Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

15 18. See introd. summary to the section. This section is certainly out of chronological order, as relating to a time before the capture of the city, but there is no sufficient reason for condemning it (with Du. and Co.) as unhistorical.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

This prophecy probably came to Jeremiah after his interview with Zedekiah Jer 38:14, but is added here as a supplement in order not to break the sequence of events.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Jer 39:15-18

I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fan by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee.

Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the Lords hidden ones

It is strange that, amongst all the tracts and biographies and scriptural stories which the press sends forth, one never meets the name of Ebed-melech the Ethiopian. It shows that Scripture history is either little read or little understood. It makes one doubt whether those whom either the world or the Church is admiring be those whom He that looketh not on the outward appearance, and seeth not as man seeth, will delight to honour in the day when He maketh up His jewels. Although, for aught we know, he never was a member of any church upon earth, being a poor heathen, brought from a land that the light of Gods revelation had never reached, he is held up in the Book of God to our admiration and imitation, in contrast with the whole Church and nation that was in covenant with God in ancient times; and even under the New Testament, if we honoured saints at all, his name should hold a conspicuous place in our calendar of worthies and illustrious confessors of the faith, for he was, like ourselves, a Gentile man, and it was by faith he obtained a good report from God Himself. Jerusalem was to fall, but Ebed-melech the Ethiopian would stand in the evil day. As he had delivered the prophet from his dungeon, and from the cruelty of the princes his persecutors, and the danger of a horrible death, he himself would be delivered in the day of danger, and the men of whom he was afraid would not have it in their power to take his life, or injure a hair of his head. God would be his saviour, and shows him beforehand the certainty of his salvation.

I. What a blessed providence is that of God, over the least as well as the greatest men and things, especially over the good without respect of persons.

1. No one is forgotten before God, and nothing that concerns the least left out of the regard of the Father of all. The one who was the object of special care to the God of Israel, the Lord of hosts, in the day of Israels final overthrow, was one of these who were least regarded by men upon earth, a slave, a eunuch, an Ethiopian, an uncircumcised heathen, an alien from the commonwealth of Israel, a stranger to the covenant of promise. Who then is forgotten by the God of Israel?

2. God is far from confounding the righteous with the wicked in His judgments.

3. So far from confounding the righteous with the wicked, God contrasts them with one another. What brighter display of Divine righteousness can there be than the salvation of the least of saints in the midst of the destruction of a whole nation, or church of sinners, like the Jews here, or like Christendom, to whose doom we are to look forward?

II. What encouragement to the lowliest to work out their salvation with cheerfulness and patience, as well as with fear and trembling, after the example of Ebed-melech the Ethiopian!

1. Why are such actions as this of Ebed-melech those which in the sight of God are of great account? Because they are acts of self-denying love and self-sacrifice; because they are thus, God Himself in the text expressly says, the fruits of a living faith in God.

2. It is not his circumstances that prevent any man from becoming great before God, great as Ebed-melech, for it is not his circumstances that prevent any from becoming good, from having the same character, and manifesting in his place the same heroic and holy spirit.

3. Woe to us if we are not like Ebed-melech in unselfishness, or in self-denying love, the fruit of faith! Church membership, Church privileges, Church knowledge and advantages of whatever kind, what will they prove but the condemnation of those who are not like Ebed-melech in character?

III. What blessed hope for the future does Ebed-melech bring to many of whom the world is not worthy, and who are by the world and by the Church unknown!

1. Kindness to those whom the world despises, or the worldly and ungodly church reprobates or persecutes, is not the least part of the duty of Christians, or those who would be saved in the day of wrath, like Ebed-melech.

2. How different is public opinion in a corrupt church or age from the judgment or truth of God! (R. Paisley.)

.

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

These words let us know that these four verses (which contain mostly a promise to Ebed-melech for his kindness to Jeremiah while he was in the dungeon of Malchiah, of which we read Jer 38:6-11 mention a matter that happened before the things mentioned in the foregoing verses.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

15-18. Belonging to the timewhen the city was not yet taken, and when Jeremiah was still in thecourt of the prison (Jer 38:13).This passage is inserted here because it was now that Ebed-melech’sgood act (Jer 38:7-12;Mat 25:43) was to be rewarded inhis deliverance.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Now the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison,…. This prophecy was before the taking of the city, and after the prophet had been took out of the dungeon by Ebedmelech; though here inserted after the city was taken; and that to show the great regard the Lord has to such who show favour to his prophets; for though we have no account of the accomplishment of this prophecy, there is no doubt to be made of it; and that Ebedmelech was saved from the general destruction, as is here predicted:

saying: as follows:

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Jeremiah’s message of comfort to Ebedmelech. – Jer 39:15. “Now to Jeremiah there had come the word of the Lord, while he remained shut up in the court of the prison, as follows: Jer 39:16. Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Cushite, saying, Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words against this city for evil and not for good, and they shall take place before thee on that day. Jer 39:17. But I will deliver thee on that day, saith Jahveh; neither shalt thou be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid. Jer 39:18. For I will surely save thee, neither shalt thou fall by the sword, and thine own life shall be thy spoil, because thou hast trusted me, saith Jahveh.” – This word of God for Ebedmelech came to the prophet, no doubt, very soon after his deliverance from the miry pit by this pious Ethiopian; but it is not given till now, and this by way of supplement, lest its introduction previously should break the chain of events which occurred at the time of that deliverance, Jer 38:14-39:13. Hence , Jer 39:15, is to be translated as a pluperfect. “Go and say,” etc., is not inconsistent with the fact that Jeremiah, from being in confinement, could not leave the court of the prison. For Ebedmelech could come into the prison, and then Jeremiah could go to him and declare the word of God. “Behold, I will bring my words against this city,” i.e., I shall cause the evil with which I have threatened Jerusalem and its inhabitants to come, or, to be accomplished ( with dropped, as in Jer 19:15, and for ). , “and these words are to take place before thy face,” i.e., thou shalt with thine own eyes behold their fulfilment, , i.e., at the time of their occurrence. But thou shalt be saved, not fall into the hands of the enemy and be killed, but carry away thy body out of it all as booty; cf. Jer 21:9; Jer 38:2. “Because thou hast trusted me;” i.e., through the aid afforded to my prophet thou hast continued thy faith in me.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Vs. 15-18: THE SPARING OF EBED-MELECH

1. Some time before the fall of Jerusalem the Lord gave to Jeremiah a word of assurance for Ebed-melech -the servant who had rescued him from the miry pit, (s. 15-16).

