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,
1. And Shephatiah ] The removal of Jeremiah from prison to the court of the guard had facilitated the publication of his message, as we see from this v. Hence the princes take alarm and apply to the king for permission to put him to death.
Gedaliah ] He was probably a son of the Pashhur who put Jeremiah in the stocks (ch. Jer 20:1 f.).
Jucal ] the Jehucal of ch. Jer 37:3.
Pashhur the son of Malchijah ] the same who is mentioned ch. Jer 21:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Had spoken – Spake; or, was speaking.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jer 38:1-4
The words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people.
Unpatriotic in appearance
Rays of hope had arisen in the clouded sky of the, nation. An Egyptian army was on its way to the city. Thus, it was believed, the Chaldeans would be compelled to raise the siege, which had been growing ever closer, so that first hunger and then starvation stared its inhabitants in the face. An escape from their horrible position seemed possible through an alliance with the Egyptian king. These hopes were dashed to the ground by the emphatic word of the prophet: This city shall assuredly be given into the hand of the army of the King of Babylon. He even went beyond this, and urged desertion to the enemy: He that abideth in the city shall die by the sword, the famine, and the pestilence; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live. All this seemed, not only unpatriotic, but treasonable. It has been well said, No government conducting the defence of a besieged fortress could have tolerated Jeremiah for a moment. What would have been the fate of the French politician who should have urged the Parisians to desert to the Germans during the siege of 1870? Jeremiah seemed a veritable Cassandra, and Cassandras, even if, as in this case, their warnings are but utterances of the inevitable, can only expect to be met with resentment and persecution. (W. Garret Horder.)
Patriotism
True patriotism is love of ones native land. A good deal of modern patriotism is love of some one elses land, coupled with an unchristian hatred of other countries. Sometimes people ask whether Christianity and genuine patriotism can go together. For a sincere Christian will love all mankind. Racial hatred is a crime in the eyes of Christ, who teaches us that One is our master, and all of us are brethren, and that we are to love our neighbour as ourself. A Christian can be a most sincere patriot, indeed the only true patriot. Christians are to love the whole world, as Jesus did. Yet, by natural association the soil of our fatherland is endeared to us by a thousand hallowed memories, which the soil of another land cannot recall. I think the limestone hills of Galilee, and the lap of the waters on the shores of Gennesaret were dearer to Christ than the seven hills of Rome, or the flow of the golden Tiber. Our Lord broke His heart over Jerusalem, the city of His love, as He saw the doom from its worn sandals shake the dust against that land. Christ was a patriot, and the thing that cut His heart most painfully was not so much the coming destruction of Jerusalem, as the national sin which caused that national ruin. So, too, a Christian patriot will love his countrys honour even more than its wealth and material greatness. He will value the good name of his fatherland, and the moral and intellectual elevation of his countrymen, far more than mere additions to its territory or additions to its wealth. And a true patriot will love his own land without hating other countries. The Christian must love other lands too, and seek their highest welfare. Charity begins at home: but it is a poor charity that ends at home. Love for other lands prompted the founders of missionary societies, which have been of such incalculable blessing to the civilisation of mankind. A true patriot will stand up for his fatherland; if others seek to enslave it he will make sacrifices for the home of his birth, as England did when the Spanish Armada threatened our liberty and our religion. But a Christian patriot will not do anything to cause hatred of another country. He will aim at making all the nations love one another. If he finds others trying to sow the seed of wicked hate, or if he sees his own land doing wrong, the Christian patriot will dare to speak the truth. When Lord Chatham urged England not to make war on the United States he was howled down by the bastard patriots of the day. But history stamps him as the true patriot, his opponents as the false ones. When John Bright spoke against the folly of the Crimean War he was made the butt of newspaper gibes, and nine-tenths of his countrymen laughed at him or sneered at him. But history shows that John Bright was right. He was the true patriot. The false patriot holds that you must never criticise your countrys dealings with other lands. Perhaps the hardest duty that ever falls on a man who loves his fatherland is to point out that his country is doing wrong. That heavy duty fell often to the lot of Jeremiah. The Jews had so long persisted in idolatry that Gods marvellous patience could bear with them no longer. After repeated warnings, all in vain, God told the people, by His prophet, that they would go into the land of bondage as a punishment for their sin. God also told Jeremiah to inform his fellow-countrymen that it was useless to struggle against the troops of Nebuchadnezzar. God had sent that monarch to chastise the rebellious Jews, to take them into captivity, and to bring ruin to the nation, because of its sin. This painful duty of urging the Jews not to resist, not to persist in a hopeless struggle, was heartbreaking to a true patriot like Jeremiah. The princes, who had no real faith in God, naturally thought Jeremiahs action most unpatriotic. Disbelieving in God, disbelieving in religion, disbelieving in Jeremiahs prophecies, no wonder they said, This man seeketh not the welfare of the people, but their hurt, Poor Jeremiah! The bastard patriots of Jerusalem sneered at him, called him a Little Palestiner, said he was in the pay of the Chaldeans. Poor Jeremiah! He had no love for the Chaldeans in preference to his own nation. Nay, he loved the Jews with all their sins more than the heathen Chaldeans, who were only instruments in Gods hands for punishing the guilty Jews. But he knew it was no use to resist. He knew that he had received a message from God. He knew he must deliver that message, though at the risk of his life. Like a brave hero and a true patriot he told his people of their folly, of their sins, and of their approaching doom. He met with the usual brickbat argument, brute force; he was put into a well, put into captivity, and ill-treated in various ways. But every word he spoke came true. And when the Chaldeans had utterly destroyed the city and crushed its inhabitants, the captain of the guard set Jeremiah free and said, Will you return with me and find a comfortable home in Babylon? Jeremiah was a true patriot, therefore he chose to share the sufferings of his people, though they had so grievously wronged him. The comfort and luxury of Babylon were rejected by the simple, honest patriot, who preferred to dwell in poverty among the people of the land. If those false patriots, who cried him down, had had a chance of the ease and comfort offered to Jeremiah, how they would have jumped at it! They would have preferred Babylons fleshpots to Palestines poverty and want. But Jeremiah chose to share his peoples abject poverty and utter wretchedness. The intense, broken-hearted patriotism of Jeremiah stands out for all time in the magnificent Lamentations that he wrote, with his pen dipped into his hearts own blood. They are the saddest writings in the world. And what made the Jews ruin so intensely sorrowful to Jeremiah was the fact that it was so richly deserved. Therein was the sting. And he knew that there could be no improvement in their lot till their lives became better. He is the ideal of a patriot. Some false teachers have been and are trying to breathe into England a spirit of defiance to other lands, and an unbounded lust for territorial extension of our Empire. These teachers are attempting to stir up racial hatred. A very recent author declares that Germany must be blotted out by England, because she is our great rival in trade. As readers of history we know the curse of the racial hatred that existed between England and France in the time of the first Napoleon. And as Christians we know how fiendish is the advice to cut the throat of a neighbouring nation because she is a commercial rival. Christians do not advocate doing away at once with all soldiers and sailors. Like policemen, they are necessary at present. And we know that our sailors and soldiers will always do their duty bravely. The Christian Church protests against this modern bastard patriotism, which is much the same as piracy, against this glorification of brute force, against this reversion to savageism, against this contempt for all that is gentle, spiritual, Christ-like. Such principles work–
1. Mischief in the social and political world;
2. Mischief in the realm of literature, and all that leads to the higher development of man;
3. Mischief to religion.
These principles work mischief in the social and political world. At the end of last century and the beginning of this, how deplorable was the condition of the workers of this land. Why? Because of our incessant and unnecessary wars with France. These principles of false patriotism work much evil in the realm of literature, and all that leads to the higher development of man. The patriotism which means lust for other peoples land, and hatred of other nations, may produce a Soldiers Chorus, but it will produce no Tennyson, no Shakespeare. Since the German Empire became cursed with militarism it has produced no great writers. The essence of the highest literature is to be cosmopolitan for all the world. The Republic of Athens was a commercial, a scientific, an artistic city. The kingdom of Sparta was military to the highest degree. Military Sparta has left us no literature. Civic Athens has left us a literature which even to-day is a wonder of the world. That is natural. The habitual practice of blind obedience, necessary for the soldier, is the greatest foe to thought, and prevents men from learning how to form judgments and pass opinions. Militarism must be for the masses of the soldiery unintellectual. Our literature during the last few years has in some respects deteriorated sadly. One of the aspects of its decadence is its excessive glorifying of the military spirit. Swarms of books for boys have been published the last twenty years, and they are very largely glorifications of physical force. That is a reversion to the savage. The principles of this false patriotism work deadly mischief to religion. This spurious patriotism is not love of ones country so much as love of more country. It is hatred of other mens patriotism. It cannot understand that foreigners may and ought to love their fatherland even as we do ours. Such teachings lead to bitter hatred instead of love. Racial hatred is as ungodly as it is idiotic. Nelson used to say to his sailors, Fear God, honour the king, and hate a Frenchman as you hate the devil. How could they fear God if they hated Gods children? Every Frenchman was as much loved by God as every Englishman was loved. The business of the Christian Church is to spread love and not hate, to tone down animosities, not to stimulate them. Though the student of history sees how insane and utterly unnecessary most wars have been, war may sometimes be a stern necessity. But the glorification of war is earthly and unchristian. The only argument for militarism worth anything is that it develops pluck. Well, so did gladiator fights. Shall we reintroduce them? Pluck may be learned on the football-field as well as on the field of slaughter, where the animal passions of savageism are let loose. If we are Christians we will turn away from this bastard patriotism which ends in hate of other lands. We will love our country dearly. If occasion comes, we must make great sacrifices for her. But we will ever preach the gospel of love against the badspel of hate. We will preach the superiority of intellectual pursuits to the pursuit of war. We will preach the blessedness of elevating mankind to the spiritual rather than drag humanity down to the animal. (F. W. Aveling, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XXXVIII
The princes of Judah, taking offense at Jeremiah on account of
his predicting the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by
the Chaldeans, cause him to be cast into a deep and miry
dungeon, 1-6.
Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian, gets the king’s permission to take
him out, 7-13.
Jeremiah advises the king, who consulted him privately, to
surrender to the Chaldeans, 14-23.
The king promises the prophet that he will not put him to
death, and requires him not to reveal what had passed to the
princes; to whom he accordingly gives an evasive answer,
telling them only so much of the conference as related to his
request for his life, 24-28.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXVIII
Verse 1. Then Shephatiah] This was the faction – what Dahler terms the Antitheocratic faction – who were enemies to Jeremiah, and sought his life.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Vers. 1. Here are four of the great men, counsellors, or great officers to Zedekiah, named, of whom we have no further mention in holy writ, nor are they worthy of much inquiry after. Jeremiah being now removed into a little freer air, where his friends, or such as had a desire to see him, came to him, and it is very likely were inquisitive to know what God would do with the city, he could not but tell them what he knew of the mind of God in the case, and advise them the best he could. Some of them go to these princes, and inform them of what they had heard from the prophet.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. JucalJehucal (Jer37:3).
Pashur (Jer21:1; compare Jer 21:9;Jer 38:2). The deputation in Jer21:1, to whom Jeremiah gave this reply, if not identical with thehearers of Jeremiah (Jer 38:1),must have been sent just before the latter “heard” himspeaking the same words. Zephaniah is not mentioned here as inJer 21:1, but is so in Jer37:3. Jucal is mentioned here and in the previousdeputation (Jer 37:3), but notin Jer 21:1. Shephatiahand Gedaliah here do not occur either in Jer21:1 or Jer 37:3. Theidentity of his words in both cases is natural, when uttered, at avery short interval, and one of the hearers (Pashur) being present onboth occasions.
unto all the peopleTheyhad free access to him in the court of the prison (Jer32:12).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur,…. Of these two persons we nowhere else read. Some think that Pashur, whose son Gedaliah was, is the same as is mentioned
Jer 20:1; which is not likely, since he was a priest, and this son a prince:
and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah; these had been sent by the king to Jeremiah, to inquire of the Lord, and to pray for him and his people, Jer 21:1; all four were princes, prime ministers of state, of great power and authority, and to whom the king could deny nothing, or withstand, Jer 38:4; these
heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people; that is, to as many of them as came to the court of the prison to visit him; some out of good will, and some out of ill will; and others out of curiosity; being desirous to know by the prophet how things would go with them; and by which means what he said was spread all over the city, and came to the ears of the above princes; and no doubt there were persons enough officious enough to carry these things to them:
saying; as follows:
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
In this chapter two events are mentioned which took place in the last period of the siege of Jerusalem, shortly before the capture of the city by the Chaldeans. According to Jer 38:4, the number of fighting men had now very much decreased; and according to Jer 38:19, the number of deserters to the Chaldeans had become large. Moreover, according to Jer 38:9, famine had already begun to prevail; this hastened the fall of the city.
Jer 38:1-4 Jeremiah is cast into a miry pit, but drawn out again by Ebedmelech the Cushite. Jer 38:1-6. Being confined in the court of the guard attached to the royal palace, Jeremiah had opportunities of conversing with the soldiers stationed there and the people of Judah who came thither (cf. Jer 38:1 with Jer 32:8, Jer 32:12), and of declaring, in opposition to them, his conviction (which he had indeed expressed from the beginning of the siege) that all resistance to the Chaldeans would be fruitless, and only bring destruction (cf. Jer 21:9.). On this account, the princes who were of a hostile disposition towards him were so embittered, that they resolved on his death, and obtain from the king permission to cast him into a deep pit with mire at the bottom. In v. 1 four of these princes are named, two of whom, Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, are known, from Jer 37:3 and Jer 21:1, as confidants of the king; the other two, Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, are not mentioned elsewhere. Gedaliah was probably a son of the Pashur who had once put Jeremiah in the stocks (Jer 20:1-2). The words of the prophet, Jer 38:2, Jer 38:3, are substantially the same as he had already uttered at the beginning of the siege, Jer 21:9 ( as in Jer 21:9). Jer 38:4. The princes said to the king, “Let this man, we beseech thee, be put to death for the construction, see on Jer 35:14; for therefore i.e., because no one puts him out of existence – as in Jer 29:28 he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking words like these to them; for this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their ill.” for , to cause the hands of any one to be relaxed, i.e., to make him dispirited; cf. Ezr 4:4; Isa 35:3. with htiw , as Job 10:6; Deu 12:30; 1Ch 22:19, etc., elsewhere with the accusatival ; cf. Jer 29:7 et passim . On this point cf. Jer 29:7. The allegation which the princes made against Jeremiah was possibly correct. The constancy with which Jeremiah declared that resistance was useless, since, in accordance with the divine decree, Jerusalem was to be taken and burnt by the Chaldeans, could not but make the soldiers and the people unwilling any longer to sacrifice their lives in defending the city. Nevertheless the complaint was unjust, because Jeremiah was not expressing his own personal opinion, but was declaring the word of the Lord, and that, too, not from any want of patriotism or through personal cowardice, but in the conviction, derived from the divine revelation, that it was only by voluntary submission that the fate of the besieged could be mitigated; hence he acted from a deep feeling of love to the people, and in order to avert complete destruction from them. The courage of the people which he sought to weaken was not a heroic courage founded on genuine trust in God, but carnal obstinacy, which could not but lead to ruin.
Jer 38:5 The king said, “Behold, he is in your hand, for the king can do nothing alongside of you.” This reply indicates not merely the weakness and powerlessness of the king against his princes, but also his inward aversion to the testimony of the man of God. “That he would like to save him, just as he afterwards does (Jer 38:10),” is not implied in what he says, with which he delivers up the prophet to the spite of his enemies. Though the princes had at once put Jeremiah to death, the king would not even have been able to reproach them. The want of courage vigorously to oppose the demand of the princes did not spring from any kindly feeling towards the prophet, but partly from moral weakness of character, partly from inward repugnance to the word of God proclaimed by Jeremiah. On the construction instead of the participle from , which does not occur, cf. Ewald, 321, a. is certainly in form an accusative; but it cannot be such, since follows as the accusative: it is therefore either to be pointed or to be considered as standing for it, just as often occurs for , “with,” i.e., “along with you.”
Jer 38:6 The princes ( ) now cast Jeremiah into the pit of the king’s son ( , see on Jer 36:26) Malchiah, which was in the court of the prison, letting him down with ropes into the pit, in which there was no water, but mud; into this Jeremiah sank. The act is first mentioned in a general way in the words, “they cast him into the pit;” then the mode of proceeding is particularized in the words, “and they let him down,” etc. On the expression , “the pit of Malchiah,” cf. Ewald, 290, d: the article stands here before the nomen regens, because the nomen rectum, from being a proper name, cannot take it; and yet the pit must be pointed out as one well known and definite. That it was very deep, and that Jeremiah must have perished in it if he were not soon taken out again, is evident from the very fact that they were obliged to use ropes in letting him down, and still more so from the trouble caused in pulling him out (Jer 38:10-12). That the princes did not at once put the prophet to death with the sword was not owing to any feeling of respect for the king, because the latter had not pronounced sentence of death on him, but because they sought to put the prophet to a final death, and yet at the same time wished to silence the voice of conscience with the excuse that they had not shed his blood.
Jer 38:7-9 The deliverance of Jeremiah. Ebedmelech the Cushite, a eunuch, heard of what had happened to Jeremiah. .haimer signifies a eunuch: the shows that is here to be taken in its proper meaning, not in the metaphorical sense of an officer of the court. Since the king had many wives (Jer 38:22.), the presence of a eunuch at the court, as overseer of the harem, cannot seem strange. The law of Moses, indeed, prohibited castration (Deu 23:2); but the man was a foreigner, and had been taken by the king into his service as one castrated. is a proper name (otherwise it must have been written ); the name is a genuine Hebrew one, and probably may have been assumed when the man entered the service of Zedekiah. – On hearing of what had occurred, the Ethiopian went to the king, who was sitting in the gate of Benjamin, on the north wall of the city, which was probably the point most threatened by the besiegers, and said to him, Jer 38:9, “My lord, O king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the pit; and he is dying of hunger on the spot, for there is no more bread in the city.” , lit.,: “they have done wickedly what they have done.” cannot be translated, “and he died on the spot,” for Ebedmelech wishes to save him before he dies of hunger. But neither does it stand for , “so that he must die.” The imperfect with Vav consecutive expresses the consequence of a preceding act, and usually stands in the narrative as a historic tense; but it may also declare what necessarily follows or will follow from what precedes; cf. Ewald, 342, a. Thus stands here in the sense, “and so he is dying,” i.e., “he must die of hunger.” , “on his spot,” i.e., on the place where he is; cf. 2Sa 2:23. The reason, “for there is no longer any bread ( with the article, the necessary bread) in the city,” is not to be taken in the exact sense of the words, but merely expresses the greatest deficiency in provisions. As long as Jeremiah was in the court of the prison, he received, like the officers of the court, at the king’s order, his ration of bread every day (Jer 37:21). But after he had been cast into the pit, that royal ordinance no longer applied to him, so that he was given over to the tender mercies of others, from whom, in the prevailing scarcity of bread, he had not much to hope for.
Jer 38:10 Then the king commanded the Ethiopian, “Take hence thirty men in thine hand, and bring up Jeremiah out of the pit before he dies.” , “in thine hand,” i.e., under your direction; cf. Num 31:49. The number thirty has been found too great; and Ewald, Hitzig, and Graf would read , because the syntax requires the singular after , and because at that time, when the fighting men had already decreased in number (Jer 38:4), thirty men could not be sent away from a post in danger without difficulty. These two arguments are quite invalid. The syntax does not demand ; for with the tens (20-90) the noun frequently follows in the plural as well as in the singular, if the number precede; cf. 2Sa 3:20; 2Ki 2:16, etc.; see also Gesenius’ Grammar, 120, 2. The other argument is based on arbitrary hypotheses; for the passage neither speaks of fighting men, nor states that they would be taken from a post in danger. Ebedmelech was to take thirty men, not because they would all be required for drawing out the prophet, but for making surer work in effecting the deliverance of the prophet, against all possible attempts on the part of the princes or of the populace to prevent them.
Jer 38:11-13 Ebedmelech took the men at his hand, went into the king’s house under the treasury, and took thence rags of torn and of worn-out garments, and let them down on ropes to Jeremiah into the pit, and said to him, “Put, I pray thee, the rages of the torn and cast-off clothes under thine arm-pits under the ropes.” Jeremiah did so, and then they drew him out of the pit by the ropes. is a room under the treasury. , in Jer 38:12 , from , to be worn away (of clothes), are rags. (from , to drag, drag about, tear to pieces) are torn pieces of clothing. , worn-out garments, from , in Niphal, Isa 51:6, to vanish, dissolve away. The article at is expunged from the Qeri for sake of uniformity, because it is not found with ; but it may as well be allowed to stand as be removed. , properly the roots of the hands, are not the knuckles of the hand, but the shoulders of the arms. , under the ropes; i.e., the rags were to serve as pads to the ropes which were to be placed under the arm-pits, to prevent the ropes from cutting the flesh. When Jeremiah had been drawn out in this way from the deep pit of mire, he remained in the court of the prison.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Jeremiah Put into the Dungeon; Ebed-melech’s Care of Jeremiah. | B. C. 589. |
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 Ebed-melech 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 Ebed-melech 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 Ebed-melech 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 Ebed-melech 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 Ebed-melech 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.
Here, 1. Jeremiah persists in his plain preaching; what he had many a time said, he still says (v. 3): This city shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon; though it hold out long, it will taken at last. Nor would he have so often repeated this unwelcome message but that he could put them in a certain way, though not to save the city, yet to save themselves; so that every man might have his own life given him for a prey if he would be advised, v. 2. Let him not stay in the city, in hopes to defend that, for it will be to no purpose, but let him go forth to the Chaldeans, and throw himself upon their mercy, before things come to extremity, and then he shall live; they will not put him to the sword, but give him quarter (satis est prostrasse leoni–it suffices the lion to lay his antagonist prostrate) and he shall escape the famine and pestilence, which will be the death of multitudes within the city. Note, Those do better for themselves who patiently submit to the rebukes of Providence than those who contend with them. And, if we cannot have our liberty, we must reckon it a mercy to have our lives, and not foolishly throw them away upon a point of honour; they may be reserved for better times. 2. The princes persist in their malice against Jeremiah. He was faithful to his country and to his trust as a prophet, though he had suffered many a time for his faithfulness; and, though at this time he ate the king’s bread, yet that did not stop his mouth. But his persecutors were still bitter against him, and complained that he abused the liberty he had of walking in the court of the prison; for, though he could not go to the temple to preach, yet he vented the same things in private conversation to those that came to visit him, and therefore (v. 4) they represented him to the king as a dangerous man, disaffected to his country and to the government he lived under: He seeks not the welfare of this people, but the hurt–an unjust insinuation, for no man had laid out himself more for the good of Jerusalem than he had done. They represent his preaching as having a bad tendency. The design of it was plainly to bring men to repent and turn to God, which would have been as much as any thing a strengthening to the hands both the soldiery and of the burghers, and yet they represented it as weakening their hands and discouraging them; and, if it did this, it was their own fault. Note, It is common for wicked people to look upon God’s faithful ministers as their enemies, only because they show them what enemies they are to themselves while they continue impenitent. 3. Jeremiah hereupon, by the king’s permission, is put into a dungeon, with a view to his destruction there. Zedekiah, though he felt a conviction that Jeremiah was a prophet, sent of God, had not courage to own it, but yielded to the violence of his persecutors (v. 5): He is in your hand; and a worse sentence he could not have passed upon him. We found in Jehoiakim’s reign that the princes were better affected to the prophet than the king was (ch. xxxvi. 25); but now they were more violent against him, a sign that they were ripening apace for ruin. Had it been in a cause that concerned his own honour or profit, he would have let them know that the king is he who can do what he pleases, whether they will or no; but in the cause of God and his prophet, which he was very cool in, he basely sneaks, and truckles to them: The king is not he that can do any thing against you. Note, Those will have a great deal to answer for who, though they have a secret kindness for good people, dare not own it in a time of need, nor will do what they might do to prevent mischief designed them. The princes, having this general warrant from the king, immediately put poor Jeremiah into the dungeon of Malchiah, that was in the court of the prison (v. 6), a deep dungeon, for they let him down into it with cords, and a dirty one, for there was no water in it, but mire; and he sunk in the mire, up to the neck, says Josephus. Those that put him here doubtless designed that he should die here, die for hunger, die for cold, and so die miserably, die obscurely, fearing, if they should put him to death openly, the people might be affected with what he would say and be incensed against them. Many of God’s faithful witnesses have thus been privately made away, and starved to death, in prisons, whose blood will be brought to account in the day of discovery. We are not here told what Jeremiah did in this distress, but he tells us himself (Lam 3:55; Lam 3:57), I called upon thy name, O Lord! out of the low dungeon, and thou drewest near, saying, Fear not. 4. Application is made to the king by an honest courtier, Ebed-melech, one of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber, in behalf of the poor sufferer. Though the princes carried on the matter as privately as they could, yet it came to the ear of this good man, who probably sought opportunities to do good. It may be he came to the knowledge of it by hearing Jeremiah’s moans out of the dungeon, for it was in the king’s house, v. 7. Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian, a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, and yet had in him more humanity, and more divinity too, than native Israelites had. Christ found more faith among Gentiles than among Jews. Ebed-melech lived in a wicked court and in a very corrupt degenerate age, and yet had a great sense both of equity and piety. God has his remnant in all places, among all sorts. There were saints even in Csar’s household. The king was now sitting in the gate of Benjamin, to try causes and receive appeals and petitions, or perhaps holding a council of war there. Thither Ebed-melech went immediately to him, for the case would not admit delay; the prophet might have perished if he had trifled or put it off till he had an opportunity of speaking to the king in private. Not time must be lost when life is in danger, especially so valuable a life. He boldly asserts the Jeremiah had a great deal of wrong done him, and is not afraid to tell the king so, though they were princes that did it, though they were now present in court, and though they had the king’s warrant for what they did. Whither should oppressed innocency flee for protection but to the throne, especially when great men are its oppressors? Ebed-melech appears truly brave in this matter. He does not mince the matter; though he had a place at court, which he would be in danger of losing for his plain dealing, yet he tells the king faithfully, let him take it as he will, These men have done ill in all that they have done to Jeremiah. They had dealt unjustly with him, for he had not deserved any punishment at all; and they had dealt barbarously with him, so as they used not to deal with the vilest malefactors. And they needed not to have put him to this miserable death; for, if they had let him alone where he was, he was likely to die for hunger in the place where he was, in the court of the prison to which he was confined, for there was not more bread in the city: the stores out of which he was to have his allowance (ch. xxxvii. 21) were in a manner spent. See how God can raise up friends for his people in distress where they little thought of them, and animate men for his service even beyond expectation. 5. Orders are immediately given for his release, and Ebed-melech takes care to see them executed. The king, who but now durst do nothing against the princes, had his heart wonderfully changed on a sudden, and will now have Jeremiah released in defiance of the princes, for therefore he orders no less than thirty men, and those of the lifeguard, to be employed in fetching him out of the dungeon, lest the princes should raise a party to oppose it, v. 10. Let this encourage us to appear boldly for God–we may succeed better that we could have thought, for the hearts of kings are in the hand of God. Ebed-melech gained his point, and soon brought Jeremiah the good news; and it is observable how particularly the manner of his drawing him out of the dungeon is related (for God is not unrighteous to forget any work or labour of love which is shown to his people or ministers, no, nor any circumstance of it, Heb. vi. 10); special notice is taken of his great tenderness in providing old soft rags for Jeremiah to put under his arm-holes, to keep the cords wherewith he was to be drawn up from hurting him, his arm-holes being probably galled by the cords wherewith he was let down. Nor did he throw the rags down to him, lest they should be lost in the mire, but carefully let them down, Jer 38:11; Jer 38:12. Note, Those that are in distress should not only be relieved, but relieved with compassion and marks of respect, all which shall be placed to account and abound to a good account in the day of recompence. See what a good use even old rotten rags may be put to, which therefore should not be made waste of, any more than broken meat: even in the king’s house, and under the treasury too, these were carefully preserved for the use of the poor or sick. Jeremiah is brought up out of the dungeon, and is now where he was, in the court of the prison, v. 13. Perhaps Ebed-melech could have made interest with the king to get him his discharge thence also, now that he had the king’s ear; but he though him safer and better provided for there than he would be any where else. God can, when he pleases, make a prison to become a refuge and hiding-place to his people in distress and danger.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
JEREMIAH – CHAPTER 38
COUNSELLING JUDAH TO SURRENDER
Vs. 1-6: A THREAT TO JEREMIAH’S LIFE‘
1. As this chapter opens four of Zedekiah’s princes listen attentively as Jeremiah speaks to the people, (evidently from the palace stockade); Shephatiah, a prince who is otherwise unknown; Gedaliah the son of Pashur -though not of the governor by that name; Jehucal (Jer 37:3); and Pashur (Jer 21:1).
2. Faithfully and fearlessly Jeremiah delivered the word of the Lord to the people of Judah, (vs. 2-3).
a. Those who remain in the city of Jerusalem will perish by: sword, famine and pestilence – the same message that he has persistently proclaimed, (Jer 21:9; Jer 34:17; Jer 42:17).
b. If, however, they will surrender to the Chaldeans, their lives will be spared, (Jer 39:18; Jer 45:5).
c. Jerusalem will be given into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and his army!
3. The princes went directly to king Zedekiah (comp. Jer 18:23; Jer 26:11; Jer 26:21) to demand the death of this man who, they claimed, was betraying his people – weakening their morale and causing the hands of the defenders of Jerusalem to droop, (vs. 4; comp. 1Ki 18:17-18; 1Ki 21:20; Ezr 4:12-13; Amo 7:10).
