Nehemiah 12:39
Context12:39 over the Ephraim Gate, the Jeshanah Gate, 1 the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, to the Sheep Gate. They stopped 2 at the Gate of the Guard.
Jeremiah 32:2
Context32:2 Now at that time, 3 the armies of the king of Babylon were besieging Jerusalem. 4 The prophet Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse 5 attached to the royal palace of Judah.
Jeremiah 33:1
Context33:1 The Lord spoke 6 to Jeremiah a second time while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse. 7
Jeremiah 37:21
Context37:21 Then King Zedekiah ordered that Jeremiah be committed to the courtyard of the guardhouse. He also ordered that a loaf of bread 8 be given to him every day from the baker’s street until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah was kept 9 in the courtyard of the guardhouse.
Jeremiah 39:15
Context39:15 10 Now the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse, 11
[12:39] 1 tn Or “the Old Gate” (so KJV, NASB, NCV, NRSV).
[12:39] 2 tn Heb “they stood.”
[32:2] 3 sn Jer 32:2-5 are parenthetical, giving the background for the actual report of what the
[32:2] 4 sn According to Jer 39:1 the siege began in Zedekiah’s ninth year (i.e., in 589/88
[32:2] 5 tn Heb “the courtyard of the guarding” or “place of guarding.” This expression occurs only in the book of Jeremiah (32:2, 8, 12; 33:1; 37:21; 38:6, 12, 28; 39:14, 15) and in Neh 3:25. It is not the same as an enclosed prison which is where Jeremiah was initially confined (37:15-16; literally a “house of imprisoning” [בֵּית הָאֵסוּר, bet ha’esur] or “house of confining” [בֵּית הַכֶּלֶא, bet hakkele’]). It is said to have been in the palace compound (32:2) near the citadel or upper palace (Neh 3:25). Though it was a place of confinement (32:2; 33:1; 39:15) Jeremiah was able to receive visitors, e.g., his cousin Hanamel (32:8) and the scribe Baruch (32:12), and conduct business there (32:12). According to 32:12 other Judeans were also housed there. A cistern of one of the royal princes, Malkijah, was located in this courtyard, so this is probably not a “prison compound” as NJPS interpret but a courtyard adjacent to a guardhouse or guard post (so G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, T. G. Smothers, Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 151, and compare Neh 12:39 where reference is made to a Gate of the Guard/Guardhouse) used here for housing political prisoners who did not deserve death or solitary confinement as some of the officials though Jeremiah did.
[33:1] 6 sn The introductory statement here ties this incident in with the preceding chapter which was the first time that the
[33:1] 7 tn Heb “And the word of the
[37:21] 8 tn Heb “And/Then King Zedekiah ordered and they committed Jeremiah to [or deposited…in] the courtyard of the guardhouse and they gave to him a loaf of bread.” The translation has been structured the way it has to avoid the ambiguous “they” which is the impersonal subject which is sometimes rendered passive in English (cf. GKC 460 §144.d). This text also has another example of the vav (ו) + infinitive absolute continuing a finite verbal form (וְנָתֹן [vÿnaton] = “and they gave”; cf. GKC 345 §113.y and see Jer 32:44; 36:23).
[37:21] 9 tn Heb “Stayed/Remained/ Lived.”
[39:15] 10 sn Jer 39:15-18. This incident is out of chronological order (see Jer 38:7-13). It is placed here either due to a desire not to interrupt the sequential ordering of events centering on Jeremiah’s imprisonment and his release (38:14–39:14) or to contrast God’s care and concern for the faithful (Ebed-Melech who, though a foreigner, trusted in God) with his harsh treatment of the faithless (Zedekiah who, though informed of God’s will, was too weak-willed in the face of opposition by his courtiers to carry it out).
[39:15] 11 tn Heb “Now the word of the