2. Though the city will fall, Ebed-melech need not fear; his life will be spared because he has trusted in the Lord – a very unique thing in his day! (vs. 17-18; comp. Jer 17:7-8; Psa 34:22).

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

The Prophet tells us here that God was not unmindful of that Ethiopian, by whom he had been preserved, though he was an alien and from a barbarous nation. We have seen, however, that he alone undertook the cause of the Prophet, when others, being terrified by fear, did not exert themselves, or were avowedly enemies to God’s servant. Ebedmelech then alone dared to go forth in a case so hopeless, and undertook the defense of the holy man. The Prophet says now that this service was so acceptable, that it would not be without its reward. We have said that Ebedmelech had thus manifested his concern for the Prophet’s life, but not without evident danger; for he knew that the princes were united against him, and that these ungodly men had drawn to their side the greatest part of the court and also of the common people. Then Ebedmelech roused against himself both high and low; but God aided him, so that he was not overpowered by his adversaries. In his very danger he experienced the favor of God, and was protected and delivered from danger.

But now he finds that he had not ill employed his exertions; for he had not only been humane and merciful towards a mortal man, but had also done service for God; for whatever we do for God’s servants, he acknowledges as done to himself, and will have it to be laid to his account, according to what Christ says,

“

He who gives a cup of cold water to one of the least of my disciples, shall not lose his reward.” (Mat 10:42)

There is then no doubt but that the Spirit of God intended by the example of Ebedmelech to rouse us to the duties of humanity, even to teach us to sue-coup the miserable, and to give them help as far as we can, and not to shun the hatred of men or any dangers, which we may thereby incur. And as we are torpid and negligent in doing good, the reward given to the Ethiopian is set before us, so that we may know, that though nothing is to be hoped from men, when we are kind and liberal, yet we shall not lose our labor, for God is rich enough, who can render to us more than can be expected from the whole world. This then is the lesson conveyed here.

But the circumstances must be noticed: the Prophet says, that he was commanded to promise deliverance to Ebedme-lech, while he was yet confined in prison. This, at the first view, seems strange; for the Prophet might have objected and said, “Thou biddest me to go forth; why, then, are not the gates of the prison opened for me? and then thou wouldst have me to be the herald of thy favor; but my present miserable condition will prevent any credit to be given to my words: for how can Ebedmelech believe that I have been sent. by thee? for I am here confined and surrounded by many deaths.” But let us hence learn not to bring down God’s word to our judgment, when anything is promised beyond our expectation, and all our conceptions. Though, indeed, God seemed, as it were, to mock his servant, when he ordered him, a prisoner, to go to Ebedmelech; and yet the Prophet received and embraced this command, and performed it, no doubt, though this is not expressly mentioned.

This is the reason why he says, that a word came to him from Jehovah, while he was in the court of the prison

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

IV. APPENDIX: A MESSAGE FOR EBED-MELECH Jer. 39:15-18

(15) Now the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah while he was still confined in the court of the guard, saying, Go and say to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am about to bring My words concerning this city to pass for evil and not for good. And they shall be fulfilled before your eyes on that day. (17) But I will deliver you in that day (oracle of the LORD) and you shall not be given into the hands of the men of whom you are terrified. (18) For I will certainly cause you to escape and you shall not fall by the sword; but you shall have your life as spoils because you trusted in Me (oracle of the LORD).

COMMENTS

Attached to the end of this present section of the book is a brief appendix containing a word of comfort for the slave Ebed-melech. Chronologically these four verses would stand after Jer. 38:13. They are postponed till now in order that there might be no break in the narrative of Jeremiahs imprisonment and the capture of the city. In their present position these verses provide a bright conclusion to the dark story of the fall and destruction of Jerusalem. The passage suggests that God takes care of His own and rewards men of faith who have the courage to act decisively.

While still in the court of the guard (Jer. 39:15) Jeremiah was given a message for Ebed-melech. Doubtlessly in the course of this servants daily work he would have had occasion to be in or near the court of the guard. Perhaps it was his task to feed the prisoners there. Jeremiah was instructed to go to this eunuch with a message of hope. Ebed-melech would see the city of Jerusalem captured and destroyed just as the Lord had spoken through His prophet (Jer. 39:16). Perhaps this is an oblique way of saying that Ebed-melech need not fear reprisals at the hands of the wicked princes who hated him for rescuing Jeremiah. Ebed-melech must have been harassed with fear as to his personal future when Jerusalem was captured. As a royal servant he knew that he would most likely be killed by the Chaldeans. Jeremiah assures him that this will not be the case. you shall not be delivered into the hands of the men of whom you are afraid (Jer. 39:17). Though his life would be endangered in that day, God would deliver him. His life would be given to him for a prey i.e., a prize of war. God will be gracious to this humble servant because he had put his trust in the Lord. What a contrast between this royal servant and the king he served. The servant trusted God and risked his life to take a stand for right, His master tried to save his life by refusing to heed the word of God. The Ethiopian found life among death; the king died a thousand deaths as he languished in blindness in a Chaldean dungeon.

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

CONSOLATORY MESSAGE TO EBED-MELECH, Jer 39:15-18.

15. Word of the Lord came Doubtless at the time of Jeremiah’s deliverance by this eunuch, but it is placed here so as not to break the connexion of the more important body of narration.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

2. APPENDIX TO Jer 39:1-14.THE PROMISE MADE TO THE CUSHITE EBED -MELECH

Jer 39:15-18

15Now the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court 16of the prison [guard], saying, Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts [Jehovah Zebaoth], the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring4 my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be5 accomplished 17in that day before thee. But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the 18Lord [Jehovah]: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid. For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord [Jehovah].

