Jeremiah 38

Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashur son of Malchiah heard what Jeremiah had been saying to all the people. He had been telling them this:

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 had spoken unto all the people, saying,

2"This is what the LORD says. Anyone who stays in this city will die by the sword, by hunger, or by disease. But anyone who goes out and gives himself up to the Chaldeans will live. He will escape with his own life and nothing more, and he will live."

2Thus 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.

NoteThe Chaldeans were the ruling people of Babylon, the empire based in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq); in Jeremiah the word is used interchangeably with "Babylonians." At this moment their army was besieging Jerusalem. "Sword, hunger, and disease" is a set phrase Jeremiah uses repeatedly: death in the fighting, starvation once a besieged city's food runs out, and the epidemics that follow crowding and hunger. "Escape with his own life and nothing more" translates a Hebrew image, his life will be the only plunder he carries off, the way a soldier carries off spoil.

3"This is what the LORD says. This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and that army will capture it."

3Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.

NoteThe king of Babylon here is Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled from 605 to 562 BC and had already deported part of Jerusalem's population in 597 BC.

4So the officials said to the king, "Please have this man put to death. The words he speaks take away the courage of the soldiers still in this city, and of everyone else too. This man is not trying to help these people. He is trying to harm them."

4Therefore 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.

5King Zedekiah said, "He is in your hands. The king cannot do anything to stop you."

5Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.

NoteZedekiah was the last king of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar had placed him on the throne as a subject ruler after deposing his nephew in 597 BC, and he later rebelled. His remark that the king "cannot do anything to stop you" reflects how little authority he held against his own officials, who came from the leading families of the city.

6So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit that belonged to Malchiah, the king's son, in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah down with ropes. There was no water in the pit, only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

6Then 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.

NoteThe "pit" is a cistern: a bottle-shaped tank cut down into rock, narrow at the mouth and wide below, used to store rainwater. After a long siege it held only the silt at the bottom. Its shape made it impossible to climb out of unaided. The Hebrew phrase behind "Malchiah, the king's son" can be read either as a description (a royal prince) or as an official court title for a member of the royal household; the King James translators instead took it as a personal name, "Hammelech." The "courtyard of the guard" was an open detention area attached to the palace, where a prisoner could receive visitors and food, not a cell.

7Ebed-melech the Cushite, an official in the king's palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the pit. At that time the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate.

7Now when Ebedmelech 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;

NoteCush was the kingdom south of Egypt, in what is now northern Sudan; older translations render it "Ethiopia." Ebed-melech was therefore a foreigner at the Judean court. His name means "servant of the king," which may be a title rather than a birth name. The word behind "official" is the Hebrew term for a eunuch, used both literally of castrated palace servants and more broadly of high court officers. The city gate was the place where a king or elders sat to hear petitions and give judgment, so Ebed-melech knows where to find him and can approach him publicly.

8Ebed-melech left the king's palace and went to the king. He said,

8Ebedmelech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying,

9"My lord the king, these men have done wrong in everything they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into the pit, where he will starve to death, because there is no more bread in the city."

9My 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.

NoteJerusalem had been under Babylonian siege for months; the city's grain was gone. The point of the appeal is that Jeremiah cannot be fed even if left alive, since no one had bread to lower to him.

10So the king gave this order to Ebed-melech the Cushite: "Take thirty men from here with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the pit before he dies."

10Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.

Note"Thirty men" is what the standard Hebrew text says; a few manuscripts read "three," which fits the task better. If thirty is correct, the escort was likely protection against the officials who had put Jeremiah in the cistern.

11So Ebed-melech took the men with him and went into the king's palace, to a room under the storeroom. From there he took worn-out clothes and old rags, and he lowered them by ropes to Jeremiah in the pit.

11So Ebedmelech 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.

12Ebed-melech the Cushite said to Jeremiah, "Put these worn-out clothes and old rags under your arms, beneath the ropes." Jeremiah did so.

