Jeremiah 39:14

Even they sent, and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that he should carry him home: so he dwelt among the people. GEDALIAH - son of Ahikam, the former supporter of Jeremiah (). Gedaliah was the chief of the deserters to the Chaldeans, and was set over the remnant in Judea, as one likely to remain faithful to Nebuchadnezzar. His residence was at Mizpah (Jeremiah 40:5). HOME - the house of Gedaliah, wherein Jeremiah might remain as in a safe asylum. As in , Jeremiah is represented as "bound in chains" when he came to Ramah among the captives to be carried to Babylon; this release of Jeremi...

Here Jeremiah completes what we began yesterday to expound, even that by the command of King Nebuchadnezzar he was delivered from prison. But we have said, that though that heathen king had regard to his own interest, yet his mind was ruled by the secret power of God, who thus designed to rescue his servant from death; for God is wont thus to work even by the ungodly, who have another thing in view. It is not always by a voluntary act that men serve God, for many execute what God has decreed when they have no intention of doing so: and he so turns and drives them here and there, that they are constrained, willing or unwilling, to obey his authority. Thus, then, it was that Nebuchadnezzar liberated Jeremiah. And yet the Prophet fully believed that he did not owe his life to King Nebuchadnezzar, but that he had been in a wonderful manner preserved by God’s favor; and to shew this is the d...

11-14 The servants of God alone are prepared for all events; and they are delivered and comforted, while the wicked suffer. They often meet with more kindness from the profane, than from hypocritical professors of godliness. The Lord will raise them up friends, do them good, and perform all his promises....

Jeremiah was to be taken out of the court of the watch, and placed in the palace close by. HE DWELT AMONG THE PEOPLE - i. e., he was no longer in custody, but master of his own actions....

EXPOSITION This chapter is very confused as it stands. To restore order it is absolutely necessary to suppose that some passages (viz. Jeremiah 39:1, Jeremiah 39:2, and Jeremiah 39:4) have been inserted by after thoughts. It is important to notice that the latter of these passages is omitted in the Septuagint. We need not go so far as to excise them altogether, but we must at any rate enclose them in parentheses. The chapter then becomes a narrative of the solemn session held by the Babylonian officers in the "middle gate," and the charge which they gave to Gedaliah to take Jeremiah under his protection. Verses 1, 2 appear to be taken from...

EVEN THEY SENT AND TOOK JEREMIAH OUT OF THE COURT OF THE PRISON,.... Where he was, when Jerusalem was taken, Jeremiah 38:28; and where he remained until this order came: AND COMMITTED HIM UNTO GEDALIAH THE SON OF AHIKAM THE SON OF SHAPHAN; the father of this person seems to be the same who saved Jeremiah from being delivered into the hand of the people, to be put to death by them, in Jehoiakim's reign, Jeremiah 26:24; and he himself was doubtless a prince of Judah, that deserted to the Chaldeans during the siege, and was in esteem with them, and appointed a governor over those that were left in the land: now what is here recorded was not done immediately after Jeremiah was taken out of the court of the prison; for however it was, whether through the multiplicity of business, or t

CHAPTER 39 _ 1. The fall of Jerusalem and the fate of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 39:1) _ 2. Nebuchadnezzar's kindness to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 39:10) 3. Ebed-melech's reward (Jeremiah 39:15) Jeremiah 39:1. The Word of God comes true; the prophecy of Jeremiah is vindicated! The mighty army of Nebuchadnezzar returned to the city; for many months the siege goes on under indescribable suffering. How horrible it must have been! Then the city fell and the victors rushed in; the work of slaughter and burning began. According to Jewish tradition it was on the ninth day of the month Ab. On the same date in

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM: JEREMIAH SPARED. This paragraph well illustrates the growth of the OT text; _cf._ 2 Kings 25:1 (also reproduced in Jeremiah 52:4, from which Jeremiah 39:1 f. and Jeremiah 39:4; Jeremiah 39:13 have been here interpolated. The former verses (Jeremiah 39:1 f., bracketed in RV) break the Hebrew connexion, and refer back to the time prior to the capture of the city; the latter ...

PRISON. house of detention: as in Jeremiah 38:6; Jeremiah 38:13; Jeremiah 38:28. GEDALIAH. See note on Ahikam, Jeremiah 26:24. Compare Jeremiah 40:6. SHAPHAN. See note on 2 Kings 22:3. CARRY HIM HOME. Some codices, with one early printed edition (Rabbinic), read "out of the [prison] house". From the next chapter we learn that he was taken north to Ramah with other captives, and from that place was set free, and went to

See introd. summary to the section....