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The Prophets · Old Testament

Jeremiah 38

Jeremiah 38: the mire, Ebed-melech's rescue and Zedekiah's last question

General context

Four princes hear Jeremiah telling the people that whoever stays in the city will die by sword, famine and pestilence, while whoever goes out to the Chaldeans will live. They ask the king to put him to death for weakening the soldiers, and Zedekiah says the man is in their hands. They lower Jeremiah by cords into the dungeon of Malchiah, where there is no water but mire, and he sinks. Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king's house, goes to the king at the gate of Benjamin and says these men have done evil and Jeremiah will die of hunger, since the city has no more bread. The king orders him to take thirty men and lift Jeremiah out. Ebed-melech lowers old rags by cords, tells Jeremiah to put them under his arms, and the men draw him up; he stays in the court of the prison. Zedekiah then brings him to the third entry of the Lord's house and asks him to hide nothing. Jeremiah asks whether the king will kill him or ignore him; Zedekiah swears secretly not to. Jeremiah says that if the king goes out to the king of Babylon's princes he and the city will live, but if not the city will be burned and he will not escape. Zedekiah says he fears mockery from the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans. Jeremiah answers that they will not hand him over, and describes the palace women led out and taunting a king whose feet are sunk in the mire. Zedekiah orders secrecy and supplies a cover story about Jonathan's house. The princes ask, Jeremiah answers as instructed, and he remains in the court of the prison until Jerusalem is taken.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 38:1, Jeremiah 38:2, Jeremiah 38:4, Jeremiah 38:5, Jeremiah 38:6, Jeremiah 38:7, Jeremiah 38:9, Jeremiah 38:10, Jeremiah 38:11, Jeremiah 38:12, Jeremiah 38:13, Jeremiah 38:14, Jeremiah 38:15, Jeremiah 38:16, Jeremiah 38:17, Jeremiah 38:18, Jeremiah 38:19, Jeremiah 38:20, Jeremiah 38:22, Jeremiah 38:24, Jeremiah 38:26, Jeremiah 38:27, Jeremiah 38:28

Jeremiah 38 (KJV)

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,

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.

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

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.

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

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.

7Now when Ebed-melech 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;

8Ebed-melech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying,

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.

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

11So Ebed-melech 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.

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

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 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.

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 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.

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:

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.

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.

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 thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the Lord hath shewed me:

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.

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.

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

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:

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.

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

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

Gedaliah the son of Pashur, one of the accusing princes, is a different man from Gedaliah the son of Ahikam who later governs the land. Two men named Pashur act in the book's narrative, Pashur the son of Immer, who put Jeremiah in the stocks, and Pashur the son of Malchiah here; Gedaliah's father Pashur is not further identified. Jucal the son of Shelemiah appears as Jehucal in the previous chapter. The dungeon belongs to Malchiah "the son of Hammelech," the same designation given to Jerahmeel in chapter 36; the text does not connect the two men further. Ebed-melech is identified as an Ethiopian and a eunuch of the king's house, and the next chapter records a promise that he will be delivered for his trust. The offer to Zedekiah, life for going out to the Chaldeans, repeats the terms given to the people in chapter 21. Jeremiah's answer to the princes repeats a real plea he made in chapter 37, and the narrator reports it as what the king commanded without further comment. The final verse fixes Jeremiah's location at the fall of Jerusalem, which chapter 39 narrates.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 38:1, Jeremiah 39:14, Jeremiah 20:1, Jeremiah 37:3, Jeremiah 38:6, Jeremiah 36:26, Jeremiah 38:7, Jeremiah 39:18, Jeremiah 21:9, Jeremiah 37:20, Jeremiah 38:27, Jeremiah 38:28

Literary context

The chapter is framed by the court of the prison, where Jeremiah is at the start, after the rescue and at the end. The descent and ascent by cords are told with physical detail, the mire, the thirty men, the old rags under the arms, and the mire returns in the women's taunt that Jeremiah reports, so the king's fate is pictured in the prophet's own pit. Zedekiah is shown as fearful in two directions, unable to resist his princes and afraid of the Jews who have deserted, and he swears an oath in secret and then demands secrecy. The king's "hide nothing from me" is answered later by his own "Let no man know of these words." Jeremiah sets conditions before he speaks, drawing on his own recent treatment. The choice offered to the king is stated twice in parallel, go forth and live, refuse and burn, and its outcome is left open until the next chapter. The princes' interrogation ends with the narrator's remark that the matter was not perceived.

Cited passages: Jeremiah 38:6, Jeremiah 38:13, Jeremiah 38:28, Jeremiah 38:22, Jeremiah 38:5, Jeremiah 38:19, Jeremiah 38:14, Jeremiah 38:24, Jeremiah 38:15, Jeremiah 38:17, Jeremiah 38:23, Jeremiah 38:27

Key moments

  1. Stay and die, go out and live (Jeremiah 38:2). Jeremiah's public word provokes the princes to seek his death.
  2. The king yields (Jeremiah 38:5). Zedekiah says he can do nothing against his princes.
  3. Sunk in the mire (Jeremiah 38:6). Jeremiah is lowered into a dungeon with no water but mire and sinks in it.
  4. Ebed-melech speaks up (Jeremiah 38:9). The Ethiopian eunuch tells the king that Jeremiah will die of hunger.
  5. Drawn up with cords (Jeremiah 38:13). Thirty men lift Jeremiah out using rags under his arms.
  6. The choice put to the king (Jeremiah 38:17). Going out to Babylon's princes means life for Zedekiah and the city.
  7. Let no man know (Jeremiah 38:24). Zedekiah demands secrecy and supplies a cover story for the princes.

For reflection

Zedekiah says he is afraid of being mocked by those who already went over to the Chaldeans. How much can fear of ridicule decide, and what does Jeremiah set against it?

People in this chapter

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