Jeremiah 38:20

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

Obey: Jeremiah 26:13, 2 Chronicles 20:20, Daniel 4:27, Acts 26:29, 2 Corinthians 5:11, 2 Corinthians 5:20, 2 Corinthians 6:1, Philemon 1:8-10, James 1:22

and thy: Isaiah 55:3

Reciprocal: Jeremiah 15:19 - let them Jeremiah 27:13 - Why Ephesians 4:1 - beseech

Cross-References

Genesis 20:9
Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, "What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done."

Leviticus 19:17
You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him.

Judges 14:20
and his wife was given to one of the men who had accompanied him.

2 Samuel 13:3
Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab, the son of David's brother Shimeah. Jonadab was a very shrewd man,

Luke 23:12
That day Herod and Pilate became friends; before this time they had been enemies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But Jeremiah said, they shall not deliver [thee],.... To take off the above excuse, or remove that objection, the prophet assures the king that the Chaldeans would never deliver him into the hands of the Jews; he might depend upon it, it would never be done:

obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee; the counsel he had given him, to surrender to the Chaldeans, was not from himself, but from the Lord: and though he had no express order to give it at that time, yet it was what was agreeable to the will of God, and what he had exhorted the people to in the beginning of this chapter; and therefore, since it came from the Lord, as it ought to be attended to, so he might be assured of the divine protection, should he act according to it:

so it shall be well with thee, and thy soul shall live; that is, it would not only be much better with him than he feared, but than it would be with him should he obstinately stand out to the last; he should have more respect and honour from the king of Babylon; and not only have his life spared, but enjoy more of the comforts of life; particularly the sight of his eyes, which he lost when taken.