Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Jeremiah 38

Jeremiah in the Dungeon

Jeremiah 38:¹ Now Shephatiah the son of Mattan, Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, Jucal  (Jehucal, Jer. 37:3) the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchiah heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken to all the people, saying,

• See verse 28 for the seal of Gedaliah the son of Pashhur

Jeremiah 38:² “Thus says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ): ‘He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes over to the Chaldeans shall live; his life shall be as a prize to him, and he shall live.’

Jeremiah 38:³ Thus says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ): ‘This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.’ ”

Jeremiah 38:⁴ Therefore the princes said to the king, “Please, let this man be put to death, for thus he weakens the hands (Well-being; lit. peace) of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare (Is discouraging) of this people, but their harm.”

Jeremiah 38:⁵ Then Zedekiah the king said, “Look, he is in your hand. For the king can do nothing against you.”

Jeremiah 38:⁶ So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king’s son (Or son of Hammelech), which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.

• Literally mire has to do with calamity.
• Isaiah 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, Whose waters (of people) cast up mire and dirt.
  
  • Clay is made from mire, a mixture of red dirt and water, used to make pottery, which is symbolically compared to men. Scripture is amazingly miraculous in how God uses word association to tell a story and give a message: For example:
    
    • FIRST HALF OF THE STORY:
    • Man was made from the dust of the ground (Genesis ), except in Hebrew, the word “dust” is also translated as “clay”, so man was literally and symbolically compared to pottery.
    • The Hebrew word “dam” means “red…wine or blood“. God named man “Adam“, made from red clay (mire) with red blood running through his veins.
    • Man (aka: Adam) was made from the clay of the “ground/earth” which in Hebrew is “Adam-ah“.
    • Succinctly, Adam (man), whose life is in his dam (blood), was made from the Adamah (ground).
      
    • SECOND HALF OF THE STORY:
    • Ancient Hebrew was a language without vowels; vowel sounds were added later. Therefore, “dam” and “dom” are the same words, and “Adam” and “Edom” are also the same words.
    • Adam was made from the red ground and has red blood in his veins. He was the “first-born” among mankind.
      Esau (aka Edom), was the first-born, with red skin and red hair. He traded his birth-right for a bowl of red stew. The root meaning of stew in Hebrew is “pride”.
    • Both Adam and Edom lost their birthright when they sinned because of their “pride”.
    • The birthright belongs to the firstborn male who inherits the position of being the leader of their family tribe.
    • Adam broke the law and sinned by eating the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden (of Eden).
    • Jesus was born as an “Adam” (a man). Jesus, as an Adam, gave His dam, so that man, in believing, could be spared a grave in the adamah.
    • At the last supper, His “dam” (red wine/blood) superseded the law with something better, mercy.
      “’The first man, Adam, became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” (I Corinthians 15:45)
    • Jesus was both the “Potter” (Creator) AND the Clay (Pottery). Succinctly, Jesus created Himself.
      
    • THE END OF THE STORY:
      Mire/Clay is associated with the Edomites of the Mid-East. The Feet on Nebuchadnezzar’s statue were part “clay/mire”, and part “iron”.

Jeremiah 38:⁷ Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs (Or officers), who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. When the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,

Jeremiah 38:⁸ Ebed-Melech went out of the king’s house and spoke to the king, saying:

Jeremiah 38:⁹ “My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon, and he is likely to die from hunger in the place where he is. For there is no more bread in the city.”

Jeremiah 38:¹⁰ Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, saying, “Take from here thirty men with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon before he dies.”

Jeremiah 38:¹¹ So Ebed-Melech took the men with him and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there old clothes and old rags, and let them down by ropes into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 38:¹² Then Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah, “Please put these old clothes and rags under your armpits, under the ropes.” And Jeremiah did so.

Jeremiah 38:¹³ So they pulled Jeremiah up with ropes and lifted him out of the dungeon. And Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

Zedekiah’s Fears and Jeremiah’s Advice

Jeremiah 38:¹⁴ Then Zedekiah the king sent and had Jeremiah the prophet brought to him at the third entrance of the house of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ). And the king said to Jeremiah, “I will ask you something. Hide nothing from me.”

Jeremiah 38:¹⁵ Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “If I declare it to you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you advice, you will not listen to me.”

Jeremiah 38:¹⁶ So Zedekiah the king swore secretly to Jeremiah, saying, “As the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) lives, who made our very souls, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life.”

• Zedekiah was the anointed King of Judah. Like Jesus, he was pressured by the elders, priests, and leaders of the Jews to disobey God (In Jesus’ case, it would be “the Father”). Unlike Jesus, King Zedekiah capitulated to the pressure of the Jewish leaders and to his own fear that Nebuchadnezzar would kill him.

Jeremiah 38:¹⁷ Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus says the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ), the God of hosts (‘ĕlōhîm ṣāḇā’), the God (‘ĕlōhîm) of Israel: ‘If you surely surrender (Lit. go out) to the king of Babylon’s princes, then your soul shall live; this city shall not be burned with fire, and you and your house shall live.

Jeremiah 38:¹⁸ But if you do not surrender (Lit. go out) to the king of Babylon’s princes, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not escape from their hand.’ ”

Jeremiah 38:¹⁹ And Zedekiah the king said to Jeremiah, “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they abuse me.”

Jeremiah 38:²⁰ But Jeremiah said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live.

Jeremiah 38:²¹ But if you refuse to surrender (Lit. go out), this is the word that the Lord (Yᵊhōvâ) has shown me:

Jeremiah 38:²² ‘Now behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be surrendered to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say:

“Your close friends have set upon (Or misled) you
And prevailed against you;
Your feet have sunk in the mire,
And they have turned away (Deserted you) again.”

• Jeremiah, who was lowered into the miry dungeon, is letting Zedekiah know that his feet are also sunk in the mire.

Jeremiah 38:²³ ‘So they shall surrender all your wives and children to the Chaldeans. You shall not escape from their hand, but shall be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon. And you shall cause this city to be burned with fire.’ ”

Jeremiah 38:²⁴ Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Let no one know of these words, and you shall not die.

Jeremiah 38:²⁵ But if the princes hear that I have talked with you, and they come to you and say to you, ‘Declare to us now what you have said to the king, and also what the king said to you; do not hide it from us, and we will not put you to death,’

Jeremiah 38:²⁶ then you shall say to them, ‘I presented my request before the king, that he would not make me return to Jonathan’s house to die there.’ ”

Jeremiah 38:²⁷ Then all the princes came to Jeremiah and asked him. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they stopped speaking with him, for the conversation had not been heard.

Jeremiah 38:²⁸ Now Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken. And he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

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{1 of 2} Jeremiah 38 – “Feet of Miry Clay” [Hebrew Meanings]
{2 of 2} Jeremiah 38 – “Oh, Pressed like Olive Oil Anointing a King” [Archeology]

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