Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

Into the third entry - A place to enter which two others must be passed through.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The third entry - There was probably a passage from the palace to the temple at this entry, and the meeting would take place in some private chamber close by.

Coffman Commentaries on the Bible

PRIVATE MEETING OF ZEDEKIAH AND JEREMIAH

"Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of Jehovah: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me. Then Jeremiah said, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, thou wilt not hearken unto me. So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, as Jehovah liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life."

"The third entry into the house of Jehovah ..." (Jeremiah 38:14). Nothing is definitely known about this entry into the temple. "It was probably an entry from the palace into the temple; and it must have been a private place, else it would not have been chosen for this interview."[13]

"As Jehovah liveth, that made us this soul ..." (Jeremiah 38:16). "This very unusual addition to the formula of a oath was no doubt intended to strengthen it ... For the usual formula, see 1 Samuel 20:3; 25:16."[14] By his acknowledgment here that God had made his soul, Zedekiah also implied his belief that God continued to have power over it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Then Zedekiah the king sent and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him,.... When the prophet was taken out of the dungeon, and brought to the court of the prison, of which the king had knowledge, he sent some person or persons to bring him to him, to have some private conversation with him:

into the third entry that is in the house of the Lord; what place is meant Jarchi confesses his ignorance of, but conjectures it was the court of the Israelites; the outward court, and the court of the women, being before it. Kimchi rightly takes it to be a place through which they went from the king's house to the house of the Lord; no doubt the same that is called the king's ascent, by which he went up thither, shown to, and admired by, the queen of Sheba, 1 Kings 10:5; in which there were three gates or entrances, as Dr. Lightfoot observes^F25Temple-Service, c. 33. p. 2028. ; the first, the gate of the foundation; the second, the gate behind the guard; and the third, the gate Coponius; and here the king and the prophet had their interview:

and the king said to Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing, or "a word"; a word of prophecy; or whether there was a word of prophecy from the Lord, concerning him, his people, and city, and what it was; and what would be the event of the present siege, whether it would issue well or ill:

hide nothing from me; be it what it will, whether grateful or not; he had been told again and again how things would be; but still he was in hopes that something more favourable and consolatory would come from the Lord to him.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

third entry — The Hebrews in determining the position of places faced the east, which they termed “that which is in front”; the south was thus called “that which is on the right hand”; the north, “that which is on the left hand”; the west, “that which is behind.” So beginning with the east they might term it the first or principal entry; the south the second entry; the north the “third entry” of the outer or inner court [Maurer]. The third gate of the temple facing the palace; for through it the entrance lay from the palace into the temple (1 Kings 10:5, 1 Kings 10:12). It was westward (1 Chronicles 26:16, 1 Chronicles 26:18; 2 Chronicles 9:11) [Grotius]. But in the future temple it is eastward (Ezekiel 46:1, Ezekiel 46:2, Ezekiel 46:8).

John Trapp Complete Commentary

Jeremiah 38:14 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that [is] in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.

Ver. 14. Then Zedekiah … took Jeremiah into the third entry.] Which was right over against the king’s house. This wretched king was so overawed by his counsellors that he dared not advise with God’s prophet in their presence, or with their privity.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

That is in the house of the Lord: some think that this were better translated, that is near the house of the Lord, and that this third entry, or principal entry, was that ascent out of the king’s house into the temple mentioned 1 Kings 10:5, which was one of the things the queen of Sheba admired; for it is hardly probable that Jeremiah being in a prison within the compass of the king’s house, the king should, especially at such a time, go out of his house to so public a place as the temple, for a private conference with the prophet. The king desires him faithfully to tell him what he knew in a business he should inquire of him.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

JEREMIAH’S SUBSEQUENT CONFERENCE WITH THE KING, Jeremiah 38:14-28.

14.Then Zedekiah, etc. — The imbecile and helpless king oscillated betwixt the prophet and the princes. The overshadowing peril and his own sense of helplessness forbade him to be at rest.

Third entry — Nothing is known of this passage way, but Keil and others conjecture that it may have been an enclosed space leading from the palace to the temple. Hence it might be a convenient place for a private interview.

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable

Shortly after this event, Zedekiah had Jeremiah brought to him at one of the temple entrances, possibly the king"s private entrance (cf. 2 Kings 16:18). He told the prophet that he was going to ask him a question and he wanted a straight answer.