4. Like Pilate, when he washed his hands in the condemnation of the Messiah (Mat 27:24), the answer of Zedekiah was what is today referred to as a scandalous “cop-out”! In essence, he answered: “Behold, he is in your hands; for the king cannot contradict the united counsel of his advisors!” (vs. 5; but comp. 2Sa 3:39).
5. Thus was Jeremiah cast into the cistern of Malchiah the son of Hammelech that was located in the court of the guard, (vs.6).
a. The water from this cistern had, long ago, been exhausted so that the only thing left was a filthy mire, (comp. Psa 40:2; Psa 69:2; Psa 69:14 -15; Zec 9:11).
b. Jeremiah was lowered into this mire by means of a rope; it was clearly the intention of his tormenters to leave him there, without food and water, until he died.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
The Prophet now shews that he was again dragged from the court of the prison to the inner part, which was dark, filthy, and like a grave. The cause of this he states: it was because four of the princes had heard his words. It is probable that many of the people had come there for the purpose of hearing the Prophet, and that he, having received a message, delivered it to every one that came to him. Though then he was shut up in prison, yet the word of God could not be bound, as Paul says, who gloried in the fact, that though he was in chains, yet the truth spread far and wide. (2Ti 2:9.) Such was the case as to Jeremiah; though he was retained as a prisoner, he yet ceased not to discharge his office; and yet there is no doubt but that the purpose of the king was in this way to restrain him. The prison was, as it were, the captivity of prophetic truth. But the king and his counselors were mistaken; for Jeremiah was not less free in the court of the prison, than if he had walked through the city all the day, nay, he had many heralds.
But the four princes mentioned here watched him, even Shephatiah, Gadaliah, Jucal, and Pashur. Then the four princes he names, having insidiously watched what he said, immediately made a commotion. They had, no doubt, contrived the ruin of the Prophet before they came to the king; for the unprincipled and wicked, we know, discuss matters together when intent on mischief, and their courtly arts must be taken to the account. As, then, the four were in authority, they must, doubtless, have influenced the greatest part of the king’s council, and led astray easy men, or such as were not of themselves bent on evil. The matter was at length brought before the king; and therefore he adds, that they came to the king But he first explains the doctrine, on account of which these unprincipled men created so much ill-will to him, and endangered his life. Hence he says that the accusation was, that he had not only threatened with ruin all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, but that he had also pro-raised life to all that would go out to the Chaldeans: Every one who abides in the city shall die by the sword, famine, or pestilence; but every one who goeth out to the Chaldeans shall live This was the accusation.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.Chronological Notes as on preceding chapter.
Personal Allusions. Jer. 38:1. Shephatiah, never elsewhere mentioned. Gedaliah, possibly son of Pashur the violent (chap. Jer. 20:1-3). Jucal, called Jehucal (Jer. 37:3). Pashur, son of Malchiah, same as mentioned Jer. 21:1.
Jer. 38:6. Malchiah son of Hammelech (see on Jer. 36:26).
Jer. 38:7. Ebed-melech the Ethiopian. Mutilation to a Hebrew was forbidden by the Mosaic law (Deu. 23:1); and Ethiopians were not infrequently selected for service in the royal harem (Dan. 11:43).
Literary Criticisms. Jer. 38:1. Words Jeremiah had spoken: was speaking. Jer. 38:4. For thus he weakeneth: i.e. since or because. Jer. 38:6. Into the dungeon: lit. pit or cistern (see note on Jer. 37:16). Sank in the mire: so that it was a muddy pit. Subterranean cisterns under the houses became miry pits when the water was exhausted from them. Jer. 38:10.
Thirty men. Ewald, Hitzig, Graf, &c., thinking , thirty, too many, would read , three: but this overlooks the resistance which the kings counsellors might perchance offer. Jer. 38:11. Old cast clouts and old rotten rags: from , to drag, rend; therefore here, shreds, tatters; and next , from , to rub away; hence soft or smooth rags. Jer. 38:15.Wilt thou not hearken? The interrogation point is an error: Thou wilt not, &c.
Jer. 38:22. Those women shall say, Thy friends, &c. This saying of the kings women is in the poetic form, making a disticha jeering refrain
Thy friends have urged thee on, and have prevailed with thee:
Thy feet are sunk in the mire: they are turned away back!
The words, they are turned away back, refer not to the kings feet, but to the friends who, having lured him on, desert him in his difficulties.
Jer. 38:28. He was there when Jerusalem was taken: a confused sentence. Omit the italic word there from the verse; and read, And it was when Jerusalem was taken; i.e. It came to pass when Jerusalem was takenthen continue next chapter; for these words should stand at the head of chap. 39.
TOPICS OF CHAPTER 38
Jeremiahs slanderous enemies (Jer. 38:1-4).
Gods prophet, a prisoner (Jer. 38:6).
A gracious and courageous Ethiopian (Jer. 38:7-13).
Jeremiahs experiences typical of Christs (Jer. 38:1-13).
Obedience (Jer. 38:20).
Sinners the cause of their own sufferings (Jer. 38:17-18).
Timidity (Jer. 38:19).
Equivocation (Jer. 38:27).
Topic: JEREMIAHS SLANDEROUS ENEMIES. (Jer. 38:1-4.)
Jeremiah was no arch-traitor, as these princes would imply, but the truest patriot in all the land. This he proved by his courage and faithfulness, in repeating counsel which cost him so much malignity and persecution.
Certainly his opponents regarded him as the most dangerous man among the people, because he thwarted their counsels and designs; just as Ahab accused Elijah of troubling Israel (1Ki. 18:18); Azariah, Amos (Amo. 7:10); and the Jews, Paul (Act. 16:20).
I. Calumny and slander assail even the best of men. The worthiest people are frequently attacked by slander, as we usually find it to be the best fruit which birds peck at.Bacon.
The world with calumny abounds,
The whitest virtue slander wounds;
There are whose joy is, night and day,
To take a character away.
Eager from rout to rout they haste
To blast the generous and the chaste;
And, hunting reputation down,
Proclaim their triumph through the town.Pope.
Soft buzzing slander: silky moths, that eat
An honest name.Thomson.
The tongue of the slanderer is a devouring fire, which tarnishes whatever it touches; which exercises its fury on the good grain, equally as on the chaff; on the sacred as on the profane; which, wherever it pleases, leaves only desolation and ruin; turns into vile ashes what only a moment before had appeared to us so precious and brilliant; acts with more violence than ever in the time when it was apparently almost smothered up and extinct; which blackens when it cannot consume, and sometimes sparkles and delights before it destroys.Massillon.
Virtue itself scapes not calumnious strokes.Shakespeare.
II. Calumny and slander base their attacks upon misrendered truths. Jeremiahs words were quoted as if proving him unpatriotic; whereas his full words are earnest with love and solicitude for his people (comp. Jer. 21:8-9).
You cannot always take up a slander and detect the falsehood there; you cannot evaporate the truth in the slow process of the crucible, and then show the residuum of falsehood glittering and visible; you cannot fasten upon any word or sentence and say that it is calumny; for in order to constitute slander it is not necessary that the word spoken should be falsehalf truths are often more calumnious than whole falsehoods.F. W. Robertson.
An old writer has said that we have two eyes and two ears, but only one tongue, that we may see and hear twice as much as we say; but unhappily men generally act the reverse; for, alas! they say far more than they see or hear.
Mingling truth with falsehood, sneers with smiles,
A thread of candour with a web of wiles.Byron.
III. Calumny and slander inflict the most piteous wrongs (see Jer. 38:6). Against slander there is no defence. It stabs with a smile. It is the poisoned arrow whose wound is incurable.
Good name, in man and woman,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse, steals trash; tis something, nothing;
Twas mine, tis his, and has been slave to thousands;
But he that filches from me my good name,
Robs me of that, which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.Shakespeare.
Note
Slander meets no regard from noble minds;
Only the base believe what the base only utter.Bellew.
Topic: GODS PROPHET A PRISONER. 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 (Jer. 38:6).
A prophet in prison! An ambassador of the Most High God in bonds! Let us trace the history of this great crime against the Majesty of Heaven.
Jeremiahs prison experiences began twenty years before the taking of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon. Pashur, who was governor of the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks, &c. (Jer. 20:1). And what things had Jeremiah prophesied? Only those which the Lord commanded him, saying, Diminish not a word. He had denounced the innumerable abominations which prevailed in the land, the oppressions which one class practised upon another, and the gross idolatries, with all their attendant cruelties and sensualities; had foretold the Divine judgments that were hastening to overwhelm the nation, and from which there was now no escape.
When Nineveh was threatened with destruction by the stranger prophet, it repented and humbled itself in sackcloth and ashes. But Jerusalem hardened itself against the Divine voice, and the chief governor of its Temple seized the prophet who had dared to foretell its doom, and smote him.
I. It was the governor of the Lords house that did this great wrong.
1. It was the chief priests of the Lords house that led the conspiracy against the Master of prophets and apostles six hundred years later, and one of their officers rudely struck the Divine captive with the palm of his hand. Jesus repelled the wrong with calm dignity, saying, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou Me? But Jeremiah did not bear his trial with the calmness and meekness which adorned the Master; for he addressed severe words to his persecutor: Thou Pashur shall go into captivity, &c. (Jer. 20:6). But having delivered his message, he breaks out into complaints which have no parallel in the history of the good men of the Bible, except of Job in the hour of bitter despair. Cursed be the day in which I was born, &c. (Jer. 20:14-18). All this after his deliverance, and after saying, Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord; for He hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evil-doers.
Many a servant of God has put the ancient prophet to shame. I found the comforts of my God in the Fleet prison exceedingly, it being the first time of my being a prisoner, wrote a persecuted Englishman two centuries ago. Nor did the strength of this good man depart from him when he stood in the pillory and had his ears cut off by the hangman. All the while I stood in the pillory I thought myself to be in heaven, and in a state of glory and triumph, if any such state can be on earth. I found these words of Peter verified on me in the pillory: If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you, which on their part is blasphemed, but on yours glorified. Henry Burton is more of a prophet in the pillory than Jeremiah, and one wonders at the Hebrew saint that he should sink into such a slough of despond.
We must find the secret of it very much in his natural temperament. His was a task which required the firmness of a rock and the boldness of a lioncharacters which were certainly not constitutional with Jeremiah. But the Lord knew his frame, and did not err in choosing him for His instrument: I am with thee to deliver thee, was His promise. And the vicissitudes of the prophets spirit are to us a precious legacy of instruction and comfort.
On his release his warfare against the sins of the nation was continued as heretofore (Jer. 20:11-12). In prolonged strains of Divine severity, mingled with promises of a return from Babylon, whither they were doomed to be carried into exile, and with promises of still greater blessing at a more distant period, under the reign of the Messiah, Jeremiah continued his expostulations with a degenerate people, but amid intense suffering to his own tender spiritMine heart within me is broken; all my bones shake, &c. (Jer. 33:9).
2. Later on we find the spiritual and the secular powers playing the parts which they have often played in other ages and countries, the one persecuting the prophet, the other protecting him; the spiritual demanding his death, the secular, with more regard to justice, covering him with the shield of his protection. The priests and prophets, and all the people, took him and said, Thou shalt surely die. Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and prophets, This man is not worthy to die; for he hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord (Jer. 26:7-16).
The secular ruler Pilate was more righteous than the spiritual rulers Annas and Caiaphas. Behold I bring Him forth unto you, that ye may know that I find no fault in Him. But in this case the people took part with unrighteous priests, and demanded that the innocent One should be crucified. In the case of Jeremiah, the people at first joined his persecutors in demanding that he should die. But the appeal to their reason and conscience won them to the side of justice, and they joined the princes in saving the Lords servant out of the hands of his enemies.
The king of Babylons army besieged Jerusalem about fifteen years after the first imprisonment of Jeremiah, and the prophet was instructed to say, Though ye fight with the Chaldeans ye shall not prosper (Jer. 32:5). The king was now the persecutor: Wherefore dost thou prophesy, said Zedekiah, and say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon? (Jer. 32:2). It was the old story. Art thou he that troubleth Israel? said the wicked Ahab to the prophet Elijah. I trouble not Israel, was the memorable reply; but thou, and thy fathers house, in that ye have forsaken the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim. Not the prophet, but the king, and such as the king, was the cause of the dark cloud which now hung over the favoured city.
II. The prison walls within which Jeremiah was shut up could not exclude the presence and the voice of the Lord.
In his solitude he received assurances not only of the inevitable catastrophe which should overwhelm the land, but of a certain recovery and restoration (Jer. 32:26; Jer. 32:42), a message which Jeremiah found means of addressing to the king and to the people. How and when he was released does not appear, but we find him soon again sent back to his place of confinement. The Chaldeans retire from the siege of the city for a time for fear of the Egyptian army, and Jeremiah tries to slip away into the land of Benjamin. He is caught in the gate in the act of departure, and charged with falling away to the Chaldeans. In vain he denies the charge; he must return to prison, and there he remains many days (Jer. 37:16).
The king, whose secret conscience assures him not only of Jeremiahs innocence, but of the gravity of the message with which he is charged of God, sends for him and asks in private, Is there any word from the Lord? The prophet answers promptly, There is; for thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.
Royal menace and royal clemency are alike impotent to sway the prophet from the faithful discharge of his duty. But fain would he be saved from returning to his prison-house. And ones heart is moved by the earnestness with which he remonstrated with the king (Jer. 37:20). The king was so far moved that he ordered that Jeremiah should be committed not to the dungeon in Jonathans house, but to the court of the prison, and that a piece of bread should be supplied to him daily. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison (Jer. 37:21).
But the hostility of his enemies was not satisfied. The princes appealed to the king (Jer. 38:4). The sovereign of Judah was weak as well as wicked, and rehearsed the part of Herod, in relation to John the Baptist, centuries before Herods time. Behold he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do anything against you. Then they took him, and not having courage to murder him outright, they put him into a dungeon where it was not possible that he should live long (Jer. 38:6). But his faith did not fail him. Reciting his experiences afterwards, he said, I called upon the Lord out of the low dungeon. Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon Thee: Thou saidst, Fear not (Lam. 3:55-57.) This blessed Fear nothow often has the Voice from the excellent glory said to the hearts of sufferers and mourners, Fear not! Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will help thee.
The heart of an Ethiopian is moved by the pitiful condition in which wicked men have left the prophet, and he goes into the kings presence and represents the wrong that has been done and the danger in which the prophet is. The king grants the Ethiopians request, and says, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he die (Jer. 38:10). What a place that dungeon must have been! A deep pit, used as a cistern, perhaps, during part of the year, but now dry, and with a quantity of mud at the bottom, into which the prophet was so sunk that it required not only the strength but the skill of the thirty men to drag him up!
Jeremiah, thus rescued from a cruel death, was not set at liberty, but remained in the court of the prison until the city was taken by the army of Babylon.
III. The Lords blessing was on the head of his deliverer, Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian.
1. While Jeremiah was yet in prison there came a message from heaven to him, saying, Go and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, and say unto him (Jer. 39:15-18).
The Ethiopians skin was not changed in the land of his bondage, but his heart was. He found light shining in this deep night of Judaism, and was guided by it to the everlasting and ever-loving God. And while the children of the kingdom cast themselves out, this child of darkness and of the desert was brought in to share the inheritance of the faithful. He trusted in the Lord.
2. The message of God to the Ethiopian rebukes the vain philosophy of man, and is fraught with comfort to the obscure and despised of mankind. God is too great to concern Himself with the affairs of individuals! He may hold in His right hand the mighty suns of the great universe He has made, but what to Him are the twinkling lights of cottage homes? He may rule kings and princes, but what to Him are slaves and beggars? The philosophy which is capable of being popularised into such questions as these must be vain. Mungo Park, faint and perishing, observes a single tuft of grass in the waste African desert, when he thought there was nothing left for him but to die, and his heart argued with the rapidity of lightning, that the Creator of that tuft of grass could not be unobservant of him, His child; and strengthened by the thought he persevered and was saved. And now Jehovah singled out an Ethiopian in the court of Zedekiah, and sent to him a message of His divine and fatherly love. To God the small and the great are alike (Isa. 40:26; Isa. 40:29). If He telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them by their names, He likewise gathereth together the outcasts of Israel; He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds (Psa. 147:3-4).
IV. Jeremiahs after ministry.
Jeremiah was still in prison when the armies of Babylon took Jerusalem. He was found in chains and carried with other captives on the way to Babylon, but was released at Ramah, six miles from Jerusalem. Thus ended the prison life of Jeremiah, but not his ministry.
1. How long the prophet was in prison it is difficult to determineprobably for years. His first imprisonment so stunned him as for the moment to overthrow faith and patience. But his later experience was more worthy of the man of God; and his grief was far less for himself than for the people whose day of grace was coming to an end. The words (Jer. 8:21 to Jer. 9:1) may have been written in prison; if not, they were recalled there and oft recited by the bleeding heart of the sorrowing prophet. The matter of the Lamentations which he wrote after the destruction of Jerusalem must have been his frequent meditation in the house of his prison.
2. He was permitted even in his prison to exercise his ministry. The word of the Lord was not bound. It came to him and went from him. Prison bars and fetters could not separate him from his God, and happily it did not separate him even from his people. Their conscience and their fears together made them listen to the words which were given to him from God to speak to them.
It may be likewise that his imprisonment was cheered, for some time at least, by the companionship of his faithful friend and amanuensis, Baruch. Tradition says that Baruch was his fellow-prisoner when the prison door was opened by the victorious arms of Babylon. The apostle Paul was comforted in his prison by the coming of Titus. Baruch must have been as an angel of God to Jeremiah in his solitude. Often would they commune together of the hour drawing nearer every day, when sword and famine and pestilence should fill the streets and homes of Jerusalem with horrors unutterable, and the thought of it was more than these prisoners could bear. But their darkness was not unmingled. There was light beyond.
Behold the days come, saith the Lord, &c. (Jer. 23:5-8, and Jer. 33:14-15).
The prophet and his fellow-prisoner could not understand these promises so clearly and fully as we do now. But they saw enough in them to lighten their burden and cheer their spirits. Through present gloom the eye of faith penetrated into a glorious future.
3. Jeremiah must likewise have written some portion of his prophecies within prison walls. The thirty-second, thirty-third, and thirty-fourth chapters were doubtless written there, perhaps much besidesperhaps by the hand of the skilful and faithful penman, Baruch.
Again are we reminded of the great apostle of the Gentiles. Four, at least, of the epistles which bear his name were written in his Roman prison. And many books, which the world would not willingly let die, have been written in like circumstances.
Who that has read the Pilgrims Progress can forget its opening sentence?As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where was a den, and laid me down in that place to sleep; and as I slept I dreamed a dream. The den wherein John Bunyan dreamed his immortal dream was Bedford Jail, which was the good mans home for twelve years. With his Bible and Foxes Book of Martyrs as his constant companions, he wrote his allegory, not witting nor dreaming of its wonderful history in ages after his death. As the composition advanced he read it, part by part, to his fellow-prisoners, to their no small amusement as well as instruction. But so doubtful was he of the value of his prison-work, and so various were the counsels which he received on the subject of its publication, that he did not put it into the printers hands for some years after his liberation. To-day it is read in more languages of the earth, probably, than any other book, except the Word of God.
Jeremiah is the first prison author that we know of. The last has not yet written. For the conflict foretold when sin entered the world is not yet ended: I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. And so long as this enmity lasts, and the conflict between good and evil is waged on earth, we shall find battles fought and prisons built and stakes erected.
Be it so. The words of Christ cannot be broken, Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Let them call upon their God out of their low dungeon, as did the Jewish prophet, and the Divine voice which cheered his prison will cheer theirs. Fear not. It is enough. It is enough. God says it. Martyrs, rejoice!your God is with you. If your night be long, He will not forsake you. If it end in the flames of a cruel death, these flames will be as Elijahs chariot to carry you from earth to heaven.Rev. John Kennedy, D.D., London: From Christian World Pulpit, 1872.
Topic: A GRACIOUS AND COURAGEOUS ETHIOPIAN. (Jer. 38:7-13.)
All the kings counsellors were hostile to Gods prophet; his foes were they of his own household. Ebed-melech the Ethiopian was a stranger, an alien; yet he befriended this servant of Jehovah. So with the misused Jewish traveller: the Levite and priest passed him by in his wounded and perishing state, but the Samaritan pitied and helped him. Consider
I. The graciousness of his spirit. He was
1. Deeply affected by the miseries of Gods servant (Jer. 38:7). To hear of what was done troubled him. He had a heart at leisure for itself to soothe and sympathise.
2. Impelled by pity to attempt his help (Jer. 38:8). Not passive sympathy only; he set himself to aid his deliverance. A little help is worth a deal of pity.
3. Saw the wickedness of the cruelty shown to Jeremiah (Jer. 38:9). The inhumanity was shocking to his kind nature; but the sin of it was equally evident, for abuse of Gods messenger was defiance of God!
4. Dealt very tenderly with him in rescuing him (Jer. 38:12). His gentleness is touching. He realised how sick and weak the prophet must be through the horrors of his imprisonment, and from being deprived of food. A tender heart makes the hand gentle.
II. The courage of his conduct.
1. He was alone in this act of pity. Others may have felt pity, but feared to show it; he had the courage to avow his commiseration and sympathy with Jeremiah.
2. By his practical sympathy he openly condemned the cruelty and guiltiness of the kings courtiers. Thus braving their malevolence.
3. Fearless of all consequences, he even presses his appeal upon the king. Even as Esther: So will I go in unto the king; and if I perish, I perish.
4. He bravely denounces the kings own counsellors. Thus carrying judgment against those men (mark its vehement scorn) into the kings presence; and thereby implying that the king was himself wrong in having such men about him, and in conniving at their conduct.
5. He honoured Jeremiah as being the prophet of Jehovah. Others ridiculed Jeremiah, refused to own him Gods messenger; but Ebed-melech calls him the prophet (Jer. 38:9), and then insinuates the impiety of all, king and people, for disregarding his messages.
III. The success of his intervention (Jer. 38:10). This is remarkable; for the king had only just before owned himself afraid to act against his princes, and helpless to check them (Jer. 38:5). How explain the kings compliance?
1. The right conduct of one man will start right convictions in another. Zedekiah could not look at this brave Ethiopian, so courageously and fearlessly and touchingly pleading for the prophet, without feeling condemned for his own supineness and cowardice; and impelled to better purposes. Even a lowly man, acting in fear of God, may awaken the conscience and move the heart of a king! This encourages the humblest to a fearless piety: it must work good results.
2. Courageous conduct should be regulated by prudence. Armed with thirty men, he arranged for Jeremiahs rescue. The king saw he would need such a band of helpers. But he knew himself that if Jeremiah was to be drawn up alive, the work must be done tenderly; so he provided himself with old cast clouts, which would be needed to prevent injury to the prophet, for the force needed to draw him up out of the mire would be great.
3. Befriending care followed his act of rescue (Jer. 38:13). For only there would the prophet be safe from the fury of the princes; and, providentially, he was there within reach of the king, to give him counsel (Jer. 38:14).
Here, then, is
i. Encouragement to good men to appear in a good cause and act vigorously for God, notwithstanding they are alone and menaced by dangers and difficulties.
ii. Noble deeds done by despised Ethiopians find record in Gods book, to assure us that He honours whosoever fears Him. So it is recorded of Joseph of Arimathea, that he went in boldly to Pilate to beg the body of Jesus.
iii. Though the Ethiopian cannot change his skin, his heart can be changed. This man showed himself to be a true child of God. Such an instance as that of the Candacian eunuch predicts the future when Ethiopia shall lift up her hands unto God.
See homily on chap. Jer. 39:15-18 : A LONELY HERO OF FAITH.
Topic: JEREMIAHS EXPERIENCES TYPICAL OF CHRISTS.
i. Charged with political treachery. Jeremiah (Jer. 38:1-4); Jesus (Luk. 23:1-5).
ii. Abandoned by the chief magistrate of the nation to his malignant foes. Jeremiah by the king (Jer. 38:5); Jesus by Pilate (Luk. 23:24).
iii. The awful profounds of his sufferings suggestive of Christs. Jeremiah (Jer. 38:6, pit, &c.); Christs (Psa. 69:2; Psa. 69:15). Jeremiah sank in the mire, up to the neck, says Josephus, and so, I sink in the mire (Psa. 69:2).
iv. Though rejected and maltreated by his own nation, yet cherished by a Gentile alien. So Christ was believed in by Gentiles while Israel despised Him, and Ethiopians were among the earliest converts (Act. 2:10; Act. 2:41; Act. 8:27-39).
v. In Jeremiahs being raised up alive from the pit, we have Christs resurrection from the dead prefigured and portrayed.
vi. The Ethiopians plea to rescue Jeremiah reminds us of a like act by Joseph of Arimathea (see Jer. 38:8-9, and comp. Luk. 23:52).
Note.It is remarked by Ambrose, Jeremiah was cast into the pit; and no one was found among the Jews to draw him out of the deep dungeon. But Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian convert, he did it. Here is a beautiful figure. The Prophetic Word was cast by the Jews into the mire; but we of the Gentiles, who were formerly darkened, like Ethiopians, with stains of sin (comp. Jer. 13:23), and were unfruitful, have raised up that Word out of the mire. As it is said by the psalmist, Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands unto God (Psa. 68:31).
Topic: OBEDIENCE. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, when I speak unto thee: so it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live (Jer. 38:20).
I. Safety lies in obedience to the Divine Will. There is scarcely a loss sustained by an intelligent creature, but may be traced to disobedience to the Divine Will. Angels loss of heaven. Adams loss of Eden. Israelites who lost their lives in the wilderness from Egypt to Canaan. Jews loss of their country in captivity. Ananias and Sapphira who lost life. The captain who lost his ship through not heeding Paul. Equally it is through disobeying the Divine Will that health is lost, reputation is lost, the soul is lost.
II. Causes actuating to disobedience of the Divine Will.
1. The first cause of the first act of disobedience is an insoluble mystery. God alone understands the origin of sin. It is a mystery unfathomable that holy and intelligent creatures, as the angels that sinned, should, without being tempted, fall into temptation.
2. The second act of disobedience, that of our first parents, is less mysterious: the tempter, by lies and insinuations, allured them to disobedience. Fallen angels had no tempter; fallen men had.
3. Since the fall of angels and of our first parents two causes have operated leading to universal disobedienceSatanic agency and mans depravity. Hence the mystery of sin lessens as we discover the causes leading thereto. Yet these causes do not justify acts of disobedience.
III. Love is the one moving, prompting cause of all obedience.
Love prompts the angels to fulfil the Divine behests: They do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word.
Love prompts the spirits of the just made perfect; they are ministers of His, to do His pleasure.
Love prompted the Apostles to obey the Divine commission, Go ye into all the world; The love of Christ constraineth us.
Love prompted the martyrs to be faithful unto death.
Of all forces there is none so great as the power of love. Law, with all its penalties; judgments, with all their terror; morality, with all its advantages; are feeble impulses to obedience compared with love. Love is strong as death.
IV. Consider the pleasures of obedience to the Divine Will.
1. There is a present pleasure arising from the testimony and approbation of conscience.
2. A reflective pleasure arising from the consciousness of having obeyed the Divine Voice. Paul felt this, on review of life, when he said, I have fought a good fight, &c. This was Christs pleasure: I have glorified Thee on the earth, &c.
3. An anticipatory pleasure; looking for the Divine approvalWell done, good and faithful servant, &c.
And as there is a threefold pleasure in obedience, so there is a threefold pain in disobedience
1. Present: the pain of an accusing conscience. 2. Reflective: the memory of wasted life. 3. Anticipatory: dreading hearing the words, I never knew you; depart from Me, &c.
V. The importance of obedience of the Divine Will. It shall be well unto thee.
Let the sinner obey the voice of Jesus, and it shall be well unto him; not die, but live.
Let the believer obey the voice of his Lord and Master, and he shall enjoy Divine favour and live and reign with Him for ever.
Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.
Yet obedience will not save the soul. Obedience is no ground of merit nor basis of hope. It avails nothing for a sinners justification; and yet, without obedience, the soul will be cast away. Obedience is the sign of faith and manifestation of love.
Topic: SINNERS THE CAUSE OF THEIR OWN SUFFERING. If thou wilt not go forth thou shait not escape out of their hands (Jer. 38:17-18; comp. Jer. 39:7 : Moreover he put out Zedekiahs eyes).
Zedekiah illustrates the non-acceptance of chastisements. We may attribute his sufferings (chap. Jer. 39:7) to Nebuchadnezzars cruelty. But they came from something underlying that. Nebuchadnezzar was not cruel to Zedekiah till Zedekiah had been cruel to himself. He brought it upon himself, compelled God to be thus severe to him. He would not accept the less severe chastisement God had prepared (Jer. 38:17). God proves too strong for rebellious man.
The sure consequence of non-acceptance of chastisements is increased sorrow.
I. Chastisements announced (Jer. 38:17-18). Here consider
1. The proper course of action when chastisement or discipline is announced. God is speaking from the midst of clouds and darkness; go into the secret place and see God Himself. It is His will that we should see Him; see that there is One who works behind the chances and changes of life. The first thing is to believe God is in it; not to lose time in groping about for Him in the darkness.
2. A common mistake as to the designs of sorrow and joy: that joy is intended to draw us to God; sorrow the reverse. This is our error.
3. The co-existence of trouble and alleviation. Along with chastisement God promises circumstances of gracious dealing (Jer. 38:17). We think of the trouble only, and ask its removal, ignoring the alleviation which God places side by side with it.
What are the speakings to us of the word Moreover (Jer. 39:7)?
