Jeremiah 40:1

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD after Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had released him at Ramah, having found him bound in chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah who were being exiled to Babylon.²The captain of the guard found Jeremiah and said to him, "The LORD your God decreed this disaster on this place, ³and now the LORD has fulfilled it; He has done just as He said. Because you people have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed His voice, this thing has happened to you. ⁴But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look, the whole land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right for you to go, go there." ⁵But before Jeremiah turned to go, Nebuzaradan told him, "Return to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has appointed over the cities of Judah, and stay with him among the people, or go anywhere else that seems right." Then the captain of the guard gave him a ration and a gift and released him. ⁶So Jeremiah went to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah and stayed with him among the people who were left in the land.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

The word: This, and the four following chapters, record the events which occurred in Judea from the taking of Jerusalem to the retreat of the remnant of the people to Egypt; and contain several prophecies of Jeremiah concerning them there; which were "the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord." It appears that Jeremiah, after being freed from prison, continued among the Jews, till he was bound, with others of them, and carried to Ramah; where he was set a liberty in the manner related.

after: Jeremiah 39:11-14

Ramah: Jeremiah 31:15, Joshua 18:25, 1 Samuel 7:17

bound: Psalms 68:6, Psalms 107:16, Acts 12:6, Acts 12:7, Acts 21:13, Acts 28:20, Ephesians 6:20, *marg.

chains: or, manacles

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 25:8 - Nebuzaradan Jeremiah 39:9 - Nebuzaradan Jeremiah 39:14 - took Ezekiel 7:23 - a chain

Cross-References

Genesis 40:13
Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh's cup into his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer.

Genesis 40:20
On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

Genesis 40:23
The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.

Esther 6:1
That night, sleep escaped the king; so he ordered the book of records, the chronicles, to be brought in and read to him.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord,.... The word of prophecy, as the Targum; but there being no prophecy in this and the following chapter, only a narration of facts, this is generally referred to what came ten days after, and which begins Jeremiah 42:7; so Jarchi and Kimchi; all between being included in a parenthesis, or a relation of facts preparatory, to lead on to it; though Abarbinel takes it to be a general title to all histories and prophecies in this book, from henceforward to the end of it. Jarchi and Kimchi make mention of a Midrash, which refers it to the special word of the Lord to Jeremiah to go to Gedaliah, Jeremiah 40:5; interpreting that passage as the words of the Lord, and not of Nebuzaradan; but Abarbinel's sense seems best. The time of this prophecy was

after that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had let him go from Ramah; which was a city in the land of Benjamin near Gibeon, seven miles from Jerusalem, as Jerom q says; here Nebuzaradan had his rendezvous, whither he brought his captives as they fell into his hands, among whom were Jeremiah:

when he had taken him; out of the court of the prison, and out of Jerusalem, and brought him to Ramah:

being bound in chains among all them that were carried away captive of Jerusalem and Judah, that were carried away captive unto Babylon; how it came to pass is not certain, but so it was; that, though by the orders of Nebuzaradan and the princes, agreeably to the command of the king of Babylon, Jeremiah was taken out of the court of the prison, yet was not set free; but without the knowledge of Nebuzaradan, and through the inadvertency of inferior officers, he was taken and bound, and with other prisoners brought to Ramah, in order to be transported to Babylon, which lay in the way to it; for Ramah was to the north of Jerusalem, as Babylon was: these chains were for the hands, or what we call handcuffs, as Kimchi, Abarbinel, and Ben Melech observe, and as appears from Jeremiah 40:4.

q Comment in Hos. v. 8,

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

As what follows is mainly a historical narrative, it seems that the title “The word ...” was appropriate not merely to a prediction of the future, but to an account of the past, if written by a prophet. The Jews regarded history as inspired if written by a seer, and thus their historical books are called “the early prophets.”

Ramah - Probably all the prisoners of note were collected at Ramah indiscriminately, and examined there.

Bound in chains - The prisoners were probably fastened together in couples by one hand, and a rope passed down the center to bind them in a long line, and prevent attempts at escape.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XL

This and the four following chapters contain a distinct account

of what passed in the land of Judah from the taking of

Jerusalem to the retreat of the remnant of the people to Egypt;

together with the prophecies of Jeremiah concerning that place,

whither he himself accompanied them. In this chapter we have an

account of the enlargement of Jeremiah by Nebuzar-adan, the

captain of the guard, who advises him to put himself under the

jurisdiction of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of

Babylon had made governor over the land of Judea, 1-5.

The prophet and many of the dispersed Jews repair to Gedaliah,

6-12.

Johanan acquaints the governor of a conspiracy against him, but

is not believed, 13-16.

NOTES ON CHAP. XL.

Verse Jeremiah 40:1. The word that came to Jeremiah — This and the four following chapters contain a particular account of what passed in the land of Judea from the taking of the city to the retreat of the people into Egypt, and the prophecies of Jeremiah concerning them there.

Had let him go from Ramah — This has embarrassed most of the commentators. Dr. Blayney has thrown much light upon it by his translation and note:-

"The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that Nebu-Zaradan captain of the guards had taken him, and let him go from Ramah: for he had been bound with chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon."

"HAD TAKEN HIM, AND LET HIM GO. - Most interpreters have understood בקחתו אתו bekachto otho of Nebuchadnezzar's having first taken Jeremiah as a captive unto Ramah. But if the order of the sentence be well observed, as well as the more common use of the verb לקח lakach, it will, I think, rather appear that those words relate to his taking or having him brought to him, in order to give him his discharge."