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments

Jeremiah 38:14. Then Zedekiah sent, &c. — Here we have an account of the honour which the king did the prophet after he was fetched out of the dungeon: he sent for him to advise with him privately what measures it would be best to take in the present calamitous state of public affairs. The interview took place in the third entry in, or leading toward, or adjoining to, the house of the Lord. Dr. Lightfoot explains this of the third passage or gate which lay between the king’s palace, where the prison was, and the temple, whither the king now retreated for fear of the Chaldean army. And the king said, I will ask thee a thing — Hebrew, שׁאל אני דבר, I am asking thee a word, namely, of prediction, counsel, or comfort, a word from the Lord, Jeremiah 37:17. Whatever word thou hast for me, hide it not from me — Let me know the worst. He had been plainly told what would be the issue of the measures they were pursuing; but, like Balaam, he asks again, in hopes to get a more pleasing answer; as if God, who is in one mind, were altogether such a one as himself, who was in many minds.

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Third, or officers of the guard's gate, leading from the palace to the temple, 4 Kings xi. 19. (Calmet) --- Hebrew hashelishi; (Haydock) the third denotes also an officer of the army.

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

Then, &c. This is the last picture of Zedekiah, and the house of Judah.

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Unabridged

Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the LORD: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.

Zedekiah the king ... took Jeremiah ... unto him into the third entry. The Hebrews in determining the position of places faced the east, which they termed 'that which is in front;' the south was thus called 'that which is on the right hand;' the north, 'that which is on the left hand;' the west, 'that which is behind.' So, beginning with the east, they might term it the first or principal entry; the south the second entry; the north the "third entry" of the outer or inner court (Maurer) - the third gate of the temple facing the palace; for through it the entrance lay from the palace into the temple (1 Kings 10:5; 1 Kings 10:12). It was westward (1 Chronicles 26:16; 1 Chronicles 26:18; 2 Chronicles 9:11). (Grotius.) But in the future temple it is eastward (Ezekiel 46:1-2; Ezekiel 46:8.).

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(14) The third entry that is in the house of the Lord.—In 2 Kings 16:18 we read of” the king’s entry without,” an outside entrance, and of “a covert,” or covered gallery, both leading from the palace to the Temple. The passage now mentioned (the name does not occur elsewhere) was probably distinct from both these, leading from the lower city, and may therefore have been chosen by Zedekiah as a more suitable place for a private interview with the prophet. It seems probable from 2 Kings 23:11, that there was a chamber for the chief Eunuch, or chamberlain of the king’s household, and if, it may have been arranged by Ebed-melech that the meeting should take place there. As in Jeremiah 37:17, the king has still a secret respect for Jeremiah’s mission, and, it may be, guided now by the Eunuch’s better counsels, hankers after a word of the Lord from him. Will the prophet, after what has passed, tell him the whole truth?

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

sent

21:1,2; 37:17

third

or, principal.

1 Kings 10:5; 2 Kings 16:18

I will

42:2-5,20; 1 Samuel 3:17,18; 1 Kings 22:16; 2 Chronicles 18:15

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Here is added another narrative, — that King Zedekiah again sent for Jeremiah to come to him in the Temple, that is, in the court of the Temple; for it was not lawful for the king to enter into the Sanctuary, and the court is often called the Temple. But there were, as it is well known, many entrances. The largest gate was towards the east, but there were gates on the other sides. The court also had several parts, separated from each other. Then Zedekiah, that he might speak privately to Jeremiah, came to the third entrance of the court, and there he asked the Prophet faithfully to explain to him what he had received from God.

There is no doubt but that Zedekiah in course of time entertained a higher regard for Jeremiah as God’s faithful servant. Yet he was not, as we have said, really attentive to the teaching of the Prophet. Hence the mind of the king was in a dubious state, like those hypocrites, who, having some seed of God’s fear remaining in them, fluctuate and continually change, and have nothing solid and fixed. They dare not, indeed, to despise either God or his servants; nay, they acknowledge that they are under God’s authority, and that his word is not evanescent; and yet they make evasions as much as they can, and seek to change, as it were, the nature of God. Such was the character of Zedekiah. For he was not one of those who grossly and openly despise God, as we see at this day, the world being full of Epicureans, who regard religion as a fable. Such, then, was not Zedekiah, but he retained some fear of God; nay, he even shewed regard for the Prophet; and yet he was unwilling to submit to God, and to follow the counsels of the Prophet. He was, therefore, suspended, as it were, between two opinions. But it is probable that he entertained some hope, because he had saved the life of Jeremiah. he might, then, have thought that God was pacified, or that he would remit in some degree his severity, as hypocrites always flatter themselves. For if they do the least thing, they think that they merit some favor, I know not what, at God’s hand. Hence Zedekiah, when he had relieved the holy Prophet, and fed him during the greatest scarcity, thought that this service was acceptable to God; and it was in part acceptable; but he was mistaken in thinking this to be a kind of expiation. Hence then it was that he sent for the Prophet; he expected some favorable answer, even that God’s wrath was pacified, or at least mitigated. But we must defer the rest till to-morrow.