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The Cushite Ebed-melech, to whom the words of our Lord may be applied (Luk 19:40), if these should hold their peace, the stones would cry out, is here honored by a special consolatory promise. In the nature of the case this falls into the period after the occurrence related in Jer 37:7-13. The expression shut up, etc., is found besides only in Jer 33:1 (comp. Jer 32:2). As we know from other grounds that chh. 32. and 33. pertain to the last stage of the confinement in the court of the guard (Jer 38:28, comp. on Jer 37:17), we may place our brief passage in the same period as that great consolatory discourse. This portion might, therefore, be attached to those chapters. It is, however, evident that the contents are too trifling in comparison with the importance of that great theocratic book of consolation, and that the historical connection seems better preserved in this place. After the prophet had related his own experiences till the capture of the city, he appends this brief prophecy uttered shortly before that epoch. In connection with Jeremiah 45 it would have been neither historically nor topically in the right place.

Jer 39:15-18. Now the word . . . saith Jehovah. Two thoughts lie at the foundation of Jer 39:16. 1. The fulfilment of my threatenings against Jerusalem shall take place before thine eyes. Ebed-melech is to see what he before believed. This is, as it were, the immanent reward of faith, its crown and corroboration. 2. Notwithstanding that all Jerusalem with all the people therein perishes the person of Ebed-melech shall remain unimperilled. This is the second physical and palpable reward of faith.As the import of Gods word cannot be conceived of as indifferent, admitting of fulfilment either in a good or a bad sense, for evil must be regarded as dependent on words. Comp. Jer 21:10.In that day, Jer 39:16, refers necessarily to the point of time in I will bring, and expresses that the moment of fulfilment will be at the same time the moment of visible perception. There may be a fulfilment which takes place invisibly. Compare what is said under Jer 25:11 of the invisible reality of the beginning of the exile. In the same day Ebed-melech is to experience the power and grace of God in the deliverance of his own person. For he is not to be given into the hand of the men of whom he is afraid (Jer 39:17). It might be asked whether the Chaldeans are meant, or the Jews who were hostile to him on Jeremiahs account. The expressions used in the following verse thou shalt not fall by the sword, and especially the contrast to the general destruction, involved in thou shalt have thy life for a prey (comp. Jer 21:9; Jer 38:2; Jer 45:5), favor the former. Ebed-melech believed and trusted in the Lord. He held the word of the Lord, which Jeremiah proclaimed, to be true, he dared to oppose Jeremiahs enemies; he consequently did not set his hope on the means of escape, on which these foolishly trusted, but on the Lord. In the words put thy trust, then, there is a double point of applause and of confidence.

Footnotes:

[4]Jer 39:16.On . Comp. Olsh., S. 69, 392, 581.

[5]Jer 39:16. is evidently used here in a pregnant sense=to be realized, to attain to a real existence. Comp. Isa 7:7; Isa 14:24.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. On Jer 39:11-12. Elucet inde veritas illius Salomonis (Pro 21:1): Cor regis in manu Dei, quo vult illud inclinat. Frster.

2. On Jer 39:11-14. Nebuchadnezzar the king and Ebed-melech the Ethiopian enhanced the guilt of the Jews. For these, although they were heathens, were not shy of the prophet. The Jews, however, who had grown up with the prophetic words, paid no regard to the divine word, but on the contrary subjected the prophet to manifold maltreatment. Theodoret.

3. On Jer 39:11-14. Deus ex iisdem hominibus diversa singulis disponit prmia, qui ex iisdem elementis pro meritorum qualitate electis et reprobis diversas impendit remunerationes. Nam aqua maris rubri, qu cultores Dei illsos servabat Israelitas, eadem interfecit gyptios idololatras. Similiter flamma camini, qu regis Babylonis juxta fornacem atroces interfecit ministros, eadem laudantes et benedicentes Dominum in medio ignis conservavit pueros, unde vir sapiens in laudibus Dei ait: creatura enim tibi factori deserviens excandescit in tormentum adversus injustos et lenior fit ad benefaciendum pro his, qui in te confidunt (Sap. 16, 24). Rhabanus Maurus in Ghisler.

4. On Jer 39:15-18. Well for him, whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God (Psa 146:5). Well for the people, whose God is the Lord (Psa 144:15). For of what avail was it to Zedekiah that he was king? And of what injury was it to Ebed-melech that he was a servant? For the former had to endure all on account of his ungodliness, while the latter on account of his piety suffered no evil. Theodoret.

5. On Jer 39:15-18. Ecce principes, qui Jeremiam expetiverunt ad carceris pnam, Chaldaic captivitatis perpessi sunt vindictam. Hic autem Eunuchus, qui prophetam liberavit de carcere, Domino remunerante perfecta potitus est libertate. Rhabanus Maurus in Ghisler.

6. On Jer 39:15-18. This pious courtier had interceded for the prophet with the king, but the prophet had again interceded for him with God the Lord. Ebed-melech had drawn him out of the pit, but Jeremiah draws him by his prayer from the jaws of all Chaldean war-vortices. Those who receive a prophet shall receive a prophets reward (Mat 10:41). Preachers do their patrons more good than they get from them. Cramer.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

1. On Jer 39:11-14. Jeremiahs deliverance an example of how wonderfully the Lord helps His own. 1. While in Jerusalem his fellow believers hate and persecute him, the heathen king in Riblah thinks of him, and commands to liberate him. 2. While the city of Jerusalem with all its population perishes, he is protected and brought into safety.

