Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Jeremiah's Imprisonment
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Jeremiah 37:4-5
Jerusalem enjoys a brief respite from siege while the Babylonians engage an Egyptian army hired by Judah. Jeremiah may have sought to use this occasion to escape, for verse 12 tells us that he "went out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin to claim his property there among the people." He could hide in anonymity among the general populace. God, however, acts to keep him in Jerusalem, the center of the action. The authorities arrest him as he leaves the city, accusing him of "defecting to the Chaldeans" (verse 13). Since the Babylonians have already left the area, the accusation of defection is clearly a ruse, an excuse to imprison him (verse 15). After "many days" in a dungeon (verse 16), Zedekiah, solicitous of one empowered to tell the future, orders him transferred to the "court of the prison" (verse 21)—a real upgrade.
Charles Whitaker
Servant of God, Act One: Going Around, Coming Around
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Jeremiah 38:4-5
Seeing in the prophet's confinement an opportunity to silence him for good, the princes request permission from the king to execute him. Zedekiah's response displays his typical weakness before his princes: "Look, he is in your hand. For the king can do nothing against you" (verse 5). Zedekiah's fear has immobilized him; figuratively, his feet are mired in a bog. The princes waste no time hurling Jeremiah into a literal bog, a miry pit, with the intent that he will die of exposure and hunger there.
Charles Whitaker
Servant of God, Act One: Going Around, Coming Around
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Jeremiah 38:7-10
It is not likely that Ebed-Melech sways the king by humanitarian or moral considerations. He simply stresses to the king his belief that Jeremiah is a prophet about to die. Zedekiah probably acts to return Jeremiah to the relatively posh digs of the royal guards because he too realizes that Jeremiah is a prophet. He does not want to lose his crystal ball. Evidently, the king holds an audience with Jeremiah just after his release from the pit (verse 14).
Charles Whitaker
Servant of God, Act One: Going Around, Coming Around
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