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Text -- Jeremiah 39:1-18 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
39:1 King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came against Jerusalem with his whole army and laid siege to it. The siege began in the tenth month of the ninth year that Zedekiah ruled over Judah .
39:2 It lasted until the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year . On that day they broke through the city walls.
39:3 Then Nergal-Sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-Sarsekim , who was a chief officer , Nergal-Sharezer , who was a high official , and all the other officers of the king of Babylon came and set up quarters in the Middle Gate .
39:4 When King Zedekiah of Judah and all his soldiers saw them, they tried to escape . They departed from the city during the night . They took a path through the king’s garden and passed out through the gate between the two walls . Then they headed for the Jordan Valley .
39:5 But the Babylonian army chased after them. They caught up with Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho and captured him. They took him to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon at Riblah in the territory of Hamath and Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on him there.
39:6 There at Riblah the king of Babylon had Zedekiah’s sons put to death while Zedekiah was forced to watch . The king of Babylon also had all the nobles of Judah put to death .
39:7 Then he had Zedekiah’s eyes put out and had him bound in chains to be led off to Babylon .
39:8 The Babylonians burned down the royal palace , the temple of the Lord, and the people’s homes , and they tore down the wall of Jerusalem .
39:9 Then Nebuzaradan , the captain of the royal guard , took captive the rest of the people who were left in the city . He carried them off to Babylon along with the people who had deserted to him.
39:10 But he left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing . He gave them fields and vineyards at that time .
39:11 Now King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had issued orders concerning Jeremiah . He had passed them on through Nebuzaradan , the captain of his royal guard ,
39:12 “Find Jeremiah and look out for him. Do not do anything to harm him, but do with him whatever he tells you.”
39:13 So Nebuzaradan , the captain of the royal guard , Nebushazban , who was a chief officer , Nergal-Sharezer , who was a high official , and all the other officers of the king of Babylon
39:14 sent and had Jeremiah brought from the courtyard of the guardhouse . They turned him over to Gedaliah , the son of Ahikam and the grandson of Shaphan , to take him home with him. But Jeremiah stayed among the people .
Ebed Melech Is Promised Deliverance because of His Faith
39:15 Now the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse ,
39:16 “Go and tell Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian , ‘The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says , “I will carry out against this city what I promised . It will mean disaster and not good fortune for it. When that disaster happens , you will be there to see it.
39:17 But I will rescue you when it happens . I, the Lord , affirm it! You will not be handed over to those whom you fear .
39:18 I will certainly save you. You will not fall victim to violence . You will escape with your life because you trust in me. I, the Lord , affirm it!”’”
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Jerusalem |
Zedekiah |
FEASTS AND FASTS |
Babylon |
TRADITION |
Nebuchadnezzar |
ZEDEKIAH (2) |
Ebed-Melech |
Kings, The Books of |
JEREMIAH (2) |
Jeremiah |
Riblah |
Nebuzar-adan |
Nergal-sharezer |
NEBUZARADAN |
Rabsaris |
Rama |
Captive |
Ethiopia |
Rab-mag |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Jer 39:1; Jer 39:2; Jer 39:3; Jer 39:3; Jer 39:3; Jer 39:3; Jer 39:4; Jer 39:4; Jer 39:5; Jer 39:5; Jer 39:5; Jer 39:5; Jer 39:7; Jer 39:8; Jer 39:8; Jer 39:8; Jer 39:9; Jer 39:9; Jer 39:10; Jer 39:11; Jer 39:12; Jer 39:12; Jer 39:12; Jer 39:13; Jer 39:14; Jer 39:14; Jer 39:14; Jer 39:15; Jer 39:15; Jer 39:16; Jer 39:16; Jer 39:16; Jer 39:17; Jer 39:17; Jer 39:17; Jer 39:18; Jer 39:18; Jer 39:18
NET Notes: Jer 39:1 2 Kgs 25:1 and Jer 52:4 give the more precise date of the tenth day of the tenth month of the ninth year which would have been Jan 15, 588 b.c. The re...
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NET Notes: Jer 39:2 According to modern reckoning that would have been July 18, 586 b.c. The siege thus lasted almost a full eighteen months.
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NET Notes: Jer 39:3 The identification of the location of the Middle Gate is uncertain since it is mentioned nowhere else in the OT.
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NET Notes: Jer 39:4 Heb “toward the Arabah.” The Arabah was the rift valley north and south of the Dead Sea. Here the intention was undoubtedly to escape acro...
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NET Notes: Jer 39:5 Riblah was a strategic town on the Orontes River in Syria. It was at a crossing of the major roads between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Pharaoh Necho had ea...
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NET Notes: Jer 39:7 Heb “fetters of bronze.” The more generic “chains” is used in the translation because “fetters” is a word unfamili...
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NET Notes: Jer 39:8 According to the parallels in 2 Kgs 25:8-9; Jer 52:12-13 this occurred almost a month after the wall was breached and Zedekiah’s failed escape. ...
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NET Notes: Jer 39:9 The translation is based on an emendation of the text which leaves out “the rest of the people who were left” as a double writing of the s...
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NET Notes: Jer 39:10 Heb “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the royal guard.” However, the subject is clear from the preceding and contemporary English style would n...
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NET Notes: Jer 39:11 Heb “And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon commanded concerning Jeremiah by the hand of Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, saying.” Since...
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NET Notes: Jer 39:14 Many translate this last clause as a conclusion or summary remark, “So Jeremiah stayed…” However, it is better to translate it as an...
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NET Notes: Jer 39:15 Heb “Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he…saying.” The form of this clause is disjunctive showing that it does not fol...
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NET Notes: Jer 39:16 Heb “And they [= my words for disaster] will come to pass [= happen] before you on that day [i.e., the day that I bring them to pass/carry them ...
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NET Notes: Jer 39:17 Some commentators see this as a reference to the princes from whose clutches Ebed-Melech delivered Jeremiah (38:7-13). However, it is clear that in th...
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