2. On Jer 39:15-18. What can we learn from the example of the believing Ebed-melech? 1. That faith is not connected with limits of any external communion; 2, that assent and confidence pertain to its nature (Jer 39:18); 3, that there is an internal (Jer 39:16) and external (Jer 39:17) reward of faith.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

It should seem that Ebed-melech, notwithstanding his boldness in Jeremiah’s cause, (see Jer 38:7-13 .) was timid concerning the threatened judgments of God upon Jerusalem. The Lord hath special respect to the fearful minds of his little ones. His grace shall be sufficient for them; and his strength shall be according to their weakness. It is blessed to know this; and doubly blessed to rely upon it in Christ.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Jer 39:15 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

Ver. 15. Now the word of the Lord. ] Which is never bound, 2Ti 2:9 but runneth and is glorified. 2Th 3:1

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 39:15-18

15Now the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guardhouse, saying, 16Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I am about to bring My words on this city for disaster and not for prosperity; and they will take place before you on that day. 17But I will deliver you on that day, declares the LORD, and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread. 18For I will certainly rescue you, and you will not fall by the sword; but you will have your own life as booty, because you have trusted in Me, declares the LORD.’

Jer 39:15-18 YHWH’s gracious attitude and actions toward Ebed-melech are because of his kind treatment and intercession on behalf of His prophet, Jeremiah (cf. Jer 38:7-13).

Jer 39:17 I will deliver you This VERB (BDB 664, KB 717, Hiphil PERFECT) is a promise that YHWH will deal kindly and with special protection to this foreigner (non-Jew). In Jer 39:18 he is said to have trust (BDB 105, KB 120, Qal PERFECT) in YHWH (cf. Jer 17:7-8).

Jer 39:18 I will certainly rescue you This is a literary parallel to Jer 39:17. The VERB (BDB 572, KB 589) is intensified by the INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE and the IMPERFECT VERB of the same root.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

The Thirty-Fifth Prophecy of Jeremiah (see book comments for Jeremiah).

the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Jer 39:15-18

Jer 39:15-18

GOD REWARDS EBEL-MELECH

Now the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the guard, saying, Go, and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished before thee in that day. But I will deliver thee in that day, saith Jehovah; and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid. For I will surely save thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee; because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith Jehovah.

Go, and speak to Ebel-melech…

(Jer 39:15). Ebel-melech was in the king’s house; and apparently there would have been impediment against Jeremiah’s seeking an interview with the Ethiopian who had saved his life. Evidently, this word to Jeremiah’s benefactor probably came, shortly after Jeremiah’s final interview with Zedekiah, but is not reported earlier in order not to break the sequence of events.

Thou shalt not be delivered into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid…

(Jer 39:17). Right here is the explanation of why thirty men were needed (not three) for the rescue mission on behalf of Jeremiah. Ebel-melech had every reason to fear those evil princes who had tried to murder Jeremiah, and who would have certainly prevented his rescue if it had not been protected by an armed group of men.

Those evil princes would certainly have murdered Ebel-melech if they had found an opportunity; but that opportunity never came, thanks to the orders Nebuchadnezzar gave to his “head butcher” to put all of those reprobate “nobles” to death. “Ebel-melech’s trust in God proved to be his salvation, a situation that is normative also for Christians (Act 16:31).”

APPENDIX: A MESSAGE FOR EBED-MELECH Jer 39:15-18

Attached to the end of this present section of the book is a brief appendix containing a word of comfort for the slave Ebed-melech. Chronologically these four verses would stand after Jer 38:13. They are postponed till now in order that there might be no break in the narrative of Jeremiahs imprisonment and the capture of the city. In their present position these verses provide a bright conclusion to the dark story of the fall and destruction of Jerusalem. The passage suggests that God takes care of His own and rewards men of faith who have the courage to act decisively.

While still in the court of the guard (Jer 39:15) Jeremiah was given a message for Ebed-melech. Doubtlessly in the course of this servants daily work he would have had occasion to be in or near the court of the guard. Perhaps it was his task to feed the prisoners there. Jeremiah was instructed to go to this eunuch with a message of hope. Ebed-melech would see the city of Jerusalem captured and destroyed just as the Lord had spoken through His prophet (Jer 39:16). Perhaps this is an oblique way of saying that Ebed-melech need not fear reprisals at the hands of the wicked princes who hated him for rescuing Jeremiah. Ebed-melech must have been harassed with fear as to his personal future when Jerusalem was captured. As a royal servant he knew that he would most likely be killed by the Chaldeans. Jeremiah assures him that this will not be the case. you shall not be delivered into the hands of the men of whom you are afraid (Jer 39:17). Though his life would be endangered in that day, God would deliver him. His life would be given to him for a prey i.e., a prize of war. God will be gracious to this humble servant because he had put his trust in the Lord. What a contrast between this royal servant and the king he served. The servant trusted God and risked his life to take a stand for right, His master tried to save his life by refusing to heed the word of God. The Ethiopian found life among death; the king died a thousand deaths as he languished in blindness in a Chaldean dungeon.

The Fall of Jerusalem – Jer 39:1 to Jer 40:6

Open It

1. What is your favorite story, true or fictional, of a total reversal of fortunes?

2. What do you think of the idea that the captain should go down with the ship? Why?

Explore It

3. What happened to Jerusalem? (Jer 39:1-3)

4. What did the king of Judah and his soldiers do when the Babylonians entered the city? (Jer 39:4)

5. What happened to Zedekiah and his troops because they decided to flee? (Jer 39:5-7)

6. What was left of the kingdom of Judah when the Babylonians finally left? (Jer 39:8-10)

7. What happened to the prophet Jeremiah when the Babylonians took the city? (Jer 39:11-14)

8. What words of comfort did Jeremiah have on the eve of the Babylonian victory for the man who had rescued him from the cistern? (Jer 39:15-18)

9. Where was Jeremiah when the Babylonian commander of the guard came looking for him in order to carry out the kings instructions? (Jer 40:1-2)

10. What did Nebuzaradan understand about what had just transpired in Judah? (Jer 40:2-3)

11. What choices were given to Jeremiah about where he would live? (Jer 40:4-5)

12. Where did Jeremiah choose to stay after he was freed by the Babylonians? (Jer 40:6)

Get It

13. Although Zedekiah had been installed as a puppet king for the Babylonians, why did he run in fear when they finally took the city?

