Jeremiah 38

Chapters 37–39 of Jeremiah cover the final period of the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem. This chapter continues the account from Jeremiah 37, in which Jeremiah was imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the scribe and later transferred to the court of the guard.

Outline

• Verses 1–6 Four princes—Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jucal, and Pashur—object to Jeremiah's message that "whoever surrenders will live" and ask the king to put him to death. When Zedekiah leaves the matter in their hands, the princes let Jeremiah down by ropes into the cistern of Malchiah, which held no water but only mire.
• Verses 7–13 Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch in the royal palace, appeals to the king, who is sitting at the Benjamin Gate. At the king's command he takes thirty men, has Jeremiah place rags and worn-out garments under his armpits, and draws him up with ropes.
• Verses 14–23 Zedekiah meets Jeremiah secretly at the third entrance of the house of the LORD. Jeremiah tells him that if he surrenders, he and his household will live and the city will not be burned, but if he refuses, the city will be burned and he himself will be captured.
• Verses 24–28 The king instructs Jeremiah to keep their conversation secret, and Jeremiah answers the princes only as the king directed. He remains in the court of the guard until the day Jerusalem is taken.

Key Verses

• Jeremiah 38:2 "He that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live" — the statement that led the princes to brand Jeremiah a traitor.
• Jeremiah 38:6 "So Jeremiah sunk in the mire" — a picture of the prophet suffering because of the word he proclaimed.
• Jeremiah 38:20 "Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the LORD, which I speak unto thee" — an exhortation to a king who hesitates before his last opportunity.

People and Places

• Jeremiah: the prophet during the period of Judah's fall.
• Zedekiah: the last king of Judah, unable to decide between the princes and the prophet.
• Ebed-melech: a palace official from Cush (the region of the upper Nile). The Hebrew word rendered "eunuch" can also refer more broadly to a court official.
• Court of the guard: the courtyard where the palace guard was stationed, which served as the place of Jeremiah's confinement.

Points for Reflection

• Because chapters 37 and 38 have similar plots, some scholars regard them as two traditions of the same event. Traditionally, however, they are read as successive events.
• Jeremiah's failure to disclose the full content of the conversation in verses 24–27 is interpreted in different ways: some see it as prudence aimed at preserving life, while others examine it as a question of truthfulness in speech.
• The rescue of the prophet by Ebed-melech, a foreigner, leads in Jeremiah 39 to the promise that his life will be spared.
• The image of the prophet sunk in the pit is sometimes read in connection with Lamentations 3:53–55 and with the figure of the suffering righteous one. Matthew 16:14, in which some people identify Jesus as Jeremiah, is also mentioned in this connection.