Глава 38

1–13. Attempt on Jeremiah's life. 14–28. Secret conversation between Jeremiah and King Zedekiah. Jeremiah 38:1–13. Although Jeremiah found some mercy for himself from the king (chapter XXXI), nevertheless, his enemies did not sleep and began to convince the king that the prophet, who with his predictions took away all courage from the defenders of Jerusalem, deserved death. The spineless king gave Jeremiah at their disposal and they put him in a pit where he could die of hunger. However, one of the king’s servants was found, namely the eunuch Ebed-melech, who managed to convince the king of the need to save Jeremiah from death by starvation, and Jeremiah was removed from the pit and again put into custody in the royal court. Jer.38:1. And Shephatiah the son of Matthan, and Gedaliah the son of Passor, and Juhal the son of Selemiah, and Passor the son of Malchiah heard the words which Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying: “Juchal” is the same as Joachal, see Jer 37.3. "Passor" - see Jeremiah 20.1. – Jeremiah, probably sitting in the king’s courtyard, had conversations with the people coming to the king. Jer.38:4. Then the princes said to the king: let this man be put to death, because he weakens the hands of the soldiers who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them; for this man does not desire prosperity for this people, but disaster. Jeremiah was guilty from the ordinary civil-state point of view. But the princes, as believers in Jehovah, the Supreme Ruler of Israel, should have looked at Jeremiah’s “betrayal” differently. This, from a theocratic point of view, was not treason, but a proclamation of the will of God and an indication to the people of the only means of salvation. Jer.38:5. And King Zedekiah said, Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing contrary to you. Zedekiah here clearly expresses dissatisfaction with the insistence of the nobles, and cannot help but follow their advice. Jer.38:6. Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchiah the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard, and they lowered Jeremiah with ropes; in that pit there was no water, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. Son of a king - see Jer 36.26. Jer.38:7. And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs who were in the king's house, heard that Jeremiah was put in a pit; and the king was then sitting at the gate of Benjamin. "Ethiopian". Eunuchs were usually taken from foreigners for the royal harem. The law did not allow castration operations on Jews, such as eunuchs were subjected to (Deut. 23.1). Jeremiah 38:14–28. The king again calls the prophet to him for a conversation, but Jeremiah points out to him the danger that threatens him if he gives advice to the king, of course, in the same direction. When the king, however, assures him that he will not deliver him to death, no matter what the prophet says, Jeremiah again invites him to surrender to the Chaldeans. The king expresses his fear that there, in captivity, the Jewish defectors will laugh at him, but Jeremiah says that, in case of disobedience to the word of the prophet, the women of the royal harem will laugh at the king as a weak-willed man who succumbed to the unreasonable advice of nobles. The king, however, does not dare to follow Jeremiah’s advice and releases him back into the courtyard of the guard, taking his word to keep his conversation with the king secret from the nobles. Jer.38:14. Then King Zedekiah sent and called Jeremiah the prophet to himself, at the third entrance into the house of the Lord, and the king said to Jeremiah: I will ask you something; don't hide anything from me. The third entrance to the church is unknown where it was located. It is believed that this was a special royal entrance from the palace to the outer courtyard of the church. Jer.38:22. behold, all the wives who remain in the house of the king of Judah will be taken to the princes of the king of Babylon, and they will say: “Your friends have deceived you and prevailed; your feet sank into the mud, and they moved away from you.” Only a few of the king's wives remained in the harem. Others, due to the tightness of the situation - there was not even enough bread in the capital at that time - could be sent somewhere in advance from Jerusalem. Jer.38:27. And all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him, and he told them according to all the words that the king ordered him to say, and they left him silently, because they did not recognize what was said to the king. Jeremiah here admits a deliberate silence about the true course of the conversation with the king, but he does this not so much in his own appearance, but in order to protect the king from the discontent of the nobles. You might be interested in: