Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 38:5

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 38:5. He is in your hand — Ye have power to do as you please; I must act by your counsel. Poor weak prince! you respect the prophet, you fear the cabal, and you sacrifice an innocent man to your own weakness and their malice!

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Jeremiah’s escape from death (38:1-28)

The chief officials in Jerusalem were a powerful group. They hated Jeremiah for his unchanging message of ‘submit to Babylon or perish’, and they managed to force the king to hand over Jeremiah to them for execution (38:1-5). They dropped him into a filthy disused well and left him there to die (6).
There was, however, in Zedekiah’s court an African who had risen to a position of responsibility and who was favourable to Jeremiah. In an action that showed considerable courage, the man pleaded with the king on Jeremiah’s behalf (7-9). The result was that he was able to change the weak king’s mind, rescue the prophet from the well and return him to his temporary prison accommodation in the palace barracks (10-13; cf. 37:21).
The king sent for Jeremiah to question him again about the city’s future. Jeremiah agreed to talk only after gaining the king’s assurance that he would not be unjustly treated again (14-16).
Jeremiah’s message, however, was no more encouraging than it had been previously. Zedekiah’s only hope was to surrender to Babylon (17-18; cf. 37:17). Zedekiah feared that if he surrendered, he might receive disgraceful treatment from his people (19). Jeremiah replied that if he did not repent he would still receive disgraceful treatment from his people, and from the Babylonians as well. The helpless Judean women, raped by enemy soldiers and officials, would in bitterness blame Zedekiah for their plight, because he had been so easily deceived by his advisers (20-23).
Zedekiah and Jeremiah agreed not to reveal the content of their conversation to the king’s officials, who were still plotting to kill Jeremiah. In this way Jeremiah escaped death, though he was still kept under military guard at the palace barracks (24-28).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“And Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king is not he that can do anything against you. Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.”

As noted above, this is impossible to reconcile as a variable account of that same imprisonment where Jeremiah stayed “for many days.” Why don’t the critics tell us which account is true, and which is false? The answer lies in human unbelief of what the holy Scriptures say.

“The king is not he that can do anything against you” What an admission on the part of a man who was called a king! As Smith noted, it is a statement that, “All power is in your hands, and you are ready to exercise it against the king’s wishes.”Scribner’s Bible Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1898), p. 509. All of the real power lay in the hands of the princes; and the king himself had little respect from them. Many of the people, including, no doubt, some of the princes, really wanted to defeat Babylon and bring back Jeconiah from Babylon as the king they really wanted.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

All real power was in their hands, and as they affirmed that Jeremiah’s death was a matter of necessity, the king did not dare refuse it to them.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Zedekiah doubtless knew that wrong was done to the holy Prophet; for though he wished him to remain as he was, yet he knew that the Prophet had not threatened the people from ill-will or a hostile mind; and he was thus conscious that he had to do with God rather than with a mortal man. However this may have been, he knew that Jeremiah was not an enemy to the public safety according to the charge brought by the princes. He might then have wished to deliver the Prophet from their hands, but he submitted to their fury; for he was divested of all regal power, and was become, as it were, a slave to his own counselors, on whom depended the government of the kingdom.

They wrongly explain this verse, who think that the king spoke honorably of his counselors, as though he had said, that such was their prudence and dignity, that nothing could be denied them. They pervert the meaning of the Prophet; for the king, on the contrary, acknowledges here, that he was reduced to such a condition, as though he were a private individual, he, in short, confessed that he was the servant of servants; “Now I see,” he says, “that I am no king, but that ye so rule, that, willing or unwilling, I am forced to yield to you, even in the best cause.” There is then no doubt but that it was the bitter complaint of the king when he said, The king can do nothing against you. ⁽¹¹⁰⁾

But Zedekiah deserved this degradation: for he ought to have been from the beginning more teachable, and to submit to God. But in the first place, as we have seen, he had despised prophetic doctrine, and hearkened not to the voice of God; and in the second place, he revolted perfidiously from the Chaldean king, and became thus guilty of ingratitude, for when his nephew was dethroned, that is, Jeconiah or Coniah, he obtained the regal power through the favor of the king of Babylon. He had therefore been ungrateful in denying tribute to him. But his impiety was the main cause of all evils. As then he had been such a rebel against God, he deserved that the princes should prove rebels to him. He then degraded himself, and deprived himself of royal authority, when he refused submission to the word of God, and also when he denied tribute to the king of Babylon. It was no wonder, then, that God made him subject to the princes and counselors, who were yet his servants.

