Jeremiah 37

King Zedekiah son of Josiah became king in place of Coniah son of Jehoiakim. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon was the one who made him king in the land of Judah.

1And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah.

NoteConiah is another form of the name Jehoiachin, the boy king who ruled Judah about three months before Babylon took Jerusalem in 597 BC and carried him off into exile. Zedekiah, his uncle, did not inherit the throne: Nebuchadnezzar installed him as a vassal ruler answerable to Babylon, which is why the verse is careful to say who made him king. ("Nebuchadrezzar" is the King James spelling, closer to the Babylonian original; "Nebuchadnezzar" is the same man.)

2But Zedekiah did not listen to the words the LORD spoke through the prophet Jeremiah. Neither did his officials, and neither did the people of the land.

2But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah.

Note"The people of the land" is not a general word for the population. In Judah it normally means the landholding free citizens of the countryside, a group with enough weight to have placed earlier kings on the throne. Listing king, officials and this group together is a way of saying that every level with any power refused.

3Even so, King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the priest, son of Maaseiah, to the prophet Jeremiah with this message: "Please pray to the LORD our God for us."

3And 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.

NoteSending a delegation to a prophet with the request "pray for us" was a formal act, not a pious courtesy. A prophet was understood to be someone who could put a question to the LORD and bring back an answer, and kings sent officials to obtain one much as they would consult any other source of counsel. That the delegation includes a priest signals its official standing.

4At that time Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, because they had not yet put him in prison.

4Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not put him into prison.

5Pharaoh's army had marched out of Egypt. When the Chaldeans who were surrounding Jerusalem heard the news about them, they pulled back from the city.

5Then Pharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.

Note"Chaldeans" means the Babylonians; the Chaldeans were the people of southern Mesopotamia who supplied Babylon's ruling dynasty, and the two words are used interchangeably through this book. The Egyptian advance is a real historical episode of about 588 BC: Pharaoh moved north, the Babylonians broke off the siege of Jerusalem to deal with him, and the city had a few months' reprieve.

6Then the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah:

6Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying,

7"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says. Tell this to the king of Judah, who sent you to ask me for a word: Look, Pharaoh's army, which marched out to help you, is going to turn around and go back to its own land, Egypt.

7Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land.

Note"Enquire of me" is the standard phrase for consulting God through a prophet in order to get a decision or a forecast, the way one might consult an oracle. Zedekiah's delegation in verse 3 asked for prayer; the answer treats the request as a question submitted for reply.

8Then the Chaldeans will come back. They will fight against this city, capture it, and burn it down.

8And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.

9This is what the LORD says: Do not fool yourselves by saying, 'The Chaldeans are certainly leaving us for good.' They are not leaving.

9Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart.

10Even if you struck down the whole Chaldean army that is fighting you, so that only wounded men were left in their tents, those men would still get up and burn this city down."

10For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

11Now when the Chaldean army had pulled back from Jerusalem because they were afraid of Pharaoh's army,

11And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army,

12Jeremiah set out from Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin, to take possession of his share of property there among his people.

12Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people.

NoteThe Hebrew of this clause is obscure and has been understood in more than one way: either that Jeremiah went to claim or divide a piece of family land among his relatives, or simply that he slipped away from the crowd. Jeremiah's home was Anathoth, a few miles north-east of Jerusalem in the territory of the tribe of Benjamin, and elsewhere in the book he deals in family property there, which is why the property reading is usually preferred.

13But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard on duty was there. His name was Irijah, son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah. He seized Jeremiah and said, "You are deserting to the Chaldeans!"

13And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.

NoteThe Benjamin Gate was in the north wall, the road out toward Benjamin's territory, and also the direction of the Babylonian lines. The charge of desertion was not invented out of nothing: Jeremiah had been telling the city publicly that anyone who went out and surrendered to the Babylonians would live, so a sentry who saw him heading out that gate had an obvious accusation to hand.

14Jeremiah said, "That is not true. I am not deserting to the Chaldeans." But Irijah would not listen to him. He arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.

14Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.

15The officials were furious with Jeremiah. They beat him and locked him up in the house of Jonathan the scribe, because they had turned that house into a prison.

15Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.

NoteA "scribe" here is not a copyist but a senior government officer, a secretary of state who drafted documents and kept records. That his private house had been converted into a lock-up suggests the regime was improvising jails, and it explains why Jeremiah later begs not to be sent back to it: it was not built to hold anyone humanely.

16So Jeremiah went down into the underground cell, into one of its small rooms, and he stayed there a long time.

16When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;

NoteThe Hebrew is literally "the house of the pit and the vaults." It describes an underground chamber, probably a disused cistern hollowed out of rock, with small cells or arched recesses off it. Such a place had no light and no drainage, which is the point of Jeremiah's fear in verse 20 that he would die there.

17Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought out. In his palace the king asked him privately, "Is there any word from the LORD?" Jeremiah said, "There is. You will be handed over to the king of Babylon."

17Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his 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.

NoteThe secrecy matters: Zedekiah is a king who cannot be seen consulting Jeremiah, because the officials who jailed him hold the real power in the city. The same pattern repeats in the next chapter.

18Jeremiah also said to King Zedekiah, "What wrong have I done to you, or to your officials, or to these people, that you have put me in prison?

18Moreover 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?

19Where are your prophets now, the ones who told you, 'The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land'?

19Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?

NoteProphets who promised that Babylon would not attack were a recognized and popular party in Jerusalem, and much of this book is a quarrel with them. There was no test available in advance to tell which prophet spoke truly; Jeremiah's question is the retrospective test, the Babylonians came, so where are the men who said they would not?

20So please listen to me now, my lord the king. Please accept my request, and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there."

20Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, 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.

21Then King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be kept in the courtyard of the guard, and for him to be given a loaf of bread each day from the street where the bakers worked, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.

21Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

NoteThe "court of the prison" (courtyard of the guard) was an open compound attached to the palace where prisoners were held under watch but not confined underground; Jeremiah could receive visitors and conduct business there. Trades in an ancient city clustered by street, so "the bakers' street" is simply the district where bread was made. The clause about the bread running out is a note on the siege: the daily ration lasted only as long as the city's food did.