14. Why would the Babylonians have left a few poor people and given them property?

15. What can we learn about Jeremiahs character and motives from the fact that he chose to stay with his people rather than receive honor in Babylon?

16. What is revealed about Gods character through His concern for Ebed-Melech?

17. How would you respond to the self-imposed suffering of someone who had ignored your previous warnings about the consequences of a specific behavior?

Apply It

18. What immediate action can you take this week concerning a warning from Gods Word?

19. What person of faith could you study in the coming weeks in order to learn how to take a stand for Gods righteousness while maintaining compassion for sinners?

Questions On Jeremiah Chapters Thirty-Nine Thru Forty-One

By Brent Kercheville

1 What does chapter 39 describe?

What were some of the horrors of this event?

Where in Deuteronomy did God warn Israel that this would happen if they disobeyed?

2 How does Nebuchadnezzar treat Jeremiah (Jer 39:11-14)? Compare and contrast his treatment by Nebuchadnezzar with his treatment by Zedekiah.

3 What is Gods promise to Jeremiah (Jer 39:15-18)?

4 What happens to Jeremiah in Jer 40:1-6? Who does the text say did all of this for Jeremiah?

5 What happens in Jer 40:7-16?

6 What else happens in chapter 41?

TRANSFORMATION:

How does this relationship change your relationship with God? What did you learn about him? What will

you do differently in your life?

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

while: Jer 39:14, Jer 32:1, Jer 32:2, Jer 36:1-5, Jer 37:21, 2Ti 2:9

Reciprocal: Neh 3:25 – by the court Heb 11:36 – bonds

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 39:15. As an explanation of this kind treatment, the prophet goes back and tells us of a word that God spoke to him while he was still shut up in the court of the prison.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Jer 39:15-18. The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah when he was in the court of the prison These words give us to understand that this and the next three verses respect a matter which took place before the things related in the preceding part of this chapter, namely, the kindness which Ebed-melech showed to Jeremiah in his distress. Here God commissions his prophet to promise him a recompense for that kindness. He had relieved a prophet in the name of a prophet, and he is here assured he shall receive a prophets reward. This message was delivered to him immediately after he had shown that mercy to Jeremiah; but it is mentioned here after the taking of the city, to show that, as God was kind to Jeremiah at that time, so he was to Ebed-melech for his sake; and it was a special favour to both, as they no doubt accounted it, that they were not involved in the common calamities.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jer 39:15-18. Ebed-melech.A prophecy of his deliverance, given during the siege (cf. Jer 38:7-13).His enemies (Jer 39:17) may be either the Babylonians, or the hostile princes.

Jer 39:18. Cf. Jer 21:9, Jer 45:5.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

The Lord’s blessing of Ebed-melech 39:15-18

The preceding pericope recorded how the Lord preserved his prophet, and this one shows how He preserved the prophet’s rescuer.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Before his release from the stockade, the Lord had told Jeremiah to give a message to Ebed-melech (cf. Jer 38:7-28. Yahweh had said that He was about to fulfill His predictions about the destruction of Jerusalem, and that the Ethiopian would witness these events.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

CHAPTER XII

JEREMIAHS IMPRISONMENT

Jer 37:11-21, Jer 38:1-28, Jer 39:15-18

“Jeremiah abode in the court of the guard until the day that Jerusalem was taken.”- Jer 38:28

“WHEN the Chaldean army was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaohs army,

Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin “to transact certain family business at Anathoth. {Cf. Jer 32:6-8}

He had announced that all who remained in the city should perish, and that only those who deserted to the Chaldeans should escape. In these troubled times all who sought to enter or leave Jerusalem were subjected to close scrutiny, and when Jeremiah wished to pass through the gate of Benjamin he was stopped by the officer in charge-Irijah ben Shelemiah ben Hananiah-and accused of being about to practise himself what he had preached to the people: “Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.” The suspicion was natural enough; for, although the Chaldeans had raised the siege and marched away to the southwest, while the gate of Benjamin was on the north of the city, Irijah might reasonably suppose that they had left detachments in the neighbourhood, and that this zealous advocate of submission to Babylon had special information on the subject. Jeremiah indeed had the strongest motives for seeking safety in flight. The party whom he had consistently denounced had full control of the government, and even if they spared him for the present any decisive victory over the enemy would be the signal for his execution. When once Pharaoh Hophra was in full march upon Jerusalem at the head of a victorious army, his friends would show no mercy to Jeremiah. Probably Irijah was eager to believe in the prophets treachery, and ready to snatch at any pretext for arresting him. The name of the captains grandfather-Hananiah-is too common to suggest any connection with the prophet who withstood Jeremiah; but we may be sure that at this crisis the gates were in charge of trusty adherents of the princes of the Egyptian party. Jeremiah would be suspected and detested by such men as these. His vehement denial of the charge was received with real or feigned incredulity; Irijah “hearkened not unto him.”

