Jeremiah 38:1-6

C. Imprisoned by the Princes Jeremiah 38:1-6

TRANSLATION

(1) And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur, the son of Malchiah heard the words which Jeremiah was speaking unto all the people, saying, Thus says the LORD: The one who dwells in this city shall die by the sword, famine, or pestilence. But the one who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live; his life will be his spoil and he will live. (3) Thus says the LORD: This city shall certainly be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will capture it. (4) Consequently the princes said to the king, it is our request that this man be put to death, for in this manner he is weakening the hands of the fighting men who remain in this city and all the people as well, by speaking these words. This man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm. (5) And king Zedekiah said, Behold, he is in your hand; for the king cannot oppose you in any way. (6) And they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, which was in the court of the guard; and they let Jeremiah down by ropes. In the dungeon there was no water but mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

COMMENTS

The imprisonment in the court of the guard afforded Jeremiah the opportunity to communicate the message of God once again. He seems to have been able to converse with the soldiers who defended the city as well as with the general populace (cf. Jeremiah 32:9; Jeremiah 32:12). Meanwhile the final stage of the siege of Jerusalem had come. It was only a matter of days until the city would fall to the Chaldeans. The princes, highly displeased with the leniency being shown the prophet, watched his every move. Four princes in particular seem to have been particularly bitter enemies. Shephatiah is mentioned only here. The second prince named is Gedaliah. His father Pashur is probably the one who had put Jeremiah in the stocks earlier in his ministry (Jeremiah 20:1-2). Jucal (or Jehucal) was one of the princes sent by the king only a few weeks before to request Jeremiah to pray for the city. Pashur was one of the messengers of the king who had visited Jeremiah in an earlier interview (Jeremiah 21:1).

There in the court of the guard Jeremiah openly proclaimed the message he had been preaching ever since the Chaldean armies had first appeared in the land. Those who defected to the Chaldeans would escape with their lives; those who remained within Jerusalem were doomed (Jeremiah 38:2) for the Lord would shortly give the city into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 38:3). The princes were both alarmed and angered by such public proclamation. They rushed to Zedekiah and demanded that Jeremiah be put to death for high treason.

The charge against Jeremiah, that he weakened the hands of the men of war, is no doubt an accurate assessment of the impact of the preaching of Jeremiah. The phrase men of war that remain suggests that many had gone over to the Chaldeans (see also Jeremiah 38:19). The public statements of the prophet could well be classified as treason were it not for one fact. The words which Jeremiah spoke were not his own but the divine message which he had been charged to proclaim. It was Yahweh, the true sovereign of Israel, who was instructing and commanding His subjects to capitulate to the Chaldeans. The predictions of Jeremiah thus far had proven to be accurate thereby accrediting Jeremiah as a true spokesman of God. Only those who were spiritually blind could fail to see that Jeremiah was truly speaking the word of God.

For what they regarded as treason the princes demanded that Jeremiah be put to death (Jeremiah 38:4). The struggle against the Chaldeans was literally a matter of life and death. In the view of these princes Jeremiah by his public stance against further resistance was playing into the hand of the enemy. They would let the people perish rather than surrender! Now they were attempting to silence the only voice of reason and revelation in the entire city, How wrong they were when they declared that this man is no longer seeking the welfare of the people but their hurt (Jeremiah 38:4). Jeremiah was the only true friend which the people had left.

Weak-kneed Zedekiah capitulated to the demands of his princes. Behold he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you (Jeremiah 38:5). What little influence Zedekiah might previously have had over his princes had eroded. He is only a puppet in their hands now. He does not even attempt to argue the point with them. What a cowardly abdication of responsibility! What a shameful betrayal of duty!

Having gone through the formality of gaining the consent of the king, the murderers hurried Jeremiah off to his doom. They did not want his blood on their hands!
Their plan was much more cruel. They cast Jeremiah into I cistern which served as a dungeon. This particular cistern, located in the court of the guard, was under the charge of Malchiah the son of Hammelech (lit., the son of the king), Malchiah seems to have been a member of the royal family if not a son of Zedekiah himself. So deep was the cistern that they had to let Jeremiah down into it with ropes. Though there was no water in the cistern the bottom of it was covered by a thick layer of mud. Slowly the prophet sunk into the mire. The pitiless princes wished this spokesman for God to die a slow, torturous, and frightful death. Unbelief makes men intolerant of God's spokesmen; intolerance makes men cruel. There they left him. They were. rid of him. They had effectively silenced God's messenger.
The dungeon experience is without question the lowest point in the life of Jeremiah. He was now aged and perhaps infirm. The siege and famine in Jerusalem had doubtlessly taken its toll. Yet it should be noted that no word of protest is lodged, no cry of revenge, no prayer of imprecation. Through the long bitter years of his ministry Jeremiah had learned the way of patient endurance. He had learned to cast himself upon the Lord and trust Him for deliverance.