Bible Commentaries
Jeremiah 37

Verses 1-2

Jer 37:1-2

Jeremiah 37:1-2

And Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned as king, instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of Jehovah, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah.

This is a brief recapitulation of the history of the past eleven years. In the first capture of Jerusalem, the Babylonians had taken Coniah and carried him away to Babylon along with many other captives. Nebuchadnezzar placed Coniah’s uncle Zedekiah on the throne as a sworn vassal of the king of Babylon. He reigned eleven years, and the events of this chapter were very near the end of that period. Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, and Nebuchadnezzar returned for the final siege which is under way in this chapter.

EVENTS DURING THE LAST DAYS OF JERUSALEM

Jeremiah 37:1 to Jeremiah 39:18

A period of some eighteen years separates the events of chapters 36 and 37. The focus in chapters 37 through 39 is upon the events during the last days of Jerusalem. The total destruction of the city foretold by Jeremiah throughout his ministry was hastening toward fulfillment. During this period of time Jeremiah suffered many indignities. His life was constantly in danger at the hands of his personal enemies. More than once he nearly died because of the deplorable prison conditions in which he found himself. But the physical agonies suffered by Jeremiah during those last few months before the fall of Jerusalem were as nothing compared to the mental and spiritual anguish of seeing his beloved land going down to destruction.

INTRODUCTION Jeremiah 37:1-2

The first two verses of chapter 37 relate the background of this section of the book. Here Zedekiah is introduced as though he had not appeared before. This is somewhat strange since he has appeared many times prior to this point. Perhaps these verses are a transitional device wed by the editor of the book (Baruch) to notify the reader that he is jumping from the reign of Jehoiakim to the reign of Zedekiah.

Zedekiah had been installed as the vassal of king Nebuchadnezzar in March of 597 B.C. when Jehoiachin (Coniah) his nephew was carried away to Babylon (Jeremiah 37:1). While Zedekiah was not the ruthless tyrant that his brother Jehoiakim had been he still did not submit to the word of God as spoken through Jeremiah the prophet (Jeremiah 37:2). Zedekiah was a weak-kneed monarch who suffered the pressures of a troubled conscience on the one hand and a group of radical and misguided young princes on the other. In the view of Jeremiah the security of the nation depended upon Zedekiah’s faithfulness to his vassal oath (Jeremiah 27:11-15). One senses that Zedekiah really would like to have followed the advice of Jeremiah. But tremendous political pressure was brought to bear against the king. He was not his own man. He was a puppet in the hands of the princes.

Following the brief introduction (Jeremiah 37:1-2) this section records how Jeremiah was consulted (Jeremiah 37:3-10), confined (Jeremiah 37:11 to Jeremiah 38:28), and confirmed (Jeremiah 39:1-14). The section closes with an appendix consisting of a brief message directed to Ebed-melech (Jeremiah 39:15-18). The biographical accounts and prose discourses of this section are arranged in strict chronological sequence.

Verses 3-5

Jer 37:3-5

Jeremiah 37:3-5

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 Jehovah our God for us. Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison. And Pharaoh’s army was come forth out of Egypt; and when the Chaldeans that were besieging Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they brake up from Jerusalem.

Pharaoh...

(Jeremiah 37:5). This was Pharaoh-Hophra, the Apries of Herodotus; his intervention availed nothing. Feinberg stated that the Babylonians defeated the Egyptian army; but Harrison was of the opinion that the Egyptians withdrew without a battle. History has no record of any battle having been fought; and the opinion of Harrison seems more likely to be correct.

The reason for Zedekiah’s request for Jeremiah to pray for the city seems to have been grounded in the hope that God would again spare the city from destruction as he had done by a miraculous intervention in the death of the entire army of Sennacherib in 701 B.C. Indeed, such a thing might have happened, if Zedekiah had been the kind of man that Hezekiah was; but Jeremiah 37:2, above, indicates that Zedekiah and all the people were solidly committed to wickedness and rebellion against God.

THE PROPHET CONSULTED Jeremiah 37:3-10

In 589 B.C. Zedekiah foolishly rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar his overlord. Jerusalem had to pay the inevitable consequences. In 588 B.C. the armies of Babylon besieged the city (Jeremiah 32:1-2). Things looked very bleak for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. As for Jeremiah, he had been arrested and confined during that first part of the siege (Jeremiah 32:1-5). In the summer of 588 B.C. things took a turn for the better. Pharaoh Hophra came marching northward with a relief expedition. The Chaldeans were forced temporarily to suspend siege conditions to deal with this new development. This withdrawal of Chaldean troops afforded Jerusalem a breathing spell of a few weeks.

