Jeremiah 38:10

Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die. TAKE FROM, HENCE ... WITH THEE - Hebrew, 'in thine hand, i:e., at 'thy disposal,' (, margin.) From hence - i:e., from the gate of Benjamin, where the king was sitting (). THIRTY MEN - not merely to draw up Jeremiah, but to guard Ebed- melech against any opposition on the part of the princes (Jeremiah 38:1), in executing the king's command. Ebed-melech was rewarded for his faith, love, and courage, exhibited at a time when he might well fear the wrath of the princes, to which even the...

We here see, what I have already said, that; the Prophet’s deliverance was wholly from above. The king, smitten with fear, had lately given over the holy Prophet to the cruelty of his princes; and had confessed that he had no longer any authority: “for it is not the king,” he said, “who now governs you.” As, then, the king had not dared resolutely to contend against his princes:, how was it, that he now ventured to extricate Jeremiah from the pit? We hence see that the king’s mind had been changed; _because _he was lately so stunned with fear, that he dared not to plead _the cause _of the holy man; but now he commands the Ethiopian to_take him out from the pit _It then appears that this was over-ruled by a divine power. But let us hence learn to be courageous, when necessity requires, though there may not be a hope of a favorable issue. Ebedmelech might have thought within himself that h...

1-13 Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to themselves while impenitent. Jeremiah was put into a dungeon. Many of God's faithful witnesses have been privately made away in prisons. Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian; yet he spoke to the king faithfully, These men have done ill in all they have done to Jeremiah. See how God can raise up friends for his people in distress. Orders were given for the prophet's release, and Ebed-melech saw him drawn up. Let this encourage us to appear boldly for God. Special notice is taken of his tenderness for Jeremiah. What do we behold in the different characters then, but the same we behold in the different characters now, that the Lord's children are conformed to his example, and the children...

Verse Jeremiah 38:10. _TAKE FROM HENCE THIRTY MEN_] The king was determined that he should be rescued by force, if the princes opposed....

THIRTY MEN - So large a number suggests that Zedekiah expected some resistance. (Some read “three” men.)...

CONTINUATION. EXPOSITION The object of the princes being frustrated (for in the "court of the guard" Jeremiah had perfect freedom and opportunity of speech), the princes resolve upon a more effectual means of stopping the prophet's mouth. He is thrown into a miry pit, with the object that he may die of starvation. JEREMIAH 38:1 Two Pashurs appear to be mentioned here: one probably the same who put Jeremiah in the stocks (Jeremiah 20:1, Jeremiah 20:2); the other a member of the first of Zedekiah's two embassies to the prophet (Jeremiah 21:1). On JUCAL

THEN THE KING COMMANDED EBEDMELECH THE ETHIOPIAN,.... Being affected with the case of the prophet; and repenting of the leave he had given the princes to do with him as they pleased, gave orders as follows: SAYING, TAKE FROM HENCE THIRTY MEN WITH THEE; from the place where the king was, the gate of Benjamin; where very probably at this time was a garrison of soldiers, thirty of which were ordered to be taken; or these were to be taken out of the king's bodyguard, he had here with him. Josephus w calls them thirty of the king's servants, such as were about the king's person, or belonged to his household; and so the Syriac version of Jeremiah 38:11 says that Ebedmelech took with him men of the king's household; but why thirty of them, when three or four might be thought sufficient to take up a single man out of a dungeon? Abarbinel thinks the dungeon was very deep, and

CHAPTER 38 _ 1. Jeremiah in the dungeon and his rescue (Jeremiah 38:1) _ 2. Jeremiah with Zedekiah: His last appeal (Jeremiah 38:14) Jeremiah 38:1. Jeremiah is next accused of high treason. The charge is based on his message, given to him by the Lord: “He that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live.” Like the conscientious objectors during the past war, they accused him of being unpatriotic. “This man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.” They demand his life. In the sixth verse we see him in a deep dungeon, into which he was put by means of ropes. And Jeremiah sank into the vile mire. This reminds us of Him, our blessed Lord, who was also accused by false witnesses

Four of the princes (Jeremiah 37:15) hear Jeremiah (confined in the guard-court, Jeremiah 37:21) foretelling the fall of the city and advising individual surrender (_cf._ Jeremiah 21:9 f.). They denounce him to the king as a source of weakness to the defence, and Zedekiah gives him over to them. They lower him into the mud of a waterless cistern in the guard-court, belonging to a royal prince (Jeremiah 36:26, note). This is reported to the king by a negro eunuch called Ebed-melech (Jeremiah 39:15), who points out that he will die on the

THIRTY. The king knew the danger. No need to suppose that "thirty" is. copyist's error for "three"!...