As to these couriers, their arrogance was inexcusable in daring to condemn Jeremiah; for this was to take away from the king his own right; Die let this man, for he is worthy of death. Why was it that they were not content with accusing him, without assuming also to be his sole judges? As, then, they treated the king so disrespectfully, there is no doubt but they were despisers of God, when they deemed as nothing the royal dignity. But as to the king, he reaped, as I have said, the fruit of his own impiety, for he had not given to God his due honor in embracing the truth taught by the Prophet. It was therefore necessary, that he should be unworthily and contumeliously treated, so that he dared not to say even one word in behalf of a just and good cause. This was the reason why he said, He is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you

(110) “The king,” observes Blayney, “evidently speaks this in disgust with the princes, for endeavoring to frustrate his clemency.” — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 37

Now we come to the third part of the book of Jeremiah and this covers the period of Zedekiah the king. These particular prophecies, thirty-seven through thirty-nine, cover from the time that Zedekiah ascended to the throne unto his captivity in Babylon. So he again gives us the time of the prophecy.

And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah ( Jeremiah 37:1 ).

So Zedekiah was king under the order of Nebuchadnezzar. When Jehoiakim died, you remember Jeremiah said, "There won't be any of your family sitting upon the throne." Well, one of his sons, Jehoiachin, sought for a time to sit upon the throne. He lasted for three months and Nebuchadnezzar came back and deposed him and Nebuchadnezzar set up Zedekiah as the king over Judah so that Jehoiakim was not succeeded by his own children. And the Word of the Lord was fulfilled. "Who Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon made king over the land of Judah."

But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, would hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 37:2 ).

People had closed their ears to the warning of God. Zedekiah refused to listen. He would listen privately. He would call Jeremiah and talk to him privately, but then publicly he would denounce him.

And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the LORD our God for us. Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not yet put him into prison. Then Pharaoh's army had come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem ( Jeremiah 37:3-5 ).

Now the Babylonian army was there, but when they heard that the Egyptian army was coming the Babylonian army withdrew. They withdrew their men from Jerusalem.

Then came the word of the LORD to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to inquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, will return to Egypt into their own land. And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire. Thus saith the LORD; Don't deceive yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart ( Jeremiah 37:6-9 ).

Now the people thought, "Oh, we're free, you know, from the Chaldeans. The Egyptian army has frightened them off. They've gone. Now we can do our own thing. Now we can be independent of Babylon. Now we won't have to pay tribute." And they rebelled against the Babylonian authority. But Jeremiah warned them against this. He said, "Don't think that you're free of them, they're going to return again."

For though you had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans ( Jeremiah 37:10 )

Even if you had wiped out the whole army.

and there were only a few wounded men left ( Jeremiah 37:10 ),

God has determined to deliver you unto the Chaldeans. And just a few wounded men would be able to take you and they'll burn this city with fire.

So it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself from the midst of the people ( Jeremiah 37:11-12 ).

So Jeremiah started to take off and go up to Benjamin but,

As he was in the gate of Benjamin ( Jeremiah 37:13 ),

One of the gates of Jerusalem at that time.

a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, You're going over [to the Babylonians] to the Chaldeans. Then said Jeremiah, That is not true; I am not going over to the Chaldeans. But this captain would not listen to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him before the princes. When the princes were angry with Jeremiah, they smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that a prison. When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there for many days ( Jeremiah 37:13-16 );

So they imprisoned Jeremiah thinking that he was going to go over to the Babylonians. Jeremiah declared that wasn't his intention, but yet they made him a prisoner anyhow to keep him from that.

Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out; and the king asked him secretly in the house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon will not come against you, nor against this land? ( Jeremiah 37:17-19 )

There were prophets that said, "The Babylonians will never come into this land." He said, "Where are those prophets now that gave you that story?"

Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my prayer, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there ( Jeremiah 37:20 ).

Please don't send me back to that prison. I'll die there if you do. He was put there in the prison at the house of Jonathan the scribe.

Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison ( Jeremiah 37:21 ),

Let us not put him back in the dungeon.

and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison ( Jeremiah 37:21 ).