(1.) Bounded chastisements are not to be rejected.
(2.) Gods omnipotence is to be realised.
(3.) The sad effects of the rejection of Gods chastisements on memorynothing left to Zedekiah but bitter reflections.
(4.) Chastisements are always the lightest possible under the circumstances.
(5.) Gods terrible reverses of chastisements (chap. Jer. 42:6).
(6.) Gods care of His people under chastisementsHe remembers mercy.
(7.) The moreover of what might have been; and some of the mercies which are bestowed.
(8.) The need of keeping ourselves within the line of Gods action (2Sa. 24:14). We may pass from the bounded line of Gods action to the unbounded line of mans! This is to go we know not whither.
(9.) We may always go into troubles with the certainty of alleviation. Try and find how many lighteners to our trials are vouchsafed. God will never crush a man except so far as he makes it downright necessary that he should be crushed.
II. Chastisements rejected. Not because he wished daringly to defy God; but because of personal humiliation and suffering (Jer. 38:19). How powerful this motive was is evident from his overcoming such tremendous considerations as those of Jer. 38:18!
1. When God is appointing chastisement and we accept it, we may be sure it is bounded. As with JobOnly not upon himself; only save his life.
2. Enter trouble with the consciousness of limitation. He who refuses Gods cross makes a heavier one for himself (Jer. 38:21-22).
3. Gods grace in meeting our fears with assurances. They shall not deliver thee (Jer. 38:20). Obey the voice of the Lord, and it shall be well with thee, &c. (Jer. 38:20).
III. Chastisements inflicted with increase (Jer. 39:7). A terrible moreover is this! Sightless henceforth; yet what a scene the last he witnessed! Zedekiah refused to put himself into the hands of God; and now he fell into the hands of man. It counsels
1. Immediately chastisements come, go to God. Thus, all the affliction needed to reduce to obedience and to attention to Gods voice will not be inflicted.
2. Be not too curious in examining a discipline. The good effects will be revealed after endurance.
3. By a too close inspection of our troubles and brooding over them, God will recede from our view; the affliction will also assume an exaggerated importance.
4. Beware lest a dark dispensation so overwhelm you as to prevent your appreciating the alleviations.
5. In all our trial let us consider not only what has been, but what is left. God would have left Zedekiah a great deal if he had yielded. God is great in healing as well as in inflicting wounds.
Heaven-made crosses are lighter than earth-made ones. The troubles which He sends will always be less than what you bring.Constructed and condensed from Breviates, by Rev. P. B. Power, M.A.
Topic: RENEWAL OF OPPORTUNITY WITH ITS ALTERNATIVE ISSUES.
See on Section 17, chap. 34. p. 558.
Topic: TIMIDITY. I am afraid (Jer. 38:19).
A craven king! Pitiable. His case explained thus: he knew his duty, but disliked it; so was continually halting between two opinions; wishing to know Gods messages, yet reluctant to obey them. His mind was harassed with divided attention; he was afraid of men, yet also troubled with a dread of God. It is thus that conscience doth make cowards of compromising and craven souls.
I. Fear of men creates instability of character and conduct. Zedekiah knew he did well to ask counsel of Jeremiah (Jer. 38:14), yet feared to follow it (Jer. 38:19). Such timidity
1. Paralyses the will; 2. Fosters duplicity; 3. Confuses the clear voice of conscience; 4. Enfeebles the power with which Gods word should sway the life.
Fear is the tax that conscience pays to guilt.Sewell.
II. Fear of men degrades the noblest nature into servility. Here was a monarch reduced to a miserable schemer, afraid to have his subjects know what he did! Its natural fruits are
1. Secret transactions (Jer. 38:14); 2. Cringing cowardice (Jer. 38:24); 3. Lying subterfuges (Jer. 38:25-26).
Cowards die many times before their deaths,
The valiant never taste of death but once.Shakespeare.
III. Fear of men entails inevitable derision and disaster. All Zedekiahs scheming to keep out of difficultiesthe difficulties of honesty and pietywould only lead to ills far more serious.
1. The scorn of observers. The Jews will mock me (Jer. 38:19), and the women will make me their jeering song (Jer. 38:22). 2. Desertion by false friends (Jer. 38:22, They are turned away back). 3. Dire judgments from God (Jer. 38:23).
IV. Fear of men alienates Gods protection and favour. His selfish plottings left him miserable alternatives. His life would be spared if he took one course (Jer. 38:17), although it would be spared only for suffering and degradation at the hands of his conqueror; whereas the other course would entail utter ruin (Jer. 38:18). To this dilemma had all his contrivances reduced him. And all our schemings in which we entrench ourselves will end fatally. Honest obedience of God, regardless of consequences and of human threatenings, will ensure us the Divine overshadowing; but this impiety and timidity will
1. Leave us friendless in our extremity; and 2. Deprive us of all Divine hiding and succour when enemies prevail.
Fear or guilt attends the deeds of darkness:
The virtuous breast neer knows it.Havard.
Hence(a.) Obey Gods voice; for in His favour is life. It shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live (Jer. 38:20).
(b.) Trust not in friends whose attachment can be preserved only by disobeying Divine counsels (Jer. 38:19).
(c.) Shun duplicity; it degrades to contemptible insincerity (Jer. 38:25). The fear of man worketh a snare.
(d.) Righteousness makes courageous. For in Gods friendship the soul becomes confident. The righteous is bold as a lion.
Topic: EQUIVOCATION. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived (Jer. 38:27).
The plain meaning of such words is that Jeremiah hoodwinked them. He did not lie to them certainly; but he did not tell the full truth, and left them with a false impression. It comes very near to deception; it was evasion, and certainly was not an honest act. It seems an oblique lie.
I. By what prudential considerations has this act of equivocation been extenuated? Let us hear the pleas of his defenders.
1. It does not appear that he said what was untrue.Bishop Wordsworth.
2. No one is bound to reveal all he knowsto enemies who seek his life.Bishop Wordsworth.
3. This reservation of part of the truth was necessary to prevent an open rupture between the king and his generals.Dr. Payne Smith.
4. He did not tell them what they wanted to know because he was ordered to be silent by one to whom obedience was due.Dr. Payne Smith.
5. The princes were not questioning him in due course of law, but by a power which, they had usurped.Dr. Payne Smith.
6. Had the issue only concerned the prophet himself, it might have been his duty to have spoken the whole truth; but the princes had no right to question him as to the kings conduct.Dr. Payne Smith.
Put these six pleas into common English, and they mean
(a.) Suppression of part of the truth is not a falsehood. But, on the contrary, it most frequently is; for a half-truth is often the worst of lies.
(b.) Discretion should teach us to save our own skin rather than be frank and fearless! But this is contemptible cowardice, and is opposed to our Lords words: He that will save his life shall lose it.
(c.) Preserve good feeling between men, even though prevarication be the only way to effect it! But what had Jeremiah to do with preventing a rupture, &c.? If peace is thus to be purchased at any price, then farewell to honesty and honour.
(d.) Obey a kings command even when his order is contrary to strict truthfulness! But who is a king, forsooth, that he should regulate conduct in matters of conscience? We should obey God rather than man.
(e.) Throw dust in the eyes of enemies. Well, if all is fair in love and war, this may pass; but craftiness is not placed among the Christian virtues.
(f.) It is right to do for another what would be wrong if done for yourself. But no! wrong can never be made right. If Jeremiah suppressed the truth for the kings sake, it was as much a piece of deception as if he had done it for himself.
II. On what sacred principles should this act of equivocation be condemned?
1. Fear of consequences should not sway conscience from its fidelity. Be just, and fear not. But fear now drove Jeremiah to equivocate (comp. Gen. 20:2).
2. Guileless speech should distinguish the godly character (Psa. 34:13). Christians should be children of light, sincere and without offence.
3. Honesty in Gods messengers is imperative. A witness for Jehovah should certainly not accommodate himself to the convenience of a godless potentate.
4. Truth suffers in the hands of compromising men. It brings discredit upon truth in general, if professedly holy men are discovered to tamper with it by equivocation. Souls in whom Gods Light shines should never emit dim rays.
5. Our Saviours example was ever on the side of outspoken honesty even before adversaries. If I have spoken evil, bear witness, &c.; Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.
6. Life is safe in Gods keeping, therefore we should never dissimulate for the sake of our own safety (1Pe. 2:21-23).
The man of pure and simple heart
Through life disdains a double part;
He never needs the screen of lies
His inward bosom to disguise.Gay.
His words are bonds, his oaths are oracles;
His love sincere, his thoughts imuaculate;
His tears, pure messengers sent from his heart;
His heart as far from fraud as heaven from earth.Shakespeare.
Honesty, even by itself, though making many adversaries
Whom prudence might have set aside, or charity have softened,
Evermore will prosper at the last, and gain a man great honour.
Yet there are others that will truckle to a lie, selling honesty for interest,
And do they gain! They gain but loss; a little cash, with scorn.
Behold! sorrowful change wrought upon a fallen nature:
He hath lost his own esteem and other mens respect.
For the buoyancy of upright faith, he is clothed in the heaviness of cringing;
For plain truth, where none could err, he hath chosen tortuous paths;
In lieu of his majesty of countenance, the timorous glances of servility;
Instead of Freedoms honest pride, the spirit of a slave.Tupper.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
C. Imprisoned by the Princes Jer. 38:1-6
TRANSLATION
(1) And 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 which Jeremiah was speaking unto all the people, saying, Thus says the LORD: The one who dwells in this city shall die by the sword, famine, or pestilence. But the one who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live; his life will be his spoil and he will live. (3) Thus says the LORD: This city shall certainly be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will capture it. (4) Consequently the princes said to the king, it is our request that this man be put to death, for in this manner he is weakening the hands of the fighting men who remain in this city and all the people as well, by speaking these words. This man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm. (5) And king Zedekiah said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king cannot oppose you in any way. (6) And they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the kings son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down by ropes. In the dungeon there was no water but mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.
COMMENTS
The imprisonment in the court of the guard afforded Jeremiah the opportunity to communicate the message of God once again. He seems to have been able to converse with the soldiers who defended the city as well as with the general populace (cf. Jer. 32:9; Jer. 32:12). Meanwhile the final stage of the siege of Jerusalem had come. It was only a matter of days until the city would fall to the Chaldeans. The princes, highly displeased with the leniency being shown the prophet, watched his every move. Four princes in particular seem to have been particularly bitter enemies. Shephatiah is mentioned only here. The second prince named is Gedaliah. His father Pashur is probably the one who had put Jeremiah in the stocks earlier in his ministry (Jer. 20:1-2). Jucal (or Jehucal) was one of the princes sent by the king only a few weeks before to request Jeremiah to pray for the city. Pashur was one of the messengers of the king who had visited Jeremiah in an earlier interview (Jer. 21:1).
There in the court of the guard Jeremiah openly proclaimed the message he had been preaching ever since the Chaldean armies had first appeared in the land. Those who defected to the Chaldeans would escape with their lives; those who remained within Jerusalem were doomed (Jer. 38:2) for the Lord would shortly give the city into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 38:3). The princes were both alarmed and angered by such public proclamation. They rushed to Zedekiah and demanded that Jeremiah be put to death for high treason.
The charge against Jeremiah, that he weakened the hands of the men of war, is no doubt an accurate assessment of the impact of the preaching of Jeremiah. The phrase men of war that remain suggests that many had gone over to the Chaldeans (see also Jer. 38:19). The public statements of the prophet could well be classified as treason were it not for one fact. The words which Jeremiah spoke were not his own but the divine message which he had been charged to proclaim. It was Yahweh, the true sovereign of Israel, who was instructing and commanding His subjects to capitulate to the Chaldeans. The predictions of Jeremiah thus far had proven to be accurate thereby accrediting Jeremiah as a true spokesman of God. Only those who were spiritually blind could fail to see that Jeremiah was truly speaking the word of God.
For what they regarded as treason the princes demanded that Jeremiah be put to death (Jer. 38:4). The struggle against the Chaldeans was literally a matter of life and death. In the view of these princes Jeremiah by his public stance against further resistance was playing into the hand of the enemy. They would let the people perish rather than surrender! Now they were attempting to silence the only voice of reason and revelation in the entire city, How wrong they were when they declared that this man is no longer seeking the welfare of the people but their hurt (Jer. 38:4). Jeremiah was the only true friend which the people had left.
Weak-kneed Zedekiah capitulated to the demands of his princes. Behold he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you (Jer. 38:5). What little influence Zedekiah might previously have had over his princes had eroded. He is only a puppet in their hands now. He does not even attempt to argue the point with them. What a cowardly abdication of responsibility! What a shameful betrayal of duty!
Having gone through the formality of gaining the consent of the king, the murderers hurried Jeremiah off to his doom. They did not want his blood on their hands!
Their plan was much more cruel. They cast Jeremiah into I cistern which served as a dungeon. This particular cistern, located in the court of the guard, was under the charge of Malchiah the son of Hammelech (lit., the son of the king), Malchiah seems to have been a member of the royal family if not a son of Zedekiah himself. So deep was the cistern that they had to let Jeremiah down into it with ropes. Though there was no water in the cistern the bottom of it was covered by a thick layer of mud. Slowly the prophet sunk into the mire. The pitiless princes wished this spokesman for God to die a slow, torturous, and frightful death. Unbelief makes men intolerant of Gods spokesmen; intolerance makes men cruel. There they left him. They were. rid of him. They had effectively silenced Gods messenger.
The dungeon experience is without question the lowest point in the life of Jeremiah. He was now aged and perhaps infirm. The siege and famine in Jerusalem had doubtlessly taken its toll. Yet it should be noted that no word of protest is lodged, no cry of revenge, no prayer of imprecation. Through the long bitter years of his ministry Jeremiah had learned the way of patient endurance. He had learned to cast himself upon the Lord and trust Him for deliverance.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXXVIII.
(1) Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan . . .Of the four princes of Judah who are named here, Jucal or Jehucal has been mentioned in Jer. 37:3, and would appear, from the frequent occurrence of the name Shelomiah in 1Ch. 26:1-2; 1Ch. 26:9; 1Ch. 26:14, to have been a Levite; Pashur is named in Jer. 21:1. Of the other two nothing is known, but the name Shephatiah appears in three or four instances in the royal house of Judah, beginning with a son of David (2Sa. 3:4; 2Ch. 21:2; Ezr. 2:4; Neh. 7:9),and may, perhaps, indicate a connexion with it, like that of Jerahmeel in Jer. 36:26. Gedaliah, the son of Pashur (possibly of the man of that name who is mentioned last in the list), must be distinguished from Jeremiahs protector, the son of Ahikam (Jer. 26:24; Jer. 40:5). They all belonged obviously to the party of the prophets enemies.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE COMPLAINT OF THE PRINCES, Jer 38:1-5.
Jeremiah’s imprisonment at the first was doubtless the fruit of personal malice. He had become offensive, and the object was to get him out of the way. But the change made by the king’s taking him out of the vaults and allowing him the liberty of the prison court, restored him to intercourse with his friends and contact with the people. Hence a new effort is made to get rid of both the presence and influence of this prophet and his offensive messages.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1. Had spoken The original is less restricted, was speaking. The present participle here implies that Jeremiah continued to speak thus.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jeremiah Is Seen As A Traitor And Is Thrust Into A Well Filled With Deep Mud Which Was In The Court Of The Guard, Where He Would Have Died Had He Not Been Rescued By Ebedmelech, A Sudanese ( Jer 38:1-13 ).
Even though he was in the court of the guard Jeremiah had access to the people who would gather there to hear what he had to say (compare Jer 32:12). And nothing could prevent him from proclaiming the word of YHWH which announced the forthcoming surrender of the city. This displeased many of the king’s advisers who felt that he was weakening the city’s resistance and demanded that he be silenced. In consequence the king weakly acceded to their demands, allowing them to put Jeremiah into a deep well which rendered him inaccessible to the people and which would shortly, had he not been rescued, have resulted in his demise through starvation.
Jer 38:1
‘And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,’
In Jer 38:4 these men are described as ‘princes. They were probably prominent among the king’s advisers. As such they would often pass through the court of the guard, and it was while doing so that they became aware of what Jeremiah was declaring to the people. Chronologically chapter 21 also occurred around this time.
Neither Shephatiah nor Gedaliah are mentioned elsewhere. Gedaliah must not be confused with the later Gedaliah, son of Ahikam (Jer 39:14) who would later be governor. Jucal the son of Shelemiah is mentioned in Jer 37:3 where he was sent by the king along with Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah to seek for Jeremiah’s intercession on behalf of the nation, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah is mentioned in Jer 21:1, where he also accompanied Zephaniah with a request to Jeremiah for intercession, when they received the same uncompromising message as the one found here. However the names of both Gedalyahu (Gedaliah) ben Pashhur and Yehu-kual (Yucal) ben Shelemyahu (Shelemiah) have been discovered on seals dug up in the City of David in Jerusalem.
Jer 38:2
“Thus says YHWH, He who abides in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, but he who goes forth to the Chaldeans will live, and his life shall be to him for a prey, and he will live.”
In spite of the danger that he was in Jeremiah continued to proclaim YHWH’s word faithfully without regard for the consequences. Counselling surrender to the enemy was hardly the best way of ingratiating himself with the authorities. Indeed it is indicative of the awe in which he was held as a prophet of YHWH that he was allowed for a while to get away with it.
His message was that death awaited those who remained in the city, either through starvation and disease due to siege conditions, or through the sword when the city was taken, whilst those who surrendered to the Babylonians prior to the taking of the city would live (compare Jer 21:9).
‘His life will be to him for a prey.’ In other words he will seize it like a hunter would a prey and carry it off safely.
Jer 38:3
“Thus says YHWH, This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.”
An his message in Jer 38:2 was based on the fact that the city would unquestionably be give into the hands of Nebuchadrezzar’s army because that was YHWH’s express word. It was not a message likely to endear him to those who were trying to bolster the resistance of the defenders. It just happened to be the truth.
Jer 38:4
‘Then the princes said to the king, “Let this man, we pray you, be put to death, because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but the hurt.”
Understandably from a human point of view these princes were angry at what Jeremiah was saying, because it weakened the will of the defenders at a time when it was important that their morale be maintained. It was suggesting that resistance was pointless. Thus in their view, far from considering the welfare of the city, Jeremiah was seeking to cause it considerable harm.
Jer 38:5
‘And Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand, for the king is not he who can do anything against you.”
Zedekiah was reluctant to act against Jeremiah himself because he recognised that he was a genuine prophet of YHWH. On the other hand he did not feel able to support him, because to do so might add to the weakening of morale. Thus while making clear that he was not in agreement with the situation he gave them permission to act against Jeremiah in any way that they thought best. As Pilate would later with Jesus, he washed his hands with regard to Jeremiah, thereby no doubt hoping to escape YHWH’s condemnation in respect of what would happen.
Jer 38:6
‘Then they took Jeremiah, and cast him into the pit of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the pit there was no water, but mire, and Jeremiah sank in the mire.’
For Jeremiah it was a case of ‘out of the frying pan into the fire’. Having previously escaped from the pit in the house of Jonathan (Jer 37:15), he found himself in an even worse situation in being lowered down by means of ropes into a pit which had previously been filled with water, and whose bottom was now covered with a thick layer of mud. It was probably in fact a cistern. It would have a narrow entrance at the top and widen out below the point of entry. The fact that it was empty drew attention to the water shortage in the city, whilst the fact that the mud was still soft indicates that it had not been empty very long.
Jeremiah’s predicament is emphasised by the fact that he sank into the mud. It was not a very happy position to be in.
Malchijah may have been the father of the Pashhur mentioned in Jer 38:1. His description as ‘the king’s son’ (compare Jer 36:26) indicates royal connections, although not necessarily strictly as a son. It is, however, sufficient to demonstrate the high level of the opposition which was against Jeremiah. His cistern would not have been available had he not been in agreement with the princes involved.
It may be asked why they did not immediately put him to death? One possible answer is that that was the one restriction that the king had put on them. This could be seen as supported by his immediate response when he learned that Jeremiah was in danger of death (Jer 38:9). But the answer may well lie in his prophetic status. To have slain a prophet of YHWH directly could have been seen by the people as automatically bringing doom on the city, and could have worsened the very situation that they were trying to alleviate (loss of morale). And they may well themselves have been equally superstitious. On the other hand leaving him in the pit to die could well have been seen as an easy way out. Then they could be seen as throwing the onus on YHWH, in the same way as with Joseph long before (Gen 37:22-24). Their argument could have been that it would then be up to YHWH to determine whether he survived or not (which they were sure he would not).
Jer 38:7
‘Now when Ebed-melech the Sudanese, a high official (eunuch), who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin,)’
News of what had happened did not immediately reach the king because he had temporarily housed himself at the Gate of Benjamin, one of the key defence points for the city, and the gate by which deserters would normally leave if they wished to submit themselves to the Babylonians. It may well have been with the intention of maintaining the morale of the defenders, or he may have been hearing the complaints of disgruntled inhabitants. He may even have been determining who should be allowed to desert to the enemy (leaving less mouths to feed in the city). Whichever it was he was taking his duties seriously.
One whom the news did reach, however, was Ebed-melech (‘servant of the king’), who was a high official in the king’s house. He may indeed have genuinely been a eunuch as superintendent of the king’s harem, but the noun does not necessarily indicate it, and we would not expect such an official to have great influence over the king. On the other hand it would explain his presence at the palace at such a time. It is, however, more likely that Ebed-melech (a Cushite from the Upper Nile region e.g. Northern Sudan) was of higher status, with sufficient influence to stand up to the princes. Why he thus supported Jeremiah we do not know, but he may well have feared that Jeremiah’s death would bring calamity on Jerusalem. As a foreigner or a proselyte he may well have been in greater awe of YHWH than the natives were.
Jer 38:8
‘Ebed-melech went forth out of the king’s house, and spoke to the king, saying,’
So Ebed-melech left the palace and made his way to the Gate of Benjamin in order to seek an audience with the king.
Jer 38:9
“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 pit, and he is likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city.’
Once there he explained what had happened. He pointed out the evil that there was in all that the princes had done to the prophet of YHWH, in that they had cast him into the pit where, in view of the famine, he was likely to die of starvation, for who would bother to feed such a prisoner when the whole city was starving and without bread?
‘He is likely to die.’ Literally ‘he is dying’. In other words he was as good as dead.
Jer 38:10
‘Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite (Ethiopian/Sudanese), saying, “Take from where you are thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the pit, before he die.”
The king responded immediately, something which suggests that it had never been his intention that Jeremiah should die. He commanded Ebed-melech to take a platoon of soldiers (‘ a thirty’) with a view to bringing Jeremiah out of the pit before he should die. The number of soldiers supplied suggests that the king recognised that there might be violent opposition to Jeremiah’s release. Feelings were running high. But he clearly felt the situation important enough to take men away from their defence duties. There was still within him a certain awe of YHWH.
Jer 38:11
‘So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.’
Ebed-melech promptly did as he was commanded, and his genuine humanity was demonstrated in that he took steps to make Jeremiah’s release as painless as possible. He went directly to the store-houses under the king’s treasury and obtained from there patches of cloth and linen which could be used by Jeremiah with his emaciated body to protect his armpits when the cords went under his arms. These he let down to Jeremiah in the pit.
Jer 38:12
‘And Ebed-melech the Cushite (Ethiopian) said to Jeremiah, “Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armholes under the cords.” And Jeremiah did so.’
He then advised Jeremiah to put the pieces of cloth and linen under his armpits so that they would be protected from the harshness of the ropes, and Jeremiah did as he suggested.
Jer 38:13
‘So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the pit, and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.’
Then they drew Jeremiah out of the pit by means of the ropes, and he was reinstated in the prison in the court of the guards. There does not appear to have been any reaction to his release. Perhaps the princes realised that they had exceeded their remit and kept silent.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jeremiah’s Experiences In The Court Of The Guard ( Jer 38:1-28 ).
But even the fact that Jeremiah was in the court of the guard did not prevent him from further maltreatment by those who saw him as a traitor. This chapter divides into two sections each ending with a reference to his being in ‘the court of the guard’. The first describes how he was seen as a traitor and thrust into a muddy well or cistern where he would have died had he not been rescued by the intervention of Ebedmelech, and the second describes how he was again consulted by the king with strict injunctions to keep the fact a secret from the king’s counsellors.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
SECTION 2 ( Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5 ).
Whilst the first twenty five chapters of Jeremiah have mainly been a record of his general prophecies, mostly given during the reigns of Josiah and Jehoiakim, and have been in the first person, this second section of Jeremiah (Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5) is in the third person, includes a great deal of material about the problems that Jeremiah faced during his ministry and provides information about the opposition that he continually encountered. This use of the third person was a device regularly used by prophets so that it does not necessarily indicate that it was not directly the work of Jeremiah, although in his case we actually have good reason to think that much of it was recorded under his guidance by his amanuensis and friend, Baruch (Jer 36:4).
It can be divided up as follows:
1. Commencing With A Speech In The Temple Jeremiah Warns Of What Is Coming And Repudiates The Promises Of The False Prophets (Jer 26:1 to Jer 29:32).
2. Promises Are Given Of Eventual Restoration And Of A New Covenant Written In The Heart (Jer 30:1 to Jer 33:26).
3. YHWH’s Continuing Word of Judgment Is Given Through Jeremiah And Its Repercussions Leading Up To The Fall Of Jerusalem Are Revealed (Jer 34:1 to Jer 39:18).
4. Events Subsequent To The Fall Of Jerusalem (Jer 40:1 to Jer 45:5).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
SECTION 2 ( Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5 ). (continued).
As we have previously seen this Section of Jeremiah from Jer 26:1 to Jer 45:5 divides up into four main subsections, which are as follows:
1. Commencing With A Speech In The Temple Jeremiah Warns Of What Is Coming And Repudiates The Promises Of The False Prophets (Jer 26:1 to Jer 29:32).
2. Following The Anguish To Come Promises Are Given Of Eventual Restoration, Central To Which is A New Covenant Written In The Heart And The Establishment Of A Shoot (Branch) Of David On His Throne (Jer 30:1 to Jer 33:26).
3. YHWH’s Continuing Word of Judgment Is Given Through Jeremiah, The Continuing Disobedience Of The People Is Brought Out, And Jeremiah’s Resulting Experiences Leading Up To The Fall Of Jerusalem Are Revealed (Jer 34:1 to Jer 38:28).
4. The Fall Of Jerusalem And Events Subsequent To It Are Described (Jer 39:1 to Jer 45:5).
We have already commented on Subsections 1). in Jeremiah 4 and subsection 2). in Jeremiah 5. We must now therefore consider subsection 3). This subsection deals with various experiences of Jeremiah (although not in chronological order) in the days of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah.
Section 2 Subsection 3. YHWH’s Continuing Word of Judgment Is Given Through Jeremiah, The Continuing Disobedience Of The People Is Brought Out, And Jeremiah’s Resulting Experiences Leading Up To The Fall Of Jerusalem Are Revealed ( Jer 34:1 to Jer 38:28 ).
The promise of future restoration having been laid out Jeremiah now returns to the current situation with Jerusalem under threat. He demonstrates the different ways in which YHWH has been rejected, and treated with contempt by 1). a hypocritical pretence of obedience to the covenant, which is reneged on, 2). a treating of YHWH’s Fatherhood with contempt by the people, something which is in stark contrast with the obedience and reverence shown by the Rechabites to their father, 3). a burning of YHWH’s very word in a brazier, and 4). a continuing misuse of YHWH’s prophet. All this but confirms YHWH’s prophecies of judgment against Jerusalem,
The subsection divides up easily into five parts, each of which is opened by a crucial phrase, thus:
1. 34:1-7 ‘The word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH when Nebuchadnezzar — fought against Jerusalem and all its cities.’ This was a word declaring that Jerusalem would be destroyed and Zedekiah would be carried off to Babylon and meet Nebuchadnezzar face to face. There he will die ‘in peace’ and be lamented by his nobles.
2. 34:8-22 ‘The word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people at Jerusalem to proclaim freedom to them.’ Zedekiah having persuaded the more wealthy in Jerusalem to enter into a covenant before YHWH to set free their Hebrew slaves, thus fulfilling the Sinai covenant, the more wealthy do so, but once the danger appears to be past, change their minds and re-enslave them, bringing down on themselves the renewed wrath of YHWH and the certainty of Babylonian subjection.
3. 35:1-19 ‘The word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH in the days of Jehoiakim.’ YHWH uses the example of the Rechabites as an illustration of a filial obedience to their father, which is the very opposite of Judah’s disobedience to their Father, something which will result in judgment coming on Judah and Jerusalem.
4. 36:1-32 ‘And it came about in the fourth year of Jehoiakim — this word came to Jeremiah from YHWH.’ Jeremiah records his prophecies in a book in the days of Jehoiakim, prophecies which impress the nobles, but which are treated with disdain by Jehoiakim and his associates, resulting in Jehoiakim cutting up the ‘leaves’ of the book and burning them, thereby bringing judgment on himself.
5. 37:1-38:28 ‘And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah — but did not listen to the words YHWH which He spoke by the prophet Jeremiah.’ YHWH’s prophet is rejected. Jeremiah warns the king not to expect deliverance through the approaching Egyptian army, and on seeking to visit his hometown during a lull in the siege is accused of attempted desertion and is shut up in prison, although there he is surreptitiously consulted by Zedekiah. His various sufferings, resulting from his prophesying, including a near death experience, are described, and he ends up in the royal prison where he is comparatively well treated.
