Jeremiah 38:12

And Ebed melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. UNDER ... ARM HOLES - `under the joints of thy hands;' i:e., where the fingers join the hand, the clothes being in order that the hands should not be cut by the cords (Maurer)....

We find the same words here as before, _Put now the old tatters, dragged or torn and rotten, _(111) _under the pits of thy hands underneath the cords. _This is an improper mode of speaking in Latin, but not in Hebrew. Then it is, “Put them under thine armpits underneath the cords.” This was to be done, lest the Prophet should receive any hurt; for he was to be drawn up by the cords, and he was fixed in the mud: and this could not have been done without lacerating his skin and injuring his armpits, for that part, we know, is tender. Then Ebedmelech ordered the Prophet to take these old tatters and to put them under the cords, so that he might be drawn up by the men with the least injury. This was the advice of Ebedmeleeh, and Jeremiah did as he was bidden. God thus delivered his Prophet in a wonderful manner from death: but we hence see how miserable was his condition; for the Prophet cou...

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...

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

AND EBEDMELECH THE ETHIOPIAN SAID UNTO JEREMIAH,.... Being come to the dungeon, and at the mouth of it, he addressed him in a very humane and friendly manner, and directed him how to make use of the rags he let down for his ease and benefit: PUT NOW THESE OLD CAST CLOUTS AND ROTTEN RAGS UNDER THINE ARM HOLES UNDER THE CORDS; the cords were first put under his arm holes to draw him up with, and then these clouts and rags were put under the cords; lest they should cut into his flesh, at least hurt him, and give him pain, the whole weight of his body resting on them; and perhaps these parts had received some hurt when he was let down into the dungeon with cords, when they were not so careful of him; and therefore needed some soft rags the more to be put under them at this time; all which shows what an affection this man had for the prophet and holy tender he was of him: AND JEREMIAH DID S...

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

ARMHOLES. armpits....

See introd. summary to section....

D. Rescued by Ebed-melech Jeremiah 38:7-13 TRANSLATION (7) And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian. one of the eunuchs attached to the household if the king, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. Now the king was sitting in the Benjamin gate; (8) and Ebed-melech went out from the house of the king and spoke unto the king, saying, (9) O my lord the king, these men have done evil in regard to all which they have done to Jeremiah the prophet in that they have cast him into the dungeon. He is as good as dead because there is no more bread any longer in the city. (10) And the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take with you from here thirty men and bring up Jeremiah from the dungeon before he dies. (11) And Ebed-melech took the men with him and went to the house of the king, the part under the storeroom, and took from there some worn-out and tattered garments