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Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

The plot to arrest Jeremiah 38:1-6

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Zedekiah turned Jeremiah over to the nobles. He claimed he could not overrule their will. Obviously he should have stood up for Jeremiah, but he feared his state officials (cf. Jeremiah 38:25-27). He was an early-day Pontius Pilate who washed his hands of his responsibility (cf. Matthew 27:24).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Then Zedekiah the king said, behold, he [is] in your hand,.... In your power, to do with him as you please. This is either a grant of the king, allowing them to do as they thought fit; or a declaration of their power, supposing them to be the princes of the sanhedrim, as Grotius thinks, to judge of a false prophet, and condemn him; but that they were such does not appear; nor does their charge of the prophet, or their procedure against him, confirm it. The former sense seems best:

for the king [is] not [he that] can do [any] thing against you; which is said either in a flattering way, that such was their interest in him, and so great his regard for them, that he could not deny them any thing. So it is in the old translations, "for the king may deny you nothing"; and, "the king can deny you nothing": or else in a complaining way, suggesting that, he was a king, and no king; that he had no power to oppose them; they would do as they pleased; and therefore it signified nothing applying to him; he should not say any thing against it; he would have no concern in it; they might do as they pleased, since he knew they would.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,   2 Thus saith the LORD, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.   3 Thus saith the LORD, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which shall take it.   4 Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: 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 unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.   5 Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.   6 Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.   7 Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;   8 Ebed-melech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king, saying,   9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.   10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.   11 So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.   12 And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.   13 So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

