CHAPTER XXXVIII _The princes of Judah, taking offense at Jeremiah on account of_ _his predicting the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by_ _the Chaldeans, cause him to be cast into a deep and miry_ _dungeon_, 1-6. _Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian, gets the king's permission to take_ _him out_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:3. _THIS CITY SHALL SURELY BE GIVEN_] This was a testimony that be constantly bore: he had the authority of God for it. He knew it was true, and he never wavered nor equivocated.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:4. _LET THIS MAN BE PUT TO DEATH_] And they gave their reasons plain enough: but the _proof_ was wanting.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:5. _HE_ IS _IN YOUR HAND_] Ye have power to do as you please; I must act by your counsel. Poor weak prince! you respect the prophet, you fear the cabal, and you sacrifice an innocent man to your own weakness and their malice!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:6. _SO JEREMIAH SUNK IN THE MIRE._] Their obvious design was, that he might be stifled in that place.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:7. _EBED-MELECH_] _The servant of the king_, one of the eunuchs who belonged to the palace. Perhaps it should be read, "Now, a servant of the king, a Cushite, one of the eunuchs," c. _THE KING THEN SITTING IN THE GATE OF BENJAMIN_] To give audience, and to administer justice. We h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:9. _MY LORD THE KING, THESE MEN HAVE DONE EVIL_] He must have been much in the king's confidence, and a humane and noble spirited man, thus to have raised his voice against the powerful cabal already mentioned. THERE IS _NO MORE BREAD IN THE CITY._] They had defended it to the las... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:10. _TAKE FROM HENCE THIRTY MEN_] The king was determined that he should be rescued by force, if the princes opposed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:11. _WENT INTO THE HOUSE OF THE KING - AND TOOK THENCE_] The eastern kings had their wardrobes always well furnished; as garments were a usual present to ambassadors, c. I cannot think that, in the proper acceptation of the words, these were in any part of the king's house. _OLD C... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:14. _INTO THE THIRD ENTRY_] A place to enter which two others must be passed through.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:16. _AS THE LORD LIVETH, THAT MADE US THIS SOUL_] He is the _living_ God, and he is the Author of that _life_ which each of us possesses; and as sure as he _lives_, and we _live_ by him, I will not put thee to _death_, nor give thee into the hands of those men who seek thy _life_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:17. _WILT ASSUREDLY GO_] On the king's obedience to the advice of the prophet the safety of the city depended. _UNTO THE KING OF BABYLON'S PRINCES_] The generals of the army then returning to the siege from the defeat of the Egyptians; for Nebuchadnezzar himself was then at Riblah... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:19. _THEY MOCK ME._] Insult me, and exhibit me in triumph.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:22. _ALL THE WOMEN - BROUGHT FORTH_] I think this place speaks of a kind of defection among the women of the harem; many of whom had already _gone forth_ privately to the principal officers of the Chaldean army, and made the report mentioned in the end of this verse. These were the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:23. _THEY SHALL BRING OUT ALL THY WIVES AND THY CHILDREN_] These were the women of the _first rank_, by whom the king had children. These had no temptation to go out to the Chaldeans, nor would they have been made welcome; but the others being young, and without children, would be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:26. _I PRESENTED MY SUPPLICATION_] This was telling the _truth_, and _nothing_ but the truth, but not the _whole_ truth. The king did not wish him to defile his conscience, nor did he propose any thing that was not consistent with the truth.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 38:27. _THE MATTER WAS NOT PERCEIVED._] They did not question him farther; and the king's commandment to remove him from the house of Jonathan being well known, they took for granted that they had all the information that they sought. And he was most certainly not obliged to relate an... [ Continue Reading ]