Глава 37

1–10. Jeremiah's prophecy about the second invasion of Judea by the Chaldeans, who had left the walls of Jerusalem. 11–16. Taking the prophet into custody. 17–21. His conversation with King Zedekiah. Jeremiah 37:1–10. At a time when, thanks to the approach of the Egyptian army, which was coming to the aid of the Jews, the Chaldeans had to temporarily lift the siege of Jerusalem, Zedekiah, in the hope that the prophet Jeremiah would no longer say anything sad for the Jews, sent ambassadors to him with a request to pray for the Jews to the Lord and then, of course, tell them something comforting. But Jeremiah still announced destruction to Jerusalem from the Chaldeans. Jer.37:3. King Zedekiah sent Jehuhal the son of Selemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to Jeremiah the prophet, saying: Pray for us to the Lord our God. Zedekiah was a man of weak character. He either followed the advice of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 23.14 et seq.), or succumbed to the suggestions of his nobles, who said the opposite of what Jeremiah advised (Jeremiah 38.4 et seq.). – “Jehuchal” in Jeremiah 38.1 v. ranked among the princes. “Zephaniah” is a person who stood quite high among the priests (Jeremiah 21.1). Jer.37:5. Meanwhile, Pharaoh's army set out from Egypt, and the Chaldeans, who were besieging Jerusalem, heard the news and retreated from Jerusalem. The pharaoh mentioned here is Ofra, the 4th ruler of the 26th dynasty. From the book Ezekiel shows that he was defeated when meeting with the Chaldeans (Ezekiel 30.21). Jeremiah 37:11–16. At this time, when it was again possible for the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem to go out to the surrounding cities, Jeremiah wanted to go to his hometown, Anathoth, probably on some inheritance business. But at the Benjamin Gate he was detained by the chief of the guard and, despite all the evidence with which Jeremiah proved his innocence, he was taken into prison as a defector to the Chaldeans, and they even beat him. Jer.37:12. Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin, hiding from there among the people. “Hiding from there” from the people - more correctly from the Hebrew. “to take your inheritance from relatives.” Jer.37:15. The princes were angry with Jeremiah and beat him, and they put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe, because they had made him a prison. “The princes were embittered against Jeremiah” for his constant speeches about the need to surrender to the Chaldeans. The old princes who were favorable to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26.3–6) were no longer there. – At the house of the head of the office there was obviously a convenient room that could serve as a prison. Jeremiah 37:17–21. When the Chaldeans again approached Jerusalem, Zedekiah secretly called Jeremiah to him and asked him about the fate awaiting the city. Jeremiah again foreshadowed his captivity and at the same time asked the king for a gentler treatment of him, indicating that his prophecy about the return of the Chaldeans had come true. The king then placed him in the guard's courtyard. Jer.37:21. And King Zedekiah gave orders that they should imprison Jeremiah in the courtyard of the guard and give him a piece of bread a day from the street of bakers, until all the bread in the city was exhausted; and so Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard. Jeremiah was given one small flatbread per day, which, however, given the then scarcity of grain supplies, was a blessing for the prophet. You might be interested in: