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Texts -- Jeremiah 37:5-21 (NET)

Context
37:5 At that time the Babylonian forces had temporarily given up their siege against Jerusalem . They had had it under siege, but withdrew when they heard that the army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt .) 37:6 The Lord gave the prophet Jeremiah a message for them. He told him to tell them, 37:7 “The Lord God of Israel says , ‘Give a message to the king of Judah who sent you to ask me to help him. Tell him, “The army of Pharaoh that was on its way to help you will go back home to Egypt . 37:8 Then the Babylonian forces will return . They will attack the city and will capture it and burn it down . 37:9 Moreover , I, the Lord , warn you not to deceive yourselves into thinking that the Babylonian forces will go away and leave you alone. For they will not go away . 37:10 For even if you were to defeat all the Babylonian forces fighting against you so badly that only wounded men were left lying in their tents , they would get up and burn this city down .”’”
Jeremiah is Charged with Deserting, Arrested, and Imprisoned
37:11 The following events also occurred while the Babylonian forces had temporarily withdrawn from Jerusalem because the army of Pharaoh was coming. 37:12 Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the territory of Benjamin . He wanted to make sure he got his share of the property that was being divided up among his family there . 37:13 But he only got as far as the Benjamin Gate . There an officer in charge of the guards named Irijah , who was the son of Shelemiah and the grandson of Hananiah , stopped him. He seized Jeremiah and said , “You are deserting to the Babylonians !” 37:14 Jeremiah answered , “That’s a lie ! I am not deserting to the Babylonians .” But Irijah would not listen to him. Irijah put Jeremiah under arrest and took him to the officials . 37:15 The officials were very angry at Jeremiah . They had him flogged and put in prison in the house of Jonathan , the royal secretary , which they had converted into a place for confining prisoners . 37:16 So Jeremiah was put in prison in a cell in the dungeon in Jonathan’s house. He was kept there for a long time . 37:17 Then King Zedekiah had him brought to the palace . There he questioned him privately and asked him, “Is there any message from the Lord ?” Jeremiah answered , “Yes, there is .” Then he announced , “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon .” 37:18 Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah , “What crime have I committed against you, or the officials who serve you, or the people of Judah? What have I done to make you people throw me into prison ? 37:19 Where now are the prophets who prophesied to you that the king of Babylon would not attack you or this land ? 37:20 But now please listen , your royal Majesty , and grant my plea for mercy . Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan , the royal secretary . If you do, I will die there .” 37:21 Then King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be committed to the courtyard of the guardhouse . He also ordered that a loaf of bread be given to him every day from the baker’s street until all the bread in the city was gone . So Jeremiah was kept in the courtyard of the guardhouse .

Pericope

NET
  • Jer 37:11-21 -- Jeremiah is Charged with Deserting, Arrested, and Imprisoned