The arrest took place “in the midst of the people.” The gate was crowded with other Jews hurrying out of Jerusalem: citizens eager to breathe more freely after being cooped up in the overcrowded city; countrymen anxious to find out what their farms and homesteads had suffered at the hands of the invaders; not a few, perhaps, bound on the very errand of which Jeremiah was accused, friends of Babylon, convinced that Nebuchadnezzar would ultimately triumph, and hoping to find favour and security in his camp. Critical events of Jeremiahs life had often been transacted before a great assembly; for instance, his own address and trial in the Temple, and the reading of the roll. He knew the practical value of a dramatic situation. This time he had sought the crowd, rather to avoid than attract attention; but when he was challenged by Irijah, the accusation and denial must have been heard by all around. The soldiers of the guard, necessarily hostile to the man who had counselled submission, gathered round to secure their prisoner; for a time the gate was blocked by the guards and spectators. The latter do not seem to have interfered. Formerly the priests and prophets and all the people had laid hold on Jeremiah, and afterwards all the people had acquitted him by acclamation. Now his enemies were content to leave him in the hands of the soldiers, and his friends, if he had any, were afraid to attempt a rescue. Moreover mens minds were not at leisure and craving for new excitement, as at Temple festivals; they were preoccupied, and eager to get out of the city. While the news quickly spread that Jeremiah had been arrested as he was trying to desert, his guards cleared a way through the crowd, and brought the prisoner before the princes. The latter seem to have acted as a Committee of National Defence; they may either have been sitting at the time, or a meeting, as on a previous occasion, {Jer 26:10} may have been called when it was known that Jeremiah had been arrested. Among them were probably those enumerated later on: {Jer 38:1} Shephatiah ben Mattan, Gedaliah ben Pashhur, Jucal ben Shelemiah, and Pashhur ben Malchiah. Shephatiah and Gedaliah are named only here; possibly Gedaliahs father was Pashhur ben Immer, who beat Jeremiah and put him in the stocks. Both Jucal and Pashhur ben Malchiah had been sent by the king to consult Jeremiah. Jucal may have been the son of the Shelemiah who was sent to arrest Jeremiah and Baruch after the reading of the roll. We note the absence of the princes who then formed Baruchs audience, some of whom tried to dissuade Jehoiakim from burning the roll; and we especially miss the prophets former friend and protector, Ahikam ben Shaphan. Fifteen or sixteen years had elapsed since these earlier events; some of Jeremiahs adherents were dead, others in exile, others powerless to help him. We may safely conclude that his judges were his personal and political enemies. Jeremiah was now their discomfited rival. A few weeks before he had been master of the city and the court. Pharaoh Hophras advance had enabled them to overthrow him. We can understand that they would at once take Irijahs view of the case. They treated their fallen antagonist as a criminal taken in the act: “they were wroth with him,” i.e., they overwhelmed him with a torrent of abuse; “they beat him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the secretary.” But this imprisonment in a private house was not mild and honourable confinement under the care of a distinguished noble, who was rather courteous host than harsh gaoler. “They had made that the prison,” duly provided with a dungeon and cells, to which Jeremiah was consigned and where he remained “many days.” Prison accommodation at Jerusalem was limited; the Jewish government preferred more summary methods of dealing with malefactors. The revolution which had placed the present government in power had given them special occasion for a prison. They had defeated rivals whom they did not venture to execute publicly, but who might be more safely starved and tortured to death in secret. For such a fate they destined Jeremiah. We shall not do injustice to Jonathan the secretary if we compare the hospitality which he extended to his unwilling guests with the treatment of modern Armenians in Turkish prisons. Yet the prophet remained alive “for many days”; probably his enemies reflected that even if he did not succumb earlier to the hardships of his imprisonment, his execution would suitably adorn the looked for triumph of Pharaoh Hophra.

Few however of the “many days” had passed before mens exultant anticipations of victory and deliverance began to give place to anxious forebodings. They had hoped to hear that Nebuchadnezzar had been defeated and was in headlong retreat to Chaldea; they had been prepared to join in the pursuit of the routed army, to gratify their revenge by massacring the fugitives, and to share the plunder with their Egyptian allies. The fortunes of war belied their hopes: Pharaoh retreated, either after a battle or perhaps even without fighting. The return of the enemy was announced by the renewed influx of the country people to seek the shelter of the fortifications, and soon the Jews crowded to the walls as Nebuchadnezzars vanguard appeared in sight and the Chaldeans occupied their old lines and reformed the siege of the doomed city.

There was no longer any doubt that prudence dictated immediate surrender. It was the only course by which the people might be spared some of the horrors of a prolonged siege, followed by the sack of the city. But the princes who controlled the government were too deeply compromised with Egypt to dare to hope for mercy. With Jeremiah out of the way, they were able to induce the king and the people to maintain their resistance, and the siege went on.

But though Zedekiah was, for the most part, powerless in the hands of the princes, he ventured now and then to assert himself in minor matters, and, like other feeble sovereigns, derived some consolation amidst his many troubles from intriguing with the opposition against his own ministers. His feeling and behaviour towards Jeremiah were similar to those of Charles IX towards Coligny, only circumstances made the Jewish king a more efficient protector of Jeremiah.

At this new and disastrous turn of affairs, which was an exact fulfilment of Jeremiahs warnings, the king was naturally inclined to revert to his former faith in the prophet-if indeed he had ever really been able to shake himself free from his influence. Left to himself he would have done his best to make terms with Nebuchadnezzar, as Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin had done before him. The only trustworthy channel of help, human or divine, was Jeremiah. Accordingly he sent secretly to the prison and had the prophet brought into the palace. There in some inner chamber, carefully guarded from intrusion by the slaves of the palace, Zedekiah received the man who now for more than forty years had been the chief counsellor of the kings of Judah, often in spite of themselves. Like Saul on the eve of Gilboa, he was too impatient to let disaster be its own herald; the silence of Heaven seemed more terrible than any spoken doom, and again like Saul he turned in his perplexity and despair to the prophet who had rebuked and condemned him. “Is there any word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is: thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”

The Church is rightly proud of Ambrose rebuking Theodosius at the height of his power and glory, and of Thomas a Becket, unarmed and yet defiant before his murderers; but the Jewish prophet showed himself capable of a simpler and grander heroism. For “many days” he had endured squalor, confinement, and semi-starvation. His body must have been enfeebled and his spirit depressed. Weak and contemptible as Zedekiah was, yet he was the prophets only earthly protector from the malice of his enemies. He intended to utilise this interview for an appeal for release from his present prison. Thus he had every motive for conciliating the man who asked him for a word from Jehovah. He was probably alone with Zedekiah, and was not nerved to self-sacrifice by any opportunity of making public testimony to the truth, and yet he was faithful alike to God and to the poor helpless king-“Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.”

And then he proceeds, with what seems to us inconsequent audacity, to ask a favour. Did ever petitioner to a king preface his supplication with so strange a preamble? This was the request:-

“Now hear, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou do not cause me to return to the house of Jonathan the secretary, lest I die there.”

“Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard, and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers street.”

