= Jeremiah 37 * Please see [[nsv:license|License]] for Copyright notice and Licensing information. * [ [[Jeremiah_36|Previous]] | [[Jeremiah_38|Next]] ] == Jeremiah 37 1 And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. 2 But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the Lord, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah. 3 And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the Lord our God for us. 4 Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not put him into prison. 5 Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem. 6 Then came the word of the Lord unto the prophet Jeremiah saying, 7 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. 8 And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire. 9 Thus saith the Lord; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. 10 For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire. 11 And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, 12 Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people. 13 And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans. 14 Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes. 15 Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison. 16 When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days; 17 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the Lord? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. 18 Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? 19 Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land? 20 Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before thee; that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. 21 Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison. == Notes == Cross Reference == Commentary == Rashi ==== Verse 1 reigned as king Since from now on, i.e., from this point, he comes to tell and to say that the retributions that he prophesied until now were fulfilled, he started to tell in this manner, that when the time of the visitation, when the days drew near that the words should be fulfilled, another king reigned over Judah instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, etc. ==== Verse 4 And Jeremiah was coming and going among the people When Zedekiah assumed the throne, he gave an order and they freed him from the jail where Jehoiakim had imprisoned him, for Zedekiah was a righteous man and the people of his generation were wicked, whereas Jehoiakim was a wicked man and the people of his generation were righteous. ==== Verse 5 Now Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt to aid Judah. ==== Verse 7 is returning to his land Egypt They were coming in ships, and the Holy One, blessed be He, signaled to the sea and caused a type of bottles and flasks (i.e., inflated) resembling human skins to float on it. They said to each other, What is this? They replied, These are our forefathers, whom the forefathers of these whom we are going to aid, drowned. They immediately returned to their land. ==== Verse 12 to share [land] from there among the people Jonathan [renders]: To share his inheritance among the people, and as long as the Chaldeans were besieging it, he did not leave it, for he prayed that it should not be taken. ==== Verse 13 and there was the captain of the guard Appointed to guard so that no man should leave the city to make peace with the Chaldeans. the son of Shelemiah the son of Hananiah That is Hananiah the son of Azzur. He was his grandson, and for the following reason Scripture traced his lineage, [viz.] to teach that whoever flatters a wicked man eventually falls into his hands or into the hands of his son or into the hands of his grandson, and Jeremiah flattered him, for he said to him, “Amen! (28:6) [So may the Lord do.] May the Lord fulfil your words” (Sotah 41b). And [according to] the Midrash Aggadah, Hananiah commanded his son, “See that I am dying because of Jeremiah, and he made me a liar in my prophecy. If you can cause him to stumble, cause him to stumble. And his son commanded his son also in that manner, and when the time came, he caused him to stumble. ==== Verse 16 and to the cells Jonathan renders: within the cells. There were cells before that prison. ==== Verse 21 from the street of the bakers Heb. מחוץ, from the street of the bakers. Cf: “And you shall make streets (וחצות) for yourself in Damascus” (I Kings 20:34).