So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
13. court of the guard ] See on Jer 32:2.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The sense of these verses is obvious. Ebed-melech having received a commission from the king, presently puts it in execution, only because the dungeon was deep, and full of mire, and the prophet possibly not over-well clothed, he prudently takes some old clouts and rags, and lets them down with cords, that Jeremiah, to prevent the galling and macerating his flesh, might put them under the cords, by which they drew him up: thus he was restored to the court of the prison, where he was before this suggestion of the princes, and where he did abide until the city was taken. The rest of the chapter is spent in a private conference betwixt king Zedekiah and the prophet, after he was restored to the court of the prison.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
13. court of . . .prisonEbed-melech prudently put him there to be out of the wayof his enemies.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
So they drew up Jeremiah with cords,…. The men that were with Ebedmelech, as many as were necessary; he overlooking, directing, and encouraging:
and he took him out of the dungeon; alive, according to the king’s orders and design, and in spite of the prophet’s enemies: the thing succeeded according to wish; the Lord ordering and prospering every step:
and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison; from whence he had been taken, and where he was replaced; Ebedmelech having no warrant to set him at entire liberty; nor would it have been prudent to have solicited that, which might too much have exasperated the princes; and besides, here, according to the king’s order, bread was to be given him, as long as there was any in the city; so that it was the most fit and proper place for him to remain in; wherefore what Josephus x says, that he dismissed him, and set him free, is not true.
x Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 10. c. 7. sect. 5.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
We here see that the Prophet was rescued from death, not however that he might be set at liberty, and sent home, for that would not have been for his benefit, as he would have been taken again by the king’s counselors. Ebedmelech could not, therefore, save his life otherwise than by having him confined in another part of the prison. He could have wished, no doubt, to have him as a guest in his own house: he doubtless wished to do for him more than he did. But his prudence deserves to be commended, that he placed the Prophet again in prison; for otherwise the fury and cruelty of the princes could not have been mitigated. Then Jeremiah dwelt in the court of the prison.
He was evidently led there by Ebedmelech. If one were to object and say that this was a proof of too much timidity; to this the answer is, that Ebedmelech was not fearful on his own account, but because he saw that he had to do with wild beasts; and he saw that their rage could not otherwise be calmed than by having Jeremiah confined in the prison. Indeed, the whole city was then like a prison, as it is well known; for they were oppressed everywhere with want, and no one could hardly go out of his house. This state of things was then wisely considered by Ebedmelech, for he had not only his own business to attend to, but he also labored to preserve God’s Prophet.
When God at any time relieves our miseries, and yet does not wholly free us from them at once, let us bear them patiently, and call to mind this example of Jeremiah. God, indeed, manifested his power in delivering him, and yet it was his will that he should continue in prison: even thus he effects his work by degrees. If then the full splendor of God’s grace does not shine on us, or if our deliverance is not as yet fully granted, let us allow God to proceed by little and little; and the least alleviation ought to be sufficient for comfort, resignation, and patience. It now follows, —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Jer 38:13 So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
Ver. 13. So they drew up Jeremiah with cords. ] And God was not unrighteous to forget this their work and labour of love. Heb 6:10 Jer 39:17-18
And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
a R. David, Vatabl.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
remained. See note on Jer 37:18.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
So: Jer 38:6
Jeremiah: Jer 38:28, Jer 37:21, Jer 39:14-18, 1Ki 22:27, Act 23:35, Act 24:23-26, Act 28:16, Act 28:30
Reciprocal: Exo 12:29 – dungeon
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A FRIEND IN NEED
They drew up Jeremiah with cords.
Jer 38:13
I. The dungeon.
(1) Jeremiah, because he spoke the unpopular truth, though he knew it must give offence, was thrown into a dungeon. It was a deep hole in the ground into which the prisoner was lowered with ropes; the floor of it was mire, and with that simplicity which in the Bible so often embraces a world of misery or horror, it is said that Jeremiah sank in the mire. The French had a name for such dungeons which is vivid and significant. They called them oubliettes, which means places where people are forgotten. The idea of the oppressor was to put those who offended or gave trouble both out of sight and out of mind, and sometimes, if they did not starve, they lingered on until it was forgotten who they were or why they had been imprisoned. Such things are instances not only of mans inhumanity to man, but also of human folly, for to put the truth-speaker out of sight is not to kill the truth, and the truth cannot be forgotten or quenched in darkness. It abides in the mind of God, and if it is not accepted as a guiding light it will come as a consuming fire.
(2) If the light of the future had been cast upon the darkness of the dungeon, Jeremiah might have seen the innumerable company of noble spirits in all ages who were committed to a like darkness for the same cause. Among them are John the Baptist, the Apostles James and John and Peter, St. Paul, of the first Christian era, the countless martyrs of the Roman persecutions, such as Bruno and Galileo, for the truth of science, John Bunyan, and even in the nineteenth century, such as Joseph Mazzini. It is evident that if men had been successful in the attempt to put out these God-given luminaries of the dark centuries, they would have put every star of hope or guidance out of their sky, and condemned themselves to a miry dungeon of barbarism and despair. But God is merciful, and frustrates blind human violence; and when the world puts forth all its force against one of His servants, the voice of Jesus is heard through its clamour and calming its storm, Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
II. The rescue.
(1) It is a pleasant thing to find that the first to pity Jeremiahs state was Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian eunuch, a man of a race and a condition which the Jews despised. It is pleasant because it shows that at heart and at their best there is no absolute difference or impassable gulf between the races of mankind. All are capable of pity, love, and kindly service. Race-pride makes one branch of humanity think itself superior to every other, and sceptical of the power even of the Gospel to raise the lowest to the level of the highest; and yet there are countless instances of lowest inhumanity in the superior races and most heroic humanity in those counted inferior. The Chinaman makes a brave martyr for the truth of Christ, the negro servants of Livingstone show an incredible heroism of affection, the women of the South Seas are capable of an angelic pity. One of the earliest Gentile converts was an Ethiopian eunuch (Act 8:27). There is an admirable thoughtfulness, one may add, in Ebed-melechs pity; for the method of lifting the prophet out of the dungeon is designed to save him pain as much as possible (Act 8:11-12).
(2) The king, having released Jeremiah, is eager for a favourable prophecy. Here was a temptation to a man just out of a horrible pit to say the smooth and pleasing word which would gain him favour. But Jeremiah was prepared to undergo the same horrors rather than prophesy falsely, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. He made reasonable conditions, however, for there was no need to throw away his liberty; and, having secured the kings promise of safety, proceeded inflexibly to repeat the alternative of submission to the Chaldeans at once, or resistance, and a more abject submission later after the hardships and calamity of a siege. Zedekiah was so weak that he could not protect Jeremiah from his nobles except by keeping the more important part of the interview a secret. The prophet remained in a milder imprisonment until the capture of Jerusalem by the Babylonians.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Jer 38:13. Jeremiah was not released after being taken out of the mire, but was returned to the court of the prison where he remained until the city was taken.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
38:13 So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the {g} court of the prison.
(g) Where the king had set him before to be at more liberty, as in Jer 37:21 .