Jeremiah 38:1-6
When God’s truth challenges national pride and false hope, it often provokes hostility from those determined to resist it.
1 Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spoke to all the people, saying,
2 “Yahweh says, ‘He who remains in this city will die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out to the Chaldeans will live, and he will escape with his life, and he will live.’
3 Yahweh says, ‘This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon, and he will take it.’ ”
4 Then the princes said to the king, “Please let this man be put to death; because he weakens the hands of the men of war who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words to them: for this man doesn’t seek the welfare of this people, but harm.”
5 Zedekiah the king said, “Behold, he is in your hand; for the king can’t do anything to oppose you.”
6 Then they took Jeremiah and threw him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
When God’s truth challenges national pride and false hope, it often provokes hostility from those determined to resist it.
To narrate the intensified hostility of Judah’s officials toward Jeremiah after he continues proclaiming God’s message that the city will fall to Babylon.
This passage intensifies the narrative conflict between Jeremiah and Judah’s leadership during the final days of Jerusalem before its fall. It builds upon earlier imprisonments and shows the escalating hostility toward the prophet.
Jeremiah’s message during the Babylonian siege provokes severe opposition from Judah’s officials, leading to his being cast into a cistern.
Jeremiah in the Cistern and Zedekiah’s Fearful Refusal
The LORD offers Zedekiah a path of life through surrender, but the king’s fear of people keeps him from obeying, while Jeremiah suffers and Ebed-Melek courageously acts to preserve the prophet’s life.