Jeremiah 38:1-13. Further incidents in Jeremiah's history connected with the siege This section may be summarized as follows. (i) Jeremiah 38:1. Four of the princes, in view of Jeremiah's declarations that those who remained in the city should perish, while those who went forth should live, demand... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 Jere... [ Continue Reading ]
_He that abideth, etc_.] The _v_. is substantially identical with Jeremiah 21:9, and Co. following Du. considers that it is a later insertion in this place, on the ground that while such advice under the earlier circumstances was permissible, now in the actual presence of the enemy it would have bee... [ Continue Reading ]
_the men of war that remain_ Cp. Jeremiah 38:22. The expression may indicate that many had gone over to the Chaldaeans, a fact which is also implied in Jeremiah 38:19. Doubtless also a considerable number had gone into exile already, and to them we must add those who had fallen in the siege.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the king is not he, etc_.] The LXX, perhaps rightly, make this clause a comment of the narrator ("For the king was not able … against them").... [ Continue Reading ]
_the dungeon of Malchijah_ mg. _pit_; a cistern for storage of water; see on Jeremiah 6:7. The depth and wretchedness of this place of confinement are shewn by the means employed to place Jeremiah in it. _the king's son_ better than mg. _the son of Hammelech_. See on Jeremiah 36:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Ebed-melech the Ethiopian_ a negro eunuch, attached to the court or harem after the Eastern custom. See on Jeremiah 13:23. _the gate of Benjamin_ See on ch. Jeremiah 37:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. summary to section.... [ Continue Reading ]
_he is like to die_(mg. Heb. _he is dead) in the place where he is because of the famine is dead of hunger on the spot_. Jeremiah was at death's door already, as suffering at once from hunger and from confinement in so dismal a dungeon. If food was almost exhausted, prisoners would naturally be the... [ Continue Reading ]
_thirty men_ The construction of the Heb. numeral is irregular, and we should read THREE, as under the circumstances a more likely number for this duty.... [ Continue Reading ]
_under the treasury_ TO A ROOM UNDER THE TREASURY, a sort of lumber-room. _old cast clouts and old rotten rags_ worn out pieces of torn and ragged garments, to ease the pressure of the ropes.... [ Continue Reading ]
_court of the guard_ See on Jeremiah 32:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the third entry_ not mentioned elsewhere by this name, but perhaps identical with that which in 2 Kings 16:18 is called "the king's entry." Gi. (followed by Du.) by a slight alteration of the MT. gets the meaning _the entry of the body-guard_. Cp. for the king's action ch. Jeremiah 37:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a_. Jeremiah once more tenders solemn advice to the king The section may be summarized as follows. (i) Jeremiah 38:14. Zedekiah again seeks counsel from the prophet, who, after demanding and receiving an assurance of immunity, declares that, if the king surrenders, his life and the city shall be... [ Continue Reading ]
_thou wilt not hearken unto me_ Cp., as illustrating Zedekiah's weakness of character, his words in the next _v_. with those which he had addressed to the princes (Jeremiah 38:5).... [ Continue Reading ]
_that made us this soul_ i.e. that gave us our life (cp. Isaiah 57:16), a form of oath suitable to the occasion when the prophet's life was in danger.... [ Continue Reading ]
_go forth_ surrender thyself. _the king of Babylon's princes_ an intimation that Nebuchadnezzar was not himself at this time in command of the besieging forces. See Jeremiah 39:3; Jeremiah 39:5. 19 28 _A_. See introd. summary to the section.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen away to the Chaldeans_ See on Jeremiah 38:4. These Jews, he fears, if the Chaldaeans delivered him into their hands, would maltreat him for not doing himself as they had done at an earlier period, and so sparing the city the miseries of a siege. Cp. Jeremiah... [ Continue Reading ]
_the word_ viz. the picture of the women which follows. Dr. makes it to be an actual vision on the part of the prophet, and so renders "all the women … were brought forth … while they said, etc.... [ Continue Reading ]
_all the women that are left_ the women of the harem generally, concubines and their attendants. If Zedekiah prove obstinate, these also will join in the reproaches that shall be heaped upon him. _Thy familiar friends, etc_.] lit. as mg. _The men of thy peace_. The women's reproaches are in the Ḳin... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they_ Du. considers this _v_. an insertion, as adding nothing to what has been said already. _thou shalt cause, etc_.] Heb. more forcibly, _thou shalt burn, etc_. This suits the parallelism better. Zedekiah through his obstinacy shall be as much the cause, as if he had set fire to Jerusalem wi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let no man know_ Zedekiah's feebleness is again conspicuous in this and the two following verses. Although the saving of the prophet from conditions likely to prove fatal is not directly mentioned in the narrative as preserved to us, it is far from unlikely that it was one subject of the conversati... [ Continue Reading ]
_I presented my supplication_ See on Jeremiah 36:7. _to Jonathan's house_ See Jeremiah 37:15.... [ Continue Reading ]
_perceived_ mg. _reported_, i.e. the princes were given no further particulars as to the conversation.... [ Continue Reading ]
_of the guard_ See on Jeremiah 32:2.... [ Continue Reading ]