:18, Act 12:4-6, Rev 2:10
in the: Jer 37:20, Jer 38:6, Jer 38:26
Reciprocal: Gen 42:19 – house Exo 23:2 – to decline 1Ki 22:27 – Put this fellow 2Ki 6:31 – if the head 2Ch 18:25 – and carry him back Jer 20:2 – smote Jer 36:5 – General Jer 37:4 – for Jer 40:8 – Jonathan Lam 3:52 – chased Mar 12:3 – they Luk 4:28 – were Act 16:24 – the inner 2Co 6:5 – imprisonments
Jer 37:15. For some reason the house of a scribe named Jonathan was being used as a prison at this time. The prophet was given unjust and cruel treatment and shut up in this prison.
Jer 37:15. Wherefore the princes were wroth These princes seem to have been much more hostile to the prophet than those that were in the time of Jehoiakim, (see Jer 36:19,) for they proceed here merely upon the captains information, and, treating him as guilty, without any proof, cruelly cause him to be beaten, though entirely innocent, and put into a most miserable dungeon. In the house of Jonathan the scribe There is nothing extraordinary, says Blaney, in making the dwelling- house of a great man a prison, according to either the ancient or modern manners of the East: see Gen 39:20; even in the royal palace itself we find there was a prison, chap. Jer 32:2. Mr. Harmer (chap. 8. obs. 37) quotes the following passage from a MS. of Sir John Chardin: The eastern prisons are not public buildings erected for that purpose; but a part of the house in which their criminal judges dwell. As the governor and provost of a town, or the captain of the watch, imprison such as are accused in their own houses, they set apart a canton of them for that purpose, when they are put into these offices, and choose for the jailer the most proper person they can find of their domestics. Thus Mr. Harmer thinks that Jonathans house became a prison in consequence of his being a royal scribe, or, as we should term him, secretary of state.
37:15 Wherefore the princes were angry with Jeremiah, and beat him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the {h} prison.
(h) Because it was a vile and straight prison.
The officials angrily beat Jeremiah and confined him in the house of a scribe named Jonathan, which they had converted into a jail. This reference begins what some scholars have referred to as "Jeremiah’s passion." Jeremiah remained in an underground dungeon for many days. The Hebrew words describing this cell are difficult to interpret. They may describe "a complex of large, underground cisterns that had been converted into a prison," [Note: Dyer, "Jeremiah," p. 1182.] or "a vaulted cell in a dungeon." [Note: Feinberg, "Jeremiah," p. 613.] Jeremiah feared for his life there (Jer 37:20). The hostile attitude of Zedekiah’s officials contrasts sharply with that of Jehoiakim’s officials in the previous chapter (Jer 36:11-19).
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)