Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
Jer 37:1 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim.
Jer 37:2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
Jer 37:3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray to the LORD our God for us.”
Jer 37:4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.
Jer 37:5 Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
Jer 37:6 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet:
Jer 37:7 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.
Jer 37:8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.’
Jer 37:9 “This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not!
Jer 37:10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”
Jeremiah Imprisoned
Jer 37:11 After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army,
Jer 37:12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there.
Jer 37:13 But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
Jer 37:14 “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.
Jer 37:15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.
Jer 37:16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time.
Jer 37:17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the LORD?” “Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.”
Jer 37:18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison?
Jer 37:19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’?
Jer 37:20 But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”
Jer 37:21 King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
1 The Egyptians having raised the siege of the Chaldeans, king Zedekiah sanded to Jeremiah to pray for the people. 6 Jeremiah prophesied the Chaldeans’ certain return and victory. 11 He is taken for a fugitive, beaten, and put in prison. 16 He assured Zedekiah of the captivity. 18 Intreating for his liberty, he obtained some favour.
1Chapters 37–44 give a continuous account of the later life and fortunes of Jeremiah, beginning with the coming of the last king of Judah to the throne (2 Kings 24:17, 18).
Jeremiah Warns Zedekiah
Jer 37:1 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim.
Zedekiah was a puppet king of the Babylonians, yet at the same time a legitimate heir to the throne. He was no doubt required to take an oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar, but within a few years violated that oath by entering into an alliance with various neighbour nations against Babylon. Zedekiah and his counsellors thus invited the tragedy of 586 b.c.
Jer 37:2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the LORD had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
In view of the history of the latter part of his reign that follows, this is a prefatory statement of the general character of Zedekiah’s rule.
It seems that Zedekiah, personally at least, believed in Jeremiah as a true prophet. Although it is not so stated, the context implies that Jeremiah responded to the king’s request for prayer (v. 3).
At least, according to the record (v. 5), it seems to have been soon after this request that the Egyptian army withdrew from Jerusalem. Somewhat later Zedekiah had a secret interview with the prophet, at which he seems to have revealed at least a secret fear, if not a profound conviction, that Jeremiah was an inspired messenger.
If these observations have validity, it would appear that Zedekiah’s decisions reflect vacillation more than they do outright doubt or unbelief. The readiness with which Zedekiah complied with the request of the princes by casting Jeremiah into the dungeon of Malchiah, only to remove him from the dungeon at the suggestion of one of the royal eunuchs (vs. 7–13), suggests that if Zedekiah had only possessed the courage of his convictions the fate of Jerusalem might have been much different.
Zephaniah. These two men, Jehucal and Zephaniah, were members of the party opposed to Babylon, and so were unfriendly to the prophet (chs. 21:1, 2; 29:25; 38:16).
Lord our God. These words may indicate not only that they were carrying out the king’s command but that they hoped to win Jeremiah to their side by a display of religious zeal for the Lord (see ch. 21:1, 2).
Jer 37:4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.
Jeremiah was not imprisoned until the final siege of Jerusalem, during the 10th year of Zedekiah (see on ch. 32:1, 2), although the siege actually began in his 9th year (ch. 39:1).
Jer 37:5 Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem
This incident was doubtless the outgrowth of the agreement between Hophra (called Apries by the Greeks) and Zedekiah to resist Nebuchadnezzar (see on Eze. 17:15). The Egyptian armies were generally well equipped with chariots and horses (Eze. 17:15; see Isa. 31:1), and capable of carrying out siege operations (Eze. 17:17).
Jer 37:7 “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.
Zedekiah’s appeal for Egyptian help broke his “covenant” with the Chaldeans (Eze. 17:17, 18). The Egyptians’ approach, like Tirhakah’s during the Assyrian invasion (2 Kings 19:9; Isa. 37:9), resulted in nothing more than a temporary suspension of hostilities around Jerusalem.
Jer 37:8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.’
After Nebuchadrezzar repulsed the attempt of Apries he returned to his attack upon Jerusalem, captured it, and utterly destroyed it (2 Kings 25:1–10; 2 Chron. 36:17–19).
Jer 37:9 “This is what the LORD says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not!
Vain were the hopes of the king of Judah and his counsellors that Egypt would be able to save them from the Babylonians.
Jer 37:10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down.”
A graphic figure illustrating the certainty of Jerusalem’s doom. In view of the fast-approaching destruction of the Temple, some of the righteous in Jerusalem determined to place the sacred ark beyond the reach of the ruthless hands of the invading armies (see on ch. 27:19).
The present interlude in the final siege, during which the Babylonians temporarily lifted the siege to meet the threat of an advancing army from Egypt (see on ch. 32:2), afforded these pious men the needed opportunity to hide the ark.
With mourning and sadness, they secretly carried the ark to a safe hiding place in a cave, where it is “yet hidden. It has never been disturbed since it was secreted” (PK 453). Within the ark were the tables of stone on which God had written the Ten Commandments with His own finger (Deut. 10:1–
Jeremiah Imprisoned
Jer 37:11 After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army,
The camp of the Chaldeans was “broken up,” that is, the armies had withdrawn from the siege.
Jer 37:12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there.
Jeremiah considered his work to be done, after long years of faithful ministry, and now he attempted to retire to his home village of Anathoth (see PK 453)
Jer 37:13 But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
This is usually identified with the Sheep Gate in the northeast corner of Jerusalem.
Apparently Irijah’s charge that Jeremiah was guilty of treachery was based upon the supposition that the prophet intended to slip away to the Babylonian camp to join the enemy.
Jer 37:15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.
The raising of the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans because of the Egyptian approach (see on v. 5) undoubtedly strengthened and made more aggressive the anti-Babylonian party.
Jer 37:16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time.
That Jeremiah had a difficult time in his prison cell is hinted at in his later appeal that he be not returned there (see v. 20; ch. 38:26).
Reained there many days. The prophet must have been in this particular dungeon for several weeks. The total length of his final imprisonment was about one year.
Jer 37:17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, “Is there any word from the LORD?” “Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.”
Not approving of the prophet’s harsh treatment, and yet seemingly afraid of his counsellors, the weak-willed Zedekiah “secretly” summoned Jeremiah, still hoping that through the prophet he might receive some favourable “word from the Lord.”
Courageously, and without yielding to the temptation to modify his message in order to escape further persecution from his enemies, the elderly prophet repeats with abrupt sternness his former prediction that Zedekiah would be taken by the Babylonians (see ch. 32:1–5).
Jer 37:19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’?
Jer 37:21 King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
This was in response to Jeremiah’s own request (v. 20). Except during the incident mentioned in ch. 38:6, the prophet remained there in the court of “the king of Judah’s house” (see chs. 32:2; 33:1), which was above ground, with good light and air, till the city was taken by the Babylonians.
piece of bread. Literally, “a round loaf of bread.” The king’s command shows that Jerusalem was already besieged and that the food supply was therefore low.