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 38:14-16

Jeremiah Responds to Zedekiah’s Request for Secret Advice

38:14 Some time later ³  Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah brought to him at the third entrance ⁴  of the Lord’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah, “I would like to ask you a question. Do not hide anything from me when you answer.” ⁵  38:15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I answer you, you will certainly kill me. ⁶  If I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 38:16 So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised, ⁷  “As surely as the Lord lives who has given us life and breath, ⁸  I promise you this: I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you.” ⁹ 

Jeremiah 38:24-27

38:24 Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah, “Do not let anyone know about the conversation we have had. ¹⁰  If you do, you will die. ¹¹  38:25 The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say, ‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you. ¹²  Do not hide anything from us. If you do, we will kill you.’ ¹³  38:26 If they do this, tell ¹⁴  them, ‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to die in the dungeon of Jonathan’s house.’” ¹⁵  38:27 All the officials did indeed come and question Jeremiah. ¹⁶  He told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say. ¹⁷  They stopped questioning him any further because no one had actually heard their conversation. ¹⁸ 

[38:5]  ¹ tn Heb “Behold, he is in your hands [= power/control].”

[38:5]  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.

[38:14]  ³ tn The words “Some time later” are not in the text but are a way of translating the conjunction “And” or “Then” that introduces this narrative.

[38:14]  ⁴ sn The precise location of this entrance is unknown since it is mentioned nowhere else in the OT. Many commentators equate this with the “king’s outer entry” (mentioned in 2 Kgs 16:18) which appears to have been a private entryway between the temple and the palace.

[38:14]  ⁵ tn The words “when you answer” are not in the text but are implicit in the connection. They are supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity and smoothness of style.

[38:15]  ⁶ tn Or “you will most certainly kill me, won’t you?” Heb “Will you not certainly kill me?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. In situations like this BDB s.v. לֹא 4.b(β) says that הֲלֹא (halo’) “has a tendency to become little more than an affirmative particle, declaring with some rhetorical emphasis what is, or might be, well known.” The idea of certainty is emphasized here by the addition of the infinitive absolute before the finite verb (Joüon 2:422 §123.e).

[38:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “So King Zedekiah secretly swore an oath to Jeremiah, saying.”

[38:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “who has made this life/soul/ breath [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh] for us.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ refers to the living, breathing substance of a person which constitutes his very life (cf. BDB 659 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 1; 3).

[38:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “who are seeking your life.”

[38:24]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “about these words.”

[38:24]  ¹¹ tn Or “so that you will not die.” Or “or you will die.” See the similar construction in 37:20 and the translator’s note there.

[38:25]  ¹² tn The phrase “and what the king said to you” is actually at the end of the verse, but most commentators see it as also under the governance of “tell us” and many commentaries and English versions move the clause forward for the sake of English style as has been done here.

[38:25]  ¹³ tn Or “lest we kill you”; Heb “and we will not kill you,” which as stated in the translator’s note on 37:20 introduces a negative purpose (or result) clause. See 37:20, 38:24 for parallel usage.

[38:26]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “All the officials came to Jeremiah and questioned him.”

[38:27]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “And he reported to them according to all these words which the king had commanded.”

[38:27]  ¹⁸ 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.”