Enduring Word Bible Commentary Jeremiah Chapter 37 (2023)

A. Despite the liberation of the siege, the Babylonians will conquer Jerusalem.

1. (1-2) The new king Zedekiah fails in the same way as the previous king.

And King Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned in place of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah. But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord, who spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.

a.King Zedekiah, son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah: the reign ofConías(Also know asJoaquim) was brief, lasting only a few months from 598 BC. C. his reign ended so quickly because Nebuchadnezzar came a second time to bring Jerusalem under his control.

I. "Zedekiah was a little man on a big stage, a weakling prepared to face circumstances that would have overwhelmed the strongest." (Maclaren)

ii. Upon assuming the throne, Zedekiah promised to obey Nebuchadnezzar. However, “due to Egyptian influence at court, which he could not resist, Zedekiah decided to break his promise. This was the immediate cause of the final siege of Jerusalem.” (Fenberg)

b.whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king: When Nebuchadnezzar deposed Conias, he put Conias's uncleZedekiahI can't. However, Zedekiah did not use his position to listen to God or his prophet Jeremiah.

I. Specifically, Jeremiah told them that the Babylonians would completely conquer Judah and Jerusalem and that resistance would be futile. They would be better off surrendering to the Babylonians and submitting to God's correction.

2. (3-5) Zedekiah asks Jeremiah to pray, and Jerusalem appears to be rescued.

And King Zedekiah sent Jehucal, the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "Pray now for us to the Lord our God." And Jeremiah went back and forth among the people, because they had nostillput him in jail. Then Pharaoh's army came up from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard news of them, they left Jerusalem.

a.Pray now to the Lord our God for us: When Zedekiah asked this, the Babylonian army threatened Jerusalem. Things were so bad that even the king who did not want to listen to God asked for prayer and referred to the Lord asOur God. Desperation led him to ask for this prayer.

I. “This king seems to have more goodness in him than his brother and predecessor Jehoiakim; but he became excessively hypocritical, as in other things, so much so that he implored the prophet's prayers, but did not obey his preaching. (Trap)

b.They hadn't put him in jail yet.: The imprisonment of Jeremiah in this period is described in Jeremiah 32:1 ff.

C.Pharaoh's army came from Egypt.: When the Babylonians left Jerusalem and headed south to face the Egyptian army, it seemed like a miracle and an answer to King Zedekiah's prayer. The siege of Babylon was broken and Jerusalem seemed to have been rescued by the Egyptians.

I. “The pharaoh mentioned in verse 5 was Hofra (cf. Jeremiah 44:30), who reigned from 589 to 570 B.C., and who rushed to support Zedekiah in his rebellion against Babylon (Ezekiel 17:11-21). However, he withdrew before actually entering the battle, leaving Jerusalem to fall to the Babylonians in 587 BC. (Harrison)

3. (6-10) The certainty that the Babylonians will conquer Jerusalem.

And the word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Thus you shall say to the king of Judah, who sent you to consult me: Behold, the army of Pharaoh has come to their aid, they will return to Egypt, to his land. And the Chaldeans will return and fight against this city, and they will take it and burn it with fire. leave. For even if you had defeated all the army of the Chaldeans that fought against you, and were leftfairamong them were wounded, they rose up, each in his tent, and burned the city with fire.'”

a.Pharaoh's army that came to help him will return to Egypt: Through the prophet Jeremiah, God told Zedekiah that the Egyptians would not hold out in battle against the Babylonians. Pharaoh's army would return to Egypt even before facing the Babylonians. The Egyptians' hope for help was empty.

b.The Chaldeans will return and fight against this city.: The Egyptians would return to Egypt and the Babylonians would return to Jerusalem. They would conquer it (take it) miburn with fire.

C.There were only wounded men left among them, they would rise up: God emphasized that there wasby chancethe Babylonians would not succeed in conquering Jerusalem. Even if his army were reduced tofairwounded men, even they would conquer the city andburn the city with fire.

B. Jeremiah's arrest and secret message to the king.

1. (11-15) Jeremiah was captured and imprisoned as a deserter from the Babylonians.

And it came to pass that the army of the Chaldeans went outthe siegefrom Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, that Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his property there among the people. And while he was at the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guarderathere whose nameeraIrias, son of Shelemiah, son of Hananiah; and he seized the prophet Jeremiah, saying: You go over to the Chaldeans! Then Jeremiah said: “False! I will not go over to the Chaldeans.” But he didn't listen. Then Irias grabbed Jeremías and took him before the princes. Therefore the princes were angry with Jeremiah, and they beat him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe. Because they turned it into a prison.

a.Jeremiah left Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his property.: Jeremiah 32:6-12 describes the property that Jeremiah purchased as a testimony of God's promise of restoration to Judah. With the siege temporarily broken, Jeremiah was able to see the property he had purchased from the prison.

UE.To claim his property there among the people: “The Hebrew expression is obscure, and its precise force is not clear - 'to divide thence among the people.' It may be that the whole matter of Jeremiah's family assets was in dispute due to the Babylonian invasion and a family meeting was called to decide on the division. Jeremiah decided to attend this meeting, but he was arrested ”. (Thompson)

b.you go to the chaldeans: Because he said it was useless for the people of Judah to resist the Babylonians, Jeremiah was suspected of being a sympathizer with the Babylonians, and perhaps even their spy. Herea captain of the guardseized the prophet with this accusation.

I. “Jeremiah had urged others to desert (Jeremiah 21:9; 38:2), and in fact several Jews went over to the enemy (Jeremiah 38:19; 52:15). Furthermore, Jeremiah's message of certain victory for the Babylonians was well known. So Iriah's accusation was understandable, if wrong. (Thompson)

C.They beat him and put him in prison.: Jeremiah was beaten and again arrested. He paid a significant price for remaining faithful to God and the message God gave him to deliver.