It will be noted from this that after the initial warning of the success of the Babylonians there is a continuing emphasis on the growing disobedience towards, and rejection of, YHWH and His covenant. This is illustrated firstly by the breaking of a solemn covenant made by the people, a covenant in which they guaranteed to free their Hebrew slaves as required by the Sinaitic covenant, something which they subsequently reneged on; secondly by a disobedience which is shown to be the direct opposite of the obedience of the Rechabites (who sought to be faithful to the principles of wilderness days) to their father; thirdly by the disrespect shown to YHWH’s prophecies as written down by Jeremiah when Jehoiakim contemptuously burned them in a brazier; and fourthly by the continual disrespect shown to Jeremiah himself in his various imprisonments. The growth in intensity of the disobedience as each chapter progresses (breach of the ancient covenant, falling short of a righteous example presented before their very eyes, burning the currently received word of YHWH, and finally misusing the prophet of YHWH because of his up to date prophecies), helps to explain why the prophecies have been put in this order.
We may also see here a deliberate attempt to sandwich between two references to the approaching end and to Zedekiah’s reign, reasons as to why that end is necessary from earlier days. This follows a similar pattern to chapters 21-24 which also sandwiched earlier situations between two examples of the days of Zedekiah.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Disobedience Of Judah And Its King Is Highlighted By Their Treatment Of The Prophet Of YHWH ( Jer 37:1 to Jer 38:28 ).
These events once again took place during the reign of Zedekiah, the final king of Judah before the exile. Along with Jer 34:1-7 this passage forms an inclusio for this subsection on disobedience, paralleling the similar inclusio in chapters 21-24, which brings out that the final intention of the prophecy at this stage is to concentrate on the destruction of Jerusalem and its aftermath in the light of the sin that has gone before.
With this in view the different imprisonments of Jeremiah at the hands of both king and people are emphasised in what follows. The passage commences by underlining the fact that he had not been imprisoned at first (Jer 37:4), and then goes on to deal with a number of imprisonments (Jer 37:15; Jer 37:21; Jer 38:6; Jer 38:13; Jer 38:28), something which is emphasised in the concluding verse (Jer 38:28). Thus there is a continual emphasis throughout on his imprisonment. In this we have the fourth and greatest example of the disobedience of both king and people in that they sought to restrain the prophet of YHWH, something in the main unknown in previous generations.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jeremiah Cast into a Pit
v. 1. Then Shephatiah, the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, the son of Pashur, v. 2. Thus saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, v. 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. v. 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, v. 5. Then Zedekiah, the king, v. 6. Then took they Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon, v. 7. Now, when Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king’s house, v. 8. Ebed-melech went forth out of the king’s house and spake to the king, v. 9. My lord the king, these men, who had ordered this cruelty to be performed against Jeremiah, 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, v. 10. Then the king commanded Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, v. 11. So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury, v. 12. And Ebed-melech, the Ethiopian, v. 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,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
CONTINUATION.
EXPOSITION
The object of the princes being frustrated (for in the “court of the guard” Jeremiah had perfect freedom and opportunity of speech), the princes resolve upon a more effectual means of stopping the prophet’s mouth. He is thrown into a miry pit, with the object that he may die of starvation.
Jer 38:1
Two Pashurs appear to be mentioned here: one probably the same who put Jeremiah in the stocks (Jer 20:1, Jer 20:2); the other a member of the first of Zedekiah’s two embassies to the prophet (Jer 21:1). On Jucal, see Jer 37:3. Had spoken; rather, kept speaking.
Jer 38:2, Jer 38:3
He that remaineth, etc. Jeremiah repeats what he had said to Zedekiah’s embassy in Jer 21:9, Jer 21:10.
Jer 38:4
For thus; literally, for therefore; i.e. because he is left in impunity (camp. the use of the phrase in Jer 29:28). He weakeneth the hands of the men of war; i.e. he dispirits them. It is important to get this “outside view” of the preaching of Jeremiah. There is evidently some excuse for the opponents of Jeremiah. It was a matter of life and death to resist the Chaldeans, and Jeremiah was, according to the politicians, playing into the hands of the enemy (see further in general Introduction). The addition of the words, that remain, shows that the bitter end of the resistance was fast approaching.
Jer 38:5
He is in your hand. The growing power of the “princes” (see on Jer 22:4) seems to have confined the king to a merely secondary role.
Jer 38:6
The dungeon; more literally, the cistern. “Every house in Jerusalem was supplied with a subterranean cistern, so well constructed that we never read of the city suffering in a siege from want of water” (Dr. Payne Smith). A grotto bearing the name of Jeremiah has been shown at Jerusalem since the fifteenth century. Under its floor are vast cisterns, the deepest of which professes to be the prison into which the prophet was thrown. The objection is that the sacred narrative proves that the prison was in the city, whereas “the present grotto was not included within the walls until the time of Herod Agrippa”. The son of Hammelech; rather, a royal prince (as Jer 36:26).
Jer 38:7
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian. The name means “the king’s slave.” Ebers remarks that the eunuchs employed in the modern East are nearly all negroes, on whom the shameful operation has been performed by Copts in Upper Egypt. Zedekiah’s harem is referred to in Jer 38:22, Jer 38:23.
Jer 38:9
For there is no more bread in the city. It would almost seem as if the little remaining bread had been brought together by command of the magistrates, and that it was given out in rations by them (comp. Jer 37:21).
Jer 38:10
Thirty men. Why so many were sent is not clear. Are we to suppose that the princes would resist Jeremiah’s release? But “the king is not he,” etc. (verse 5). Is it not a scribe’s error for “three” (so Ewald, Hitzig, and Graf)?
Jer 38:11
Under the treasury; rather, to (a room) under the treasury. Old cast clouts, etc.; literally, rags of torn garments and rags of worn-out garments.
Jer 38:14
The third entry. What this means exactly is not clear; probably the “entry” led from the palace to the temple. It must have been a private place, else it would not have been chosen for this interview. I will ask thee a thing; rather, I will ask of thee a word; i.e. a revelation from Jehovah (comp. Jer 37:17).
Jer 38:15
Wilt thou not hearken; rather, thou wilt not hearken.
Jer 38:16
That made us this soul. A very unusual formula (comp. Isa 57:16).
Jer 38:17
The king of Babylon’s princes. Nebuchadnezzar himself was in Riblah (Jer 39:5).
Jer 38:22
All the women that are left; i.e. probably the wives of Zedekiah’s royal predecessors, who had passed into his own harem as concubines. Even Hezekiah, as Payne Smith well points out, had a numerous harem (‘Records of the Past,’ 1:39, where “daughters” is equivalent to “girls”). Zedekiah’s own wives are spoken of in the next verse. Thy friends have set thee on, etc. The first half of this taunting song (mashal) reminds of Oba 1:7 (for other points of contact with Obadiah, see on Jer 49:7-22). The meaning is that, after urging the weak-minded Zedekiah on to a conflict with the Chaldeans, they have left him involved in hopeless difficulties.
Jer 38:23
So they, etc.; rather, and they, etc. The women spoken of are different from those in Jer 38:22. Thou shalt cause this city to be burned. The literal rendering is, Thou shalt burn this city; but the Septuagint, Peshito, and Targum have “As for this city it shall be burned,” which suits the parallelism better.
Jer 38:27
He told them according to all these words. A controversy has arisen as to whether Jeremiah was justified in concealing the truth. But is a man bound to confess the truth to a murderer?
Jer 38:28
And he was there when, etc. The words, of which this is an incorrect version, ought to begin the first verse of the next chapter. Render (with Coverdale), And it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken (in the ninth year of Zedekiah came Nebuchadrezzar, etc.; in the eleventh year the city was cleft open) that all the princes, etc. The correctness of the reading is, however, open to some doubt (see introduction to next chapter)
HOMILETICS
Jer 38:1-13
Jeremiah in the pit.
I. JEREMIAH PREACHES FAITHFULLY. (Verses 2, 5.)
His conduct is wise, brave, and noble. On the surface it savours of pusillanimity. But so much the greater the wisdom and courage that inspire it. Personally Jeremiah is in greater danger from his fellow citizens than from the invaders. To rouse the anger of the people amongst whom he is living by apparently favouring the plans of their enemies requires no little firmness of character. Moreover, strong moral courage is requisite for such a course as that of Jeremiah’s. His patriotism is certain to be taken for treachery, his wisdom for cowardice. He stands alone with his unpopular advice, sure that it will not be followed, sure that his motives will be misunderstood and his character maligned. To a sensitive man the situation would be exquisitely painful. Fidelity under it reveals a noble courage. Thus we see how the bravest man may be he who appears to be most weak, while the rash and boastful daring that rushes heedlessly with the multitude but shrinks from a course of unpopularity, is really feeble and cowardly.
II. THE PRINCES ARE ALARMED. (Verse 4.) They have some reason to dread the effect of Jeremiah’s preaching upon the defence of Jerusalem. If they are certain of the wisdom of the course they are pursuing, it is difficult to see how they can regard the prophet with anything less than dismay. Every time his Cassandra notes are heard in the streets it seems as though disaffection were being urged upon the people. The mistake of the princes is in being so wedded to their policy as never to consider the advice of Jeremiah as of any weight and wisdom. Thus we judge and condemn men with absolute certainty to our own mind, but often only because we assume, without reason, the infallibility of our own position.
III. THE KING WEAKLY YIELDS. (Verse 5.) Zedekiah is helpless in the hands of his courtiers. Like Pilate, he thinks to throw off all responsibility on the accusers whom he dare not oppose (Joh 18:31). But he cannot do this. His weakness is culpable. He is not like a constitutional monarch, legally fettered by a responsible ministry. He is by position a responsible ruler. If he cannot discharge the functions of his position, he should abdicate. In no case is he justified in lending the weight of his name to a deed of which he does not approve. We cannot free ourselves from responsibility by declining to act when it is our duty to interfere and prevent a wrong from being done.
IV. JEREMIAH IS CAST INTO THE PIT. (Verse 6.)
1. The action of the courtiers is cruel They treat the prophet with needless indignity and evidently design for him the slow torture of a death by starvation.
2. It is also cowardly. They dare not execute him openly. The horrible fate is assigned to him because it is less dangerous to themselves.
3. The prophet is now in the lowest condition of wretchedness, down in the pit, sunk in the mire, left in that cold, dark solitude to the horrors of approaching starvation. Those of us who are ready to murmur at slighter trouble should remember how much better men than we have had to endure far greater suffering and humiliation than ours. What shame and agony were heaped upon Christ the Son of God!
V. THE ETHIOPIAN INTERCEDES. (Verses 7-9.)
1. This man was a heathen by nation, but a good man. Character, not profession, is the one thing of significance with all of us.
2. He was a man of an apparently inferior race. It is better to have a black skin and a humane heart than a white skin and a black heart.
3. He was regarded as an effeminate creature. True manliness belongs to our conduct, not to our appearance and manners. God raises up friends in the most unlikely quarters. One of the advantages of trouble is that it reveals unknown friends.
VI. JEREMIAH IS DELIVERED. The weak king only wants the encouragement of his chamberlain to do an act of justice which his own conscience must have urged him to all along. When the distress and danger of Jeremiah are vividly brought before him, he rouses himself. Many people are too weak to do their duty till their imagination and feelings are wrought upon. They live in comfortable indifference to the wretchedness of others simply because they have not been made to feel it. They are not to be excused on this account. But knowing the fact, we should do more to make the needs of the poor, the sick, and the heathen felt by the indifferent who ought to help them. A higher providence leads to the deliverance of Jeremiah. God watches over him in the dungeon, and God sees that he is saved from it. So God will save his people from all their troubles, though in some cases the minister of deliverance is that dark angel of death whose advent the miserable in Andrea Orcagna’s picture at Pisa welcome with joy.
Jer 38:6
The apparent misanthropy of revelation.
The political aspect of these words is evident; let us now consider their moral bearings: The inspired prophet of God is taken for an enemy of his neighbours. The experience of Jeremiah is not without parallel, nor is it wanting in certain reasonable grounds of justification.
I. THERE ARE THINGS IN REVELATION WHICH APPEAR TO INDICATE MISANTHROPY. When God utters his voice he does not always speak in dulcet notes. We may hear harsh, grating thunders of Sinai. The message is not always pleasant. It makes us feel uncomfortable, exposes our worst characteristics, and has no pity on our little contrivances for putting the best face on our conduct. It stays our hand in many a favourite occupation. It cries “vanity of vanities” to our pet schemes. It puts a veto on our proud ambition. It frowns at much of our pleasure. For the future it threatens judgment and hitter penalties. When we fancy we have found some neat plan of escape, it exposes the rottenness of our hope and plunges us for the moment into blank despair. Such is the work of certain parts of revelation, and being so, it is not unnaturally regarded by some as misanthropic. Bearing this fact in mind, we must not be surprised at the aversion that the irreligious feel to religion. Judging from this standpoint, they may regard their best friend as their enemy, and imagine that the angry voice of God indicates nothing but his settled wrath against them.
II. THIS MISANTHROPY IS ONLY APPARENT. Jeremiah was the best friend of Jerusalem, and the fanatical leaders of resistance her most fatal foes. His advice was really wise and patriotic. The Bible, which to some is a gloomy Book, darkening the aspect of human life, contains the secret of its true blessedness. The religion of the Bible may be sombre in the eyes of some when compared with the sunny religion of Greece. But the Hellenic faith could not save its followers from utter moral corruption and ruin. Through the sterner faith of the Jew and the Christian we are led to that one satisfying brightness of life which comes from the rising upon us of the Sun of righteousness. We must judge of words by their aim, not by their sound. The Bible contains threats of terrible doom, hut as we discover the purpose of them we see that they are not curses but warnings. God often opposes us, stays our course, puts up the red signal, only to save us from rushing to some fatal calamity. Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Savonarola, and John Knox were regarded by their contemporaries as misanthropic. Now we see that they were the salt of the earth, true saviours of society. Even Christ uttered words which might seem to indicate misanthropy, but all with the intention of leading men to escape from the evils he deplored and find salvation in his grace.
Jer 38:11
Old cast clouts and old rotten rags.
I. THERE IS A USE FOR EVERYTHING. These rags were possibly thrown aside as useless. Yet they were found to serve a distinct purpose. Amongst the wonderful combinations of invention and economy in the present day, none are more remarkable than those which turn waste materials to serviceable ends. There is a mission forevery life. No man is so low, so worn, so worthless, but that he may find some way in which to serve God and his fellows. If a rag has a mission, shall a soul find none?
II. IF WE CANNOT ATTAIN THE HIGHEST OBJECT AIMED AT, WE SHOULD NOT NEGLECT THAT WHICH IS WITHIN OUR REACH. The rags may once have been prince’s robes. Now they are only fit for the lowest uses. Then let them be so used. There is an impractical idealism which paralyzes all effort. Because a thing cannot be turned to the highest account we will not use it at all. So there are those who refuse to do anything because they can do nothing very great, or who, being compelled to give up a work of honour, are too proud to undertake a more lowly task. We should remember Goethe’s maxim, “Do the thing that lieth nearest thee.” Thus a useful rag may be a rebuke to a useless man.
III. THE GREATEST MAN MAY HAVE NEED OF THE MOST COMMONPLACE APPLIANCES. A prophet finds comfort from a rag. We are none of us emancipated from relation to the lowest things. This should humble those who make the dignity of their nature a reason for despising the offices of lowly things and persons. It should encourage those who have but small means. They may be of material comfort to some far above them. Great and small, we are linked together for our mutual helpfulness.
IV. DEEDS OF KINDNESS SHOULD BE PERFORMED IN A KIND MANNER. Carelessness and roughness of demeanour may spoil half the effect of the most well meant offices of charity. There are philanthropists who would lift the prisoner from the pit, but with hard, coarse ropes, without any consideration for his sore and, weary body. The purpose is gracious, but the manner is brutal. Christians should not be mere part ons, wounding the feelings of those whom they help in other respects, but the brethren of the distressed, aiding them carefully, gently, courteously. This is the manner of God’s great deliverance of mankind; it is by a Saviour who “shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench” (Isa 42:2, Isa 42:3).
Jer 38:19-23
The fear of ridicule.
I. THE FEAR OF RIDICULE IS A COMMON FAILING OF WEAK MEN. Zedekiah is a weak man. His first thought when he contemplates the possible effects of obedience to the Divine command is that it may result in his being delivered into the hands of the captives at Babylon to be mocked by them (Jer 38:17). This he dreads above all things. Many men who would stand up without flinching to be shot at cower before a laugh. Let them understand that their conduct is weak and foolish and wrong.
II. THE FEAR OF RIDICULE IS A FREQUENT CAUSE OF NEGLECT OF DUTY. This is one of the chief weapons of persecution and temptation exercised in our own day. The rack and the stake are out of fashion; the sneer and the gibe have taken their place. Milton’s Satan has been superseded by Goethe’s Mephistopheles. The young are specially sensitive to ridicule. They especially should seek grace from God to stand firm against it.
III. THE FEAR OF RIDICULE PROVOKES RIDICULE. Jeremiah showed the king that disobedience coming out of his dread of being mocked would result in worse mockery. Fearing the laughter of captive soldiers, he would be mocked by women; dreading the contempt of strangers, he should meet with that of his own house (verse 22). Face a laugh, and you foil its spiteful intention; quail before it, and you give it the victory and furnish occasion for fresh contempt. The young man who sneaks away from his religious principles because his companions in business laugh at him for them is only despised for his contemptible weakness, while that young man who quietly holds his ground unmoved by senseless ridicule wins the secret respect of observers, and makes them inwardly ashamed of their folly.
IV. THE FEAR OF RIDICULE MAY END IN FATAL RESULTS. Jeremiah pointed this out to the king (verse 23). The horrible charge of having brought about the burning of the city would be attached to his name, and the guilt of it to his soul. Here was a far greater cause of alarm than the danger of a laugh. Weak men who are moved by such contemptible motives as those that influenced Zedekiah should be roused by a rude shock, if that is necessary, for them to see the dread and solemn issues of life and the fearful evils they may evoke while trifling with duty in childish timidity.
V. IT IS OUR DUTY TO CONQUER THE FEAR OF RIDICULE BY FAITHFUL OBEDIENCE TO THE WILL OF GOD. Here lies the remedy (verse 20). To some this fear is keen and almost irresistible. But it is wholly selfish. It is associated with morbid, self-regarding thoughts. If we realize the idea that God is speaking to us and watching us, all ideas of the thoughts of men about us should sink to the dust. With earnest convictions of duty and true efforts of obedience inspired by the grace of Christ, which is sufficient for us, we may brave this thorn in the fleshthe fear of man that bringeth a snare,
Jer 38:20
The blessedness of. obedience.
Jeremiah entreats Zedekiah to obey the voice of God urging him with promises of deliverance. Note here
I. THE ENTREATY. Jeremiah says, “I beseech thee.” This is characteristic of the kindliness and earnestness of the prophet. It is also indicative of the character of God who inspired him. With St. Paul he might have said, “We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as though God were entreating you by us; we beseech you on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God” (2Co 5:20). This Divine entreaty signifies
(1) earnestnessGod truly desires our good;
(2) kindliness and sympathy;
(3) condescension; and
(4) the greatness of the issues at stake.
II. THE DUTY.
1. This is obedience, the cardinal duty of the Old Testament. The importance of this duty in the New Testament has been underrated. There, too, it takes a first place in the teaching of Christ (Joh 15:14) and of his apostlesSt. Paul (Rom 2:8), St, Peter (1Pe 3:1), St. John (1Jn 3:24), and St. James (Jas 1:22). Indeed, all religion consists in submission (passive faith) and obedience (active faith).
2. Such obedience must be implicit. Zedekiah did not understand the reason of the Divine command. To carry it out was unpalatable to him and his people. But once we know God’s will, questions of mystery and of inclination should not affect us. In the gospel dispensation obedience is more intelligent. We have spiritual principles in place of formal precepts, Yet here also there is often mystery and fear as to the results of obedience, and then our duty is the soldier’s duty of unquestioning obedience.
“Theirs not to reason why;
Theirs but to do and die.”
III. THE CLAIM.
1. It rests on the will of God. The king is to obey the voice of God. The monkish duty of obedience stayed with the ecclesiastical superior. But the spiritual Christian must feel that he owes his supreme allegiance directly to God. Our King and Father commands. We must obey his will.
2. It is determined by the revelation of the will of God. The obedience is to be given to the voice as it is made known by the prophet. “Which I speak unto thee.” We are only responsible for obedience to God’s will as far as he has revealed it to us. But we cannot plead total ignorance of his will. That has been declared by prophets and apostles, manifested in Christ, confirmed by the Spirit of God in our conscience.
IV. THE PROMISE.
1. Whatever happens. “It shall be well”a vague promise, but sufficient. We cannot tell what is well for us. The thing God sends may not seem good as it approaches. But in the result it shall be well. That is enough for faith.
2. Life is secured. “And thy soul shall live.” What is the use of the preservation of our possessions if our life is taken? Men toil for earthly gain and forget that the one condition of enjoying it may go at any moment. Life in the highest sense, eternal life, is the full reward for obedience.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR
Jer 38:4-13
Foreshadowings and analogies of the cross.
The pitiable fate of Jeremiah, so uncalled for and unexpected both in its inflictions and deliverances, the light and shade so strongly contrasted, become charged as we proceed with a certain suggestiveness of something unspeakably greater yet to come. In other words, Jeremiah is perceived to be not only a prophet, but a type of Christ. The charge of treason, the defiance of legal safeguards and requirements by the princes, the wavering and helplessness of the king, the living death in the miry dungeon, and the resurrection through the kind aid of Ebed-Melech, are types of the most unmistakable kind of the characteristic redemptive experiences of the Man of sorrows. And this is only one out of many proofs that human history, especially sacred history, betrays a system of correspondence in its events with those which constituted the earthly experience of the Messiah.
I. THEY CALL ATTENTION TO THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST AND HELP TO FIX AND IDENTIFY IT. All along the line of Old Testament revelation there were these finger posts or indicators of the coming struggle between righteousness and sin. The cross is closely associated with the very first pages of revelation, and gives meaning and connection to the loftiest, deepest, and most anomalous utterances and occurrences of the Old Testament. With its many anticipations, echoes, and secondaries, the cross of Christ asserts itself as the central and most commanding principle of human history.
II. THEY REVEAL THE SAME LAW OPERATING THROUGHOUT THE WORLD‘S HISTORY AND HUMAN EXPERIENCE. Prehistoric myths and heathen religions, although incapable of attaining to such a Divine conception, yet presuppose and grope after it. And in many an illustrious and obscure human consciousness had the cross made its impress ere the Redeemer of mankind was called upon to suffer.
1. They proved the necessity of Christ’s sufferings. As the true character of the issue between good and evil declared itself more and more plainly, it became evident that some more decisive determination of it must take place. Each previous or subsequent experience of the conflict is indecisive and incomplete apart from the Messianic sufferings. Christ must needs suffer, if only to bring to a head and final settlement the long pending question as to whether good or evil is the true law of human life and of the world. It was no accidental, abnormal series of occurrences that constituted our Saviours experience, but the culmination of ages of mutual development in the forces of righteousness and sin, and the true exponent of their respective characters and tendencies.
2. They helped go deepen and educate the spiritual sense of men, and to prepare them for a true appreciation of the mystery of the cross. It is the cross in us that leads us to the cross without. The deep tribulation of the saints of the early Church led them to more profound conceptions of moral action and spiritual requirement. Jeremiah was here a type of Judah, the feet of whose king were” in the mire” (verse 22). Each occasion like this of Jeremiah’s condemnation and imprisonment was a loud warning of the possibilities of evil that were still in the womb of time, and showed the direction of the tendency of the world spirit. It showed, too, how closely related was the life of men with the unseen and the eternal. A moral order behind the chain of events was continually declaring itself. Its very peculiarities and anomalies demonstrated the existence of a higher law. The awful depths and heights yet to be attained by the moral nature of man were suggested, and the certainty gradually induced that the kingdom of light would yet meet and overcome the force of the kingdom of darkness. The faith, obedience, and meekness of man would yet be vindicated by the invincible power and authority of God.M.
Jer 38:7-13
Ebed-Melech; or, unlooked for sympathy and help.
I. ITS CIRCUMSTANCES. These were such as to impress the mind of the prophet. He was deliberately consigned by the princes of the people to the dungeon, and the king consented, so that there would appear to be no appeal. His heart must have failed him as he felt himself sinking in the mire. In a prison like that he was in imminent danger of being forgotten and starved. Apparently it was intended as an effectual means of “putting out of the way.” And all this was due to what? Doing his duty. The very persons whom he sought to benefit either turned against or ignored him. The whole situation was desperate. It appeared as if no human help could save. It is just at such times that faith receives its confirming, ultimate lessons.
II. ITS CHARACTER.
1. In itself. It Was:
(1) Thoughtful. It has been suggested that, as the dungeon was in the palace, “he came to the knowledge of it by hearing Jeremiah’s moans.” This may or may not have been; but when he knew of the situation of the prophet he was concerned and full of sympathy. It is this spirit which true religion, and especially the gospel of Christ, ever fosters, and the world has need of it.
(2) Prompt. In a question like that of a few hours at the utmost, no delay had to be made if the prisoner was to be saved. As the king was “then sitting in the gate of Benjamin,” he went out immediately and sought an audience. And he urged expedition. One of the finest recommendations of help is that it is given when it is needed. The case is taken up as if it were his own. How many philanthropies miss fire because they are kept too long without being carried into effect? Bis dat qui cito dat.
(3) Courageous. He went straight to the king, by whose order he must have known the thing had been done, and spoke with quick, nervous fearlessness and condemnation. There was not only feeling here, but principle. He was evidently careless as to the consequences to himself.
(4) Practical. Ebed-Melech meant that the thing should be done, and so he took the requisite steps to carry it out. Everything is thought Of and applied to the purpose. Even in the “old cast clouts” there is evidence of forethought and careful, if novel, application of means to ends.
2. In its origin. Ebed-Melech was:
(1) An alien. A negro, and not a Jew, and one from his office disqualified from participating in the benefits of the covenant. It is the more remarkable that none of Jeremiah’s countrymen interposed.
(2) A servant of a vicious king. The establishments of such princes are usually stamped with the same character, and their members are but the creatures of their masters. There is something doubly unlooked for, therefore, in such an advocate and friend. It is like a salutation from one of “Caesar’s household.”
(3) It is also probable that he was one called out by the occasion. No mention of him is made either before or after.
III. WHAT IT TEACHES.
1. True religion does not depend upon conventional forms. Not that these are therefore without value, but they are not of the essence of religion. It is Divine faith, with its outflowing charities and works, that alone can save man and glorify God. Rahab the harlot and Naaman the Syrian are but instances of many for really outside of the kingdom of God, but really within it. Let each ask, “Am I, who have received so much privilege, really a child of grace?”
2. The kingdom of God is always stronger than it seems. As to Elijah the assurance,” Yet I have left me seven, thousand, in Israel,” so to Jeremiah is this experience. We are never justified in despairing of human nature if God be in his world.
3. Implicit trust in God as the only Saviour. The raising up of such a deliverer was so unique and unexpected as to call attention to it as a work of God, It was supernatural and special, and spoke of gracious intervention. He would not abandon his servant, nor will he any who put their trust in him.M.
Jer 38:11, Jer 38:12
Old cast clouts.
This incident is very vividly described; and “the touch of human kindliness in the good negro’s direction to Jeremiah to put under his armpits the soft rags thrown down to him, to prevent the chafing of the cords which drew him up, is inimitably natural.” The sharp cords would otherwise have cut him so severely as to render his elevation exceedingly painful, if not practically impossible. To how many conflicting thoughts and feelings do these rags, brought from the king’s house under the treasury, not give rise? What vicissitudes must they have passed through! Now, after they have been cast aside as useless, a new, unthought of use is suddenly discovered for them. Rags it may be of royal garments used in stately pageants; was not even this a kingly service to which they were put?
I. OF HOW EXQUISITE A SYMPATHY WERE THEY THE EXPRESSION! The whole situation of the prophet had been thoroughly entered into and grasped by his friend. He is not satisfied with merely drawing him up; he will do this in the gentlest and most considerate way. It is thinking of these little things that shows the depth of our sympathy for others. They are specially remembered and sought out, and are brought forward with as much care as the thirty men.
1. Our good deeds should not be half conceived or badly executed. “What is worth doing is worth doing well.”
2. Where there is a real desire to be kind and helpful, the means will be discovered. We scarcely know whether to admire the most the kindliness or the ingenuity of Ebed-Melech.
3. A true sentiment will dispose of false scruples. Rags! Well, they were best fitted of anything at hand to effect the purpose in view. There was no time to settle the question of the niceties. Much loving and useful work is never done because of such scruples. The servants of God cannot often work in kid gloves.
4. The dignity of a thing consists in the use to which it is put. These rags served the best of purposes, and are worthy of all honour, There is nothing God has made but has some gracious use it we but seek for it.
II. THROUGH WHAT HUMILIATIONS ARE GOD‘S SERVANTS DELIVERED! As if the mire and helplessness were not enough! To an unspiritual perception it would appear almost an uncalled for indignity to inflict the rags upon the prophet of God. But they were necessary. And so is it with all the God sent humiliations of life. They are intended to subdue pride, exercise faith, and reveal the hidden grace and power of God.
III. THERE ARE DIVINE USES FOR MEAN THINGS AND THINGS CAST ASIDE. God, who made all things, can see a thousand adaptations and utilities for that which man supposes has been used up. Are there not weapons in the King’s armoury that have been allowed to rust when they might have done good service? talents that have been hid in a napkin when they should have been at usury? There need be no idle members in the King’s household. He takes out of his treasury things new and old, and calls upon the blind, the halt, the maimed, the aged, the poor, the ignorant, to do him honour and service. “But I have no talents in that direction,” etc. Yet God can use you if you will ask him. He will regenerate you by using you; purify you of all the moral dross and filth that adhere to you; and develop higher faculties and a diviner serviceableness, if you will but let him. There were kingly robes in Judah that day that had not a tithe of the honour of these “old rotten rags;” and there are great, wise, and noble who will have to give place in the day of judgment to the weak things, and things which have been despised (1Co 1:26-31).M.
Jer 38:17-23
God’s terms of salvation hard.
I. IN WHAT THEY ARE HARD.
1. They attack our pride. Zedekiah was afraid of the mockery of “the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans.” He did not like to acknowledge himself in error. There was no glory in surrender. Pride is one of the first hindrances to salvation. We want to be our own saviours.
2. They crush self-will. “Not as I will, but as thou wilt”the first and last prayer of the true child of God. It was not Zedekiah’s plan, and contradicted all the policy of his rebellion. It should be sufficient to the sinner to know that God has appointed the way of escape. He has no right to choose.
3. They require faith. How was the king to be certain that yielding himself into the hands of the princes of the Chaldeans would secure the ends desired? He hardly realized that it could be so. And similarly it is asked, “How can Jesus save?” He is to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to them that believe the Power of God and the Wisdom of God. “Only believe,” that is the hardest thing the unregenerate soul can do. Yet it is necessary.
II. THEY DO NOT ADMIT OF COMPROMISE.
1. See how relentless the alternative. There is no middle way, no royal road to salvation. It was a step simple enough in itself, but it involved everything, and could not, therefore, be qualified. Christ and his salvation are our only hope: “And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other Name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved” (Act 4:12; cf. Gal 1:8).
2. Nor is the messenger of God at liberty to alter them. These are the terms for all, and they represent the infinite wisdom and love of God. It is not for man to attempt to improve upon them. To do so would be equivalent to creating a human gospel. Jeremiah, although he had reasons for ingratiating himself with the wicked king, yet presents an example of faithfulness to every minister of the truth. He might not suffer himself to corrupt the Word of God even for such considerations.
III. YET IS THEIR HARDNESS MORE APPARENT THAN REAL.
1. Belief and obedience will remove every difficulty. The troubles of Zedekiah were almost wholly imaginary. Had he not been assured that everything would be made sure by adopting the advice given? One act of faith on the part of the sinner will save him. Henceforth is will be infinitely easier to do the things that remain, and to pass from faith to faith.
2. How mild are they compared with the consequences of disobedience!M.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY
Jer 38:4
Counted an enemy for speaking the truth.
“Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?” said Ahab to Elijah. The Israelites were about to stone the two faithful spies. And here the prophet of God was, as in these other and in many more instances, counted an enemy for speaking the truth. And a like alienation of mind and heart often takes place now for the same reasonthe telling of unwelcome truth. Now, note
I. WHEREFORE DO MEN SO DISLIKE TRUTH? Some of the reasons are:
1. Because truth must often say many things that are unpleasing. No matter by what voice the message comesScripture, conscience, or our fellow men,truth at times will become censure, and that hurts our self-love.
2. We are not really in earnest in our desire to be set right. We profess to be so, but we are not. “I have been a great sinner,” said a sick man to his minister, who was sitting by his bedside. “Yes,” said the minster, “you have,” “Who told you, I should like to know?” angrily exclaimed the sick man indignant that anything more special and personal than vague general confession should be thought to be needed by him. He had no desire for cure, but only for comfort.
3. Pride has much to do with this dislike of truth. Our reprover becomes for the time being our superior, stands above and over us, and we do not like this.
4. There may be real difference of opinion on the point in dispute; hence the censured has the further offence of being condemned on what he deems partial evidence.
5. Because of our suspicion of the motives of him who speaks the unwelcome truth. We are slow to credit such with purity and unselfishness of motive. We think not only of what is said, but of who says it
II. HENCE IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO TELL UNPLEASANT TRUTHS. Most men avoid it, will say nothing, will shirk the duty by every conceivable means. No one likes to act the part of the candid friend. None like to be the bearers of ill tidings. David’s servants feared to tell him that his child was dead. How we admire, because of its rarity and difficulty, the fidelity of Nathan’s “Thou art the man”!
III. BUT NEVERTHELESS SUCH TRUTH OUGHT TO BE SPOKEN WHEN NECESSARY. It is not always necessary. Often not wise. “The chapter of accidents is the Bible of the fool.” To let hard facts speak is sometimes best. But not always. Hence when unwelcome truth has to be spoken, take care:
1. To be very certain of your ground. Do not go upon mere rumour. Let your proof be full, clear, and strong.
2. Let the purity of your motive in speaking, the unselfishness and the love for your brother which prompt you, be made manifest.
3. Choose fit times, tones, and words. Many reserve their telling of such truths for moments when they are in a passion; then they will blurt it out, and, of course, only do more harm than good.
4. Be strengthened by the remembrance of the duty you owe your brother, and the accusation he will have against you of blood guiltiness, if you fail to tell him the truth, unwelcome though it be.
IV. SUCH TRUTH SO SPOKEN, IF REJECTED, IS FOLLOWED BY THE CONDEMNATION OF GOD ON THEM WHO REJECT IT. It is part of that condemnation that men take friends for foes, as Ahab did, and foes for friends. They love flattery and hate truth; the blind lead the blind, and with the inevitable result. Therefore let our feeling be that of the psalmist, who said, “Let the righteous smite me; it shall be kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head.”C.
Jer 38:5
Put not your trust in princes.
What a proof does this incident give of the wisdom of this counsel! Note
I. ALL ARE TEMPTED TO PUT TRUST IN MEN. To very many man is the highest being they know or believe in. Then, our fellow men are near at hand; we can understand them and they us; are of like naturethey can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; and they in whom we trust appear to us to possess that which we need but have not.
II. STILL MORE ARE WE PRONE TO PUT OUR TRUST IN PRINCES. We do this because:
1. Of the law of honour which is supposed to bind them. The word of a king, where that is there is power.
2. They have such vast capacity of help. Unlimited resources seem at their command.
3. They are independent of and superior to the influences which govern inferior men.
4. And very often they have rendered great help to men in need thereof.
III. But there are many instances which show that THIS TRUST SHOULD BE VERY LIMITED. Here is a case in point. How miserable this king’s conduct! Now, wherefore did Zedekiah, and do such as he, disappoint men’s expectations (cf. Shakespeare, ‘Henry VIII.,’ Wolsey’s dying speech)? It is because they are governed, not by principle, but by expediency. A tree standing on the summit of a lofty hill needs to be more firmly rooted than trees in the sheltered valley, for it is exposed to every wind that blows. But if it be not so rooted, it will soon fall. So with exalted personages; they are exposed to influences on all sides; all parties seek to gain them over to their views and to enlist them in their favour. Hence if a prince have not firm principles to guide him, he will sway from side to side and finally fall. So it was with this King Zedekiah. He was influenced now by one party and now by another (cf. homily on The woe of weakness, Jer 34:2). “Like a wave of the sea driven of the wind and tossed.” And all this is true in measure and degree of all who fill high stations, and in whom men are apt to put great trust. But,
IV. UNLIMITED TRUST SHOULD BE IN GOD ALONE. The prophet of God was doubtless less surprised than grieved, but he had long learned to commit his way unto the Lord. Let us do likewise, and then we may rest assured that, let men above us favour or frown upon us, that which is best for us and for all will assuredly be done.
“Ill that thou blessest turns to good,
And unblest good is ill,
And all is right that seems most wrong,
If it be thy sweet will.”
C.
Jer 38:6-13
Cast down, but not forsaken.
As we look on the prophet as here portrayed, these words of St. Paul are brought to our mind. We have here, as there
I. A SERVANT OF GOD CAST DOWN. See the prophet’s allusions to his sad condition in Lam 3:52-57; and Psa 69:1-36. can hardly be other than descriptive of Jeremiah at this time. And such seasons of depression and distress seem to be the appointed lot of all God’s servants. Not one, from our Lord downwards, has been exempted. Manifold are the reasons for such appointment. In this particular case of Jeremiah
II. THE CAUSES OF HIS DISTRESS were:
1. The cruelty of his treatment acting on a nature such as his.
2. Its coming upon him after he had been led to hope that now he was secure from all such treatment.
3. His knowledge that he desired to be, and was, his foes’ best friend, and yet they dealt with him thus.
4. The hopelessness of his condition. Such were the immediate causes of his being cast down.
III. WHEREFORE DOES GOD SUFFER HIS SERVANTS TO BE SUBJECTED TO SUCH DISTRESS? To deepen their hold upon God, as the storms cause the trees to take deeper root in the earth. To make them realize more than ever the help they have in God. To cultivate and foster those fruits of the Spirit, such as patience, humility, trust, etc; which will hardly grow in any other soil or by any other process. To make them mighty witnesses before men of the salvation of God and of the present help he is in trouble. To qualify them to sympathize with and succour others in their distress. How such thoughts are calculated to sustain the soul in distress! And they do, for
IV. GOD‘S SERVANTS ARE, THOUGH CAST DOWN, NOT FORSAKEN. Here was a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel and from the covenants of promise, one who least of all might have been expected to care for the prophet of God, and this stranger proves to be God’s good angel of mercy. God raised up this helper in the hour of his servant’s need. See what was done in connection with and by this noble-hearted Ethiopian.
1. God caused intelligence of the prophet’s sufferings to reach him (verse 7).
2. He touched his heart with compassion (verses 7, 9, 11).
3. He led him to resolve to attempt the prophet’s deliverance.
4. He gave him clearly to see the wickedness of the prophet’s enemies, and the truth of the prophet himself.
5. He filled his heart with courage. For courage was needed. He was alone. The consequences of his interference might have been fatal to himself. He had to reprove and condemn both the king and the king’s counsellors.
6. He gave him good success. The king at once yielded, went right over to his side (contrast verse 5), took all precaution that the deliverance should not be hindered. And he did all this at once. Further, he took oath that Jeremiah should not be so dealt with in the future. Now, all this proves the blessed truth for God’s servants that, though they may be cast down, yet they shall not be forsaken.
V. WHAT ARE WE TO LEARN FROM SUCH S RECORD? Much every way.
1. Concerning God. He is never at a loss for messengers of mercy and help to his servants.
2. Concerning his tried and troubled servants. Patiently wait. Trust at all times. Hope continually, till your eyes see his salvation, as they assuredly shall.
3. Concerning the enemies of the Lord. Their designs and purposes must fail, however certain of success they seem to be; for God is against them.C.
Jer 38:16
The value of an oath.
The prophet of God evidently attributed such value, or he would not have asked of the king to make oath unto him. On the general subject note
I. THE TEMPTATIONS TO GO FROM ONE‘S WORD ARE OFTEN VERY NUMEROUS AND VERY STRONG. They were so in this case. Jeremiah knew what strong influence there was against him in the court of the king. He had suffered from this already. And he knew how weak and unstable the king was. Hence there was needed that which would steady and strengthen the wavering will. And there is often the like need now.
II. BUT THE VALUE OF AN OATH LIES IN THE FACT THAT IT MEETS THIS NEED. It brings in the thought of God and of his displeasure. And does this in most solemn way. And it has around it human sanctions as well as Divine. And all this tends to strengthen conscience and to resist the temptation to untruth. As a fact, it is found that men who are careless about truth in an ordinary way hesitate much before they will disregard an oath. “An oath for confirmation is an end of all strife.”
III. IT IS BEST, HOWEVER, NOT TO NEED SUCH AID. Our Saviour has said, “Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” The taking of oaths is allowed, as other practices, “for the hardness of men’s hearts.” But for the Christian his word ought to be as sacred as his oath. He is no Christian if it be not.C.
Jer 38:17, Jer 38:18
The path of obedience the path of safety.
The circumstances here recorded show that
I. IT MAY BE MUCH ELSE. It may be
(1) a difficult path;
(2) humiliating;
(3) repellant to our whole disposition and will;
(4) seemingly unlikely, arguing after the manner of men.
II. BUT IT WELL BE SAFE.
1. It would have been so in this case. For the king, his misery, exile, and degradation would have been escaped. The city of Jerusalem would not have been destroyed; nor the temple. All that would have been needful was submission to the rule of Babylon, which would have been neither intolerably harsh nor of long duration. For the prophet knew the rapidly approaching doom of both Babylon and her king. Hence he gave the counsel here told of. Whilst, on the other hand, he knew that if the wrath of the King of Babylon was aroused, all that now might be saved would then be utterly lost. Nebuchadnezzar was now like a sated lion, not desiring to destroy or devour. But let him be angered, and then woe to the weakling that had dared his rage! Submission was, therefore, the prophet’s perpetual and earnest counsel. It was a case in which arguments were not merely to be counted, but weighed.
2. And it is so always. The path of obedience to God may have much urged against it, and truly urged, but it will ever be found to be the right and best way after all.
III. AND THE REASON IS: the path God commands is the path which pleases him who knows and who controls all events. All other paths are the self-chosen ways of men, who know but little and can control less.
IV. THIS ESPECIALLY TRUE IN REGARD TO THE SINNER‘S RECONCILIATION WITH GOD. That path is protested against by voices not a few from within and without. But it is the right way, cannot but be so. We, therefore, as ambassadors for God, beseech you “in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”C.
Jer 38:24
Trying to serve two masters.
Zedekiah was seeking to do this. He wanted to be on the prophet’s side, and yet not to break with the princes who were the prophet’s foes. We see the shifts to which he was driven, and we know the miserable outcome of his impossible attempt. We learn from it
I. How DESPICABLE SUCH ATTEMPTS MAKE A MAN IN HIS OWN EYES.
“To thine own self be true,
And it shall follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
But how far from this conscious rectitude he must be who seeks to serve two masters, who acts as Zedekiah did!
II. HOW OTHER MEN DESPISE THEM.
III. HOW GOD CONDEMNS THEM. How do the instances of Balaam, Pilate, Judas, and others shine out as warning beacons!
IV. HOW USELESS, AFTER ALL, SUCH ATTEMPTS ARE. No more miserable fate could have befallen a man than that which came upon King Zedekiah. And in the highest matter of all, what are they who say, “Lord, Lord,” but do not the things the Lord commandswhat are they but would be servers of two masters? And to them the Lord will say, “I never knew you; depart,” etc.
V. HOW MUCH FULL DECISION FOR GOD IS NEEDED. This alone will keep us from such sad endeavour; but this will. Therefore seek grace from God to make and abide by this choice; and bring yourselves under the blessed attraction of Christ; so shall you be drawn to him more and more, and made to abide in him.C.
Jer 38:27
A question of casuistry.
A deservedly esteemed commentator observes on this conduct of Jeremiah, “Though we must be so harmless as doves as never to tell a wilful lie, yet we must be so wise as serpents as not needlessly to expose ourselves to danger by telling all we know.” But many are not satisfied with this defence, and they hesitate not to apply the terms “equivocation,” “subterfuge,” and other like censures to the prophet’s reply to the princes. Note, therefore
I. WHAT IS URGED AGAINST SUCH CONDUCT. One says, “The plain meaning of such words is that Jeremiah hoodwinked them. He did not lie to them, certainly; but he did not tell the truth, and left them with a false impression. It comes very near to deception; it was evasive, and certainly was not an honest act. It seems an oblique lie.” And this view of the case is supported on grounds such as these:
1. Had he not been afraid, he would have told the whole truth; but fear does not justify falsehood, though it often occasions it.
2. What must the king have thought of a prophet of God so complaisant as this?
3. What would the princes say of his vaunted righteousness when they learnt how he had dealt with them?
4. Our Saviour and his apostles never did the like.
5. It had all the effect of a lie, since it left a false impression on the minds of those to whom he spoke.
6. The very fact that it needs laboured argument to justify it against our instinctive condemnation of it shows that it does not belong to the noble family of truth, etc. But audi alteram partem. Therefore note
II. WHAT MAY BE URGED IN DEFENCE.
1. In reference to the foregoing arguments. The first assumes that there was no motive but fear. The second and third are assumptions also. The fourth is, to say the least, doubtful (of. Joh 7:8, Joh 7:9; Act 20:20-26). Concerning the fifth, it is not true that all the effect of a lie, nor its worst effect, is that stated. And as to the sixth, it may be said that instinctive condemnations may be unjust as well as just.
2. Other replies to the charge against the prophet are:
(1) He spoke no untruth.
(2) Expediency, if not unlawful, is obligatory.
(3) It has been ever recognized as lawful, under certain circumstances, to mislead an enemy; of Rahab’s conduct (Jos 2:1) and its commendation (Heb 11:31; Jas 2:25). The commonly supposed case of a murderer asking you which way your friend has gone, in order that he may overtake and murder him; in such case, not only might you mislead, but would you not be bound to do so?
3. There are sacred principles on which such suppression of the truth as Jeremiah’s is justified.
(1) The right to truth may be forfeited, as the right to liberty and life may be forfeited, by wrong doing. In the vast majority of cases men have a right to the truth, but in all the cases cited above they had no such right.
(2) Truth is not an end in itself, but only a means to an end, which is the honour of God and the well being of man; and there are occasions, doubtless very rare, when the end can only be secured by the sacrifice of the ordinary means. Therefore let all who presume to condemn great saints of God as guilty of lying, because they had no mere superstitious idolatry of veracity, as some have, hesitate before they bring such charge. Who are we to sit in judgment on such? But, on the other hand, let none pervert these reasonings, as the Jesuits did and many yet do, into a justification for lying and departing from the truth whenever it may be found convenient. It needs a healthy conscience to decide when these reasonings are applicablea conscience enlightened by God’s Spirit and animated by his love, and then such a one, and only such a one, may be left to do as he wills in cases like those we have considered.C.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Jer 38:4
Prophecy and patriotism.
I. THE ETHICS OF PATRIOTISM. Here are foul men who go to the king with a complaint against Jeremiah; and in doing so they do not take low ground. Indeed, there are many people interested in affairs of state who would say they took very high ground. What sounds more plausible than to say that a whole country should never be more united than when the common enemy attacks it? Should there not at such a time be mutual encouragement, the bold and brave men of a state striving to animate all the citizens with their own ardour and resolution? Thus the whole question is opened up with respect to a man’s allegiance to his country. How far does the claim extend of a country upon those who live under its laws, having their person and their property protected by these laws? That national history, great national events, patriotic feelings, have their place in the machinery of government, every Christian would allow; but it may not be so easy to settle exactly what that place is. Everything turns on what should have the first place in a man’s affection, duty, and service; and so we have the example of Jeremiah here to guide us. He, a Jewish prophet, teaches us
II. THE FIRST DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN. From this world’s point of view Jeremiah did an eminently unpatriotic thing. Instead of uniting the people into resistance, he, as it were, divided them into two classes. He made it a time for individual and not for common action. But, after all, in every conflict there comes a time for yielding; the attacking party must retire in failure, or the defending party submit in defeat. To Jeremiah it was given to see the certain result. He knew that not the Chaldeans but Jehovah himself had to be reckoned with. The first duty of a prophet was to Jehovah, and so for that matter was the first duty of every Israelite. Thus in the same way, the first duty of a Christian is to Christ. He who serves Christ most completely serves his country best. In such a service the Christian may be misrepresented, miscalled, stamped even as traitor, but that only means that he is called to pass through Jeremiah’s experience here. Why, even a man of pagan Rome can teach us in this matter; for Cicero, in the fourth book of his ‘De Officiis,’ speaking of gradations of duty in the state, says that a citizen’s first duty is to the immortal gods, and his second to his country. “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”Y.
Jer 38:7-13
A friend in need.
I. THE NATIONALITY OF EBED–MELECH. An Ethiopian. Jeremiah had asked in prophecy, “Can the Ethiopian change his skin?” from which question we may assume that Ethiopians were well known in Israel. One cannot but feel that here we have a sort of counterpart to that other Ethiopian eunuch of whom we read in the New Testament. The Ethiopian Ebed-Melech helps Jeremiah in his temporal need; Philip helps the servant of Queen Candace in his spiritual need. What a rebuke there is here to bigoted and frenzied patriotism!if, indeed, “patriotism” is the proper word to be used and not rather a spirit of blind nationality. Perhaps the very fact that Ebed-Melech was an alien helped him to see needs and duties, cruelty and injustice, which were hidden from the eyes of the natives. Even natives would be obliged to admit that Ebed-Melech could not be expected to look on the position with their traditionary eyes. Even so it was reserved for a Gentile to say at the Crucifixion, “Truly this was the Son of God.”
II. THE HUMANITY OF EBED–MELECH. That the eunuch should have pitied the prophet sunk in the dungeon mire may not seem at first a matter to be singled out for special notice. Why should a man be praised for humanity more than for honesty? We must, however, recollect the difference of times. Those who put Jeremiah in the dungeon thought it served him quite right. And yet if there is nothing extraordinary in the humanity of Ebed-Melech, there must be something exceptionally fiendish in the conduct of those who put the prophet in the dungeon; whereas, in point of fact, they were only doing a usual thing. What a long time it has taken to work the world up even to its present attainments in humanity and compassionate feeling! And still through all these centuries Ebed-Melech rebukes us for our too often thoughtlessness and forgetfulness with respect to human pain.
III. THE COURAGE OF EBED–MELECH. He could not do a thing of this sort without making enemies and running into peril. The humane man has often to be a brave man, going into elements of danger for the sake of humanity, as a lifeboat crew must do, or a hand of explorers in a colliery accident. But there are also exercises of humanity which demand moral couragecourage that will stand alone in protesting against cruelties and brutalities that have been accepted through long custom. If we are resolved to be consistent and thorough in our humanity, we must be prepared for ridicule and scorn. There are only too many who will check us in humane endeavours by calling them mere sentimentality and weakness.
IV. THE INFLUENCE OF EBED–MELECH. His office tells us that he was a man about the court, and his action here tells us that he was a man who had influence with the king. What we see of his conduct here makes us feel that he had won his influence in a perfectly legitimate way. Thus at last the opportunity comes for making good use of it. Here is an example of how good a thing it is to cultivate influence with those in authority, if it can be done in a right way without flattery and servility. Men like kings need some one near them to speak the truth plainly and effectually.
V. THE THOUGHTFULNESS OF EBED–MELECH. Something more is needed than the king’s permission to get Jeremiah out of the dungeon. Probably his stay in a miry, pestilential hole had made him very feeble. Ebed-Melech was evidently a man who could take in all that needed to be done in any difficulty. Just the sort of man who could fred usefulness in things that were cast away as worn out and useless. “Useless” is only our ignorant way of naming things we cannot use. The humane man must be thoughtful as well as courageous.Y.
Jer 38:20
Obeying the voice of the Lord.
I. GOD HAS A VOICE FOR THOSE IN DOUBT. Poor Zedekiah, king though he be, is in a state of great vacillation. Counsellors speak one thing, and a prophet speaks another. Counsellors proclaim continued and resolute resistance, though it is by no means plain that they believe in what they say, and from Jer 38:19 it is clear that there were very considerable divisions in the city. Jeremiah, on the other hand, speaks like a man who is perfectly sure of his ground. He was oftentimes wretched and depressed in his own heart, but never did he speak the message of Jehovah with a doubt as to whether it was a real message at all. The world abounds in doubters, coming continually to a place where two ways meet, and standing long in uncertainty and fear which way to take. And yet they are uncertain only because they do not see the direction which God has given. For even as at crossroads finger posts are put up to direct strangers, so God has his finger posts forevery doubtful traveller in the ways of terrestrial life. Zedekiah seems to have had a feeling that he was seeking in the right direction when he sent again to Jeremiah. He seems to have made himself ready to listen, without hinting that he expected some particular answer. So to speak, it was Zedekiah’s last chance, and he gave the prophet the opportunity of speaking with corresponding plainness. And as God’s Word is here, so it is everywhere, spoken with the utmost assurance and from the whole nature of the messenger.
II. THE VOICE CALLS TO IMMEDIATE OBEDIENCE. There is always some duty that lies nearest us. Part of the mischief of doubt is that, while we are doubting, some good thing is left undone, the opportunity for it passing away unused. There was just one thing for Zedekiah to do at this momentgo forth and surrender himself to the generals of the King of Babylon. Repentance and amendment of lifethese were no longer available to avert the capture of Jerusalem. That was a thing settled on. But carnage and destruction might be averted by a timely surrender. Every day there is something made plain for us to do that day. It may be difficult, painful, in all ways hard to the flesh; but if it is neglected, then we shall only meet something still more painful tomorrow. “Obey the voice of the Lord, and it shall be well with thee,” is a word to us all The voice of self or the voice of others may hint at procrastination or at some qualified obedience. Our only safety is in attending to the clear and urgent voice from heaven. Paradox as it seems, the most difficult way is really the easiest, and the easiest the most difficult. Zedekiah did not attend to the prophet’s imperative utterance, and the next chapter tells the dreadful things which happened. The king really made things worse by going out of his way to seek for direction, and then, when he had got it, paying no attention to it.Y.
Jer 38:23
The end of Zedekiah’s irresolution.
Irresolution it may be called rather than disobedience. There is nothing to show that he had definitely made up his mind not to obey the voice of the Lord. In spite of the clear announcement made to him, he seems to have gone on, hoping against hope that some decisive disaster would overtake the Chaldeans. Yet Jeremiah closes his address by this sentence, so well calculated to bring even an irresolute man to decision: “Thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.”
I. A DECLARATION OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Already in verse 18 there is the declaration that the Chaldeans will burn the city with fire, and Zedekiah is well able to infer, if he likes, that this is a calamity he may prevent. But he is not left to inference. The prophet’s exhortation goes on, maintaining its cogency and directness, and then in the last word he individually is made responsible. The sting of the address is emphatically in the tail. Zedekiah is now brought face to face with his obligations as a king. Jeremiah could not have said to any one else,” Thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire,” because no one else could have set in train the course of events which would avert such a calamity. Here is an example to teach those who are tempted to envy the grandeur of kings and the fame of such as are ruling men in a state. Zedekiah’s decision affected not himself only, or a few people, but a whole city. The responsibility was further increased by his having sent for the prophet who said this very thing. It is not every ruler who at a critical moment has his way made so clear as was the way of Zedekiah here. How much in the way of preventing evil may depend on one single man!
II. MATTER IS FURNISHED TO EMBITTER THE REFLECTIONS OF THE FUTURE. Whether Zedekiah saw the blazing city we cannot be sure. If he did, what a pang for his heart to think that the city where he was king, in which he and his ancestors had taken such pride, was burning, through his want of decision at a critical time! He feared to do what looked unpatriotic, and in the end he virtually destroyed the city he might have saved.
III. THERE WAS A LIMIT TO ZEDEKIAH‘S POWER OVER THE SITUATION. Truly it was a great deal for one man to be able to doeither to save a city from the flames or hand it over to them. But this power only looks great according to the standard given by temporal and superficial relations. An almost boundless area for human powers and opportunities lay altogether outside of Zedekiah’s reach. As man is unable purely by his own effort to confer the highest benefits on his fellow man, so he is also unable to inflict the worst evil. The worst evils are ever self-originated. Zedekiah did far more to hurt himself than any one else. Jeremiah had been charged to make it quite clear to every one that he who went forth to the Chaldeans should live.Y.
Jer 38:24-28
The unkingly position of a king.
I. THE PROFESSION OF A KINGLY ATTRIBUTE. The king holds the power of life and death. He can pardon without giving a reason. And Zedekiah maintains the name of this kingly right, even upon the very heels of Jeremiah’s awful words. Such is the power of long accepted habit and privilege. Did he really think that if Jeremiah published the conversation he had power to put him to death? Or did he think that such a suggestion would move the prophet in the least? Possibly he did; or more likely he was talking at random; or it may be that in these last decaying days of dignity he asserted, by a kind of instinct, all that was left him to assert. We know well that he had no real power over Jeremiah, for the Lord who had hidden his prophet before could hide him again (Jer 36:26). Pilate followed in the train of Zedekiah when he said to Jesus, “Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?” (Joh 19:10). This, then, is the first element in the unkingly position, that Zedekiah is professing what he cannot perform.
II. HE IS AFRAID OF THE LEADING MEN IN THE STATE. He will not rise independent of them, neither will he consult them. Instead of fearing Jehovah and trembling at the thought of what he has just heard, his soul is filled with the fear of men who probably derived their places from his own appointment. He shrinks from being forced to tell any of them that he has had to contemplate as a possibility a voluntary surrender to the Chaldeans. Truly it was quite time for a new order of things to rise in Jerusalem, even if it meant the destruction of a city. A true king would not have feared that his interview with a prophet of God should be known anywhere. Kings among men, thee who are kings by nature and by the grandeur of their acts, fear no one but God. They act in the darkness just as if they were in the light; in private relations just as if they were in public. They never need to go begging and entreating people to conceal things.
III. HE IS A SUPPLIANT TO ONE OF HIS SUBJECTS. In the same breath he tells Jeremiah he shall not die and begs Jeremiah to grant him a favour. All at once he sets before this prophet, so straightforward and unreserved, a nice question of casuistry. With the suggestion of burning Jerusalem before him, he is thinking first on the present inconvenience to himself and providing a nice quibble to escape from it. Yet even here is a sign of God’s bearing with him to the last. The request he makes, undignified as it is, is nevertheless one within the power of the prophet to grant. If Zedekiah feels it to be consistent with his regal dignity, Jeremiah feels it not inconsistent with his integrity. The impression we get from the whole conversation is that the torches of the Chaldeans did not come at all too soon.Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
2. Jeremiah in the Pit (third stage of his imprisonment), his Conference with the King and Confinement in the court of the guard (fourth stage of prisonment)
Chap. 38
1Then 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 2 had spoken unto all the people, saying, Thus saith the Lord [Jehovah]: He that remaineth in this city1 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 3life for a prey, and shall live. Thus saith the Lord, This city shall surely [or must] be given into the hand of the king of Babylons army, which shall take it. 4Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death;2 for thus3 he weakeneth4 the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words5 unto them: for this 5man seeketh not the welfare [lit. peace]6 of this people, but the hurt. Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that Song of Solomon 6 do any thing [the king can do nothing]7 against you. Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon [pit, or cistern]8 of Malchiah the son of Hammelech [the king] 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 7mire. Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which [who was in the kings house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the 8king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin; Ebed-melech went forth out of the 9kings house, and spake to the king, saying, 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 [or must; lit.: is dead] die for hunger in the 10place where he Isaiah 9 : for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty10 men with 11thee,11 and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts,12 and old rotten rags [rags of tattered and worn out clothes], and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah 12 And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes13 under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. 13So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and 14Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison [guard]. Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third [or principal] entry14 that is in [to] the house of the Lord [Jehovah]: and the king said unto Jeremiah , 15 I will ask thee a thing;15 hide nothing16 from me. Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I 16give thee counsel wilt thou not hearken unto me? So Zedekiah the king swore secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the Lord [Jehovah] liveth, that17 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.
17Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord [Jehovah], the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylons princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; 18and thou shalt live, and thine house: but if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylons princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, 19and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid18 of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.19.
20But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice 21of the Lord [Jehovah], which20 I speak unto thee: so it shall be21 well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.21 But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the 22Lord [Jehovah] hath showed me: And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judahs house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylons princes, and those women [they] shall say, Thy friends [men of thy place]22 have set thee on [over-persuaded] and have prevailed against thee:23 thy feet are sunk in the 23mire,24 and they are turned away back. So they25 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.
24Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know26 of these words, and thou 25shalt not die. 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 26said unto thee: then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathans house, to die there.27
27Then 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 speaking28 28with him [lit.: were silent from him]; for the matter was not perceived. So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison [guard] until the day that Jerusalem was taken.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The chapter consists of two parts. In the first part (Jer 38:1-13) it is narrated how the princes prevailed on Zedekiah to give up Jeremiah to them, on account of his continual exhortations to surrender, that they might render him harmless (Jer 38:1-5). They then lower him down into a pit of mud, from which however the king has him drawn up, on the petition of the Cushite Ebed-melech (Jer 38:6-13). In the second part (1428) it is recorded how the king has the prophet brought from the court of the guard, to which he had returned from the pit, for a secret conference (Jer 38:14-15). The king desires that Jeremiah disclose the future to him without reserve, and promises him with an oath that his life shall be spared and protected. Jeremiah has, however, nothing else to say to the king, but that surrender is the only way of escape (Jer 38:16-23). Then the king forbids the prophet to communicate the purport of this conference. In accordance with the kings command, Jeremiah tells the princes, who really come to inquire from him about the conversation, that he only petitioned the king that he might not be taken back to the house of Jonathan, the secretary. The princes have to depart with this answer. Jeremiah, however, remains in the court of the guard till the capture of the city (Jer 38:24-28).
Jer 38:1-6. Then Shephatiah in the mire. Jeremiah, brought back into the court of the guard, has further opportunity of intercourse with the people, and uses it again and again to counsel voluntary surrender as the only means of escape.Of the four princes, who hear the prophets discourse, Shephatiah, son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, son of Pashur, are not further mentioned; Jucal, son of Shelemiah, is evidently identical with Jehucal, son of Shelemiah, Jer 37:3. Pashur son of Malchiah, has been mentioned in Jer 21:1. Pashur was of sacerdotal (comp. rems. on Jer 21:1), Jucal of Levitic descent (comp. 1Ch 26:1-2; 1Ch 26:9; 1Ch 26:14). These princes were thus neither raised from a lower rank, as Graf supposes (on Jer 37:15), nor do their former relations to the prophet lead us to conclude that they were inimically disposed towards him. We do not send, to present petitions, as is the case in Jer 21:1-2; Jer 37:3, personas ingratas. The intended departure of Jeremiah (Jer 37:12) seems thus to have awakened suspicion against him.On Jer 38:3 comp. Jer 21:10.Seeketh not the welfare. On the subject-matter comp. Jer 29:7; Deu 23:7; Ezr 9:12.The charge against the prophet is unjust. He has the true welfare of the people in view, viz. that which is in accordance with the divine will, and the confidence which he seeks to break, is not a fully satisfied heroic courage, founded on genuine trust in God, but carnal obstinacy, which must lead to destruction. It is inconceivable how any one can fail to see this and take the part of the prophets opponents. Comp. Duncker, I. S. 831. The king, fearing on the one hand the higher power supporting the prophet, and on the other not having the courage openly to oppose the princes standing in corpore before him, delivers the prophet into their hands. That he expected the prophet would be merely taken back to the house of Jonathan (Graf) I do not believe. The princes had decisively demanded Jeremiahs death (Jer 38:4). Their not having him executed at once, but thrown into a pit, where his escape would appear possible only by a miracle, may have been due either to their wickedness or to a certain fear of shedding the blood of the prophet. Comp. Gen 37:22-24.
Jeremiah is now thrown into a cistern, which bears the name of an otherwise unknown prince, Malkiah (comp. rems. on Jer 36:26), probably because he had it dug. The pit may have been often used as the severest imprisonment. The princes in letting down Jeremiah into it may have intended either his most painful death, or an evasion on their part, that they had not shed his blood, but only thrown him into a prison appropriate to such traitors. If he perished there the guilt would not be theirs. In the central point of the theocracy, opposed to prophets and priests who are filled with diabolical hatred and a weak king led by them, this solitary servant of Jehovah is at the lowest stage of humiliation and of suffering. All the hatred of Jerusalem, that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee (Mat 23:37), culminates at this time in this behaviour to wards Jeremiah, by which the measure of guilt was fulfilled and the sentence of destruction was pronounced over the unhappy city. The fulfilling and completing antitype of this historical event is certainly not what happened to John the Baptist (as Hengstenberg supposes, Christol., II. S. 400 [Eng. Tr., II., 403]), but what our Lord Himself suffered, who was also the object of the most intense hatred on the part of carnal Israel, as being the prophet of its final overthrow (Matthew 23, 24).Comp. Psalms 69.
Jer 38:7-13. Now when Ebed-melech court of the guard. The expression one of the eunuchs (comp. Jer 52:25) seems to intimate that a real eunuch is here meant. As the Mosaic law forbade such mutilation (comp. Deu 23:1) and, on the other hand, it is not improbable that eunuchs were then employed in the service of the harem (2Ki 24:15), it is not very strange to find a foreign eunuch in the service of a Jewish king, with whom, as we infer from Jer 38:22-23, the harem occupied an important position. That Ethiopians were preferred for such service seems to be indicated by some traces (comp. Dan 11:43; Terent. Eun., I. 2, 85), as at the present day most of these people come from upper Egypt. (Comp. Winer, R.-W.-B. s. v., Verschnittene. [SmithsDict., I. 590]). Ebed-melech [servant of the king] (N. B. not ) is the proper name of the man, chosen with reference to his function. This name is so purely Hebrew and in accordance with the mans position at the Jewish court, that it is not to be conceived how Euerst could come to suppose that it is a Hebraized from an Ethiopic name. Comp. H.-W.-B., S. 583.This Ebed-melech is moreover a proof that the called are not always the chosen, that on the contrary the last are often the first. A stranger, a heathen, a Moor feels compassion for the prophet and horror at the crime committed on him, while in Israel not a hand or tongue is moved in his favor. Comp. Luk 4:25; Luk 19:40; Mat 8:10.Who was in the kings house. A relative sentence which expresses that Ebed-melech received the news, while he was present in the palace, but the king was absent, sitting in the gate of Benjamin. Comp. Jer 37:13.Have done evil, Jer 38:9. Comp. Jer 44:5; Mic 3:4; 2Ki 21:11. . This may certainly mean grammatically, and he had died, etc. But Ebed-melech does not wish to blame them, that instead of death by famine, which he would have suffered without this, they had inflicted on him another death, but that they had placed him in a position in which he must die at any rate, but I must inevitably before all succumb to the famine. As is well known the Imperfect with Vau consecutive may represent any action which is not really past, but only represented as such, while in reality it is present or future, or even merely the wish, command, or assumed possibility of it. So here, that is related as an accomplished fact which is merely undoubtedly to be expected. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 88, 5; Jer 8:16; Jer 9:2; Jer 20:17.Ebed-melech pre-supposes two things, (1) That the detention in the pit is not in itself absolutely fatal; (2) but that Jeremiah must at all events die of hunger in the pit. The latter pre-supposition is evidently founded on this fact, that in the general scarcity of means of subsistence one who was thrown into a pit might least of all expect to be provided for.
Jer 38:14-16. Then Zedekiah seek thy life. How long after the liberation from the pit the following conference took place, is not stated. Hitzig supposes that Zedekiah sent for the prophet very soon after his liberation, perhaps on the same day, since otherwise the evasion in Jer 38:26 would have lost all probability, for days or weeks later, being let alone in the meantime, Jeremiah must have been set at rest with respect to the kings designs. But with a king of so weak and vacillating character Jeremiah could not, even after weeks, be safe from cruel measures towards his person. All that can be said is, that immediately after showing a favor a contrary treatment was less to be feared than some time afterwards. Nothing more exact can be determined. At all events, in the interval between the deliverance from the pit and the conference no remarkable event occurred.Third entry. What entrance to the temple this was is unknown. At any rate, it must have afforded a suitable place for a secret conference.Hitzig, by the use of 2Ki 16:18; 2Ki 23:11; 1Ch 26:18, has attempted a clever combination, which is, however, based on too insecure premises to be satisfactory. [The outer entrance (the kings entry without, 1Ki 16:18) leading from the citadel and after the time of Ahaz from the temple into the , where there was the cell of a royal eunuch, 2Ki 23:11.S. R. A.]From the prophets answer we see that he neither trusted the king with respect to his own person, in spite of the favors he had received from him, nor with respect to the subject in hand did he expect any receptivity to the divine communications. Proudly and boldly he at first declines to answer the question. But the king swears to him that he will neither put him to death himself nor surrender him to his enemies.Zedekiah swears by the God of life that he will preserve the prophets life. Comp. Jer 16:14-15.
Jer 38:17-23. Then said Jeremiah to be burned with fire. Jeremiah again offers the king the alternative which had been so frequently presented before, either voluntary surrender to the Chaldean generals (, comp. Jer 39:3; Jer 39:13, Nebuchadnezzar himself was in Riblah, Jer 39:5) and at least the safety of his life and preservation of the city, or continued resistance and destruction of the city and the endangering of his own person. Observe the negative expression, thou shalt not escape, in Jer 38:18. Comp. Jer 32:4-5; Jer 34:2-5. Zedekiah, however, cannot make up his mind to follow the advice of the prophet. He alleges that he fears ill-treatment from the Jews who had already gone over to the Chaldeans. It can scarcely be supposed that this fear was seriously intended, though those transfug might represent a party, which was discontented with the government of Zedekiah and ascribed all the calamities of the State to him. For even the quieting assurance of Jeremiah, Jer 38:20, makes no impression, which would have been the case if the king had had no other reason. There was really no reason to distrust the prophets assurance.In case Zedekiah, from fear of the insults of his fugitive subjects, refuses to follow the admonition of the prophet, the prospect of insult to his wives is set before him.This is the word that Jehovah hath showed me. This does not logically follow as apodosis to the protasis if thou refuse, etc. A middle clause is wanting expressing the thought, thus shalt thou know, or I have to announce to thee as follows. Further, is the standing formula with which the subject of the vision is introduced, Jer 24:1; Amo 7:1; Amo 7:4-7; Amo 8:1. Accordingly Jer 38:21 b seems to be contracted from hear now the word which I speak in thine ears, which Jehovah, etc. (Jer 28:7). It is not, however, denied that the expression in itself is admissible as it stands. Comp. Eze 11:25.The prophets setting before the king the prospect of the deportation of all his remaining wives, seems to intimate that these were a specially esteemed part of his household, in other words, that he had a large and to him very dear harem. The expression the women that are left in the king of Judahs house, in distinction from thy wives in Jer 38:23, indicates that there were still wives of former kings as fixtures in the royal household (comp. 2Sa 12:8; Michaelis, Mos. Recht., I. S. 207; Saalschuetz, Mos. Recht., S. 85), and that even the deportation under Jehoiachin (2Ki 24:15), had by no means exhausted the supply of these fixtures. I do not think that by the women that are left, are to be understood the maidens, as distinguished from the wives, as Graf supposes. For their being taken forth to the princes, points to higher rank and estimation. A satirical speech is placed in the mouths of these women, the first part of which is found verbatim (with the exception of instead of ) in the prophecy of Obadiah (Jer 38:7). On the indications that, Jeremiah borrowed from Obadiah, and not the reverse, comp. Caspari, Obadja, S. 8, and the article Obadja in Herzog, R.-Enc.Turned away back. Comp. Jer 46:5; Isa 42:17; Psa 35:4; Psa 40:15; Psa 129:5. As in the first clause, so also in the second two verbs are employed to express the thought, of which the second expresses the result of the first. The warrior sinking in the mire must fall back. The words are characteristic of Zedekiah. They represent him distinctly as a weak man, dependent on the influence of others. No wonder then that instead of a victors pan, with which the women usually receive a conqueror (1Sa 18:7), a song of mockery awaits him. Observe also, that this satirical song is not put into the mouths of Zedekiahs own wives, for these (in Jer 38:23) are evidently distinguished from the other occupants of the royal harem.Taken by the hand. As signifies only to seize, the words can mean only: thou wilt be taken by the hand, or into the hand of the king, etc. The former would be a mode of expression foreign to the style of the prophet (comp. Jer 20:4; Jer 21:7; Jer 27:6; Jer 29:21; Jer 32:3-4; Jer 34:3, etc. The second construction (Constr. prgnans. Comp. Naegelsb.Gr., 112, 7) is frequent in Jer 4:31; Jer 11:7; Jer 14:2; Jer 25:34; Jer 32:20; comp. also infra, Jer 38:24; Jer 38:27. The sentence is to be regarded as the contraction of two thoughts into one, according to the example of Jer 34:3.The following sentence is also strange. For Jeremiah to say to Zedekiah, Thou wilt burn the city, although correct in a certain sense, is contrary to his usual mode of expressing himself. The LXX., Syr., Chald., read . The punctuation may be occasioned by . The latter is, however, not seldom used to emphasize an antithetical new conception, for which we should say: but as to, etc. Comp. Ewald, 277, d, and especially the passages Eze 17:21; Eze 44:3; Jer 36:22; 2Ki 6:5. So Ewald, Hitzig, Graf, Meier and others.
Jer 38:24-28. Then said Zedekiah was taken. The king feared that if the import of his conversation with Jeremiah were known, he would be regarded as vacillating and be suspected of inclining to the view of the prophet. Though he knew that the fact of the conversation could not remain concealed, he wished, however, that it might be represented as occasioned by Jeremiah himself, and as relating purely to his personal interests.And thou shalt not die, may be regarded as a threat on the part of the king, but at the same time also as a reference to the danger threatening from the princes. For the king would say: I will have you put to death if you betray me, and the princes will kill you if they learn that you have summoned me again to surrender. In the supposed inquiry of the princes, Jer 38:25, the words hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death, are a parenthesis, the latter expressing the threat, which Zedekiah presupposes in case the prophet should refuse to make a satisfactory statement.I presented, etc. Comp. rems. on Jer 36:7. The pit is not mentioned here. Zedekiah seems thus to presuppose that Jeremiah need not fear a taking back to the pit, from which he had been liberated at the kings command, but that a return to the prison of Jonathan (Jer 37:15), to avert which he had already offered a petition, might be regarded as possible. The latter seems to have been an ordinary place of confinement, while the pit was only an extraordinary one.The princes really come to Jeremiah. The fact of the conference thus did not remain concealed, but concerning the import of it, nothing had become known (the matter was not perceived). They must have regarded the declaration of Jeremiah made in accordance with the kings command as probable, for they do not urge the prophet further, but withdraw in silence. After this Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard till the capture of the city. On that which further occurred between Jeremiah and Zedekiah during this last stage of his confinement comp rems on Jer 32:2-5; Jer 34:1-5.
Footnotes:
[1]Jer 38:2.The same words as in Jer 21:9. Only here and are wanting, and instead we have at the close a repeated . The Chethibh is here as in Jer 21:9 the more correct reading, agreeing better with the order of the sentence (). in sense superfluous, but in accordance with the verbose style of the prophet, is construed like Deu 4:42 coll. Jer 19:4; Eze 18:13; Eze 20:11; Naegelsb. Gr., 84, i. On the form comp. Olsh., S. 480, 482, 460.
[2]Jer 38:4. /he>. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr. 100, 2.
[3]Jer 38:4.On Comp. rems. on Jer 29:28.
[4]Jer 38:4. for Comp. Olsh., 243, a; Naegelsb. Gr., 39 Anm.
[5]Jer 38:4.. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 95, e.
[6]Jer 38:4.The construction with , as in Job 10:6; Deu 12:30; 1Ch 22:19; 2Ch 15:13; 2Ch 17:4, etc.
[7]Jer 38:5.Since can be only the nota Acc. with suffix (not on account of the meaning, but the form), must be taken in the meaning overpower (comp. Psa 13:5), as purely adverbial with emphatic significance (comp. Job 35:15; 1Sa 21:9; Naegelsb. Gr., 106, 3), as accusative of more exact definition: the king can not go beyond you in any matter.
[8]Jer 38:6.On the articles position in comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 71, 5 Anm. 1, b.
[9]Jer 38:9.. The preposition is to be taken in its original meaning as a substantive, and as accusative of place: in its underspace, i. e. as we say, on the spot. Comp. 2Sa 2:23; Exo 10:23; Exo 16:29; Jdg 7:21; 1Sa 14:9; 2Sa 7:10; 1Ch 17:9.
[10]Jer 38:10.Hitzig (and alter him Ewald, Graf, Meier) would read ; because thirty men is too many and is contrary to the syntax, and also in 2Sa 23:13 the same correction is made by the Keri. This alteration does not appear to me to be necessary. Zedekiah might not have ordered the larger number for the sake of the drawing up (for which four men would suffice, as Hitzig reckons), but for greater security and to hinder any resistance. The syntax is not opposed to this. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 76, 4; Gesen. 120, 2; 2Sa 3:20; 2Ki 2:16 coll. 17.In 2 Samuel 23 the text is corrupt in many places.
[11]Jer 38:10.. Comp. Gen 30:35; Gen 32:17; Num 31:49; Jdg 9:29.
[12]Jer 38:11. from , vetustate tritum (comp. Jos 9:4-5), occurs here only. Comp. Olsh., 173, 9. So also from , to rend, to tear (Jer 15:3; Jer 22:19; Jer 49:20). They are shreds, tatters, rags. The article, which the Keri exscinds, is abnormal and probably occasioned by , Jer 38:12. also is not found elsewhere. The root is found only in Isa 51:6, in the meaning of diffluere, unless we assume another , synonymous with (Isa 38:21; Lev 21:20), to rub, rub away, and , to rub, polish (Jer 46:4; Lev 6:21; 2Ch 4:16).
[13]Jer 38:12.From the connection this must be the mean
[14]Jer 38:14.On the construction comp, Naegelsb. Gr., 73, 2 Anm. [The LXX render: , regarding it as a proper name, but this is no authority for a punctuation , entry of the Hitzig
[15]Jer 38:14.The sense is the same as in the former question, Jer 37:17. The Part. is to be taken as future: qusiturus sum. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 97, 1 a.
[16]Jer 38:14.The second (observe that does not stand simply with a suffix) belongs to the negation, in the sense of ne quid. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 82, 2.
[17]Jer 38:10. . If the Chethibh is correct, which is favored by the greater difficulty of the reading, these words simply=eum qui. The relative frequently includes the idea of the demonstrative pronoun (comp. Jer 6:18; Naegelsb. Gr., 80, 5). Since now is in the accusative, the pronoun relating to it must also be in the accusative; since, however, must at the same time be the nominative to , it evidently involves the double conception of eum qui, which is only rendered possible by the . In Latin it would be impossible to say quem in such a case.
[18]Jer 38:19.. Comp. Jer 17:8; Jer 42:16.
[19]Jer 38:19. . Comp. Num 22:29; Jdg 19:25; 1Sa 31:4 coll. Lam 1:22; Lam 2:20; Lam 3:51. In the Hithp. the meanings of to gratify, indulge ones self and to mock appear to be united, the LXX. usually rendering the word by , in this place, however, by .
[20]Jer 38:20. .=in respect to. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., S. 227; Gen 17:20; Gen 27:8.
[21]Jer 38:20. are Jussives with the signification of intended effect. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 89, 3, b, 2.
[22]Jer 38:22.Comp. Jer 20:10; Psa 41:10.
[23]Jer 38:22Comp. Jer 43:3; Isa 36:18. The two verbs together express the idea of successful seduction.
[24]Jer 38:22. . . Comp. Job 8:11; Job 40:21.The form is indeed irregular, but not without analogy. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 44, 4 Anm.
[25]Jer 38:23.On the absence of a subject comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 97, 2, b.
[26]Jer 38:24.Comp. Gen 19:33; Gen 19:35; 1Sa 22:15; Job 35:15. This also seems to be a pregnant construction, the prefix accordingly being dependent on the idea of penetrating latent in . That it would be regarded as partitive I cannot believe. We should then expect .
[27]Jer 38:27.This inf. () depends on ., and designates here not the subjective purpose, but the objective result. Comp. Gen 19:21; Num 11:11.
[28]Jer 38:27.On the construction comp. rems. on Jer 38:23.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Jer 37:2-3. The Lords words Zedekiah did not care to hear, but the help of the Lord he would have liked to have. This seeking for help then did not proceed from a truly believing heart. It was merely an experiment, as in time of need one tries everything. Hence Zedekiah did not venture to come to the Lord himself, but Jeremiah was to intercede for him. It is, however, in vain for intercession to be made for him, and he himself does not help to pray. Take the example of Pharaoh, Exo 8:29; Exo 9:28; Exo 10:17. Cramer.
2. On Jer 37:5-10. Nothing is more bitter than in time of greatest need to see apparent help again disappear. Raised from the depths, one is then cast back into a still profounder deep. The Jews had invoked the aid of the Egyptians on their own responsibility. It was a triumph of worldly policy. The Lord disappoints their calculations. He is not to be so easily put out. The Chaldeans withdraw, but only to defeat the Egyptians, and then return. And Jeremiah must be the prophet of this disappointed hope. A few mortally wounded men, he must proclaim, would suffice to execute the Lords decree on Jerusalem. Comp. 2Sa 5:6.
3. On Jer 37:10. This passage is also adduced as an instance, of the so-called scientia media or de future conditionato (Vide Budde, Inst Dogm., pag. 228), together with 1Sa 23:11-12; Jer 38:17; Eze 3:6; Mat 11:21-22; Mat 24:22; Act 27:31. Starke.
4. On Jer 37:11-12. If Jeremiah really wished to leave Jerusalem, because in the city he no longer hoped to secure safety or any success to his ministry (comp. Starke: It appears that the prophet would betake himself to the country-people, because he hoped from them better results in penitence and the averting of the divine judgments, since hitherto he had been mostly hindered in his office by the priests and the court), he was in error and took an arbitrary step. For in the first place the servant of God, who is at his post, is under divine protection, and in the second, he had to proclaim the will of God again and again to the stubborn people. There was then still the possibility of their obedient submission to the divine will. Jeremiah did afterwards repeatedly show that deliverance was still possible on the condition of submission (Jer 38:2-3; Jer 38:17), and also, as he had to proclaim ruin unconditionally (Jer 32:3-5; Jer 34:2-5), this testimony was necessary, partly as a proof of the inviolability of the divine counsel, partly to cut off all excuse for the Jews afterwards, partly as a foil to the glorious Messianic prophecies (chh. 32. and 33.) which pertain to this last stage before the destruction of the city. If then Jeremiah really had the purpose at that lime to leave the city, it was an arbitrary step, which was not to succeed, and for which his arrest and what followed was a just punishment. In this sense Diedrich also says (S. 120), The saints also err, and God deals with them punctiliously, so they also must be docile under the divine chastisements.
5. On Jer 37:15. Jeremiahs prophecies applied to the whole situation (political), and he thus could not avoid the appearance, which his disposition to recommend to the king the surrender of the city occasioned. God be praised! our Lords kingdom is not of this world. His servants may renounce the matters, which pertain thereto, with full freedom, and this the more because the Lord raises the instruments who are to labor for the amelioration of the State and the circumstances of mankind also from this kingdom, but gives the prophets of the New Testament a complete dispensation therefrom; of which we have a living example in Jesus and all His Apostles, who did not meddle by a word in any of the civil matters of the authorities, under whom they taught. Justice and chastity were Pauls themes with the procurator Felix, which were matters of the interior, and that is enough. Zinzendorf.
6. On Jer 37:17. The king was commanded to put the book of the law before him, and always have it with him, Deu 17:19. As now he did not do this, he must be in awe even of his own servants: sometimes he must look at his counsellors through his fingers and let them do as they will, and though he might have been a master, he must be a servant. For God poureth contempt upon princes and looseth the covenant of the mighty (Job 12:21). Cramer.
7. On Jer 37:18-20. In the consciousness of his official dignity the prophet proudly appears before the king, saying, Although it has come out clearly that I was right and your prophets wrong, you have done me injustice. Nevertheless he applies with humble and earnest petition to the king in behalf of his person, that he may not betaken back again to the dreadful prison. After Jeremiahs example, one may well petition tyrannical magistrates for a mitigation of persecution, but not speak to please them for the sake of the mitigation. Cramer.
8. On Jer 38:1-4. Jeremiah is like a running spring, which has an abundance of water. The mouth of the tube may be stopped. But no sooner is a slight temporary opening afforded, than the water breaks forth with full power. Although he knew what was before him, he was not silent. For he could not be silent (Jer 20:9). Even if they had beaten him to death on the spot with clubs, yet dying he would have cried: he that goeth forth shall live. Jeremiah was, however, no arch traitor, but the truest patriot in all Israel. Is not this proved by the courage, with which he inflexibly repeated his apparently so unpatriotic counsel? Certainly his opponents regard him as the most dangerous man among the people, just as Ahab accused. Elijah of troubling Israel (1Ki 18:18), Amaziah Amos (Jer 7:10), the Jews Paul (Act 16:20).
9. On Jer 38:5. Legal right to carry out their will, in opposition to that of the king, the princes had none. Zedekiahs speech, therefore, displays only his individual weakness. He also shows by it how little he was subject to God. For had he been faithful to God, he would have found means to compel the obedience of his princes. He who has the right, has also the Lord on his side. If this was manifest in the case of the poor priest Jeremiah, how much more so in that of the king. But this king was no Jeremiah.
10. On Jer 38:6. No prophet was ever maltreated so pitiably as Jeremiah. He represents the culminating point in the humiliation of the servant of Jehovah, but also the extreme point in the alienation from God of the theocracy, which was immediately followed as a merited punishment by the deepest outward decline. Therefore in Jeremiah also must Christs resurrection become visible (Diedrich).
11. On Jer 38:7-13. A Moor, a heathen, must have compassion and raise his voice against. the enormity. while all Israel was silent. Thus is completed the testimony to Israels decline, and the guilt appears to be a common one.
12. On Jer 38:14-15. This seems to be the manner of princes. They say: I wish to hear the truth, the truth only, the whole truth. And when one tells them the truth, he draws upon himself their highest displeasure. For these lords, accustomed to a Homeric life of the gods ( ), do not like to be disturbed in this their bliss. Nothing, however, affects them more rudely than the truth. Zedekiah even does not seem to have been in earnest with his pray, hide nothing from me, for otherwise he would at least have done what he could to follow the prophets counsel.
13. On Jer 38:19-23. Zedekiah gives as a pretext his dread of mocking and maltreatment from the fugitive Jews. For these, the malcontents, who attributed all the blame to his government and had therefore fled, might possibly have him delivered over to them, and then take their revenge on him. Jeremiah assures him that he has no insult to fear from them. But he will be exposed to the most sensible insults from a quarter where he would least expect it, viz., from the women of his own harem. To be received by his own wives with insulting songs, instead of songs of victorywhat greater disgrace could be conceived for a man and a prince? Incidit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim.
14. On Jer 38:24-27. Did Jeremiah participate in a prevarication, or not? The opinions on this point are divided. Frster says: Non quidem disertis verbis mentitus est Jeremias; interim tamen hoc ejus factum speciem quondam mendacii habet, vel carte est dissimulatio, qu non omni ex parte excusanda. Others on the other hand call attention to two points: 1. Although in Jer 38:15-17, no such request is mentioned as, according to Jer 38:26, Jeremiah is said to have made, it is yet implied, both in the words of the prophet in Jer 38:15, and in the answer of the king, Jer 38:16. It follows from what is said by both of them, that Jeremiah wished that he might neither be put to death nor brought into such a condition as would inevitably involve his death. Consequently, he at any rate, cherished the same wish, which he expressed to the king in Jer 38:20. 2. If then the declaration of Jer 38:26 does not contain the whole truth, it contains no untruth. The princes, however, had no right to demand the whole truth from Jeremiah. For they were simply murderers. No one, however, is bound to a murderer to expose himself to his knife, by the confession of the truth. This latter view may well be the correct one. [Comp. Wordsworth and Stanley, Jewish Church, p. 524.S. R. A.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. On Jer 37:3. To supplicate the Lord or to intercede with the Lord is indeed right, but it is useless and wrong to desire the help, but not the Lord Himself. [Sinners contradict their prayers, and thus render them unsuccessful, by their lives. Lathrop.S. R. A.]
