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Text -- Jeremiah 38:1-10 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
Jeremiah Is Charged with Treason and Put in a Cistern to Die
38:1 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan , Gedaliah son of Pashhur , Jehucal son of Shelemiah , and Pashhur son of Malkijah had heard the things that Jeremiah had been telling the people . They had heard him say ,
38:2 “The Lord says , ‘Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease . Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians will live . They will escape with their lives .’”
38:3 They had also heard him say , “The Lord says, ‘This city will certainly be handed over to the army of the king of Babylon . They will capture it.’”
38:4 So these officials said to the king , “This man must be put to death . For he is demoralizing the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying . This man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them.”
38:5 King Zedekiah said to them, “Very well, you can do what you want with him. For I cannot do anything to stop you.”
38:6 So the officials took Jeremiah and put him in the cistern of Malkijah , one of the royal princes , that was in the courtyard of the guardhouse . There was no water in the cistern, only mud . So when they lowered Jeremiah into the cistern with ropes he sank in the mud .
An Ethiopian Official Rescues Jeremiah from the Cistern
38:7 An Ethiopian , Ebed Melech , a court official in the royal palace , heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern . While the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate ,
38:8 Ebed Melech departed the palace and went to speak to the king . He said to him,
38:9 “Your royal Majesty , those men have been very wicked in all that they have done to the prophet Jeremiah . They have thrown him into a cistern and he is sure to die of starvation there because there is no food left in the city .
38:10 Then the king gave Ebed Melech the Ethiopian the following order: “Take thirty men with you from here and go pull the prophet Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies .”
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Jeremiah |
Ebed-Melech |
PASHHUR, PASHUR |
Malice |
Pashur |
Shephatiah |
Zedekiah |
Persecution |
Ethiopia |
Eunuch |
God |
ZEDEKIAH (2) |
Prisoners |
Minister |
Mattan |
Intercession |
Jehucal |
Gedaliah |
Israel |
Hammelech |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes: Jer 38:1 J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 226, 30) is probably correct in translating the verbs here as pluperfects and in explaining that these words are prophecies ...
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NET Notes: Jer 38:3 See Jer 21:10; 32:28; 34:2; 37:8 for this same prophecy. Jeremiah had repeatedly said this or words to the same effect.
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NET Notes: Jer 38:4 Or “is not looking out for these people’s best interests but is really trying to do them harm”; Heb “is not seeking the welfar...
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NET Notes: Jer 38:5 Heb “For the king cannot do a thing with/against you.” The personal pronoun “I” is substituted in the English translation due ...
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NET Notes: Jer 38:6 Heb “And they let Jeremiah down with ropes and in the cistern there was no water, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.” The clauses hav...
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NET Notes: Jer 38:7 Heb “And the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate.” This clause is circumstantial to the following clause; thus “while the king was...
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NET Notes: Jer 38:9 “Because there isn’t any food left in the city” is rhetorical exaggeration; the food did not run out until just before the city fell...
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