The events recorded in these chapters all took place during the siege of Jerusalem (ca. 588-586 B.C.), when Zedekiah was king. They are in chronological order. Jeremiah was probably in his mid-fifties at this time.
Some scholars regard chapter 38 as a retelling of the event just narrated in chapter 37. There is some precedent for such a practice in this book. There are two accounts of Jeremiah's Temple Sermon (chs. 7 and 26) and perhaps two accounts of Jeremiah's release by the Babylonians (38:28b; 39:3, 14 and 39:11-12; 40:1-6). However it is also plausible that Jeremiah had to endure two similar imprisonments, or even more than two. I believe this chapter records a different, albeit similar, and subsequent incident because of the differences in the two accounts.
What Jeremiah had predicted for so long finally became a reality for Judah. There are four chapters in the Bible that record the fall of Jerusalem reflecting the importance of this event (39; 52; 2 Kings 25; 2 Chron. 36).
39:1-2 Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army captured Jerusalem and began its siege in 588 B.C. It took the Babylonians about eighteen months to breach the walls of the city, which they did in 586 B.C. (cf. 52:4-6).499
39:3 All the officials of the Babylonian army entered the city and eventually took their places at a gate in the middle of the city, in fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy in 21:4. This Middle Gate was evidently an opening in a wall that separated two parts of Jerusalem. This is the only reference to this gate in the Bible.
The writer mentioned two, three, or four of the Babylonian officials by name: Nergal-sar-ezer, Samgar-nebu, Sar-sekim the Rab-saris or chief official, and perhaps another Nergal-sar-ezer the Rab-mag or chief magi. Nergal-sar-ezer was probably Nebuchadnezzar's son-in-law who ascended the throne of Babylon in 560 B.C. The writer may have described him with two different titles in this verse, or there may have been two men with the same name. Samgar may be the title of Nergal-sar-ezer, and Nebu may describe a geographical district that he ruled.500
"In its context v. 3 is a parenthesis describing one of the things that was done soon after the fall of Jerusalem. Its true context is at v. 13, where it is inserted again in the first account of Jeremiah's release."501
39:4 When Zedekiah saw the invaders within the city, he and many of the Judean soldiers tried to escape by night exiting Jerusalem by a gate in the king's garden. This was probably the Fountain Gate near the Pool of Siloam (cf. Neh. 2:14; 3:15; 12:37). They took a passageway between the two walls of the city there (cf. Isa. 22:11) and headed east toward the Arabah (Jordan Valley). Zedekiah evidently wanted to escape to Ammon, an ally of Judah's at this time (cf. Ezek. 21:18-23).
39:5 The Chaldean soldiers spotted Zedekiah fleeing and finally caught up with him in the plains near Jericho. They captured him and took him to Nebuchadnezzar, who was at Riblah, an ancient city located on a highway between Egypt and Mesopotamia on the Orontes River in central Aramea (cf. 2 Kings 23:33). Riblah stood about 50 miles south of Hamath and 65 miles north of Damascus. There Nebuchadnezzar passed sentence on his rebellious vassal. Nebuchadnezzar evidently did not personally participate in the siege of Jerusalem; his headquarters during this campaign was at Riblah.
39:6-7 Nebuchadnezzar then slew Zedekiah's sons as their father watched as well as the Judean nobles. He also blinded Zedekiah and sent him bound in strong chains to Babylon where he died (cf. 52:11; Judg. 16:21). The last sight Zedekiah saw was the execution of his own children. Truly this last king of David's line was a pathetic figure.
39:8 Back in Jerusalem, the Chaldeans burned the royal palace, the other houses in the city, including the temple (52:13), and broke down the city walls to make it uninhabitable and indefensible.
39:9-10 Nebuzaradan (lit. the chief butcher, an archaic title), the captain of Nebuchadnezzar's bodyguard, was in charge of deporting the Jerusalemites to Babylon. He deported almost everyone who was left in the city plus the Judahites who had defected to the Babylonians. The only native inhabitants that he left behind were some of the poorest of the people to whom he gave vineyards and fields. It was in Babylon's best interests to maintain the agricultural productivity of Canaan.
The more specific accounts of two men's deliverance follow in the rest of this chapter. In contrast to Zedekiah's horrible fate, Jeremiah enjoyed the attentive care of the Babylonians. This contrast reflects on their previous responses to the word of the Lord.
39:11-12 Nebuchadnezzar ordered Nebuzaradan to take good care of Jeremiah and to do for him whatever he requested.
39:13-14 Nebuzaradan passed the king's orders along to the other Babylonian officials in Jerusalem. They released Jeremiah from his confinement in the court of the guardhouse (cf. 38:28) and entrusted him to Gedaliah, another favored Judean, who took him into his home. Jeremiah stayed among the poor people who remained in Jerusalem for some time.
The preceding pericope recorded how the Lord preserved his prophet, and this one shows how He preserved the prophet's rescuer.
39:15-16 Before his release from the stockade, the Lord told Jeremiah to give a message to Ebed-melech (cf. 38:7-130. Yahweh said he was about to fulfill His predictions about the destruction of Jerusalem, and the Ethiopian would witness these events.
39:17 The Lord promised to deliver Ebed-melech from the Babylonian soldiers. They would not kill him. He had, after all, delivered Jeremiah from death at the hand of Zedekiah's officials. This would be his reward for trusting in the Lord. The evidence of his trust was his respect and concern for Jeremiah, who proclaimed the Lord's words.
"Jer 39 presents a strong contrast between faithfulness and the lack of faith. Jeremiah and Ebed-melech represent those who are faithful to the LORD and to whom the LORD is faithful in return. Zedekiah represents faithlessness. In some respects, Zedekiah's faithlessness is of the most troublesome sort among people of faith. His faithlessness is not rejection of the LORD but an inability to act in courage when pressures mount. Like the church at Laodicea in Rev 3:15 [which was also blind], Zedekiah was neither hot nor cold, and he paid a terrible price for his indecision."502