Zedekiah’s Request Jeremiah 37:3-5

When the Chaldeans shifted their forces to counter the invasion of Pharaoh Hophra (Jeremiah 37:5) new hope was kindled in the hearts of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. For nine months they had been shut up in the city watching the strangle-hold slowly doing its deadly work. But now the enemy was gone! Perhaps the Egyptian allies would be able to defeat the accursed Chaldeans! Seeking prophetic confirmation of the prevailing optimism, king Zedekiah sent a delegation to Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord. The two-man delegation consisted of Zephaniah the deputy high priest and a prince by the name of Jehucal (or Jucal). See Jeremiah 21:1; Jeremiah 29:25; Jeremiah 52:24; Jeremiah 52:26-27; 2 Kings 25:18; 2 Kings 25:20-21. The latter would shortly join other princes in demanding the death penalty for Jeremiah (Jeremiah 38:4). But at the moment no animosity is apparent. Though the princes were violently resentful of the threats and warnings which Jeremiah had been uttering, yet the prophet was a powerful figure. They coveted his support for the national leadership. Let bygones be bygones. After all the Chaldeans had withdrawn from the city. Surely Jeremiah would jump on the bandwagon with all the nationalistic prophets now that circumstances had proven his earlier predictions to be inaccurate. As Hezekiah many years earlier had sent an embassy to Isaiah requesting prayer for besieged Jerusalem (Isaiah 37:6), so now they come and ask Jeremiah to “pray unto the Lord for us” (Jeremiah 37:3). Perhaps they hoped that God would miraculously intervene and overthrow the invading Chaldeans even as He had done many years earlier in the time of the invasion of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:35).

Jeremiah 37:4 is a somewhat parenthetical note indicating the personal circumstances of Jeremiah at the time the deputation from Zedekiah arrived. The prophet was still free i.e., he had not suffered arrest. This verse is not to be interpreted in the absolute sense that Jeremiah had never yet been arrested for most certainly he had been (see chapter 26). Nor should this verse be pressed to mean that Jeremiah had not yet been arrested during the reign of Zedekiah. On the basis of this verse most all commentators place the episode in chapter 32 after the events of chapter 37. While this is not an impossible arrangement, it certainly is unnecessary. Jeremiah might well have been in custody during the initial phase of the Chaldean siege and then have been released once the attacking armies withdrew. In this case the present verse would mean only that Jeremiah had not yet experienced the final arrest which was to keep him in custody until after the fall of the city. This arrest is recorded in Jeremiah 37:11 ff.

Verses 6-10

Jer 37:6-10

Jeremiah 37:6-10

Then came the word of Jehovah unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to inquire of me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city; and they shall take it, and burn it with fire. Thus saith Jehovah, Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us; for they shall not depart. For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yea would they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

Contrary to what would most certainly have been in the prophet’s own personal best interests, Jeremiah gave the same message he had already repeated to Zedekiah so often, namely, that God would destroy the city by the hand of the Chaldeans; and that this would surely come to pass, even if Judah were to kill their whole army except a few wounded men. This shows how certain was the fulfillment of what God had prophesied, and it was even a more unfavorable answer than the one Zedekiah had received in Jeremiah 21:4-7.

Deceive not yourselves

(Jeremiah 37:9). Satan himself, though he is the great deceiver, could not deceive us if we did not deceive ourselves. Sinners are their own destroyers, being their own deceivers, despite the fact of their being so frequently warned against it, and also having in their possession the Word of God, the great design of which is to undeceive them!

This expression, "Do not deceive yourselves," is a translation of a remarkable Hebrew idiom, the literal meaning of which is, "Do not cause your souls to rise (lift up)."

Jeremiah 37:10 stresses the certainty of fulfillment of God’s purpose of destroying the apostate Israel, which had long ago reached a point of no return in their iniquity. The prophecy states that even if the Babylonian army itself had been practically destroyed, with only a few wounded men surviving, even to that pitiful remnant God would give the victory over Jerusalem!