2. On Jer 37:5-10. Instructive example of the difference between mans help and Gods help. Mans help self-sought, self-made, shows at first indeed a joyous hopeful countenance, but it is hollow and vacuous, and confidence therein is self-deception. In due course it shows itself perfectly powerless, indeed it turns to the contrary, to destruction. Gods help on the other hand is announced at first under gloomy aspects and hard conditions (surrender to the Chaldeans), but these hard conditions are wholesome chastisement, from which proceed life and salvation.
3. On Jer 37:11-13. It is the manner of Gods enemies, that they shamefully misinterpret the acts of His servants, when these indeed justify themselves, but when they find no hearing they suffer and are silent; only from the confession of the truth they will not forbear. The Major Prophets, by Heim and Hoffmann.
4. On Jer 38:4. Worldly people are still disposed to reproach the preachers of the Gospel with the injury which they inflict on the commonwealth, because they seek to hinder the God-forgotten course of the commonwealth, as the worldly people wish it to be. One must not be put out by this, but go on. Heim and Hoffmann.
5. On Jer 38:4-13. As at the time of Christ the external theocracy was approaching its final overthrow, so at the time of Jeremiah it was its precursory overthrow. Christ was the prophet of the former, Jeremiah of the latter. As Christ was accused of being an arch-traitor and corrupter of the people (Joh 11:48; Joh 11:50), so also Jeremiah. The true ground here, as there, was diabolical hatred to the divine truth and carnal dependence on outward supports and their own excellence. The princes, who threw Jeremiah into the pit, correspond to the rulers of the people at the time of Christ, the weak Zedekiah to the weak Pontius Pilate, Ebed-melech to those believers from the heathen (the ruler of Capernaum, the Canaanitish woman, the Samaritans) who put Israel to shame by their faith. And as Jeremiah is delivered from the pit, so Christ after three days rises from the grave.
6. On Jer 38:19-23. Our ways and Gods ways 1. Our ways: (a) preserve us not from that which we feared (Jer 38:22): (b) they lead to destruction (Jer 38:23). Gods ways: (a) preserve us from that which we feared (Jer 38:19-20): (b) they lead to safety and life (Jer 38:20)
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
From bad to worse, the history is prosecuted concerning the conduct of the people, Jeremiah continues preaching until their passions are excited, and he is cast into the dungeon. The Lord stirreth up a stranger to intercede for his life with the king. He is taken from the pit; but still preacheth of ruin.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I again and again detain the Reader to remark the faithfulness of Jeremiah. Never surely was there a more conscientious preacher. Let the Reader connect this view of Jeremiah with his ordination, and then look up and bless God for making him faithful. Jer 1 throughout.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
IX
THE PROPHECIES OF JEREMIAH IN THE REIGN OF ZEDEKIAH
Jer 21
We have here the prophecies of Jeremiah, during the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of the Jewish people. These prophecies are to be found as indicated at the head of this chapter. They are not all the prophecies that Jeremiah uttered or that were written during this reign, but they are the prophecies that he uttered relative to that period and bearing upon the events of that reign. During Zedekiah’s reign he also wrote the messianic prophecy that we shall discuss in the next chapter.
When Jehoiakim burned the roll of his prophecies, he commanded his officers to go and take Jeremiah and Baruch. The Lord hid them or they would have lost their lives as Uriah had. Jeremiah and Baruch remained in hiding during the remainder of Jehoiakim’s wicked reign, four or five years. The latter part of this reign, as given in our books of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles, was a troublous time. Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar. That king stirred up bands of the Moabites and the Edomites to come and trouble his kingdom. His cities were besieged and he himself was slain and his body cast forth as refuse outside the walls of the city. His son, Jehoiachin, succeeded him to the throne. Jehoiachin was quite young, some authorities say eight years, other authorities, eighteen years of age. His mother reigned with him, and was probably the power behind the throne. Jehoiachin continued the rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, and the result was that in a little over three months, that great king buried his hosts against Jerusalem and besieged the holy city. Jehoiachin, acting on good and wise advice, surrendered the city, and so he himself with his queen mother and the royal family were deported. Nebuchadnezzar, convinced that he was not a safe man to have upon the throne, had him and his royal family taken to Babylon and confined there. On the succession of “Evil Merodac” to the throne he was given a certain amount of liberty.
About 597 B.C. something over 7,000 of the best blood of Jerusalem, including the princes, the nobles, and the elders, with their wives, their slaves, and the most valuable and choice vessels of the Temple were carried away to Babylon. Ezekiel was carried away with them and began his prophecy in the fifth year of this captivity.
We can readily see that the removal of 7,000 of the best people from Jerusalem, such a thinning of the people, would give an opportunity to the many that were left. These nobles, princes, and elders, who were left in Jerusalem, were congratulating themselves that they were much better than those unfortunates who were carried off into exile. Such a conclusion would be perfectly natural. They were saying, “Those who had to go away and suffer such hardships are bad and so are suffering for their sins. We are left here in peace and so the Lord is with us.” That resulted in pride, and was a very foolish state of mind for this people. Jeremiah knows that destruction is awaiting them, if they continue in their ways of wickedness.
The theme of Jer 24 is Jeremiah’s comparison between those in exile and those left behind. Note the following points:
1. The vision (Jer 24:1-3 ). Jeremiah is shown in a vision two baskets of figs, set before the Temple of the Lord. He goes on to explain the occasion and the time when this occurred. The description is found in verse Jer 24:2 : “One basket of very good figs, like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.” Jer 24:3 continues the description, as given to Jehovah by the prophet.
2. The fate of the good figs (Jer 24:4-7 ). “Like these good figs so will I regard the captives of Judah.” Those in exile are the ones referred to, and so he says he will take care of them: “I will bring them again into this land: I will set mine eyes upon them for good.”
3. The fate of the bad figs (Jer 24:8-10 ). These bad figs were the people living in Jerusalem, those who were puffed up, regarding themselves better than others because they were so fortunate as to escape deportation. “These bad figs are so bad that they cannot be eaten. So will I give up Zedekiah and the kings of Judah, and his princes and the residue of Jerusalem and those that remain in this land and them that dwell in the land of Egypt. I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all the places whither I shall drive them.”
Naturally the effect of that kind of preaching upon the people of Jerusalem was not very gratifying. Jeremiah did not make friends very fast by that kind of comparison and application. But he was a true prophet. He preached God’s truth, whether welcome or not.
The theme of Jeremiah’s 27-29 is Jeremiah’s exhortation to submit to the yoke of Babylon. This prophecy occurred during the first or second year of the reign of Zedekiah, who had been put upon the throne by Nebuchadnezzar as his vassal. The date is about 596 B.C., certainly within two years after the exile under Jehoiachin. There was a movement among the various small nations surrounding Judah, a sort of revival of their political interests. The kings and the princes of these sections had conceived the idea that they could league together and revolt against Babylon. The kings of these various nations had sent their ambassadors to Zedekiah at Jerusalem to form a league, or a conspiracy, by which they could throw off the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah was but a weakling, a mere tool in the hands of his chief princes. He had a certain reverence for Jeremiah and therefore he consulted him about it. But he feared the princes. He wanted to do right, but being a weak king, he was led to ruin and destruction by bad advice. He was afraid of Jeremiah, afraid of Nebuchadnezzar, afraid of his princes, and afraid of the prophets. To such a man all these nations came for consultation. They held their convention in Jerusalem, and to such a conference Jeremiah came as adviser. He advised that they all submit to Babylon.
Now, in Jer 27:1 there is an interpretation. It says, “In the reign of Jehoiachin,” and it should be, “The reign of Zedekiah.” Compare Jer 27:12 . Somehow that mistake has crept into the text. Jeremiah is commanded to make a yoke. He sets the yoke upon the heads of these ambassadors as a symbol. It is something like his symbolic action with the girdle. He puts the yoke on the heads of these envoys of Moab, Tyre, and the rest; also Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and gives his message. It is in verse Jer 27:6 : “And now have I given all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, my servant. The beasts of the field I have given him also.” Verse Jer 27:7 : “And all the nations shall serve him and his sons’ sons till the time of his own land come.” Then destruction shall come upon him: Verse Jer 27:8 : “And it shall come to pass that the nation and the kingdom that shall not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith Jehovah, with the sword and with famine and with pestilence till I have consumed them by his hand.” Then he throws out this warning: Don’t listen to the preaching of your prophets for they are false. They have not the word of God. Listen to me and submit. No better advice was ever given to a king. Jeremiah was a man who had divine wisdom and gave advice that would have saved the people. He was called to be the savior of his country, and to be the prophet of the nations, the nations mentioned here. He would have saved them all, if they had listened to him.
We have some specific advice of the prophet to Zedekiah, the king, in Jer 27:12-15 . Notice what he says: “And I spake to Zedekiah, the king of Judah, according to all these words, saying, bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him and his people and live.” But this advice to Zedekiah was to a weakling. He was respectful to the prophet, but afraid of his princes.
In Jer 27:16 he says, “I spake to the priests and the people, saying, Thus [He warns them against these false prophets, which had doubtless been inciting this revolt among the nations by prophesying that they could succeed.] . . . Serve the king of Babylon and live.” These prophets are prophesying a lie unto you. Why should this land become a desolation? These prophets had been preaching to the people that this exile would soon be over; that they would soon bring back the beautiful vessels of the Temple. This was fine talk to the people, for they wanted those vessels back. That suited the people fine, and the prophets knew it, so they just preached what the people wanted. These vessels will not come back. Just wait a little while and see if their prophecies come true. Thus saith the Lord concerning you: You shall be carried to Babylon and you shall be there until the day that I visit that land. Not only are these vessels not coming back, but you are going into exile also. Now, that was not a popular kind of talk, but it was divine wisdom.
A conflict with Hananiah, the false prophet, is described in Jer 28 . Here was a strange incident. We have a conflict between two men, able men, influential men, men of high position and rank; one a false prophet, the other a true prophet. Externally both are good men. Hananiah was the son of a prophet, of the priestly line. Doubtless this Hananiah had been hired by the enemies of Jeremiah to counteract his influence with the people. They hired this man to make the people believe that these vessels would come back. So Hananiah comes forward. He stands in the gate of the Temple and thus addresses the people: “Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon; within two full years I will bring into this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, took away from this place. I will bring back Jehoiachin and the royal family within two years and everything will be restored within that two years.”
Now, that was delightful preaching. That was just what the people wanted. But there was Jeremiah and he had to be reckoned with. Hananiah had all the marks of truth in him. Jeremiah seems to have wavered. He treats this man with all the courtesy of a gentleman. He stands there and listens to his message. He stood with the people that stood in the house of the Lord. When Hananiah had finished he said: “Amen: the Lord do so; may it be as you have said.” Jeremiah would have been glad if it had been true. He was patriotic and loyal. Nothing would have rejoiced him more than for this to have happened. “Oh, that it might be so!”
But in Jer 28:7-8 he says, “Nevertheless hear thou this that I speak unto thee. The prophets that spake in the olden time prophesied against many countries and against many kingdoms.” What did he mean by that? That the prophets who were true prophets prophesied destruction; that the punishment was coming. He means to say that the criterion by which one could determine a true prophet was that he prophesied evil. Now this man Hananiah was a false optimist. The true prophet sees the evil as well as the good. So by that process of reasoning he proved that Hananiah was a false prophet. He prophesied only good, hence he could not be a true prophet. I have prophesied evil and therefore I am in line with the tried and true prophets. How did the people like that?
We may well suppose that the majority of them did not like it. When Hananiah saw that the tide was coming his way, that the people were with him, he seized the yoke that Jeremiah was wearing before the people and smashed it to pieces. This is what he says: “Even so will I break the yoke of the king of Babylon before two full years end.” That was a bold stroke. Jeremiah was silenced for the time. But he did not give it up entirely; he went his way and talked to Jehovah about it. God gave him his answer. In Jer 28:13 we have it: “Go, tell Hananiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah: Thou hast broken the bars of wood; but thou hast made in their stead bars of iron.” This kingdom shall be suddenly destroyed, as for Hananiah the Lord said, “Thou makest this people to trust in a lie. . . Behold, I will send thee away from off the face of the earth: this year thou shalt die, because thou hast spoken rebellion against Jehovah.” And Hananiah died the same year in the seventh month, two months after this incident.
An account of a letter of Jeremiah to the exiles is found in Jer 29 . Zedekiah was the vassal of Nebuchadnezzar and in order to assure him that he was true he sent two messengers to him. Their names are given in Jer 29:3 . These two messengers took letters from Zedekiah to the king in Babylon. Jeremiah took occasion to send a letter by these messengers to the exiles in Babylon. False prophets were over there, too.
They had been predicting that they would soon return to their own land. So Jeremiah sent them a letter, the substance of which is to be found from Jer 29:4 on to the end of the chapter. This we will discuss briefly. He advised the people to settle down, to marry, to be true to the king of Babylon and after seventy years, that is, about two generations, God’s will concerning the king of Babylon would be accomplished, and then they should return to their own place. In Jer 29:13 we have a beautiful statement: “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” In Jer 29:21-22 we have this statement regarding two false prophets in Babylon, Ahab and Zedekiah, who were prophesying the destruction of Babylon and the immediate return. Word of this comes to the ears of Nebuchadnezzar. That king was not a man to be trifled with. Here were two exiles stirring up an insurrection in his realm. Jeremiah says, “He roasted them in the fire.” He tried to do the same thing with the three Hebrew children, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. It was not an uncommon thing for a man to burn people to death then. That was the fate of these two false prophets.
But we come to another incident in Jer 29:24 . There was one Shemaiah who sent letters from Babylon to the princes and guardians of the Temple about Jeremiah, and said that this man, this Jeremiah ought not to be at large. Verse Jer 29:26 : “Every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in the stocks. . . Now therefore, why hast thou not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who maketh himself a prophet to you, for as much as he hath sent unto us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long,” and thus and so. Then the men of the Temple read the letter to Jeremiah, and he responds, verse Jer 29:32 : “Behold, I will punish Shemaiah and his seed; he shall not have a man to dwell among this people, neither shall he behold the good that I will do unto my people, saith Jehovah, because he hath spoken rebellion against Jehovah.”
Jeremiah’s advice to Zedekiah during the siege is given in Jer 21 . This chapter is very much out of chronological order. This weak king is still in the hands of his princes, who are trying to throw off the yoke of Babylon. They have been all this time expecting help from Egypt. PharaohNecho who had slain Josiah, king of Judah, had been succeeded by Pharaoh-Hophra. He had overthrown his adversaries at home and was now ready for Asia. There was an Egyptian party in Jerusalem and they soon had their plans ready for Zedekiah. They proposed to form an alliance with this Pharaoh against Nebuchadnezzar. This they did against the advice of Jeremiah. The outcome of the matter was that Nebuchadnezzar swept down upon Judah and Jerusalem to subdue them.
Zedekiah sent an anxious message to Jeremiah inquiring if there was any message from the Lord. His answer was brief. He simply told him that the Lord would not save the city as he did when Isaiah was the prophet. But he says in verse Jer 21:5 : “I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm even in anger and in wrath and in great indignation, and I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beasts and they shall die of great pestilence.” This siege was to end in the downfall of the city. In Jer 21:8 he says, “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword and by famine and by the pestilence, but he that goeth out and falleth away to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live and his life shall be unto him for a prey.”
The incidents of the siege are described in Jer 34 . Under the preaching of Jeremiah and the stress and strain of the siege, the people’s consciences were awakened and they gave heed to the law of Moses and made a covenant that they would liberate all the slaves according to the law of Moses, which said that when a Hebrew became a slave to another that he should be such only six years. That is recorded in the law as found in Exo 21:2 and Deu 15:12 . That law was given by Moses. They usually neglected it, but they did it now while there was pressure on them, but as soon as the pressure was removed they went back to their old ways again, Jer 34:11 : “But afterward, they turned and caused the servants and handmaidens, whom they had caused to go free to return and brought them into subjection for servants and handmaidens.” This occurred while Pharaoh-Hophra was coming up to Jerusalem to relieve the city. Nebuchadnezzar defeated him and drove him back. When the pressure was removed their conscience grew calloused again. Jeremiah broke out in great bitterness against this, Jer 34:17 : “You granted liberty, then you took it back. I proclaim to you a liberty to the sword and to famine. I will make you to be a curse among the nations of the earth.” In spite of all the solemnity with which you made the covenant you broke it. I will cause the Chaldeans to return to the city and make it without inhabitants.
The effect of Jeremiah’s preaching is recorded in Jeremiah 37-39. Jeremiah’s forty years and more of preaching had verily been in vain. The people would not heed. There seemed to be a fixedness in their perverseness. They evidently hardened their hearts to go after idols. There is a saying, “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.” It was so with these people. They were mad after idolatry. The siege had now been on more than a year. It lasted eighteen months altogether, accompanied with all the horrors of a siege. These events are recorded in Jeremiah 37-39. We take them up in order:
Jer 37:2 : “Neither he, nor the people of the land, hearkened unto the words of the Lord.” This general statement is followed by the details:
Zedekiah was a weakling. He wanted to do what Jeremiah said, and if he had been stronger he would have done so. So he sent for him and asked his advice. He says, Jer 37:3 : “Pray now unto the Lord our God for us.” Jeremiah answered him, Jer 37:7 : “Behold, Pharaoh’s army that is come forth to help you shall return into their own land; the Chaldeans shall come again and fight against this city. They shall take it and burn it with fire.”
At the time the siege was raised and the Chaldeans went to meet the Egyptians, many people broke out of the city. Jeremiah was one of them. He started to go to his home at Anathoth to take charge of a certain piece of property he had bought, verse Jer 37:12 : “Jeremiah went out of Jerusalem at the gate of Benjamin.” He came in collision with the captain of the ward whose name was Irijah and he said to Jeremiah, “Thou goeth to the Chaldeans; thou art falling away to the Chaldeans.” Many others were doing the same thing and nothing was said about it, but these people now had a chance to get in a blow at Jeremiah, because he had been stoutly counseling the people to surrender to the Chaldeans. Jeremiah said, “I do not fall away to the Chaldeans.” Irijah did not believe him, but seized him and brought him before the princes, “and the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan, the scribe.” This is the second time Jeremiah had been arrested, but the first time he was imprisoned.
The king called for Jeremiah and asked him, “Is there any word from the Lord?” “No,” said Jeremiah, “The only word is this: Thou shalt be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.” Then he pleads for himself: “Cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan, the scribe, lest I perish there.” Zedekiah, the king, was kindly disposed toward him. He gave him some liberty. He remained in the court of the guard six months or more, guarded by the king.
Then the princes put him in the dungeon. These princes were the real cause of the fall of Jerusalem. They hated Jeremiah. They had been treating with Egypt, and he had advised against them; his counsel had weakened many of the people in their loyalty to the plans of the princes; so they hated him, and now that they had him in their hands they wreaked their vengeance on him. Verse Jer 37:4 : “Then the princes said to the king, Let this man we pray thee be put to death, forasmuch as he hath weakened the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people.”
That the king was a weakling is shown in verse Jer 37:5 : “Then Zedekiah, the king, said, Behold he is in your hands; do as you will, for the king is one that can do nothing against you.” There was a certain Justification for these princes who saw only the military aspect of it. If any man had done as did Jeremiah, in connection with the siege of Richmond or Vicksburg, he would have been promptly dealt with as a traitor. So they took Jeremiah and threw him into a deep cistern, or pit. It had no water in it, but it was deep with mud and he sank down into that, and they left him thinking that would be the last of him. At last, they thought, his tongue was silenced. But he was rescued by a slave, an Ethiopian, named Ebedmelech. He felt kindly toward Jeremiah, so he went to the king and the king gave him liberty to rescue him (Jer 38:7-13 ).
Another audience with the king is allowed Jeremiah (Jer 38:14-28 ). This is Jeremiah’s last audience with Zedekiah. Verse Jer 38:17 : “If thou go forth to the king of Babylon thou shalt live, and the people.” He could yet save the city. Then the king told him not to tell anybody about the interview. If there had been a man on the throne, he would have saved the city. Then follows an account of the capture of the city and its destruction (Jer 39:1-10 ). A careful reading of this passage will be sufficient.
Jeremiah was saved by the command of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. He had heard about Jeremiah and his services, how he had counseled the people to surrender, and spared his life; told them to take good care of him and let him do as he would.
The prophecy in Jer 39:15-18 is concerning Ebed-melech, the slave who had saved Jeremiah’s life. It is beautiful to see how Jeremiah remembered this man. He writes down in the word of God what should be his reward, thus: “I will surely save thee, saith Jehovah.”
Jerusalem is now a smoking ruin, and the people are scattered far and wide. The nobles and the princes are slain before the king, and his own sons are slaughtered before his own eyes. Zedekiah’s eyes are put out and he is carried captive to Babylon. If he had only followed the advice of Jeremiah, all would have been well. The position of a prophet in the state is supreme; it is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon any man.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the theme of this chapter of this INTERPRETATION and what the historical setting?
2. What is the theme of Jer 24 and how is it presented? Explain fully.
3. What is the theme of Jeremiah 27-29 and what the general condition in Judah and the surrounding nations at this time?
4. How do you explain the name “Jehoiachim” in Jer 27:1 , what the symbolic action of the prophet here and what its meaning? (Jer 27:1-11 .)
5. What is the specific advice of the prophet to Zedekiah, the king, in Jer 27:12-15 ?
6. What is his advice to the priests and the people and how does he meet the prophecies of the false prophets?
7. Give an account of the conflict between Hananiah and Jeremiah (Jer 28 ).
8. Give an account of the letter of Jeremiah to the exiles (Jer 29 ).
9. What is Jeremiah’s advice to Zedekiah during the siege? (Jer 21 .)
10. What are the incidents of the siege? (Jer 34 .)
11. What is the effect of Jeremiah’s preaching and how are the people characterized? (Jeremiah 37-39.)
12. What is the general statement of this in Jer 37:1-2 ?
13. Give an account of the king’s request of Jeremiah and his response (Jer 37:3-10 ).
14. Give an account of Jeremiah’s second arrest and first imprisonment (Jer 37:11-15 ).
15. Give an account of his deliverance from the prison (Jer 37:16-21 ).
16. What was next done with him and what the particulars (Jer 38:4-6 )?
17. How did he escape and what the particulars?
18. Give an account of Jeremiah’s last audience with the king (Jer 38:14-28 ).
19. Give an account of the capture of the city and its destruction (Jer 39:1-10 ).
20. How was Jeremiah saved and what the particulars? (Jer 39:11-14 .)
21. What is the prophecy in Jer 39:15-18 ?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Jer 38:1 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,
Ver. 1. Then Shephatiah. ] Here was aliud ex alio malum, one affliction on the neck of another. Matters mend with us as sour ale doth in summer, said Bishop Ridley once, when he was prisoner. Poor Jeremiah might well have said so, if ever any, as appeareth by this chapter, where we find him in a worse hole than was that of Jonathan; but his extremity was God’s opportunity.
Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah, &c.
Ahab charged the like crime upon Elijah; the Jews upon Christ, and afterwards upon Paul; the heathen persecutors upon the primitive Christians; the heretics still upon the orthodox, that they were seditious, antimonarchical, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jeremiah Chapter 38
The testimony of God never fails in the end to rouse the enmity of man. And so the prophet proved, especially at their hands who seek present influence in the earth. “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, 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. Thus saith the Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it. 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.” (Ver. 1-4.)
Alas! the king was a moral picture of the people; for they, like him, had a dim, feeble, ineffectual sense that Jeremiah had the mind of Jehovah. But with neither was there that energy of faith which resists the appearance of present interest; and thus all was exposed to bold men in whom a strong will wrought without conscience or fear of the Lord. To such the counsel of the prophet, which urged submission to the Chaldeans, was distasteful in the extreme. The same spirit which rebelled against Jehovah could not but refuse to bow to His chastisement and their own humiliation. But this is the only path of godly feeling and repentance. To flesh it was not to seek the peace of Israel, but the hurt. And the king yields. “Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you. 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.” (Ver. 5, 6.)
The eyes of the Lord however did not watch in vain,. nor weft His ears indifferent to the cry of His suffering witness. He knows ]low to draw out help from the least expected quarter; and so it was on this occasion. “Now when Ebed-melech 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; Ebed-melech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying, 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. Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. So Ebed-melech 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. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.” (Ver. 7-13.)
But yielding to will for the sake of peace never satisfies conscience; and the uneasy sense of slighting God and His servant provokes the desire to hear what is most dreaded. “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. 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? 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. 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: but if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city he given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hands.” (Ver. 14-18.)
When the eye is not single, the body is a prey to dark thoughts and groundless fears; He is unseen and forgotten who alone is to be held in awe. “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. 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. But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the Lord hath showed me: 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 have sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back. 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.” (Ver. 19-23.)
The chapter closes with the king’s anxiety lest the princes should hear of the interview with the prophet. What a state of things! But is it so very different now? I doubt it. The highest of this world are often its veriest slaves; and a king is of all men least free as to God’s testimony before his court. It is not a new thought, that a real Christian is apt to make a bad and weak monarch. For conscience and policy are sorry companions and allies, which can never rely on each other’s succour. Here the result was painful in the extreme, and the cowardice of the king dragged down the prophet into the least worthy passage of his chequered life. “Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die. 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, bide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee: 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. 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. So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.” (Ver. 24-28.)
It is in Christ that the light shone in its perfection for He, He only, is the true light. Yet, wondrous grace! we who were darkness are made light in the Lord. Falsehood and deceit are now fully judged; as there was none in Him, so all is condemned that was ours in His cross, and the life of which we thenceforward live is Christ. Hence in Christianity, as in Him, nothing is tolerable which is inconsistent with the nature and glory of God.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 38:1-13
1Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah heard the words that Jeremiah was speaking to all the people, saying, 2Thus says the LORD, ‘He who stays in this city will die by the sword and by famine and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live and have his own life as booty and stay alive.’ 3Thus says the LORD, ‘This city will certainly be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon and he will capture it.’ 4Then the officials said to the king, Now let this man be put to death, inasmuch as he is discouraging the men of war who are left in this city and all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man is not seeking the well-being of this people but rather their harm. 5So King Zedekiah said, Behold, he is in your hands; for the king can do nothing against you. 6Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. 7But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin; 8and Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and spoke to the king, saying, 9My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern; and he will die right where he is because of the famine, for there is no more bread in the city. 10Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies. 11So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority and went into the king’s palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits under the ropes; and Jeremiah did so. 13So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern, and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse.
Jer 38:2 die This chapter uses this VERB (BDB 559, KB 562) often.
1. those who stay in Jerusalem will die, Jer 38:2
2. those who desire to kill Jeremiah, Jer 38:4
3. Jeremiah’s death as a result of being put into the empty cistern, Jer 38:9; Jer 38:26
4. desire to save Jeremiah, Jer 38:10
5. Jeremiah’s message to Zedekiah, Jer 38:15
6. Zedekiah’s response to Jeremiah, Jer 38:16
7. Zedekiah’s threat to Jeremiah, Jer 38:24
8. the official’s threat to Jeremiah, Jer 38:25
the sword and by famine and by pestilence These are the three killers of the siege experience. See full note at Jer 14:12.
live As die is used often in this chapter, so too, live (BDB 310, KB 309).
#1-3. In Jer 38:2 will live – The Kethiv (written in the MT) has it as a Qal IMPERFECT but the Qere (suggested in the margin by MT formatters) has a Qal PERFECT, which matches the next two VERBS. The second use of will live is a Qal IMPERFECT.
#4-6. In Jer 38:17 (twice) and again in Jer 38:20, are Jeremiah’s words to Zedekiah.
Obedience to YHWH’s message through Jeremiah brings life, but disobedience brings death. In a sense it reflects the two ways of Deu 30:15-20 (cf. Jer 21:8). Life is a gift of which we are stewards. There are consequences, both temporal and eternal, connected to human choices and actions!
Jer 38:3 This city will certainly be given The prophecy by Jeremiah of the complete destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon has not changed!
The VERB (BDB 678, KB 733, Niphal IMPERFECT) is matched by the INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE of the same root which denotes certainty! There was no hope for Jerusalem and the Temple to be spared.
Jer 38:4 the men of war who are left Apparently there had been casualties and desertions.
this man is not seeking the well-being of this people These court officials still totally misunderstood Jeremiah and his message. They purposefully ignored the promise of life in Jer 38:2.
Jer 38:5 This verse shows the weakness of Zedekiah (so too, Saul, cf. 1Sa 15:24 and even of David, cf. 2Sa 3:39).
Notice the play on hand.
1. discouraging of Jer 38:4 is literally weakening the hands
2. all the people of Jer 38:4 is literally the hands of all
3. he is in your hands of Jer 38:5 is an idiom of power over someone (see Special Topic: Hand )
Jer 38:6 the king’s son This was an official title, not necessarily a blood relationship, but probably someone of the royal family (cf. Jer 36:26).
Jeremiah sank into the mud Josephus adds the tradition that it was up to his neck (Antiq. 10.7.5). He was meant to die there (cf. Jer 38:4). The mud would have been the sediment which had collected in the bottom of a cistern. Cisterns caught the runoff of rain water.
Jer 38:7 Ebed-melech This term (BDB 715) is literally servant of the king. It is not a name but a title also found in other Semitic cultures.