A loaf of bread is not sumptuous fare, but it is evidently mentioned as an improvement upon his prison diet: it is not difficult to understand why Jeremiah was afraid he would die in the house of Jonathan. During this milder imprisonment in the court of the guard occurred the incident of the purchase of the field of Anathoth, which we have dealt with in another chapter. This low ebb of the prophets fortunes was the occasion of Divine revelation of a glorious future in store for Judah. But this future was still remote, and does not seem to have been conspicuous in his public teaching. On the contrary Jeremiah availed himself of the comparative publicity of his new place of detention to reiterate in the ears of all the people the gloomy predictions with which they had so long been familiar: “This city shall assuredly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon.” He again urged his hearers to desert to the enemy: “He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live.” We cannot but admire the splendid courage of the solitary prisoner, helpless in the hands of his enemies and yet openly defying them. He left his opponents only two alternatives, either to give up the government into his hands or else to silence him. Jeremiah in the court of the guard was really carrying on a struggle in which neither side either would or could give quarter. He was trying to revive the energies of the partisans of Babylon, that they might overpower the government and surrender the city to Nebuchadnezzar. If he had succeeded, the princes would have had a short shrift. They struck back with the prompt energy of men fighting for their lives. No government conducting the defence of a besieged fortress could have tolerated Jeremiah for a moment. What would have been the fate of a French politician who should have urged Parisians to desert to the Germans during the siege of 1870? The princes former attempt to deal with Jeremiah had been thwarted by the king; this time they tried to provide beforehand against any officious intermeddling on the part of Zedekiah. They extorted from him a sanction of their proceedings.

“Then the princes said unto the king, Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death: for he weakeneth the hands of the soldiers that are left in this city, and of all the people, by speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.” Certainly Jeremiahs word was enough to take the heart out of the bravest soldiers; his preaching would soon have rendered further resistance impossible. But the concluding sentence about the “welfare of the people” was merely cheap cant, not without parallel in the sayings of many “princes” in later times. “The welfare of the people” would have been best promoted by the surrender which Jeremiah advocated. The king does not pretend to sympathise with the princes; he acknowledges himself a mere tool in their hands. “Behold,” he answers, “he is in your power, for the king can do nothing against you.”

“Then they took Jeremiah, and cast him into the cistern of Malchiah ben Hammelech, that was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down with cords. And there was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.”

The depth of this improvised oubliette is shown by the use of cords to let the prisoner down into it. How was it, however, that, after the release of Jeremiah from the cells in the house of Jonathan, the princes did not at once execute him? Probably, in spite of all that had happened, they still felt a superstitious dread of actually shedding the blood of a prophet. In some mysterious way they felt that they would be less guilty if they left him in the empty cistern to starve to death or be suffocated in the mud, than if they had his head cut off. They acted in the spirit of Reubens advice concerning Joseph, who also was cast into an empty pit, with no water in it: “Shed no blood, but cast him into this pit in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him.” {Gen 37:22-24} By a similar blending of hypocrisy and superstition, the mediaeval Church thought to keep herself unstained by the blood of heretics, by handing them over to the secular arm; and Macbeth having hired some one else to kill Banquo, was emboldened to confront his ghost with the words:-

“Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake

Thy gory locks at me.”

But the princes were again baffled; the prophet had friends in the royal household who were bolder than their master: Ebed-melech the Ethiopian: a eunuch, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. He went to the king, who was then sitting in the gate of Benjamin, where he would be accessible to any petitioner for favour or justice, and interceded for the prisoner:-

“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 cistern; 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.”

Apparently the princes, busied with the defence of the city and in their pride “too much despising” their royal master, had left him for a while to himself. Emboldened by this public appeal to act according to the dictates of his own heart and conscience, and possibly by the presence of other friends of Jeremiah, the king acts with unwonted, courage and decision.

“The king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take with thee hence thirty men, and draw up Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern, before he die. So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the palace under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and rotten rags and let them down by cords into the cistern to Jeremiah. And he said to Jeremiah. Put these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew him up with the cords, and took him up out of the cistern: and he remained in the court of the guard.”

Jeremiahs gratitude to his deliverer is recorded in a short paragraph in which Ebed-melech, like Baruch. is promised that “his life shall be given him for a prey.” He should escape with his life from the sack of the city “because he trusted” in Jehovah. As of the ten lepers whom Jesus cleansed only the Samaritan returned to give glory to God, so when none of Gods people were found to rescue His prophet, the dangerous honour was accepted by an Ethiopian proselyte. {Jer 39:15-18}

Meanwhile the king was craving for yet another “word with Jehovah.” True, the last “word” given him by the prophet had been, “Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” But now that he had just rescued Jehovahs prophet from a miserable death (he forgot that Jeremiah had been consigned to the cistern by his own authority), possibly there might be some more encouraging message from God. Accordingly he sent and took Jeremiah unto him for another secret interview, this time in the “corridor of the bodyguard,” a passage between the palace and the Temple.

Here he implored the prophet to give him a faithful answer to his questions concerning his own fate and that of the city: “Hide nothing from me.” But Jeremiah did not respond with his former prompt frankness. He had had too recent a warning not to put his trust in princes. “If I declare it unto thee,” said he, “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 to Jeremiah, As Jehovah liveth, who is the source and giver of our life, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.

“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 Babylons princes, thy life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned, and thou and thine house shall live; but if thou wilt not go forth, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.”

“Zedekiah said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that have deserted to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.”

He does not, however, urge that the princes will hinder any such surrender; he believed himself sufficiently master of his own actions to be able to escape to the Chaldeans if he chose.

But evidently, when he first revolted against Babylon, and more recently when the siege was raised, he had been induced to behave harshly towards her partisans: they had taken refuge in considerable numbers in the enemys camp, and now he was afraid of their vengeance. Similarly, in “Quentin Durward,” Scott represents Louis XI on his visit to Charles the Bold as startled by the sight of the banners of some of his own vassals, who had taken service with Burgundy, and as seeking protection from Charles against the rebel subjects of France.