Jeremiah’s Response Jeremiah 37:6-10

Jeremiah rightly sensed that the king’s request for prayer was in reality an inquiry as to the future course of events now that the Chaldeans had withdrawn. Jeremiah’s response must have startled as well as angered the dignitaries who had approached him. In his response the prophet shattered all hope by emphasizing three thoughts. First, Jeremiah emphasized the failure of Egyptian aid. The Egyptians would be defeated and return to their land (Jeremiah 37:7). Secondly, he emphasized the fall of Jerusalem. The Chaldeans would shortly return, fight against Jerusalem, capture it, and burn it (Jeremiah 37:8). Thirdly, Jeremiah emphasizes the futility of optimism. There is absolutely no ground whatsoever for hope that the enemy would abandon the siege of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:9). Even if the Jews could in some miraculous manner defeat the Chaldeans to the point that only a few, and those severely wounded (lit., pierced through) remained, yet they would be able to overwhelm Jerusalem (Jeremiah 37:10). So certain was God’s purpose that Jerusalem be destroyed that no amount of wishful thinking or active resistance could reverse it.

Verses 11-15

Jer 37:11-15

Jeremiah 37:11-15

And it came to pass that, when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh’s army, then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to receive his portion there, in the midst of the people. 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 laid hold on Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou art falling away to the Chaldeans. Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I am not falling away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him; so Irijah laid hold on Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes. And 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.

Jeremiah went forth. to go into the land of Benjamin .....

(Jeremiah 37:12) Jeremiah’s home was in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin, only a short distance from Jerusalem; and there were many excellent reasons which might have prompted Jeremiah to make that short trip. It is impossible for men to know exactly why he attempted to do so, for God’s Word does not tell us.

To receive his portion there...

(Jeremiah 37:12) This is ambiguous and has been variously understood as a reference to his seeking a supply of bread, or attending to that business about buying a field, or (following the KJV) merely seeking to find a place of retirement. Able scholars have supported all of these suppositions.

In the midst of the people...

(Jeremiah 37:12). Does this refer to the people in the midst of whom Jeremiah would receive his portion, or to the throng of people in the gate of Benjamin rushing out into the country during the intermission in the siege of the city in order to procure supplies to last through the siege? Again, no one can be sure of the meaning; but Dummelow’s comment seems to be fully justified. There was naturally a rush to get out of the city on account of the confinement as well as the scarcity of provisions.

Thou art falling away to the Chaldeans...

(Jeremiah 37:13). This charge of Irijah was a fabrication of his own evil mind, there being no evidence whatever to support his false allegation. The charge was vicious and nonsensical; and some have suggested that Irijah’s charge was motivated by his desire for revenge against Jeremiah for predicting the death of his grandfather Hananiah (Jeremiah 28:16).

Irijah... brought him to the princes...

(Jeremiah 37:14). And what a dishonorable reprobate gang of princes these proved to be! Without mercy, reason, or honor, they scourged and imprisoned the man of God! They were a different group altogether from those princes who, at an earlier time, had treated Jeremiah with favor upon the occasion of Jehoiachim’s having the scroll read to him and then cutting it in pieces and burning it.

THE PROPHET CONFINED Jeremiah 37:11 to Jeremiah 38:28

Jeremiah experienced a great deal of suffering at the hands of the national leaders during those last dark days before the fall of Jerusalem. He was arrested about the middle of the Chaldean siege. He spent the last nine months or so before the fall of the city being bounced around from one detention area to another as the king and his advisers tried to determine what to do with this troublesome prophet. Five phases of Jeremiah’s prison experiences are recorded: (1) He was arrested in the gate and committed to a dungeon on the false charge of treason (Jeremiah 37:11-15); (2) he was released from the dungeon, but restrained in the court of the prison; (3) he was imprisoned in the miry dungeon of Malchiah (Jeremiah 38:1-6); (4) he was again released from the dungeon and kept in the prison court (Jeremiah 38:13-28) until the capture of the city; (5) he was carried in chains from the city by Nebuzaradan, an officer of the Chaldean army, and was finally released at Ramah (Jeremiah 40:1-4). On more than one occasion the prophet was given opportunity to change his message, to deliver some favorable oracle, and thereby improve his miserable lot. If ever a man had reason to compromise his message Jeremiah had it. The fact that through all his personal suffering he refused to alter his basic message authenticates him as a genuine prophet of God.

