Jeremiah 37:19

Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? WHERE ARE NOW YOUR PROPHETS? The event has shown them to be liars; and as surely as the King of Babylon has come already, notwithstanding their prophecy, so surely shall he return....

Here Jeremiah, taking confidence, advances to a higher ground; for he reprobates the folly of Zedekiah, because he had given ear to the false prophets and their flatteries. But this he did, that he might more fully confirm his own innocence, as though he had said, “I indeed am grievously blamed, because I threatened ruin to the city and the Temple; but what if the Lord had constrained me to do so? and it is evident that I was commissioned by God, and that I alleged nothing without authority; for I have always declared what has happened, and events have proved that I was sent from above, when I announced to you what was to be. But where are your prophets? for they have been always flattering you; and it has happened through their falsehoods, that ye have not returned to the right way. It was yet in your power to be reconciled to God, when I at first warned you; and all my labor and endeav...

11-21 There are times when it is the wisdom of good men to retire, to enter into their chambers, and to shut the doors, Isaiah 26:20. Jeremiah was seized as a deserter, and committed to prison. But it is no new thing for the best friends of the church to be belied, as in the interests of her worst enemies. When thus falsely accused, we may deny the charge, and commit our cause to Him who judges righteously. Jeremiah obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful, and would not, to obtain mercy of man, be unfaithful to God or to his prince; he tells the king the whole truth. When Jeremiah delivered God's message, he spake with boldness; but when he made his own request, he spake submissively. A lion in God's cause must be a lamb in his own. And God gave Jeremiah favour in the eyes of the king. The Lord God can make even the cells of a prison become pastures to his people, and will raise up fr...

Verse Jeremiah 37:19. _WHERE_ ARE _NOW YOUR PROPHETS_] _They_ told you that the Chaldeans should _not_ come; I told you they _would_. According to my word the Chaldeans _are come_, and are departed only for a short time....

EXPOSITION Nothing worthy of relation appears to have happened to Jeremiah till the latter period of the reign of Zedekiah. The first two verses of this chapter form the transition. The embassy to Jeremiah mentioned in verse 3 took place after the temporary withdrawal of the Chaldeans from Jerusalem. JEREMIAH 37:1 CONIAH; _i.e._ Jehoiachin (see on Jeremiah 22:24). WHOM NEBUCHADREZZAR … MADE KING. Zedekiah, not Jehoiachin, is referred to (see 2 Kings 24:17). JEREMIAH 37:3 AND ZEDEKIAH THE KING SENT. Th

WHERE [ARE] NOW YOUR PROPHETS THAT PROPHESIED UNTO YOU,.... Your false prophets, as the Targum; what is become of their prophecies? where is the truth of them, to which general credit has been given? where are they? let them appear and defend themselves, if they can, from the charge of lying, and of being false prophets? or where are they? tacitly suggesting the different circumstances of him and them; he, who was a true prophet, was laid in a prison; they, who were false prophets, were caressed in the palaces of the king and his nobles, and in favour with the people in general: SAYING, THE KING OF BABYLON SHALL NOT COME AGAINST YOU, NOR AGAINST THIS LAND? gave out that the king of Babylon would never invade the land of Judea, or besiege the city of Jerusalem, which proved false; and still they had the front to say, that when the siege was raised, he would never come again; whereas he w...

JEREMIAH AND ZEDEKIAH AND THE FALL OF JERUSALEM (37-39) CHAPTER 37 _ 1. Jeremiah's warning (Jeremiah 37:1) _ 2. Jeremiah's arrest (Jeremiah 37:11) Jeremiah 37:1. To understand more fully these Chapter s it must be remembered that the besieging army before the gates of Jerusalem was temporarily withdrawn, because an Egyptian army had appeared against it. This was no doubt an occasion for the false prophets to preach their false hope, so that the people were deceived. Once more Zedekiah sent to the prophet a deputation (Jeremiah 21:1) after Nebuchadnezzar had made him king. The occasion was on

Jeremiah, during the interval in the siege, is leaving the city by a northern gate on private business (perhaps connected with the earlier incident of Jeremiah 32:6 ff.), when he is arrested by the officer on duty under charge of desertion (plausible in view of Jeremiah 21:9; _cf._ Jeremiah 38:19). His denial is disregarded, and he is beaten and imprisoned by the princes (those friendly to him, _cf._ Jeremiah 26:16; Jeremiah 36:19, were now probably exiles). After a lengthy imprisonment, the king sends for him secretly ...

YOUR PROPHETS. Not Jehovah's. From the beginning they had prophesied falsely. See Jeremiah 6:14; Jeremiah 27:16; Jeremiah 28:2....

See introd. summary to ch....