Jeremiah 38:17

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹⁴Then King Zedekiah sent for Jeremiah the prophet and received him at the third entrance that is in the house of the LORD. "I am going to ask you something," said the king to Jeremiah. "Do not hide anything from me." ¹⁵"If I tell you," Jeremiah replied, "will you not surely put me to death? And even if I did give you advice, you would not listen to me." ¹⁶But King Zedekiah swore to Jeremiah secretly, "As surely as the LORD lives, who has given us this life, I will not kill you or hand you over to these men who are seeking your life." ¹⁷Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, "This is what the LORD, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: 'If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive.¹⁸But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then this city will be handed over to the Chaldeans. They will burn it down, and you yourself will not escape their grasp.'" ¹⁹But King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "I am afraid of the Jews who have deserted to the Chaldeans, for the Chaldeans may hand me over to them to abuse me." ²⁰"They will not hand you over," Jeremiah replied. "Obey the voice of the LORD in what I am telling you, so it may go well with you and you may live. ²¹But if you refuse to surrender, this is the word that the LORD has shown me: ²²All the women who remain in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and those women will say: 'They misled you and overcame you-those trusted friends of yours. Your feet sank into the mire, and they deserted you.'" ²³All your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans. And you yourself will not escape their grasp, for you will be seized by the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned down.'

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the God of hosts: Psalms 80:7, Psalms 80:14, Amos 5:27

the God of Israel: 1 Chronicles 17:24, Ezra 9:4

If thou: Jeremiah 38:2, Jeremiah 7:6, Jeremiah 7:7, Jeremiah 21:8-10, Jeremiah 27:12, Jeremiah 27:17, Jeremiah 39:3, Job 23:13

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 24:12 - Jehoiachin 2 Kings 24:20 - Zedekiah Jeremiah 21:4 - Behold Jeremiah 21:9 - that abideth Jeremiah 27:8 - that nation Jeremiah 29:16 - General Jeremiah 37:13 - Thou Jeremiah 40:9 - Fear Ezekiel 17:14 - but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand Zephaniah 3:7 - so

Cross-References

Genesis 38:20
Now when Judah sent his friend Hirah the Adullamite with the young goat to collect the items he had left with the woman, he could not find her.

Genesis 38:24
About three months later, Judah was told, "Your daughter-in-law Tamar has prostituted herself, and now she is pregnant." "Bring her out!" Judah replied. "Let her be burned to death!"

Genesis 38:25
As she was being brought out, Tamar sent a message to her father-in-law: "I am pregnant by the man to whom these items belong." And she added, "Please examine them. Whose seal and cord and staff are these?"

Proverbs 20:16
Take the garment of the one who posts security for a stranger; get collateral if it is for a wayward woman.

Ezekiel 16:33
Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.

Luke 16:8
The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah,.... Being thus indemnified and secured by the king's word and oath, he proceeds freely to lay before the king the whole matter as from the Lord:

thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; the prophet does not give the following advice in his own name, but in the name of the eternal Jehovah, the Lord of armies above and below, and who had a special regard to the people of Israel, and their welfare; and therefore it became the king to show the more regard unto it:

if thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes; the generals of his army, whose names are mentioned, Jeremiah 39:3; the king not being with his army at this time, but at Riblah, Jeremiah 39:5; the meaning is, if he would open the gates of Jerusalem, and go forth from thence to the Chaldean army, and surrender himself and the city into the hands of the princes in it, and general officers of it:

then thy soul shall live; in thy body, and not be separated from it; or live comfortably, in peace and safety, though not in so much splendour and glory as he had done:

and this city shall not be burned with fire; as had been threatened; and as the Chaldeans would be provoked to do, should it hold out to the last extremity; but should preserve it upon a surrender:

and thou shall live, and thine house; not only himself, but his wives and children, and servants.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

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, in Syria, Jeremiah 39:5; Jeremiah 39:6.