Arrested by the Guard Jeremiah 37:11-15

When the Chaldeans lifted the siege of Jerusalem in order to deal with the Egyptian threat to their flank, Jeremiah decided to visit his home in Anathoth a few miles north of Jerusalem. He never reached his destination; he was arrested at the Benjamin Gate (north gate) by the sentry and charged with deserting to the Chaldeans (Jeremiah 37:13). The language of the accusation, “you are falling away,” is perhaps an allusion to Jeremiah’s declaration (Jeremiah 21:9) that “he that fails away to the Chaldeans . shall live.” On the surface the accusation had some degree of plausibility. Jeremiah had openly preached since the beginning of the siege that desertion was the only road to self-preservation (Jeremiah 21:9-10). On the other hand, if Jeremiah now was intending to desert to the Chaldeans, he could not have chosen a more inopportune time. The Chaldeans were gone! They were headed south; Jeremiah was headed north. Thus the charge against the prophet was not only false but somewhat foolish.

Why was Jeremiah leaving the city? The question is not easy to answer mainly because the Hebrew verb used to describe his action can be interpreted in more than one way. According to one view, Jeremiah was about to change his residence back to his home town at Anathoth. This seems to have been the view of the King James translators who render the verb “to separate himself thence in the midst of the people.” But if Jeremiah was seeking to move his residence to Anathoth, why? Was it that he was attempting to leave Jerusalem the doomed city for the sake of his personal safety? Such motivation would be incongruous with the circumstances and the character of Jeremiah. Less objectionable would be the view that Jeremiah now regarded his ministry in Jerusalem as completed. The crucial phrase in Jeremiah 37:12 can be translated in another way: “to take his portion from thence.” On this view Jeremiah had some personal business to take care of in Anathoth. A reasonable conjecture is that his business had to do with the purchase of the field mentioned in Jeremiah 32:6-12. Two objectives have been raised against this interpretation: (1) the field in chapter 32 was not to be apportioned or divided as this verb implies, but merely purchased and (2) that purchase had not yet taken place. The former argument is not particularly weighty and the latter argument is completely negated if in fact chapter 32 chronologically precedes chapter 37 as has previously been argued.

Commentators are also divided in their interpretation of the phrase “in the midst of the people.” Did Jeremiah go out of the city in the midst of the people or did he take his portion in the midst of the people? Some commentators see in “the people” a reference to others who might have been involved in some way in the business transaction which was conducted at Anathoth. But it is better to connect the phrase “in the midst of the people” with the verb “went out.” The idea would then be that Jeremiah did not leave the city secretly and alone but publicly and in company with many others, perhaps of those who believed in his prophetic utterances.

Jeremiah protested his arrest; he denied the accusation that he was deserting to the Chaldeans. But Irijah, the chief officer of the guard, brought Jeremiah before the princes of the land for further action. These were not the same princes who had evidenced their respect for Jeremiah on former occasions (e.g. chapter Jeremiah 26:16; Jeremiah 36:19). They had been hauled off to Babylon in the deportation of 597 B.C. along with the king Jehoiachin (Jeremiah 24:1; Jeremiah 28:3; Jeremiah 29:2). Zedekiah’s princes would be of a lower origin and type who would be anxious to accept any charge against an unpopular person without proper examination. They remembered the blistering sermons Jeremiah had preached, how he had compared them to a basket of rotten figs (chapter 24), how he had openly advocated surrender to the enemy and individual desertion. Now was their chance to rid themselves of this annoying pest. They ordered the prophet to be beaten and cast into a dungeon in the house of Jonathan, a royal secretary. Actually it is impossible to tell from the Hebrew verb whether the princes had Jeremiah flogged or struck with the hand in the face. It is not even clear whether the princes caused others to smite Jeremiah or whether they administered the blows themselves. Just why his house was used as a prison is not revealed. Perhaps other places of detention were full; or perhaps the secretary’s house was a maximum security prison for those considered dangerous political offenders. At any rate there were parts of this house that were more than adequate for the purposes of detention. Two words are used to describe the place of imprisonment. The first word is bor, translated “dungeon.” The word implies a subterranean cavity. The second word is chanuyot, a word which occurs only here and probably means “cells.” The soft limestone beneath Jerusalem is honeycombed with vaults, caverns, cisterns, tunnels and the like. For many days Jeremiah the prophet of God was confined in this dark, damp, unventilated cell beneath the house of Jonathan the scribe.

Verses 16-21

Jer 37:16-21

Jeremiah 37:16-19

When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon-house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days; Then Zedekiah the king sent, and fetched him: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from Jehovah? And Jeremiah said, There is. He said also, Thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, Wherein have I sinned against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? Where now are your prophets that prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?

The dungeon-house, and the cells...

