Jeremiah 39:17

Now the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying, Belonging to the time when the city was not yet taken, and when Jeremiah was still in the court of the prison (). This passage is inserted here because it was now that Ebedmelech's good act, in interfering in behalf of Jeremiah when cast into the miry dungeon (Jeremiah 38:7; , end), was to be rewarded in his deliverance Verse 16. GO - not literally, for he was in confinement, but figuratively. THEY SHALL BE ACCOMPLISHED IN THAT DAY BEFORE THEE - in thy sight. Verse 17. Thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid...

He then adds, _But I will deliver thee in that day, and thou shalt not be given up into the hand of the men whose face thou fearest _Here God promises that Ebedmelech would be saved through a special privilege; and the Prophet shews that this prophecy had not been without reason announced. For though Ebedmelech had, with an intrepid mind, undertaken the cause of Jeremiah, and boldly and perseveringly fronted all reproaches, he yet was not divested of all the feelings of nature, but he had his fears, especially when he saw the cause of fear set before him. Hence the Prophet says, that he _feared _the face of enemies: and this might, at the same time, avail to rouse him to receive with more alacrity, the promise offered to him; for we know that the blessings of God are, in a manner, deemed of no value by us, when we do not know how necessary to us they are. The prophecies and the promises,...

15-18 Here is a message to assure Ebed-melech of a recompence for his great kindness to Jeremiah. Because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord. God recompenses men's services according to their principles. Those who trust God in the way of duty, as this good man did, will find that their hope shall not fail in times of the greatest danger....

OF WHOM THOU ART AFRAID - The Chaldaeans. Ebed-melech apparently looked forward with much alarm to the b oodshed sure to take place at the storming of the city....

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...

BUT I WILL DELIVER THEE IN THAT DAY, SAITH THE LORD,.... As from the famine and pestilence, so from the sword of the Chaldeans, and from all the evil that shall come upon the city in the day of its destruction: AND THOU SHALT NOT BE GIVEN INTO THE HAND OF THE MAN OF WHOM THOU [ART] AFRAID; for though he was a bold and intrepid man, as appears by his charging the princes and prime ministers of state with having done evil to the prophet, and that in the presence of the king; yet at times he was not without his fears, which is the case of the best of men; and whereas he knew the courtiers owed him a grudge, for the freedom he took with their characters before the king, and for his friendship to Jeremiah, he might fear they would seek to do him a mischief, and contrive his ruin, in some way or another; but here he is assured he should not be given into their hands; or rather, as Jarchi, int...

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

EBED-MELECH. A prophecy of his deliverance, given during the siege (_cf._ Jeremiah 38:7). His enemies (Jeremiah 39:17) may be either the Babylonians, or the hostile princes. Jeremiah 39:18. _Cf._ Jeremiah 21:9; Jeremiah 45:5....

SAITH THE LORD. [is] Jehovah's oracle....

See introd. summary to the section. This section is certainly out of chronological order, as relating to a time before the capture of the city, but there is no sufficient reason for condemning it (with Du. and Co.) as unhistorical....