Jeremiah 37:1-21
1 And 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.
2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake bya the prophet Jeremiah.
3 And 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.
4 Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not put him into prison.
5 Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem.
6 Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying,
7 Thus 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.
8 And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire.
9 Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves,b saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart.
10 For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but woundedc men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.
11 And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army,
12 Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separated himself thence in the midst of the people.
13 And 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.
14 Then said Jeremiah, It is false;e I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
15 Wherefore 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.
16 When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins,f and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
17 Then 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.
18 Moreover 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?
19 Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?
20 Therefore 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.
21 Then 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.
Jeremiah and Zedekiah and the Fall of Jerusalem (37-39)
CHAPTER 37
1. Jeremiah's warning (Jeremiah 37:1)
2. Jeremiah's arrest (Jeremiah 37:11)
Jeremiah 37:1. To understand more fully these Chapter s it must be remembered that the besieging army before the gates of Jerusalem was temporarily withdrawn, because an Egyptian army had appeared against it. This was no doubt an occasion for the false prophets to preach their false hope, so that the people were deceived. Once more Zedekiah sent to the prophet a deputation (Jeremiah 21:1) after Nebuchadnezzar had made him king. The occasion was on account of the withdrawal of the Chaldean army (Jeremiah 37:5). They thought that it was surely a good sign and expected a favorable message. The false hope with which they were deceiving themselves was swept away by the word of Jehovah as it came to the prophet (Jeremiah 37:7). There was no hope and after Zedekiah had rebelled (see our annotations on 2 Kings 24:1; 2 Kings 25:1, the king of Babylon came and burnt the city with fire.
Jeremiah 37:11. When the Chaldean army had left, Jeremiah went forth to go to his hometown Anathoth, for what is not revealed. He may have gone to claim his portion which belonged to him as priest. When, in the gate of Benjamin a captain arrested him, charging the prophet with desertion, he denied the charge. Such a charge could easily be made on account of Jeremiah's former exhortation to submit to the Chaldeans. He is put in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; but later the dungeon is changed to the court of the prison. (See the annotations to Jeremiah 32:2 .)
We give a diagram which illustrates the chronology of the siege of Jerusalem and the fall of the city.
I. The Siege begun in the ninth year
Jeremiah 39:1 ...................................................Siege begun
Jeremiah 34:10 .............................Manumission of slaves
II. The Siege raised temporarily in the ninth or tenth year
Jeremiah 37:3 ============Jeremiah 21:1 ........Jeremiah consulted by deputies from the king.
Jeremiah 34:8 ........................Re-enthralment of slaves.
Jeremiah 37:11 ...........................................Jeremiah seized, and imprisoned in Jonathan's house.
III. The Siege renewed in the ninth or tenth year
Jeremiah 37:17 =Jeremiah 32:1 = Jeremiah 34:1 Jeremiah brought in tenth year to be secretly consulted by the king: put afterwards in court of guard.
Jeremiah 32:6 Field bought by Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 33:1 Further prophecy in court of guard.
Jeremiah 38:1 =Jeremiah 21:8 .Jeremiah advises people to desert to Chaldeans.
Jeremiah 38:4 .Jeremiah put in miry dungeon.
Jeremiah 38:7 .Jeremiah restored by Ebed-melech to court of guard.
Jeremiah 38:14 .Jeremiah consulted by king in third entry of Temple: remanded to court of guard.
IV. The Siege ended in the eleventh year
Jeremiah 39:1 .City taken and destroyed.