Zedekiah is a perfect monument of the miseries that wait upon weakness: he was everybodys friend in turn-now a docile pupil of Jeremiah and gratifying the Chaldean party by his professions of loyalty to Nebuchadnezzar, and now a pliant tool in the hands of the Egyptian party, persecuting his former friends. At the last he was afraid alike of the princes in the city, of the exiles in the enemys camp, and of the Chaldeans. The mariner who had to pass between Scylla and Charybdis was fortunate compared to Zedekiah. To the end he clung with a pathetic blending of trust and fearfulness to Jeremiah. He believed him, and yet he seldom had courage to act according to his counsel.

Jeremiah made a final effort to induce this timid soul to act with firmness and decision. He tried to reassure him: “They shall not deliver thee into the hands of thy revolted subjects. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of Jehovah, in that which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well with thee, and thy life shall be spared.” He appealed to that very dread of ridicule which the king had just betrayed. If he refused to surrender, he would be taunted for his weakness and folly by the women of his own harem:-

“If thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that Jehovah hath showed me: Behold, all the women left in the palace shall be brought forth to the king of Babylons princes, and those women shall say, Thy familiar friends have duped thee and got the better of thee; thy feet are sunk in the mire. and they have left thee in the lurch.” He would be in worse plight than that from which Jeremiah had only just been rescued, and there would be no Ebed-melech to draw him out. He would be humiliated by the suffering and shame of his own family: “They shall bring out all thy wives and children to the Chaldeans.” He himself would share with them the last extremity of suffering: “Thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon.”

And as Tennyson makes it the climax of Geraints degeneracy that he was not only-

“Forgetful of his glory and his name,”

but also-

“Forgetful of his princedom and its cares,”

so Jeremiah appeals last of all to the kings sense of responsibility for his people: “Thou wilt be the cause of the burning of the city.”

In spite of the dominance of the Egyptian party, and their desperate determination, not only to sell their own lives dearly, but also to involve king and people, city and temple, in their own ruin, the power of decisive action still rested with Zedekiah: if he failed to use it, he would be responsible for the consequences.

Thus Jeremiah strove to possess the king with some breath of his own dauntless spirit and iron will.

Zedekiah paused irresolute. A vision of possible deliverance passed through his mind. His guards and the domestics of the palace were within call. The princes were unprepared; they would never dream that he was capable of anything so bold. It would be easy to seize the nearest gate, and hold it long enough to admit the Chaldeans. But no! he had not nerve enough. Then his predecessors Joash, Amaziah, and Amon had been assassinated, and for the moment the daggers of the princes and their followers seemed more terrible than Chaldean instruments of torture. He lost all thought of his own honour and his duty to his people in his anxiety to provide against this more immediate danger. Never was the fate of a nation decided by a meaner utterance. “Then said Zedekiah to Jeremiah, No one must know about our meeting, and thou shalt not die. If the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and come 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: declare unto us what the king said unto thee: then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication unto the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathans house, to die there.”

“Then all the princes camie to Jeremiah, and asked him; and he told them just what the king had commanded. So they let him alone, for no report of the matter had got abroad.” We are a little surprised that the princes so easily abandoned their purpose of putting Jeremiah to death, and did not at once consign him afresh to the empty cistern. Probably they were too disheartened for vigorous action; the garrison were starving, and it was clear that the city could not hold out much longer. Moreover the superstition that had shrunk from using actual violence to the prophet would suspect a token of Divine displeasure in his release.

Another question raised by this incident is that of the prophets veracity, which, at first sight, does not seem superior to that of the patriarchs. It is very probable that the prophet, as at the earlier interview, had entreated the king not to allow him to be confined in the cells in Jonathans house, but the narrative rather suggests that the king constructed this pretext on the basis of the former interview. Moreover, if the princes let Jeremiah escape with nothing less innocent than a suppressio veri, if they were satisfied with anything less than an explicit statement that the place of the prophets confinement was the sole topic of conversation, they must have been more guileless than we can easily imagine. But, at any rate, if Jeremiah did stoop to dissimulation, it was to protect Zedekiah, not to save himself.

Zedekiah is a conspicuous example of the strange irony with which Providence entrusts incapable persons with the decision of most momentous issues; It sets Laud and Charles I to adjust the Tudor Monarchy to the sturdy self-assertion of Puritan England, and Louis XVI to cope with the French Revolution. Such histories are after all calculated to increase the self-respect of those who are weak and timid. Moments come, even to the feeblest, when their action must have the most serious results for all connected with them. It is one of the crowning glories of Christianity that it preaches a strength that is made perfect in weakness.

Perhaps the most significant feature in this narrative is the conclusion of Jeremiahs first interview with the king. Almost in the same breath the prophet announces to Zedekiah his approaching ruin and begs from him a favour. He thus defines the true attitude of the believer towards the prophet.

Unwelcome teaching must not be allowed to interfere with wonted respect and deference, or to provoke resentment. Possibly, if this truth were less obvious men would be more willing to give it a hearing and it might be less persistently ignored. But the prophets behaviour is even more striking and interesting as a revelation of his own character and of the true prophetic spirit. His faithful answer to the king involved much courage, but that he should proceed from such an answer to such a petition shows a simple and sober dignity not always associated with courage. When men are wrought up to the pitch of uttering disagreeable truths at the risk of their lives, they often develop a spirit of defiance, which causes personal bitterness and animosity between themselves and their hearers, and renders impossible any asking or granting of favours. Many men would have felt that a petition compromised their own dignity and weakened the authority of the divine message. The exaltation of self-sacrifice which inspired them would have suggested that they ought not to risk the crown of martyrdom by any such appeal, but rather welcome torture and death. Thus some amongst the early Christians would present themselves before the Roman tribunals and try to provoke the magistrates into condemning them. But Jeremiah, like Polycarp and Cyprian, neither courted nor shunned martyrdom; he was as incapable of bravado as he was of fear. He was too intent upon serving his country and glorifying God, too possessed with his mission and his message, to fall a prey to the self-consciousness which betrays men, sometimes even martyrs, into theatrical ostentation.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary