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
Jeremiah 38:13, Jeremiah 15:20, Jeremiah 15:21, Jeremiah 37:21, Jeremiah 39:14, Psalms 23:4, 2 Timothy 3:11, 2 Timothy 4:17, 2 Timothy 4:18
Reciprocal: 2 Kings 24:19 - And he did Jeremiah 29:26 - that thou Jeremiah 33:1 - he Jeremiah 36:5 - General Lamentations 3:59 - thou hast Hebrews 11:36 - bonds
Gill's Notes on the Bible
So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison,.... Where he was ordered to be by the king, before he was cast into the dungeon, and where he was replaced by Ebedmelech; and which was now confirmed by the king, and here he continued:
until the day that Jerusalem was taken; but how long it was from his conversation with the king, to the taking of the city, is not certain:
and he was [there] when Jerusalem was taken; as appears from
Jeremiah 39:14. Kimchi connects this with the beginning of the next chapter; and so the Targum, rendering it,
"and it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken;''
namely, what is related in the following chapter.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
And he was there when ... - These words are altered by some to “and it came to pass when” etc., and taken to form the opening of Jeremiah 39:0.