(Jeremiah 37:16). The prison mentioned here was a huge cistern-like excavation beneath the house of Jonathan, with cells excavated into the side of it, having no light or ventilation. Inmates were expected to die from such treatment; and yet Jeremiah survived it many days.

The king asked him secretly in his house...

(Jeremiah 37:17). Zedekiah’s secrecy was due to his fear of his ministers who hated Jeremiah and who urgently desired to murder him; but the king’s conscience no doubt drove him to arrange this secret interview. Also, the conceited arrogance of the whole Jewish nation continued right down to the very day the city fell and Nebuchadnezzar removed the survivors to Babylon. Despite their consummate wickedness, they still believed Jerusalem and the temple were invulnerable and that God would yet spare them. Therefore Zedekiah asked, Is there any word from Jehovah?

Wherein have I sinned against thee, etc....

(Jeremiah 37:18). It should be noted that Jeremiah here accused the king of being responsible for his imprisonment, pressing, at the same time, his plea of innocence from any wrong-doing.

Where now are your prophets that prophesied, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you...

(Jeremiah 37:19)? What a powerful argument is this! The implication is, ’Why should a truth-teller be in jail, and the tellers of lies be free’? Having laid such a foundation for it, Jeremiah skillfully presented his plea for mercy.

Jeremiah 37:20-21

And now hear, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be presented before thee, that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there. Then Zedekiah the king commanded, and they committed Jeremiah into the court of the guard; and they gave him daily a loaf of bread out of the bakers’ street, until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.

Lest I die there...

(Jeremiah 37:20). This was no remote possibility but a practical certainty if Jeremiah had been returned to that evil dungeon in the house of Jonathan.

The king commanded...

(Jeremiah 37:21). Jeremiah had not asked to be released, recognizing the practical impossibility of it, due to the murderous hatred of Zedekiah’s ministers and advisers; and to the credit of the king he honored Jeremiah’s request for a less intolerable confinement.

The bakers’ street...

(Jeremiah 37:21). This is the only place in Scripture where the name of a street in Jerusalem appears. It was a Near Eastern custom to name streets after those who worked in them. We see the same phenomenon in New York City and other large cities where industries and professions tend to proliferate on certain streets. The garment district, the floral district, and the millinery streets, and the financial district are the result.

This change for Jeremiah, placing him in the house of the guard, was fortunate indeed for mankind, because, as Payne Smith pointed out, "That was the place and the time during which Jeremiah wrote the cheerful prophecies contained in Jer. 30--33." These included the magnificent prophecy of the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31.

Summoned by the King Jeremiah 37:16-21

It is impossible to know how much time elapsed between the confinement of Jeremiah in the subterranean prison and the summons of Zedekiah recorded in Jeremiah 37:17. The text says “many days” Jeremiah remained in the prison of Jonathan’s house. During that interval the Babylonian troops returned to besiege Jerusalem anew. Zedekiah, hoping that there might be some positive word from the Lord, sent secretly for Jeremiah and had him brought to the royal palace. This is the fourth recorded interview between Jeremiah and king Zedekiah as the following chart indicates.

INTERVIEWS BETWEEN JEREMIAH AND KING ZEDEKIAH

Passage	Date	Situation
Jeremiah 21:1-14	Early in 588	Attack on Jerusalem has begun
Jeremiah 34:2-7	Early in 588	Most of the military outposts of Judah have been captured.
Jeremiah 37:3-10	Early summer 588	Siege of Jerusalem temporarily lifted.
Jeremiah 37:16-21	Fall of 588	After Jeremiah’s arrest.
Jeremiah 38:14-28	Early 587	After Jeremiah’s release from the dungeon.

In pathetic desperation Zedekiah asked, “Is there any word from the Lord?” (Jeremiah 37:17). Maybe God had changed His mind. Maybe now that Jerusalem was so close to destruction God would intervene as He had done on other occasions. Zedekiah had been reared in a godly home and though he had strayed quite a ways from the teachings of his father Josiah yet now in this hour of desperation he falls back upon the religion of his youth. Is there any word from the Lord? Indeed there was. But it was a message of doom and not deliverance as far as Zedekiah was concerned. “you will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon” (Jeremiah 37:17). Many days in a dark dungeon had not softened the message of the prophet. He was still standing as tall and straight as an iron pillar.