Ethiopian This (BDB 469 I) is often translated Cushite (cf. Jer 13:23), which denotes a person from the nation just south of Egypt. This was a foreign servant/official in the Judean palace.
a eunuch This term can be translated official (BDB 710). Physical castration was often involved (cf. Isa 56:3-5), but not always (i.e., Potiphar in Gen 39:1 ff).
the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin The gate was the place of social and legal activities. Apparently Zedekiah, the King, was holding public court.
Jer 38:8 spoke to the king Either he was a trusted official who had the ear of the king or he took advantage of public court to speak.
Jer 38:9 The reason for Jeremiah’s feared death is stated as famine. Conditions are much worse now than in Jer 37:21.
Jer 38:10 thirty men One Hebrew MS and the LXX have three (cf. RSV, NEB, NIV). The UBS Text Project gives thirty an A rating (very high probability).
Jer 38:11
NASBbeneath the storeroom
NKJVunder the treasury
NRSVto a wardrobe of the storehouse
TEVthe palace storeroom
NJBthe treasury wardrobe
JPSOAa place below the treasury
LXXthe underground chamber
The exact site is uncertain. It refers to a cistern somewhere in the palace.
Jer 38:12 put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits Apparently a room close by had some worn out clothes that could be used to cushion Jeremiah as he was pulled from the cistern. This shows the man’s concern for Jeremiah. This is an eyewitness detail!
Jer 38:13 He was rescued from the cistern but would stay in custody!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Pashur. See note on Jer 20:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 37
Now we come to the third part of the book of Jeremiah and this covers the period of Zedekiah the king. These particular prophecies, thirty-seven through thirty-nine, cover from the time that Zedekiah ascended to the throne unto his captivity in Babylon. So he again gives us the time of the prophecy.
And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah ( Jer 37:1 ).
So Zedekiah was king under the order of Nebuchadnezzar. When Jehoiakim died, you remember Jeremiah said, “There won’t be any of your family sitting upon the throne.” Well, one of his sons, Jehoiachin, sought for a time to sit upon the throne. He lasted for three months and Nebuchadnezzar came back and deposed him and Nebuchadnezzar set up Zedekiah as the king over Judah so that Jehoiakim was not succeeded by his own children. And the Word of the Lord was fulfilled. “Who Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon made king over the land of Judah.”
But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, would hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah ( Jer 37:2 ).
People had closed their ears to the warning of God. Zedekiah refused to listen. He would listen privately. He would call Jeremiah and talk to him privately, but then publicly he would denounce him.
And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the LORD our God for us. Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not yet put him into prison. Then Pharaoh’s army had come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem ( Jer 37:3-5 ).
Now the Babylonian army was there, but when they heard that the Egyptian army was coming the Babylonian army withdrew. They withdrew their men from Jerusalem.
Then came the word of the LORD to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to inquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, will return to Egypt into their own land. And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire. Thus saith the LORD; Don’t deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart ( Jer 37:6-9 ).
Now the people thought, “Oh, we’re free, you know, from the Chaldeans. The Egyptian army has frightened them off. They’ve gone. Now we can do our own thing. Now we can be independent of Babylon. Now we won’t have to pay tribute.” And they rebelled against the Babylonian authority. But Jeremiah warned them against this. He said, “Don’t think that you’re free of them, they’re going to return again.”
For though you had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans ( Jer 37:10 )
Even if you had wiped out the whole army.
and there were only a few wounded men left ( Jer 37:10 ),
God has determined to deliver you unto the Chaldeans. And just a few wounded men would be able to take you and they’ll burn this city with fire.
So it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself from the midst of the people ( Jer 37:11-12 ).
So Jeremiah started to take off and go up to Benjamin but,
As he was in the gate of Benjamin ( Jer 37:13 ),
One of the gates of Jerusalem at that time.
a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You’re going over [to the Babylonians] to the Chaldeans. Then said Jeremiah, That is not true; I am not going over to the Chaldeans. But this captain would not listen to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him before the princes. When the princes were angry with Jeremiah, they smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that a prison. When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there for many days ( Jer 37:13-16 );
So they imprisoned Jeremiah thinking that he was going to go over to the Babylonians. Jeremiah declared that wasn’t his intention, but yet they made him a prisoner anyhow to keep him from that.
Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out; and the king asked him secretly in the house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon will not come against you, nor against this land? ( Jer 37:17-19 )
There were prophets that said, “The Babylonians will never come into this land.” He said, “Where are those prophets now that gave you that story?”
Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my prayer, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there ( Jer 37:20 ).
Please don’t send me back to that prison. I’ll die there if you do. He was put there in the prison at the house of Jonathan the scribe.
Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison ( Jer 37:21 ),
Let us not put him back in the dungeon.
and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison ( Jer 37:21 ).
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Jer 38:1-6
Jer 38:1-4
THE DEATH OF JEREMIAH DEMANDED
And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spake unto all the people, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, He that abideth 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, and his life shall be unto him for a prey, and he shall live. Thus saith Jehovah, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it. Then the princes said unto the king, Let this man, we pray thee, be put to death; forasmuch as 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.
The leader of this delegation to the king, Shephatiah, is unknown except for what is written here. Pashur is the prince who cast Jeremiah into the stocks in Jeremiah 21. All of these appear to have been bitter enemies of Jeremiah.
Let this man be put to death…
(Jer 38:4). From the ordinary viewpoint, this delegation appears to have been justified in their demand for the execution of Jeremiah; because, certainly, they were accurately reporting exactly what Jeremiah had prophesied; and there cannot be any doubt that such prophecies had destroyed the morale of the whole population, including that of the soldiers.
Was Jeremiah, then, a traitor? Did he deserve to be put to death? Indeed, NO. The whole nation of Israel was a theocracy, their first allegiance belonging to God, as revealed by his servants the prophets. Their “sinful kingdom,” from its inception was a rebellion against God and was thus foreordained to destruction. The real welfare of the nation lay in their repentance and return to the God of their fathers who had delivered them from slavery in Egypt. The dire extremities in which the nation, at this time, found itself could have been alleviated if the people had heeded Jeremiah.
As Henderson noted, “The princes might have been correct in accusing Jeremiah of rebellion (1) IF he had not provided incontestable evidence that he held a divine commission, (2) and IF the government itself had not been in a false position.” Zedekiah himself, as a sworn servant of the king of Babylon, was the real traitor in their current situation; and he had completely betrayed the interests of his own nation by entering into a rebellion against Babylon, contrary to the will of God and totally impractical.
Jeremiah was no glib supporter of those in political power, supporting “his country right or wrong!” “He so loved his country that he was not content until it became the embodiment of the highest social, moral, and spiritual ideals; and he was a splendid example of the enlightened type of patriotism so badly needed today.”
Jer 38:5-6
And Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do anything against you. Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
As noted above, this is impossible to reconcile as a variable account of that same imprisonment where Jeremiah stayed “for many days.” Why don’t the critics tell us which account is true, and which is false? The answer lies in human unbelief of what the holy Scriptures say.
The king is not he that can do anything against you…
(Jer 38:5). What an admission on the part of a man who was called a king! As Smith noted, it is a statement that, All power is in your hands, and you are ready to exercise it against the king’s wishes. All of the real power lay in the hands of the princes; and the king himself had little respect from them. Many of the people, including, no doubt, some of the princes, really wanted to defeat Babylon and bring back Jeconiah from Babylon as the king they really wanted.
Imprisoned by the Princes Jer 38:1-6
The imprisonment in the court of the guard afforded Jeremiah the opportunity to communicate the message of God once again. He seems to have been able to converse with the soldiers who defended the city as well as with the general populace (cf. Jer 32:9; Jer 32:12). Meanwhile the final stage of the siege of Jerusalem had come. It was only a matter of days until the city would fall to the Chaldeans. The princes, highly displeased with the leniency being shown the prophet, watched his every move. Four princes in particular seem to have been particularly bitter enemies. Shephatiah is mentioned only here. The second prince named is Gedaliah. His father Pashur is probably the one who had put Jeremiah in the stocks earlier in his ministry (Jer 20:1-2). Jucal (or Jehucal) was one of the princes sent by the king only a few weeks before to request Jeremiah to pray for the city. Pashur was one of the messengers of the king who had visited Jeremiah in an earlier interview (Jer 21:1).
There in the court of the guard Jeremiah openly proclaimed the message he had been preaching ever since the Chaldean armies had first appeared in the land. Those who defected to the Chaldeans would escape with their lives; those who remained within Jerusalem were doomed (Jer 38:2) for the Lord would shortly give the city into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 38:3). The princes were both alarmed and angered by such public proclamation. They rushed to Zedekiah and demanded that Jeremiah be put to death for high treason.
The charge against Jeremiah, that he weakened the hands of the men of war, is no doubt an accurate assessment of the impact of the preaching of Jeremiah. The phrase men of war that remain suggests that many had gone over to the Chaldeans (see also Jer 38:19). The public statements of the prophet could well be classified as treason were it not for one fact. The words which Jeremiah spoke were not his own but the divine message which he had been charged to proclaim. It was Yahweh, the true sovereign of Israel, who was instructing and commanding His subjects to capitulate to the Chaldeans. The predictions of Jeremiah thus far had proven to be accurate thereby accrediting Jeremiah as a true spokesman of God. Only those who were spiritually blind could fail to see that Jeremiah was truly speaking the word of God.
For what they regarded as treason the princes demanded that Jeremiah be put to death (Jer 38:4). The struggle against the Chaldeans was literally a matter of life and death. In the view of these princes Jeremiah by his public stance against further resistance was playing into the hand of the enemy. They would let the people perish rather than surrender! Now they were attempting to silence the only voice of reason and revelation in the entire city, How wrong they were when they declared that this man is no longer seeking the welfare of the people but their hurt (Jer 38:4). Jeremiah was the only true friend which the people had left.
Weak-kneed Zedekiah capitulated to the demands of his princes. Behold he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you (Jer 38:5). What little influence Zedekiah might previously have had over his princes had eroded. He is only a puppet in their hands now. He does not even attempt to argue the point with them. What a cowardly abdication of responsibility! What a shameful betrayal of duty!
Having gone through the formality of gaining the consent of the king, the murderers hurried Jeremiah off to his doom. They did not want his blood on their hands!
Their plan was much more cruel. They cast Jeremiah into I cistern which served as a dungeon. This particular cistern, located in the court of the guard, was under the charge of Malchiah the son of Hammelech (lit., the son of the king), Malchiah seems to have been a member of the royal family if not a son of Zedekiah himself. So deep was the cistern that they had to let Jeremiah down into it with ropes. Though there was no water in the cistern the bottom of it was covered by a thick layer of mud. Slowly the prophet sunk into the mire. The pitiless princes wished this spokesman for God to die a slow, torturous, and frightful death. Unbelief makes men intolerant of Gods spokesmen; intolerance makes men cruel. There they left him. They were. rid of him. They had effectively silenced Gods messenger.
The dungeon experience is without question the lowest point in the life of Jeremiah. He was now aged and perhaps infirm. The siege and famine in Jerusalem had doubtlessly taken its toll. Yet it should be noted that no word of protest is lodged, no cry of revenge, no prayer of imprecation. Through the long bitter years of his ministry Jeremiah had learned the way of patient endurance. He had learned to cast himself upon the Lord and trust Him for deliverance.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Under these circumstances he continued to foretell the victory of the Chaldeans, with the result that the anger of the princes was stirred up against him, and he was cast into a most loathsome dungeon. From that dungeon he was released through the intercession of Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian eunuch, who evidently was in favor with Zedekiah. Again the king sought an interview with him, charging him to hide nothing from him as to the future. Jeremiah advised him earnestly to submit to Babylon, warning him that if he did not do so the women of his household would eventually heap reproaches upon him because of the visitation which would overtake the city and the people.
Nothing is more marked throughout all this story than the absolute and unswerving loyalty of Jeremiah to the message of judgment which he was called on to deliver. In the hour when it seemed as though it could not be fulfilled because the Chaldean army had temporarily left the neighborhood, in spite of the angry opposition of the princes and his suffering, and notwithstanding all the temptations created by his access to the king, he never swerved. However clear at times was his vision of an ultimate restoration of the people by Jehovah, he knew that at the moment punishment was in the purpose of God from which there could be no escape; yet not for one moment did he attempt to hide the fact.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
“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.” It was also told them that he had declared, “Thus saith the Lord: This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it” (Jer 38:1-3).
As we know, these prophecies had indeed been uttered. Almost the identical words are recorded in Jer 21:9, when Pashur, the son of Malchiah (or Melchiah, as he is there called), was one of the messengers sent to him by king Zedekiah. He is now one of Jeremiah’s accusers, with three others, Shephatiah, Gedaliah (the son of another Pashur), and Jucal.
Again and again, on divers occasions, the fall of Jerusalem had been clearly foretold. Like his Lord, Jeremiah could say, “In secret have I said nothing.” (Joh 18:20) Openly, in the presence of the populace, nobles, priests, and the king, had he faithfully declared the truth of GOD regarding the doomed city. For this he was hated. His words seemed to put a premium upon what to the nobles and captains looked like treachery.
Burning with indignation against the man who so solemnly declared the utter futility of all their schemes and devices, they accused Jeremiah before the king, and urged that he be executed as a traitor.
“We beseech thee,” they pleaded, “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” (Jer 38:4).
How little can worldly men understand that true love for the people leads one faithfully to show them their sins and their danger!
Little indeed could these four accusers enter into the deep sorrows and anguish of heart that the “weeping prophet” had experienced on their account. Like Paul, the more abundantly he loved them, the less he was loved in return. It is one of the hardest trials a devoted servant has to bear when his good is thus evil spoken of, and his very affection mistaken for malice, because it makes it impossible for him to hold his peace and to permit the people to sleep on in their sins without lifting a warning voice. Yet, in some measure, such has been the cup that every truly godly soul has had to drink; and none ever tasted it so deeply and frequently as our blessed Lord Himself. It is of the false prophets that the world speaks well. The true are accounted as the offscouring of the earth.
In this case Zedekiah, ever a weakling, succumbs to the demands of his ministers. He consents to the death of Jeremiah in words that well betray his impotency, but which, like Pilate’s, in no sense lessen his guilt. “Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do anything against you” (Jer 38:5).
Having obtained the royal consent, the four conspirators took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah, which was in the court of the prison, letting him down with cords – a filthy pit, with no water, but offensive mire, in which Jeremiah sank, and was heartlessly left in this wretched plight. The object, doubtless, was to let him die, unknown to the populace, who might have had superstitious or conscientious scruples about making away with the man who professed to speak in the name of the Lord. Shephatiah and his associates would allow him to starve to death, alone and unsought, in this abominable, miry dungeon.
GOD had other thoughts, however, and would not thus permit His servant’s martyrdom.
The suffering and shame were all part of the discipline His love saw to be necessary, and He would not allow him to be spared the humiliation and anguish they entailed; but, like Job, his life was inviolable.
In the prophet’s hour of need a friend is raised up of whom otherwise we might never have heard. He is a servant in the king’s household, an Ethiopian eunuch, Ebed-melech – perhaps nameless, so far as our narrative is concerned; for Ebed-melech, translated, is simply “servant of the king,” and may not be a proper name at all. In this servant’s heart glowed a pity and a sympathy, as well as a recognition of the divine office of Jeremiah, to which the four accusers were strangers.
Like the young man in Act 23:16 used for Paul’s deliverance, here also GOD had prepared this His servant for Jeremiah’s deliverance. Hearing that the prophet had been left to perish in the filthy pit of the prison court, this Ethiopian went boldly to entreat the king’s favor, who was “then sitting in the gate of Benjamin” (Jer 38:7) – the professed representative of the law, in the gate to dispense justice, when this inexcusable injustice had been perpetrated with his consent (Jer 38:7-8). Earnestly and faithfully the eunuch presents the cause of the man of GOD: “My lord the king,” he pleads, “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” (Jer 38:9).
Again, Zedekiah, a typical changeling, whose mind is controlled by the last man who gains his ear, reverses his judgment. Ebedmelech is commanded, “Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die” (Jer 38:10).
The king makes no confession of sin in thus having treated the Lord’s messenger; nor is there a word of apology to the prophet for the indignities so unrighteously heaped upon him after his pledged word as to provision for his comfort!
It is enough for the Ethiopian that he has permission to relieve the loved prisoner’s sufferings, and he hastens to deliver him. Thoughtfully and tenderly he provides from the house of the king, under the treasury, old clouts and rags, which he let down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah, with directions to put them under his armholes under the ropes (Jer 38:11-12). Apparently a trifling thing this, but a loving heart directed it, and GOD has been pleased to place it on record where it will stand forever.
In that day when every cup of cold water given in the name of the Lord shall not fail of reward, Ebedmelech’s “old cast clouts and rotten rags” (Jer 38:11) used to lessen the pain of the man of GOD will be remembered and duly taken into account.
Thus protected, the weak and emaciated prophet is gently lifted out of the miry dungeon by the eunuch and his thirty helpers. Only once again is Ebedmelech mentioned, in the next chapter, for the Lord’s commendation, ere he disappears from the scene until he takes his place with the host of the redeemed, when his good deeds will have their due reward.
Jerusalem’s case had become desperate, and in his distress Zedekiah once more sent for Jeremiah for a secret interview. Knowing in the depths of his heart that this man, whom he had so shamefully treated, had the mind of the Lord, he said to him, “I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me” (Jer 38:14).
Fear now makes him desire to know what GOD had revealed; but, as his previous career had manifested, there was no true bowing of heart to that word when made known. A double-minded man was he, therefore unstable in all his ways. Self and selfish interests ruled in his heart, not the glory of the GOD of Israel.
The well-merited and withering reply comes to him, “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?” (Jer 38:15).
Thus boldly does the prophet answer him. Cruel treatment had in no sense filled his soul with slavish fear. As GOD’s free man, he speaks to the conscience of the king.
Secretly, the guilty monarch swore neither to harm him himself, nor, as before, to give him into the hand of the men who sought his life (Jer 38:16). Accepting the pledge, Jeremiah gives him the word of the Lord, saying:
“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 thy house; 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” (Jer 38:17-18).
For Zedekiah to accept the advice tendered so solemnly in the name of the Lord would mean a complete and unconditional surrender. The victorious Chaldean army had once more spread its tents around Jerusalem, and was carrying on the siege with vigor; the Egyptian army having returned in discomfiture to their own land. This was in itself an evidence of the truth of Jeremiah’s predictions.
When the false prophets declared that Nebuchadrezzar’s power was broken, he had insisted on the overthrow of Pharaoh’s forces and the early return of the Babylonians to invest the capital once more. Zedekiah evidently feared him, and in a vague, uncertain kind of way realized that GOD was with him. But he was of the number of those who cannot stand the sneers or the anger of their fellows, though they can sin against their Creator unblushingly. It is natural to fallen man to be ashamed to do what is right, if contrary to public opinion, and to do evil with a certain kind of pride. Of this stamp was the unworthy son of Josiah. He “loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. (Joh 12:43)
In his faltering reply to Jeremiah, he shows the smallness of his soul, as also the haughtiness of his heart. “I am afraid,” he owned, “of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me” (Jer 38:19).
What gross unbelief, when the Lord had just given the word that he should be spared if he surrendered; and what wretched pride that made the thought of mockery so bitter to the already ruined man!
Faithfully, even tenderly, the prophet urged him to obedience, assuring him that they should not deliver him up as he feared. “Obey, I beseech thee,” he entreated, “the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live” (Jer 38:20).
On the other hand, he warned him solemnly that if he refused to go forth, he should be reduced to the degradation of seeing “all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house” brought forth in captivity to the princes of the king of Babylon, who should mock in their turn, and reproach him for his inglorious rebellion and its awful consequences. He, too, should be taken captive, and the city burned with fire; with himself alone to blame (Jer 38:22-23).
The moody and well-nigh distraught king deigned no reply that would indicate whether he intended to bow to the authority of the Lord or not, but strictly commanded silence on the part of Jeremiah as to the purport of the conversation they had had together. If the princes importuned him as to what had taken place, he was to mention the matter of his request to be released from prison, but nothing more (Jer 38:24-26).
As anticipated, the princes did seek to know the drift of the conference, but he replied discreetly, as he had been bidden – the truth, though not all the truth – and they are satisfied to leave him in the court of the prison, where he remained until the fulfilment of his prophecies regarding the siege, for “he was there when Jerusalem was taken” (Jer 38:27-28).
~ end of chapter 21 ~
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Jeremiah 38
Ropes and rags.
I. Help always comes from above. Jeremiah found it so. It was useless to try to climb out of the dungeon,-it was only to fall deeper into the mire. “Salvation is of the Lord.” Ebedmelech is only a very poor picture of Jesus. The Saviour does more than send down a rope. He comes Himself and lifts us up.
II. Although Ebedmelech may be a very poor type of Jesus Christ, he is a very good picture of the style in which one man may help another. He had sympathy. His kind heart bled as he thought of the suffering prophet. Sympathy is the mother of help.
III. Ebedmelech did not allow difficulty to deter him. He knew that the enemies of the prophet were unscrupulous, and would not hesitate to cut his throat, but he did not give up because of that. If you mean to help others you will have to pull hard against the stream.
IV. Ebedmelech teaches us to spare the feelings of those we help. The rope of deliverance should not cut the flesh of those we save. We may wound men in helping them, and they may like the remedy less than the disease.
V. Among the practical lessons of this story there is the great truth that one man may set others going. Ebedmelech went to the king for help, and he gave him thirty helpers. “So they drew up Jeremiah.” The great mass of people are not original; they can imitate, and if you can show them the way they will follow.
VI. Let us learn the value of despised and cast-off things. The prudent chamberlain had seen “under the treasury the old cast clouts and old rotten rags.” No one else saw any value in them, but he knew where they lay and put them to a good use. VII. Ebedmelech found out that God pays the best wages.
T. Champness, New Coins from Old God.
References: Jer 39:1, Jer 39:2.-R. Glover, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxii., p. 74. Jer 43-P. Thomson, Expositor, 1st series, vol. x., p. 397.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 38
1. Jeremiah in the dungeon and his rescue (Jer 38:1-13)
2. Jeremiah with Zedekiah: His last appeal (Jer 38:14-28)
Jer 38:1-13. Jeremiah is next accused of high treason. The charge is based on his message, given to him by the Lord: He that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live. Like the conscientious objectors during the past war, they accused him of being unpatriotic. This man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt. They demand his life. In the sixth verse we see him in a deep dungeon, into which he was put by means of ropes. And Jeremiah sank into the vile mire. This reminds us of Him, our blessed Lord, who was also accused by false witnesses, and who went Himself into the horrible pit and the miry clay, into the deepest suffering and the jaws of death, to take us out of the dungeon, where sin has put us. The wicked princes evidently meant to leave Jeremiah in that dungeon to suffer a horrible death.
But the servant of the Lord was not in the hands of the princes, but in the hands of his Master. God chooses for the deliverer a slave, an Ethiopian, Ebed-melech (servant of the king). The heart of this Ethiopian eunuch was touched with pity. He goes to the king, who seems to have been ignorant about what had been done to Jeremiah and tells him that Jeremiah is likely to starve to death in the filthy hole where they had put him. The king commands the eunuch to act at once with thirty men to deliver Jeremiah. With what tenderness, to spare the man of God all needless pain, Ebed-melech carried out the kings wish (Jer 38:12)!
Jer 38:14-28. This is a great dramatic scene. Zedekiah sends once more for Jeremiah. We suppose the filth of the dungeon was still clinging to the prophets garments. The king wants to know something. Hide nothing from me, he demands. He may rest assured that the prophet of holy courage hides nothing. But Jeremiah asks two questions: Wilt thou not surely put me to death? And if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me? The first question the king answers: I will not put thee to death. The second question he leaves unanswered. His heart was hardened like Pharaohs heart.
He gives him once more the message of Jehovah: Go forth to the king of Babylon, acknowledge his authority, believe in My Word and thou shalt live and thine house; then Jerusalem will not be burned. But if not, then you cannot escape and the doom of the city is sealed. The king shrinks from such a surrender. Terrors of an imaginary kind seize hold on him. He fears the Babylonian king will deliver him into the hands of the Jews who had deserted already, and that they would mock him and ill-treat him. Jeremiah pleads once more. It is his final appeal: Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD. But the king refuses. The final request he made of Jeremiah but reveals his miserable character. The last interview has ended. Jeremiah remains in the prison and was there when Jerusalem was taken.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Shephatiah: Ezr 2:3, Neh 7:9
Jucal: Jer 37:4, Jehucal
Pashur: Jer 21:1-10, Melchiah, 1Ch 9:12, Malchijah, Neh 11:12
heard: Act 4:1, Act 4:2, Act 4:6-10, Act 5:28
Reciprocal: 1Ch 6:40 – Baaseiah Jer 11:21 – thou Jer 25:2 – General Jer 36:16 – We Jer 37:13 – Hananiah Jer 38:9 – these Jer 38:16 – of these Jer 39:17 – of whom
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 38:1. Prince is from SAR and Strong defines it, “A head person (of any rank or class).” In the King James translation ft has been rendered by captain, chief, general, governor, keeper, lord, master, ruler. Generally speaking the word would apply to any leading or outstanding man whether official or unofficial. The men named in this verse are called princes in verse i.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 38:1. Then Shephaliah, &c. Here are four of the great men, counsellors or chief officers to Zedekiah, named, of whom we have no further mention in holy writ; nor do they deserve to have much inquiry made after them. Some of them were sent by Zedekiah to Jeremiah to inquire concerning the event of the siege, Jer 37:3; Jer 21:1-9. The answer which Jeremiah returned by them to the king, he afterward published to the people; which was the occasion of the new troubles recorded in this chapter. Lowth. The fact seems to have been, that, as he was now removed into a little freer air than he had been in, his friends, or such as had a desire to see him, came to him, and being inquisitive concerning the issue of the siege, he could not but tell them what he knew of the mind of God, and advise them the best way he could for their safety. Some of them, it is likely, went to these princes, and informed them of what they had heard from the prophet.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 38:7. Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, the kings chamberlain. It seems to have been a new name given him on his promotion to office; but God gave him long life for preserving the life of Jeremiah.
Jer 38:26. I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathans house. A good man is not bound to tell the whole truth to his enemies. When Samuel anointed David, he said that he went to Bethlehem to sacrifice to the Lord. 1 Kings 16.
REFLECTIONS.
How clear, how strong was the revelation of God to the prophet! Jehovah, the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel declared, and Jeremiah staked his life to say it, that if the king would go out to Nebuchadnezzar, he and the princes, and the city would yet be saved. Mercy rejected at the point of death!
God can raise up friends for his people where they least expect it. Who would have thought of Jeremiahs finding a friend at court, and that an Ethiopian proselyte, while the Israelites persecuted him. This friend acted with great zeal and courage, dealt plainly with the king, and ventured his place and his head to save the prophet. Thus can God, at any time and in any place, raise up friends to his servants, and deliver them out of their troubles.
How absurd and impious is it to disobey God, from a fear of being mocked or bantered by men. How meanly and ridiculously did Zedekiah act, in being more afraid of the jests of a few of his subjects, than of the displeasure of the Almighty. This fear goes a great way with many persons now, especially with the young. They are disposed to do their duty, and to be firm in it, but they are afraid their acquaintance should laugh at them. These fears are often groundless; and there is, as in the case of Zedekiah, a secret reverence for those who are good, in such as will not imitate them. How weak and childish a spirit is that which cannot bear to be laughed at, rather than give up faith and a good conscience. Such, as the prophet tells Zedekiah, will be worse laughed at hereafter. Wicked men and devils will severely mock them for loving the praise of men more than the praise of God. Amidst our greatest zeal for God and religion, we ought prudently to consult our own welfare. While we are harmless as doves, as to giving offence, and bold as lions in the cause of God, we ought to be wise as serpents. This affair was prudently concerted between the king and the prophet; there was no lie nor equivocation. He spoke the truth, but not the whole truth; and this he was not obliged to tell. It is wrong to expose ourselves to danger, when no good can be answered by it. We should walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 38:1-13. Four of the princes (Jer 37:15) hear Jeremiah (confined in the guard-court, Jer 37:21) foretelling the fall of the city and advising individual surrender (cf. Jer 21:9 f.). They denounce him to the king as a source of weakness to the defence, and Zedekiah gives him over to them. They lower him into the mud of a waterless cistern in the guard-court, belonging to a royal prince (Jer 36:26, note). This is reported to the king by a negro eunuch called Ebed-melech (Jer 39:15-18), who points out that he will die on the spot for want of food (he would lose the special court rations of Jer 37:21). The king authorises Ebed-melech to take men (thirty should probably be three) to draw Jeremiah up; this is carefully done, torn and tattered rags (Driver) being first lowered to protect the armpits from the ropes.
Jer 38:5. LXX reads for the king was not able to do anything against them.
Jer 38:7. eunuch: in charge of the harem, Jer 38:22.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
38:1 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of {a} Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying,
(a) For Zedekiah had sent these to Jeremiah to enquire at the Lord for the state of the country how when Nebuchadnezzar came, as in Jer 21:1 .
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The plot to arrest Jeremiah 38:1-6
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Four prominent men in Jerusalem heard Jeremiah preaching that anyone who remained in Jerusalem would die, but those who surrendered to the Chaldeans would live. He prophesied, apparently at this time from the court of the guardhouse (Jer 37:21), that Jerusalem would certainly fall to the Babylonians.
Gedaliah may have been the son of the Pashhur who beat Jeremiah and placed him in the stocks (Jer 20:1-6). "Jucal" was probably the Jehucal who visited Jeremiah during the temporary withdrawal of the Babylonians (Jer 37:3). Pashhur ben Malchijah also visited Jeremiah at the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem in 588 B.C. (Jer 21:1).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
1
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.