Jeremiah 38:4

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard the words Jeremiah was telling all the people: ²"This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword, famine, and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live. He will escape with his life as a reward and will live. ³This is what the LORD says: This city will surely be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it." ⁴Then the officials said to the king, "This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin."⁵"Here he is," replied King Zedekiah. "He is in your hands, since the king can do nothing to stop you." ⁶So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud. ⁷Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, ⁸Ebed-melech went out from the king's palace and said to the king, ⁹"My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have dropped him into the cistern, where he will starve to death, for there is no more bread in the city." ¹⁰So the king commanded Ebed-melech the Cushite, "Take thirty men from here with you and pull Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the princes: Jeremiah 26:11, Jeremiah 26:21-23, Jeremiah 36:12-16, 2 Chronicles 24:21, Ezekiel 22:27, Micah 3:1-3, Zephaniah 3:1-3

thus: Exodus 5:4, 1 Kings 18:17, 1 Kings 18:18, 1 Kings 21:20, Ezra 4:12, Nehemiah 6:9, Amos 7:10, Luke 23:2, John 11:46-50, Acts 16:20, Acts 17:6, Acts 24:5, Acts 28:22

welfare: Heb. peace, Jeremiah 29:7

Reciprocal: Numbers 16:41 - Ye have 1 Kings 13:4 - Lay hold 1 Kings 22:8 - good 2 Kings 6:31 - if the head 2 Chronicles 18:7 - good 2 Chronicles 36:14 - all the chief Ezra 4:4 - weakened Job 31:34 - Did I Isaiah 30:10 - say Jeremiah 12:5 - canst Jeremiah 26:10 - the princes Jeremiah 32:3 - Wherefore Jeremiah 34:10 - when Jeremiah 37:13 - Thou Jeremiah 38:22 - Thy friends Jeremiah 38:25 - General Jeremiah 43:3 - to deliver Jeremiah 44:16 - we Lamentations 3:52 - chased Ezekiel 22:9 - men that carry tales Habakkuk 1:4 - for Mark 12:3 - they Luke 20:10 - beat John 11:53 - put Acts 4:17 - let Acts 5:28 - intend Acts 25:3 - desired Revelation 11:10 - these

Cross-References

Genesis 46:12
The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.

Numbers 26:19
The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Therefore the princes said unto the king,.... The four princes mentioned in Jeremiah 38:1, having heard what Jeremiah said to the people, laid the case before the king, and addressed him upon it in the following manner:

we beseech thee, let this man be put to death; or,

"let this man now be put to death,''

as the Targum. They speak very disrespectfully of the prophet, him "this man"; and with great authority to the and not in a submissive supplicating way, as we render it; the king, being in distress, was in their hands; he stood in fear of them, and could do nothing against their will and pleasure; and they urge that he might die instantly; they were for taking away his life at once. The reason they give follows:

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 to them; dispirited the soldiers who were set for the defence of the city, such of them as were left, who were not taken off by the sword, famine, or pestilence; since, if what Jeremiah said was true, all attempts to defend it must be in vain; and the people be without any hope of being delivered out of the hands of the enemy:

for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt; than which nothing was more false; for the prophet foreseeing that their lives were in danger, through the sword, famine, or pestilence, by continuing in the city, advised them to go out of it, and surrender to the Chaldeans, whereby they would be preserved.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For thus ... - Because he makes the men of war dispirited. No doubt this was true. Jeremiah, however, did not speak as a private person, but as the representative of the government; the temporal ruler in a theocracy being responsible directly to God.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Jeremiah 38:4. Let this man be put to death — And they gave their reasons plain enough: but the proof was wanting.