38:1-3 Four prominent men in Jerusalem heard Jeremiah preaching that anyone who remained in Jerusalem would die but those who surrendered to the Chaldeans would live. He prophesied, apparently at this time from the court of the guardhouse (37:21), that Jerusalem would certainly fall to the Babylonians.
Gedaliah may have been the son of the Pashhur who beat Jeremiah and placed him in the stocks (20:1-6). Jucal was probably the Jehucal who visited Jeremiah during the temporary withdrawal of the Babylonians (37:3). Pashhur ben Malchijah also visited Jeremiah at the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem in 588 B.C. (21:1).
38:4 These nobles complained to Zedekiah that Jeremiah was weakening the morale of the soldiers and discouraging the people from resisting the enemy. They accused the prophet of desiring to harm the people rather than seeking their well-being. This was a seditious thing to do, and Jeremiah could have been put to death if his accusers proved him guilty of treason.
"It was ironical . . . that the leaders who had played the traitor against Babylon, their overlord, were such sticklers for internal loyalty, and that they should profess concern for the peace and welfare (shalom, v. 4b) of the citizens whom they insisted on sacrificing."492
38:5 Zedekiah turned Jeremiah over to the nobles. He claimed he could not overrule their will. Obviously he should have stood up for Jeremiah, but he feared his state officials (cf. vv. 25-27). He was an early-day Pontius Pilate who washed his hands of his responsibility (cf. Matt. 27:24).
38:6 The nobles had Jeremiah placed in a cistern of one of the royal princes, Malchijah, which was in the court of the guardhouse. Jeremiah had previously been confined to this court or stockade (37:21), but now he was lowered into the cistern with ropes. The cistern had no water in it, but the bottom was very muddy, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. The nobles wanted him to die there of "natural causes"probably to alleviate their guilt (cf. Gen. 37:18-19).
"A typical cistern was dug out of limestone rock and consisted of a narrow neck perhaps three feet across and three or four feet in depth opening into a much longer bulbous cavity of varying depth. Water from catchment areas was directed to the opening."493
