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Text -- Jeremiah 37:3-21 (NET)
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Context
The Lord Responds to Zedekiah’s Hope for Help
37:3 King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah . He told them to say , “Please pray to the Lord our God on our behalf.”
37:4 (Now Jeremiah had not yet been put in prison . So he was still free to come and go among the people as he pleased.
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37:11 The following events also occurred while the Babylonian forces had temporarily withdrawn from Jerusalem because the army of Pharaoh was coming.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 .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Jer 37:3; Jer 37:3; Jer 37:3; Jer 37:4; Jer 37:4; Jer 37:5; Jer 37:5; Jer 37:5; Jer 37:5; Jer 37:6; Jer 37:7; Jer 37:7; Jer 37:8; Jer 37:9; Jer 37:9; Jer 37:10; Jer 37:10; Jer 37:11; Jer 37:11; Jer 37:11; Jer 37:12; Jer 37:12; Jer 37:13; Jer 37:13; Jer 37:13; Jer 37:13; Jer 37:13; Jer 37:14; Jer 37:15; Jer 37:15; Jer 37:16; Jer 37:16; Jer 37:16; Jer 37:17; Jer 37:17; Jer 37:17; Jer 37:18; Jer 37:19; Jer 37:20; Jer 37:20; Jer 37:20; Jer 37:21; Jer 37:21
NET Notes: Jer 37:3 The priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah was a member of the earlier delegation (21:2) and the chief of security in the temple to whom the Babylonian fals...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:4 The words “as he pleased” are not in the text but are implicit in the idiom both in Hebrew and in English. They have been supplied in the ...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:5 The Pharaoh referred to here is Pharaoh Hophra who is named in Jer 44:30. He ruled from 589-570 b.c. Shortly after he began to rule, Zedekiah had been...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:8 Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for the rendering “Babylonian.” The word “forces” is supplied in t...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:9 Heb “Thus says the Lord, ‘Do not deceive yourselves, saying, “The Chaldeans will surely go away from against us” because they ...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:10 The length and complexity of this English sentence violates the more simple style that has been used to conform such sentences to contemporary English...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:11 For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
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NET Notes: Jer 37:12 Though some commentators disagree, this transaction should not be viewed as subsequent to the transaction recorded in Jer 32 and seen as an attempt to...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:13 Irijah’s charge was based on the suspicion that Jeremiah was following his own counsel to the people to surrender to the Babylonians if they wan...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:15 Heb “for they had made it into the house of confinement.” The causal particle does not fit the English sentence very well and “house...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:16 Heb “Jeremiah.” But the proper name is somewhat redundant and unnecessary in a modern translation.
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NET Notes: Jer 37:17 Jeremiah’s answer even under duress was the same that he had given Zedekiah earlier. (See Jer 34:3 and see the study note on 34:1 for the relati...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:18 Heb “What crime have I committed against you, or your servants, or this people that you [masc. pl.] have put me in prison?” Some of the te...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:19 Heb “And where are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, ‘The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land?’...
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NET Notes: Jer 37:20 Or “So that I will not die there,” or “or I will die there”; Heb “and I will not die there.” The particle that int...
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