Jeremiah 37:2

But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah. BUT NEITHER HE, NOR HIS SERVANTS, NOR THE PEOPLE ... DID HEARKEN UNTO THE WORDS OR THE LORD ... BY ... JEREMIAH. Amazing stupidity, that they were not admonished by the punishment of Jeconiah! (Calvin.) (; .)...

1-10 Numbers witness the fatal effects of other men's sins, yet heedlessly step into their places, and follow the same destructive course. When in distress, we ought to desire the prayers of ministers and Christian friends. And it is common for those to desire to be prayed for, who will not be advised; yet sinners are often hardened by a pause in judgments. But if God help us not, no creature can. Whatever instruments God has determined to use, they shall do the work, though they seem unlikely....

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

BUT NEITHER HE, NOR HIS SERVANTS, NOR THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND,.... The king, his courtiers and subjects the royal family, nobility, and common people; they were all degenerate and corrupt. Jarchi observes, that Jehoiakim was wicked, and his people righteous; and that Zedekiah was righteous, and his people wicked but he seems to found his character on that single action of taking Jeremiah out of prison; whereas, according to this account, king and people were all wicked: for neither one or other DID HEARKEN UNTO THE WORDS OF THE LORD, WHICH HE SPAKE BY JEREMIAH THE PROPHET; neither those which were spoken in the former nor in the latter part of his reign, concerning the destruction of the city by the Chaldeans. This short count is given to show how just it was to give up such a prince and people to ruin....

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more fully these Chapter s it must be remembered that the besieging army before the gates of Jerusalem was temporarily withdrawn, because an Egyptian army had appeared against it.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 37, 38. FORTUNES OF JEREMIAH DURING THE SIEGE (588- 586). JEREMIAH 37:1. Zedekiah, made vassal-king in place of his nephew, Jehoiachin (in 597) sends Jehucal (Jeremiah 38:1) and Zephaniah (Jeremiah 21:1, where a similar inquiry earlier in the siege is recorded) to ask for Jeremiah's intercession with Yahweh (_cf._ Isaiah 37:4), at a time when the siege has been raised through the Egyptian expedition of Pharaoh (Hophra, 589- 564; _cf._ Jeremiah 44:30). Jeremiah sends back to say that the Babylonians will return, and

WORDS. prophecies....

CHAPTER SIXTEEN EVENTS DURING THE LAST DAYS OF JERUSALEM Jeremiah 37:1 to Jeremiah 39:18 A period of some eighteen years separates the events of Chapter s 36 and 37. The focus in Chapter s 37 through 39 is upon the events during the last days of Jerusalem. The total destruction of the city foretold by Jeremiah throughout his ministry was hastening toward fulfillment. During this period of time Jeremiah suffered many indignities. His life was constantly in danger at the hands of his personal enemies. More than once he nearly died because of the deplorable prison conditions in which he found himself. But the physical agonies suffered by Jeremiah during those last few months before the fall of Jerusalem were as nothing compared to the mental and spiritual anguish of seeing his beloved la

1-5. The general position....

BUT NEITHER HE, NOR HIS SERVANTS... — The verse gives a general survey of the character of Zedekiah’s reign preparatory to the actual history that follows, which falls towards its close, probably in the seventh or eighth year of his reign. It will be noted that the “servants” here, as in Jeremiah 36:24, are the personal attendants of the king, his courtiers, as distinct from the “princes” of Judah and the “people of the land,” that is, the great body of unofficial laymen....