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Jeremiah 38

KJV · Chapter 38/52

1Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,

2Thus saith the Lord, He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live.

3Thus saith the Lord, This city shall surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which shall take it.

4Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.

5Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.

6Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.

7Now when Ebed–melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;

8Ebed–melech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying,

9My 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 like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.

10Then the king commanded Ebed–melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.

11So Ebed–melech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

12And Ebed–melech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so.

13So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.

14Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house of the Lord: and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask thee a thing; hide nothing from me.

15Then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt thou not hearken unto me?

16So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.

17Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:

18But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.

19And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me.

20But Jeremiah said, They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee: so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul shall live.

21But if thou refuse to go forth, this is the word that the Lord hath shewed me:

22And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back.

23So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans: and thou shalt not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon: and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire.

24Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of these words, and thou shalt not die.

25But if the princes hear that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to death; also what the king said unto thee:

26Then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that he would not cause me to return to Jonathan’s house, to die there.

27Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

28So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem was taken: and he was there when Jerusalem was taken.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Hostile princes throw Jeremiah into a muddy cistern to die, but the Ethiopian Ebed-melech intervenes and rescues him with King Zedekiah's permission.

Explanation

This episode reveals the extreme hostility Jeremiah faced for continuing to advise surrender to the Babylonians, something his opponents regarded as demoralizing the troops in wartime. The courageous action of Ebed-melech, a foreign Ethiopian and eunuch of the court, is remarkable: he risks his position to save the life of an unpopular prophet, standing in stark contrast to the passivity and cowardice of King Zedekiah, who held formal power but lacked the courage to act against his own princes. Even so, the king keeps seeking Jeremiah's counsel in secret, revealing an inner conflict between recognizing the truth and fearing the social consequences of following it.

Fun facts

  • Ebed-melech is remembered favorably again in chapter 39, where he receives a special promise of God's protection for his faith and courage — a rare case of detailed individual recognition in the book.
  • Dry cisterns used as prisons were a real practice of the time; structures carved into rock to store water, when empty, easily served as improvised dungeons.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremiah 38:1Introduces four court officials -- Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jucal, and Pashur -- who heard Jeremiah repeating the message of surrender to the people and decided to act against him.
  2. Jeremiah 38:2Sums up the message that troubled them so much: whoever stayed in the city would die by sword, famine, or plague, but whoever surrendered to the Chaldeans would come out alive -- advice to surrender that sounded like defeatism.
  3. Jeremiah 38:3Restates without compromise that the city would certainly fall into the hands of the Babylonian army -- the same prophecy repeated since the earlier chapters.
  4. Jeremiah 38:4The officials ask the king for Jeremiah’s death, accusing him of weakening the morale of the soldiers and the people with this message -- treating an uncomfortable truth as an act of sabotage in wartime.
  5. Jeremiah 38:5Zedekiah gives in to the pressure without resistance, saying he has no power to stop the officials -- the portrait of a weak king controlled by his own court.
  6. Jeremiah 38:6The dungeon was an empty cistern used as a prison, with no water but plenty of mud at the bottom, where Jeremiah sinks in. It is a way of executing someone slowly without staining anyone’s hands with blood: letting a person die of hunger and cold at the bottom of a pit.
  7. Jeremiah 38:7Ebedmelech, an Ethiopian official, probably a foreign eunuch at court with no political power of his own, is the one who risks his own position to save Jeremiah. A foreigner with no status acts with more courage than the officials of Judah.
  8. Jeremiah 38:8Ebedmelech, the foreign official who learned of Jeremiah’s situation in the cistern, rushes out of the palace to intervene directly with the king.
  9. Jeremiah 38:9Ebedmelech confronts the king with courage, calling the officials’ action wicked: letting Jeremiah die of hunger in a muddy cistern, in a city that already had no more bread for anyone.
  10. Jeremiah 38:10Zedekiah authorizes the rescue, sending Ebedmelech with thirty men to pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies -- a quick response to a direct appeal.
  11. Jeremiah 38:11Ebedmelech gathers old rags from the palace storeroom before lowering the ropes -- a practical precaution meant to keep Jeremiah from getting hurt during the rescue.
  12. Jeremiah 38:12He instructs Jeremiah to put the rags under his arms so the ropes would not cut into his skin while being pulled up -- a gesture of care that shows attention to detail, not just good will.
  13. Jeremiah 38:13The rescue works: Jeremiah is pulled out of the cistern and returns to the court of the guard, a milder confinement than the muddy pit he had been in.
  14. Jeremiah 38:14Zedekiah sends for Jeremiah again, this time at a specific entrance to the temple, asking for complete honesty -- a request for sincere counsel from a king still torn between his court and the truth.
  15. Jeremiah 38:15Jeremiah hesitates to answer, knowing that telling the king the truth could cost his own life, since Zedekiah could not protect him from his own officials.
  16. Jeremiah 38:16Zedekiah swears in secret that he will not kill Jeremiah or hand him over to those who wanted him dead -- a personal guarantee, but hidden from the very court he did not control.
  17. Jeremiah 38:17Jeremiah’s final offer: if Zedekiah surrenders voluntarily to the Babylonians, his life and the city would be spared -- surrender is still presented as salvation, not cowardice.
  18. Jeremiah 38:18The alternative is harsh: refusing to surrender means the city will fall, be burned, and the king himself will not escape the hands of the Chaldeans in any way.
  19. Jeremiah 38:19Zedekiah reveals the real fear behind his indecision: it is not Babylon, but being handed over and mocked by the Jews who had already deserted to the Babylonian side.
  20. Jeremiah 38:20Jeremiah tries to reassure him: that specific fear will not come true if he simply obeys the instruction to surrender.
  21. Jeremiah 38:21Before detailing the alternative, Jeremiah warns that he is about to reveal what God showed him about a refusal -- preparing the king for a harsh vision of what comes next.
  22. Jeremiah 38:22The vision: the women of the royal harem would be brought out to the Babylonian officials and would sing a mocking verse, blaming the king’s own trusted advisers for leading him to ruin.
  23. Jeremiah 38:23Sums up the final outcome if Zedekiah does not surrender: wives and children taken to the Chaldeans, the king himself captured, and the city burned -- everything surrender could have prevented.
  24. Jeremiah 38:24Zedekiah asks for secrecy about this conversation, fearing how the officials would react if they knew what was really said -- more concerned with protecting himself from his own court than with acting on the warning.
  25. Jeremiah 38:25Anticipates that the officials will question Jeremiah about the content of the conversation, pressing him for details.
  26. Jeremiah 38:26Teaches Jeremiah a safe, partial answer to give the officials: to say only that he asked not to be sent back to the prison in Jonathan’s house, hiding the real content of the conversation about surrender.
  27. Jeremiah 38:27The officials do question Jeremiah, and he answers exactly with the agreed-upon version -- a strategic deception that avoids revealing the true counsel given to the king.
  28. Jeremiah 38:28Jeremiah remains in the court of the guard, a relatively mild confinement, until the day Jerusalem finally falls -- closing the chapter on the threshold of the final disaster.

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