I. "Without anyrehearsalof the supposed treason, without any type ofjustice.” (Clarke)

ii. This was some fifteen years after the sympathetic princes of Judah described in Jeremiah 36:11-19. A new generation and new conditions have produced leaders with no sympathy for Jeremiah or his message.

iii. “Temporary arrangements were made to imprison Jeremiah in the home of the Secretary of State. In such situations, cisterns were sometimes used to incarcerate prisoners, and such an experience could be extremely unpleasant (Jeremiah 38:6, 13).” (Harrison)

4. "Secretary Jonathan's house became the prophet's prison, perhaps because he was just one of many deserters and political prisoners." (Fenberg)

v. The following verses (Jeremiah 37:20-21) show that the conditions of theprison in the house of Jonathanthey were far worse than those in the prison yard (Jeremiah 32:1-2).

2. (16-17) Released from prison, Jeremiah delivers a message to King Zedekiah.

When Jeremiah entered the dungeon and the cells, and Jeremiah remained there for many days, then King Zedekiah sent and took him away.for.The king asked him secretly in his house, and said: "Is thereanyword of the Lord?" And Jeremiah said, "There is." Then he said, "You will be handed over to the king of Babylon!"

a.Jeremiah stayed there many days.: This was yet another price the prophet had to pay for his faithfulness. there was noneFALSEprophets in that prison, because they gave a message that pleased the rulers and the people.

UE.the dungeon: “Hebrew, in a place or house of the hole or hole, where the prophet could not walk or lie down generously”. (Trap)

ii.Many days: "Did the king expect that the proof ofmany dayswould he have broken his spirit the moment he called? Certainly Jeremiah feared a return to this place of slow death (Jeremiah 37:20), but his prophetic voice was unwavering.” (Kidner)

b.The king asked him in secret: Zedekiah wanted to know if there wasany word from the lordbut he did not want to publicly question the prophet. The king did not want it to be known that he doubted the words of the false prophets who opposed Jeremiah and prophesied only good news.

I. “The fact that the king asked his question in secret shows that it was a matter of fear; growing fear of the fact that, despite all the weakness and wickedness of this man, he knew the power of God. (Morgan)

ii. One commentator portrays Zedekiah, "watching anxiously the martyr's lips for a favorable word for him, secretly whispering with the man his officers arrested for treason, weak, a poor creature, but not bad, a much more bound king." than the prisoner who stands before him." (Duhm, quoted in Thompson)

C.You will be handed over to the king of Babylon: This was the word of the LORD to Zedekiah. God's message has not changed whether it was delivered in private or in public.

I. Zedekiah made the mistake of thinking that there was a personal and secret word from God for him.differentof what had already been revealed in the word of God, including His written word of Jeremiah. The word "secret" was completely consistent with the written word.

ii. God can bring a personal word to an individual. But a secret word should not be searched for. Seek God in his written word.

iii. “A prophet who faithfully proclaimed the word of God, in the face of intense antagonism, for forty years, probably wouldn't give in to that kind of pressure. The message from him was as uncompromising as ever." (Cundall)

3. (18-21) Jeremiah appeals to King Zedekiah.

Furthermore, Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah: “What crime have I committed against you, against your servants, or against this people, that you have put me in prison? Where nowthey areyour prophets who prophesied to you, saying, 'The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land'? So please listen now, oh my lord the king. I beg you to accept my request in front of you and do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, so that he does not die there. Then King Zedekiah commanded that Jeremiah be handed over to the prison yard, and that they give him a piece of bread each day from the street of bakers, until all the bread in the city was finished. So Jeremiah stayed in the prison yard.

a.What offense did I commit against you?: Jeremiah appealed to Zedekiah in consideration of his favorite's failureprophetswho said, "The king of Babylon will not come against you or against this land.” His failure made it clear that the only courseoffenseof Jeremiah was to faithfully tell the truth to the king and the people.

I. "If someone really preaches the word of God to a post-Christian world, they must understand that they will probably end up like Jeremiah." (Schaeffer, quoted in Ryken)

b.Do not make me return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there.: Jeremiah made a sincere plea (please listen now... Please allow my request to be accepted) to avoid the appalling prison conditions injonathan's house.

C.Zedekiah the king ordered Jeremiah to be handed over to the prison court: Zedekiah did not seem to like Jeremiah or his message, but he respected the prophet as a man who faithfully told the truth even when it cost him something. He granted Jeremiah's request to be in the most humane prison and even ordereddaily a piece of breadbe given to the prophet.

I. Jeremiah asked that his lot be improved, even in persecution. In times of persecution, the persecuted person and others can and should do everything possible to improve their condition, even if the persecution or imprisonment continues. There is no order to endure and embrace the worst conditions without appeal.

ii. “Why did he do so much and not do more? He knew that Jeremiah was innocent and that his word was from God; and what he should have done was get rid of his "servant" masters, and follow his conscience, and obey God. Why didn't he do it? Because he was a coward, sick on purpose. (Maclaren)

iii. "For whatever reason other than compassion (and Zedekiah's motives must have been as confused as most of ours), the king did not want this man of God to die at his hands." (Kidner)

4. There was a small blessing for Zedekiah in his kindness to Jeremiah. "For this courtesy of his to the prophet, God granted him a natural death and an honorable burial in Babylon." (Trap)

(c) 2021 Oenduring wordDavid Guzik's Bible Commentaryewm@palabraduradera.com