Jeremiah 38:26-27

38:26 If they do this, tell ¹  them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to die in the dungeon of Jonathan’s house.’” ²  38:27 All the officials did indeed come and question Jeremiah. ³  He told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say. ⁴  They stopped questioning him any further because no one had actually heard their conversation. ⁵ 

[38:26]  ¹ tn Verses 25-26 form a long compound, complex conditional sentence. The condition is found in v. 25 and contains a long quote. The consequence is found in v. 26 and contains another long quote. The Hebrew sentence literally reads: “And if the officials hear that I have talked with you and come to you and say to you, ‘Please tell us what you said to the king. Do not hide from us and we will not kill you [so that we will not kill you] and [tell us] what the king said to you,’ then tell them.” The sentence has been broken up to better conform with contemporary English style.

[38:26]  ² tn Heb “I was causing to fall [= presenting] my petition before the king not to send me back to Jonathan’s house to die there.” The word “dungeon of” is supplied in the translation to help the reader connect this petition with Jeremiah’s earlier place of imprisonment where the officials had put him with every intention of letting him die there (37:15-16, 20).

[38:27]  ³ tn Heb “All the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him.”

[38:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “And he reported to them according to all these words which the king had commanded.”

[38:27]  ⁵ tn Heb “And they were silent from him because the word/matter [i.e., the conversation between Jeremiah and the king] had not been heard.” According to BDB 578 s.v. מִן 1.a the preposition “from” is significant in this construction, implying a verb of motion. I.e., “they were [fell] silent [and turned away] from him.”