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Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Zedekiah (Mattaniah) was Josiah's third son to rule over Judah. He rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar (v. 20) by making a treaty with Pharaoh Hophra (589-570 B.C.) under pressure from nationalists in Judah (cf. Jer. 37-38)."Clea...
  • Baxter, J. Sidlow. Explore the Book. 6 vols. London: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1965.Bromiley, Geoffrey W. God and Marriage. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1980.Bullock, C. Hassell. An Introduction to the Poe...
  • The biblical records of the times in which Jeremiah ministered are 2 Kings 21-25 and 2 Chronicles 33-36. His contemporary prophets were Zephaniah and Habakkuk before the Exile, and Ezekiel and Daniel after it began.King Manas...
  • Jeremiah's purpose was to call his hearers to repentance in view of God's judgment on Judah, which would come soon from an army from the north (chs. 2-45). Judgment was coming because God's people had forsaken Yahweh and had ...
  • I. Introduction ch. 1A. The introduction of Jeremiah 1:1-3B. The call of Jeremiah 1:4-191. The promise of divine enablement 1:4-102. Two confirming visions 1:11-19II. Prophecies about Judah chs. 2-45A. Warnings of judgment on...
  • 1:4 The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf....
  • "The sermon ends (if these verses, still in prose, should be taken with ch. 7) on a note which takes away the last shreds of comfort for those whose hopes or memories are bound up with Jerusalem."1838:1 When the invasion from...
  • This pericope contains two instances in which Jeremiah faced crushing discouragement in his ministry (vv. 10-14, 15-21). He confessed his frustration to the Lord, and the Lord responded with encouragement.15:10 Jeremiah addre...
  • This passage probably dates from the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 588-586 B.C. (vv. 2, 4; cf. 2 Kings 25). King Zedekiah sought advice from Jeremiah more than once (cf. 37:3-10, 17-21; 38:14-28). This passage consists of ...
  • This section contains two prophecies about this king (vv. 24-27 and 28-30) The historical setting is the three-month reign of eighteen year-old Jehoiachin in 598-597 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 24:8-17). Coniah was a shortened form of ...
  • This section consists of four parts: a summary of Jeremiah's Temple Sermon (vv. 2-6), the prophet's arrest and trial (vv. 7-16), the elders' plea for his life (vv. 17-19, 24), and the incident involving Uriah and his executio...
  • The Book of Consolation contained messages of future hope for Judah (chs. 30-33). Now Jeremiah returned to document her present judgment. Chapters 34-45 continue the theme of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem from chapters 2-29...
  • The events recorded in these chapters took place during the siege of Jerusalem, which lasted from about 589 to 586 B.C. During this period, there was a break in the siege. The Babylonians heard that Pharaoh Hophra (589-570 B....
  • "While ch. 36 is, in a sense, an independent unit, it is at the same time the last segment in a tradition complex' which begins at ch. 26, where Jeremiah is vindicated as a true prophet of Yahweh by Jerusalem's highest court ...
  • 37:1 Nebuchadnezzar, sovereign over Judah since Jehoiakim's unsuccessful rebellion against him in 598 B.C., set up Zedekiah, Jehoiakim's brother, as Judah's king in 597 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 24:17). Jehoiakim's son, Jehoiachin (C...
  • 37:6-7 The Lord told Jeremiah to tell Zedekiah that the Egyptian army, which had come to help him, would return home. It did, in fact, retreat before joining battle.37:8 The Babylonians would return, besiege, capture, and bur...
  • 37:11-12 During the lifting of the siege of Jerusalem just described (v. 5), Jeremiah left the city to conduct some personal business concerning the purchase of some property in the territory of Benjamin. This may have been t...
  • 37:17 Zedekiah secretly sent for Jeremiah and brought him into the palace. The king feared his nobles who were "hawks"militarily and hostile to Jeremiah. Zedekiah asked the prophet if the Lord had given him any message in res...
  • Some scholars regard chapter 38 as a retelling of the event just narrated in chapter 37. There is some precedent for such a practice in this book. There are two accounts of Jeremiah's Temple Sermon (chs. 7 and 26) and perhaps...
  • 38:1-3 Four prominent men in Jerusalem heard Jeremiah preaching that anyone who remained in Jerusalem would die but those who surrendered to the Chaldeans would live. He prophesied, apparently at this time from the court of t...
  • 38:7-8 A courtier in the palace, Ebed-melech (lit. "servant of the king"), heard about Jeremiah's plight. He happened to be an Ethiopian or Cushite (from modern-day southern Egypt, northeastern Sudan, and northern Ethiopia).4...
  • 38:14 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 ...
  • This chapter records an incident late in Jeremiah's ministry. How much later than chapter 43 is unknown. Many commentators suppose it dates from about 580 B.C. because it would have taken some time for the Judean refugees to ...
  • This chapter belongs after chapter 36 chronologically, either after 36:8 or 36:32. It serves as an appendix to the historical incidents recorded there. Perhaps the writer or final editor placed it here to show that Yahweh exe...
  • This chapter on Egypt contains three separate prophecies that Jeremiah delivered about the fate of that nation. Their purpose seems to have been to discourage King Jehoiakim (609-598 B.C.) and the pro-Egyptian party in Judah ...
  • This is one of four accounts of the fall of Jerusalem in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Kings 25; 2 Chron. 36:11-21; Jer. 39:1-14). The repetition underlines the importance of the event.52:1 Zedekiah (Mattaniah, 2 Kings 24:17) was ...
  • The number of exiles who went into captivity was important because it was with this group that the future of Israel lay. Their deportation also validated many of Jeremiah's prophecies that the people would go into captivity i...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers; and New York: Macmillan Publishers Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. Revis...
  • 4:12 The overthrow of Jerusalem had surprised the leaders and people of other nations. Invaders had forced their way into it in the past (cf. 1 Kings 14:25-28; 2 Kings 14:13-14; 2 Chron. 21:16-17), but the citizens had rebuil...
  • 20:1 Certain elders of the Jewish exiles came to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord (cf. 14:1-11). Inquiring of the Lord meant securing a divine revelation concerning a particular event (cf. 1 Kings 14:5-18; 22:7-28; 2 Kings 8:8-...
  • 23:11-13 Oholibah observed her sister's behavior and fate, but she did not learn from them. As many historians have observed, the one thing we learn from history is that most people do not learn from history. Oholibah became ...
  • Ezekiel concluded his oracles against foreign nations with seven messages the Lord gave him concerning the fate of Egypt, one of Israel's most ancient and powerful enemies (cf. Isa. 31:1; Jer. 2:36; 46:1-26). God controls eve...
  • 29:1 This is another dated prophecy. It came to Ezekiel in the year before his first oracle against Tyre (26:1), namely, in 587 B.C.29:2 The Lord directed His prophet to turn his attention to the south, to Pharaoh king of Egy...
  • 30:20 Ezekiel received this oracle against Egypt in 587 B.C., less than four months after the Lord gave him the first oracle (29:1-16).30:21 Yahweh announced that He had broken Pharaoh's arm. It had not been set in a splint a...
  • In 605 B.C. Prince Nebuchadnezzar led the Babylonian army of his father Nabopolassar against the allied forces of Assyria and Egypt. He defeated them at Carchemish near the top of the Fertile Crescent. This victory gave Babyl...
  • Jesus proceeded immediately to tell another parable. Luke wrote that Jesus addressed it to the crowds in the temple courtyard (Luke 20:9). The chief priests and elders continued to listen (vv. 45-46).21:33-34 Jesus alluded to...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, 12. Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in th...
  • We have that rough captain of the ward,' who laid hands on the prophet at the gate on the north side of the city, leading to the road to the territory of Benjamin. No doubt there was a considerable exodus from Jerusalem when ...
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