12And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

13Then they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the pit. And Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard.

13So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

14Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and had him brought to the third entrance of the LORD's house. The king said to Jeremiah, "I am going to ask you something. Do not hide anything from me."

14Then 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.

NoteThe palace and the temple stood in the same complex, so the king could move between them privately. Which door "the third entrance" was is no longer known.

15Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "If I tell you, you will surely put me to death. And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me."

15Then 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?

16So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah. He said, "As surely as the LORD lives, who gave us this life, I will not put you to death, and I will not hand you over to these men who want to kill you."

16So 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.

Note"As surely as the LORD lives" was the standard formula for a binding oath, calling on God as the witness who would enforce it. Zedekiah swears it secretly because his own officials were the men Jeremiah feared.

17Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what the LORD, the God of armies, the God of Israel, says. If you will go out and give yourself up to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, and this city will not be burned down. You and your household will live.

17Then 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:

Note"The God of armies" renders the Hebrew title usually given as "the LORD of hosts", the hosts being either heavenly armies or the armies of Israel. "Your household" means the royal family and everyone dependent on it.

18But if you will not go out and give yourself up to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape from them."

18But 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.

19King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews who have already gone over to the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans may hand me over to them, and they will treat me cruelly."

19And 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.

NoteDuring the siege a steady stream of people in Jerusalem had deserted to the Babylonian side, exactly as Jeremiah urged in verse 2. Zedekiah fears that if he surrenders, the Babylonians will hand him over to these defectors, his own former subjects, who had reason to resent the king whose rebellion brought the siege. The verb behind "treat me cruelly" covers physical abuse as well as mockery.

20But Jeremiah said, "They will not hand you over. Please obey the voice of the LORD in what I am telling you. Then it will go well for you, and you will live.

20But 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.

21But if you refuse to go out and give yourself up, this is what the LORD has shown me:

21But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the LORD hath shewed me:

22All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be led out to the officers of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you, 'Your trusted friends misled you and got the better of you. Your feet are sunk in the mud, and they have turned their backs on you.'

22And, 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 are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back.

NoteThe women of the royal household (wives, secondary wives and female servants) would be taken as part of the victor's property, which was also how a new ruler publicly claimed a defeated king's position. Their words are a short taunt-song. "Your trusted friends" translates a Hebrew phrase, literally "the men of your peace," meaning close allies and advisers. "Your feet are stuck in the mud" pointedly repeats what had just happened to Jeremiah in the cistern.

23They will bring out all your wives and your children to the Chaldeans. You yourself will not escape from them. You will be captured by the king of Babylon, and you will be the cause of this city being burned down."

23So 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.

NoteThe Hebrew of the last clause can be read either as "you will burn this city with fire" (that is, your refusal will be what causes it) or, with a small change of vowels found in some ancient versions, "this city will be burned with fire." The rendering keeps the first sense.

24Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Do not let anyone know about this conversation, and you will not die.

24Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die.

25The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say, 'Tell us what you said to the king, and what the king said to you. Do not hide it from us, or we will put you to death.'

25But 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 said unto thee:

26If that happens, tell them, 'I was begging the king not to send me back to Jonathan's house to die there.'"

26Then 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.

NoteJonathan was a royal secretary whose house had been converted into a lockup. Jeremiah had been held there earlier in an underground cell and had begged Zedekiah not to send him back (Jeremiah 37:15–20). The cover story is true as far as it goes (he had made that request) without touching what the king had actually asked him.

27Then all the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him. He told them exactly what the king had ordered him to say. So they stopped questioning him, because no one had overheard the conversation.

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 speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

28So Jeremiah stayed in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured. And he was there when Jerusalem was captured.

28So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

NoteJerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC, after roughly eighteen months of siege. The repeated closing line is unusual; many scholars read it as the seam where this account joins the narrative of the city's capture that follows.