      Here, 1. Jeremiah persists in his plain preaching; what he had many a time said, he still says (Jeremiah 38:3; Jeremiah 38:3): This city shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon; though it hold out long, it will taken at last. Nor would he have so often repeated this unwelcome message but that he could put them in a certain way, though not to save the city, yet to save themselves; so that every man might have his own life given him for a prey if he would be advised, Jeremiah 38:2; Jeremiah 38:2. Let him not stay in the city, in hopes to defend that, for it will be to no purpose, but let him go forth to the Chaldeans, and throw himself upon their mercy, before things come to extremity, and then he shall live; they will not put him to the sword, but give him quarter (satis est prostrasse leoni--it suffices the lion to lay his antagonist prostrate) and he shall escape the famine and pestilence, which will be the death of multitudes within the city. Note, Those do better for themselves who patiently submit to the rebukes of Providence than those who contend with them. And, if we cannot have our liberty, we must reckon it a mercy to have our lives, and not foolishly throw them away upon a point of honour; they may be reserved for better times. 2. The princes persist in their malice against Jeremiah. He was faithful to his country and to his trust as a prophet, though he had suffered many a time for his faithfulness; and, though at this time he ate the king's bread, yet that did not stop his mouth. But his persecutors were still bitter against him, and complained that he abused the liberty he had of walking in the court of the prison; for, though he could not go to the temple to preach, yet he vented the same things in private conversation to those that came to visit him, and therefore (Jeremiah 38:4; Jeremiah 38:4) they represented him to the king as a dangerous man, disaffected to his country and to the government he lived under: He seeks not the welfare of this people, but the hurt--an unjust insinuation, for no man had laid out himself more for the good of Jerusalem than he had done. They represent his preaching as having a bad tendency. The design of it was plainly to bring men to repent and turn to God, which would have been as much as any thing a strengthening to the hands both the soldiery and of the burghers, and yet they represented it as weakening their hands and discouraging them; and, if it did this, it was their own fault. Note, It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as their enemies, only because they show them what enemies they are to themselves while they continue impenitent. 3. Jeremiah hereupon, by the king's permission, is put into a dungeon, with a view to his destruction there. Zedekiah, though he felt a conviction that Jeremiah was a prophet, sent of God, had not courage to own it, but yielded to the violence of his persecutors (Jeremiah 38:5; Jeremiah 38:5): He is in your hand; and a worse sentence he could not have passed upon him. We found in Jehoiakim's reign that the princes were better affected to the prophet than the king was (Jeremiah 36:25; Jeremiah 36:25); but now they were more violent against him, a sign that they were ripening apace for ruin. Had it been in a cause that concerned his own honour or profit, he would have let them know that the king is he who can do what he pleases, whether they will or no; but in the cause of God and his prophet, which he was very cool in, he basely sneaks, and truckles to them: The king is not he that can do any thing against you. Note, Those will have a great deal to answer for who, though they have a secret kindness for good people, dare not own it in a time of need, nor will do what they might do to prevent mischief designed them. The princes, having this general warrant from the king, immediately put poor Jeremiah into the dungeon of Malchiah, that was in the court of the prison (Jeremiah 38:6; Jeremiah 38:6), a deep dungeon, for they let him down into it with cords, and a dirty one, for there was no water in it, but mire; and he sunk in the mire, up to the neck, says Josephus. Those that put him here doubtless designed that he should die here, die for hunger, die for cold, and so die miserably, die obscurely, fearing, if they should put him to death openly, the people might be affected with what he would say and be incensed against them. Many of God's faithful witnesses have thus been privately made away, and starved to death, in prisons, whose blood will be brought to account in the day of discovery. We are not here told what Jeremiah did in this distress, but he tells us himself (Lamentations 3:55; Lamentations 3:57), I called upon thy name, O Lord! out of the low dungeon, and thou drewest near, saying, Fear not. 4. Application is made to the king by an honest courtier, Ebed-melech, one of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber, in behalf of the poor sufferer. Though the princes carried on the matter as privately as they could, yet it came to the ear of this good man, who probably sought opportunities to do good. It may be he came to the knowledge of it by hearing Jeremiah's moans out of the dungeon, for it was in the king's house, Jeremiah 38:7; Jeremiah 38:7. Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian, a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, and yet had in him more humanity, and more divinity too, than native Israelites had. Christ found more faith among Gentiles than among Jews. Ebed-melech lived in a wicked court and in a very corrupt degenerate age, and yet had a great sense both of equity and piety. God has his remnant in all places, among all sorts. There were saints even in Cæsar's household. The king was now sitting in the gate of Benjamin, to try causes and receive appeals and petitions, or perhaps holding a council of war there. Thither Ebed-melech went immediately to him, for the case would not admit delay; the prophet might have perished if he had trifled or put it off till he had an opportunity of speaking to the king in private. Not time must be lost when life is in danger, especially so valuable a life. He boldly asserts the Jeremiah had a great deal of wrong done him, and is not afraid to tell the king so, though they were princes that did it, though they were now present in court, and though they had the king's warrant for what they did. Whither should oppressed innocency flee for protection but to the throne, especially when great men are its oppressors? Ebed-melech appears truly brave in this matter. He does not mince the matter; though he had a place at court, which he would be in danger of losing for his plain dealing, yet he tells the king faithfully, let him take it as he will, These men have done ill in all that they have done to Jeremiah. They had dealt unjustly with him, for he had not deserved any punishment at all; and they had dealt barbarously with him, so as they used not to deal with the vilest malefactors. And they needed not to have put him to this miserable death; for, if they had let him alone where he was, he was likely to die for hunger in the place where he was, in the court of the prison to which he was confined, for there was not more bread in the city: the stores out of which he was to have his allowance (Jeremiah 37:21; Jeremiah 37:21) were in a manner spent. See how God can raise up friends for his people in distress where they little thought of them, and animate men for his service even beyond expectation. 5. Orders are immediately given for his release, and Ebed-melech takes care to see them executed. The king, who but now durst do nothing against the princes, had his heart wonderfully changed on a sudden, and will now have Jeremiah released in defiance of the princes, for therefore he orders no less than thirty men, and those of the lifeguard, to be employed in fetching him out of the dungeon, lest the princes should raise a party to oppose it, Jeremiah 38:10; Jeremiah 38:10. Let this encourage us to appear boldly for God--we may succeed better that we could have thought, for the hearts of kings are in the hand of God. Ebed-melech gained his point, and soon brought Jeremiah the good news; and it is observable how particularly the manner of his drawing him out of the dungeon is related (for God is not unrighteous to forget any work or labour of love which is shown to his people or ministers, no, nor any circumstance of it, Hebrews 6:10); special notice is taken of his great tenderness in providing old soft rags for Jeremiah to put under his arm-holes, to keep the cords wherewith he was to be drawn up from hurting him, his arm-holes being probably galled by the cords wherewith he was let down. Nor did he throw the rags down to him, lest they should be lost in the mire, but carefully let them down, Jeremiah 38:11; Jeremiah 38:12. Note, Those that are in distress should not only be relieved, but relieved with compassion and marks of respect, all which shall be placed to account and abound to a good account in the day of recompence. See what a good use even old rotten rags may be put to, which therefore should not be made waste of, any more than broken meat: even in the king's house, and under the treasury too, these were carefully preserved for the use of the poor or sick. Jeremiah is brought up out of the dungeon, and is now where he was, in the court of the prison,Jeremiah 38:13; Jeremiah 38:13. Perhaps Ebed-melech could have made interest with the king to get him his discharge thence also, now that he had the king's ear; but he though him safer and better provided for there than he would be any where else. God can, when he pleases, make a prison to become a refuge and hiding-place to his people in distress and danger.