Jeremiah 38:5

38:5 King Zedekiah said to them, “Very well, you can do what you want with him. ¹  For I cannot do anything to stop you.” ² 

Jeremiah 38:1

Jeremiah Is Charged with Treason and Put in a Cistern to Die

38:1 Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jehucal ³  son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur ⁴  son of Malkijah had heard ⁵  the things that Jeremiah had been telling the people. They had heard him say,

Jeremiah 15:1

15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for ⁶  these people, I would not feel pity for them! ⁷  Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! ⁸ 

Job 31:34

31:34 because I was terrified ⁹  of the great multitude, ¹⁰ 

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors – ¹¹ 

Proverbs 29:25

29:25 The fear of people ¹²  becomes ¹³  a snare, ¹⁴ 

but whoever trusts in the Lord will be set on high. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 51:12-13

51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. ¹⁶ 

Why are you afraid of mortal men,

of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? ¹⁷ 

51:13 Why do you forget ¹⁸  the Lord, who made you,

who stretched out the sky ¹⁹ 

and founded the earth?

Why do you constantly tremble all day long ²⁰ 

at the anger of the oppressor,

when he makes plans to destroy?

Where is the anger of the oppressor? ²¹ 

Isaiah 57:11

57:11 Whom are you worried about?

Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully

and not remember me

or think about me? ²² 

Because I have been silent for so long, ²³ 

you are not afraid of me. ²⁴ 

John 12:42

12:42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers ²⁵  many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees ²⁶  they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ, ²⁷  so that they would not be put out of ²⁸  the synagogue. ²⁹ 

John 19:12-13

19:12 From this point on, Pilate tried ³⁰  to release him. But the Jewish leaders ³¹  shouted out, ³²  “If you release this man, ³³  you are no friend of Caesar! ³⁴  Everyone who claims to be a king ³⁵  opposes Caesar!” 19:13 When Pilate heard these words he brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat ³⁶  in the place called “The Stone Pavement” ³⁷  (Gabbatha in ³⁸  Aramaic). ³⁹ 

¹ tn Heb “Behold, he is in your hands [= power/control].”

² tn Heb “For the king cannot do a thing with/against you.” The personal pronoun “I” is substituted in the English translation due to differences in style; Hebrew style often uses the third person or the title in speaking of oneself but English rarely if ever does. Compare the common paraphrasis of “your servant” for “I” in Hebrew (cf. BDB 714 s.v. עֶבֶד 6 and usage in 1 Sam 20:7, 8) and compare the usage in Pss 63:11 (63:12 HT); 61:6 (61:7 HT) where the king is praying for himself. For the meaning of יָכֹל (yakhol) as “to be able to do anything,” see BDB 407 s.v. יָכֹל 1.g.

³ tn The name is spelled “Jucal” in the Hebrew text here rather than “Jehucal” as in Jer 37:3. The translation uses the same spelling throughout so that the English reader can identify these as the same individual.

⁴ sn Pashhur was a member of the delegation sent to Jeremiah in 21:2. For the relative sequence of these two delegations see the study note on 21:1.

⁵ tn J. Bright (Jeremiah [AB], 226, 30) is probably correct in translating the verbs here as pluperfects and in explaining that these words are prophecies that Jeremiah uttered before his arrest not prophecies that were being delivered to the people through intermediaries sent by Jeremiah who was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse. For the use of the vav consecutive + imperfect to denote the pluperfect see the discussion and examples in IBHS 552-53 §33.2.3a and see the usage in Exod 4:19. The words that are cited in v. 2 are those recorded in 21:9 on the occasion of the first delegation and those in v. 3 are those recorded in 21:10; 34:2; 37:8; 32:28 all except the last delivered before Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse.

⁶ tn The words “pleading for” have been supplied in the translation to explain the idiom (a metonymy). For parallel usage see BDB 763 s.v. עָמַד Qal.1.a and compare usage in Gen 19:27, Deut 4:10.

⁷ tn Heb “my soul would not be toward them.” For the usage of “soul” presupposed here see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 6 in the light of the complaints and petitions in Jeremiah’s prayer in 14:19, 21.

⁸ tn Heb “Send them away from my presence and let them go away.”

⁹ tn Here too the verb will be the customary imperfect – it explains what he continually did in past time.

¹⁰ tn Heb “the great multitude.” But some commentators take רַבָּה (rabbah) adverbially: “greatly” (see RSV).

¹¹ sn There is no clear apodosis for all these clauses. Some commentators transfer the verses around to make them fit the constructions. But the better view is that there is no apodosis – that Job broke off here, feeling it was useless to go further. Now he will address God and not men. But in vv. 38-40b he does return to a self-imprecation. However, there is not sufficient reason to start rearranging all the verses.

¹² tn Heb “the fear of man.” This uses an objective genitive to describe a situation where fearing what people might do or think controls one’s life. There is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to males, so the translation uses the more generic “people” here.

¹³ tn Heb “gives [or yields, or produces]”; NIV “will prove to be.”

¹⁴ sn “Snare” is an implied comparison; fearing people is like being in a trap – there is no freedom of movement or sense of security.

¹⁵ sn The image of being set on high comes from the military experience of finding a defensible position, a place of safety and security, such as a high wall or a mountain. Trusting in the Lord sets people free and gives them a sense of safety and security (e.g, Prov 10:27; 12:2).

¹⁶ tc The plural suffix should probably be emended to the second masculine singular (which is used in v. 13). The final mem (ם) is probably dittographic; note the mem at the beginning of the next word.

¹⁷ tn Heb “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who [as] grass is given up?” The feminine singular forms should probably be emended to the masculine singular (see v. 13). They have probably been influenced by the construction אַתְּ־הִיא (’at-hi’) in vv. 9-10.

¹⁸ tn Heb “and that you forget.”

¹⁹ tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

²⁰ tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”

²¹ tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.

²² tn Heb “you do not place [it] on your heart.”

²³ tn Heb “Is it not [because] I have been silent, and from long ago?”

²⁴ sn God’s patience with sinful Israel has caused them to think that they can sin with impunity and suffer no consequences.

²⁵ sn The term rulers here denotes members of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews. Note the same word (“ruler”) is used to describe Nicodemus in 3:1.

²⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

²⁷ tn The words “Jesus to be the Christ” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (see 9:22). As is often the case in Greek, the direct object is omitted for the verb ὡμολόγουν (Jwmologoun). Some translators supply an ambiguous “it,” or derive the implied direct object from the previous clause “believed in him” so that the rulers would not confess “their faith” or “their belief.” However, when one compares John 9:22, which has many verbal parallels to this verse, it seems clear that the content of the confession would have been “Jesus is the Christ (i.e., Messiah).”

²⁸ tn Or “be expelled from.”

²⁹ sn Compare John 9:22. See the note on synagogue in 6:59.

³⁰ tn Grk “sought.”

³¹ tn Or “the Jewish authorities”; Grk “the Jews.” Here the phrase refers to the Jewish leaders, especially members of the Sanhedrin, and their servants (mentioned specifically as “the chief priests and their servants” in John 19:6). See the note on the phrase “Jewish leaders” in v. 7.

³² tn Grk “shouted out, saying.”

³³ tn Grk “this one.”

³⁴ sn Is the author using the phrase Friend of Caesar in a technical sense, as a title bestowed on people for loyal service to the Emperor, or in a more general sense merely describing a person as loyal to the Emperor? L. Morris (John [NICNT], 798) thinks it is “unlikely” that the title is used in the technical sense, and J. H. Bernard (St. John [ICC], 2:621) argues that the technical sense of the phrase as an official title was not used before the time of Vespasian (a.d. 69-79). But there appears to be significant evidence for much earlier usage. Some of this is given in BDAG 498-99 s.v. Καῖσαρ. E. Bammel (“φίλος τοῦ καίσαρος (John 19:12),” TLZ 77 [1952]: 205-10) listed significant and convincing arguments that the official title was indeed in use at the time. Granting that the title was in use during this period, what is the likelihood that it had been bestowed on Pilate? Pilate was of the equestrian order, that is, of lower nobility as opposed to senatorial rank. As such he would have been eligible to receive such an honor. It also appears that the powerful Sejanus was his patron in Rome, and Sejanus held considerable influence with Tiberius. Tacitus (Annals 6.8) quotes Marcus Terentius in his defense before the Senate as saying that close friendship with Sejanus “was in every case a powerful recommendation to the Emperor’s friendship.” Thus it is possible that Pilate held this honor. Therefore it appears that the Jewish authorities were putting a good deal of psychological pressure on Pilate to convict Jesus. They had, in effect, finally specified the charge against Jesus as treason: “Everyone who makes himself to be king opposes Caesar.” If Pilate now failed to convict Jesus the Jewish authorities could complain to Rome that Pilate had released a traitor. This possibility carried more weight with Pilate than might at first be evident: (1) Pilate’s record as governor was not entirely above reproach; (2) Tiberius, who lived away from Rome as a virtual recluse on the island of Capri, was known for his suspicious nature, especially toward rivals or those who posed a political threat; and (3) worst of all, Pilate’s patron in Rome, Sejanus, had recently come under suspicion of plotting to seize the imperial succession for himself. Sejanus was deposed in October of a.d. 31. It may have been to Sejanus that Pilate owed his appointment in Judea. Pilate was now in a very delicate position. The Jewish authorities may have known something of this and deliberately used it as leverage against him. Whether or not they knew just how potent their veiled threat was, it had the desired effect. Pilate went directly to the judgment seat to pronounce his judgment.

³⁵ tn Grk “who makes himself out to be a king.”

³⁶ tn Or “the judge’s seat.”

³⁷ sn The precise location of the place called ‘The Stone Pavement’ is still uncertain, although a paved court on the lower level of the Fortress Antonia has been suggested. It is not certain whether it was laid prior to a.d. 135, however.

³⁸ tn Grk “in Hebrew.”

³⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.