Jeremiah took the opportunity while standing before the king to plead his own case. “What wrong have I done against you, your servants or this people that you have put me in prison?” (Jeremiah 37:18). Zedekiah was as guilty as the wicked princes who had cast Jeremiah into the dungeon because he had failed to exercise his power to prevent this injustice. Jeremiah had only faithfully carried out his mission as a prophet of God. And had Jeremiah not been vindicated by the events of the past months? Where were the prophets who had so confidently asserted that Nebuchadnezzar would never come against Jerusalem? (Jeremiah 37:19). Those prophets were the ones who ought to be in jail for so completely deceiving the nation. Humbly Jeremiah pleaded with the king not to allow him to return to the prison at the house of Jonathan. Evidently Jeremiah was near death at the time of the interview. Jeremiah knew that if he spent many more days in that wretched and foul hole he would surely die (Jeremiah 37:20). This prophet was no self-appointed martyr. He does not ask to be released from prison; he asks only for humane treatment.

Zedekiah did not set Jeremiah free. But he did order that Jeremiah be transferred to the court of the guard. Perhaps Zedekiah was actually keeping Jeremiah in protective custody. Knowing the hatred of the princes for this man of God, he chose to keep him where the palace guard could watch out for his safety. As long as bread was to be found in the city Jeremiah was to receive his daily ration. Various tradesmen seem to have had special streets either chosen by them or assigned to them. See 1 Kings 20:34. Hence the reference here to the “street of the baker.”

Jeremiah in Prison - Jeremiah 37:1 to Jeremiah 38:28

Open It

1. What story of a dramatic rescue has stayed in your mind? Why?

2. How have you coped with news that wasn’t what you wanted to hear?

Explore It

3. How did Zedekiah become king of Judah? (Jeremiah 37:1)

4. What request did Zedekiah make of Jeremiah? (Jeremiah 37:2-3)

5. What is revealed about the city of Jerusalem at the beginning of this story? (Jeremiah 37:5)

6. Despite the fact that the situation seemed to be looking up, what bad news did Jeremiah tell the king? (Jeremiah 37:6-8)

7. Why was Jeremiah put in prison? (Jeremiah 37:11-15)

8. What question did the king ask Jeremiah in secret? (Jeremiah 37:17)

9. How did Jeremiah answer the king? (Jeremiah 37:17)

10. On what basis did Jeremiah plead his case with King Zedekiah? (Jeremiah 37:18-20)

11. Where did the king order that Jeremiah be held instead of the dungeon in Jonathan’s house? (Jeremiah 37:21)

12. What did some of the officials find out that Jeremiah was telling the people? (Jeremiah 38:1-3)

13. What punishment did the officials propose to the king? (Jeremiah 38:4)

14. How did the king respond to the officials’ demand? (Jeremiah 38:5)

15. Where was Jeremiah’s place of imprisonment? (Jeremiah 38:6)

16. Who appealed to the king on behalf of Jeremiah? (Jeremiah 38:7-9)

17. What happened in response to Ebed-Melech’s appeal? (Jeremiah 38:7-13)

18. Where did Jeremiah stay after his rescue? (Jeremiah 38:11-13)

19. Why was Jeremiah hesitant to answer the king’s request to give him a straightforward answer? (Jeremiah 38:14-15)

20. After Zedekiah had sworn not to harm him, what did Jeremiah reveal about God’s plans? (Jeremiah 38:16-18)

21. Why was Zedekiah afraid to obey God and surrender to the Babylonians? (Jeremiah 38:19)

22. What specifics did Jeremiah tell the king about what would happen if he did, or didn’t, obey God? (Jeremiah 38:20-23)

23. Because it was dangerous for them to have talked, what did Zedekiah tell Jeremiah to say when he was questioned about his conversation with the king? (Jeremiah 38:24-26)

24. Where was Jeremiah when the city of Jerusalem was captured? (Jeremiah 38:28)

Get It

25. Where were the people of Jerusalem looking for help against the Babylonian siege?

26. Why was Jeremiah so unpopular with the officials of Jerusalem and the temple?

27. How was Jeremiah taking action on his own prophecy about the future when he was apprehended by his enemies?

28. When has obedience to God required you to make a decision you knew would be unpopular with others?

29. What contributes to a climate in which God-respecting people are harassed, mocked, ridiculed, or even harmed?

30. What are people acknowledging when they turn to God in times of confusion or trouble?

Apply It

31. How might you be able to plead the case of a helpless person in the weeks to come?

32. What step can you take this week toward developing the faith to obey God even when His will is not necessarily what you want?

Questions On Jeremiah Chapter Thirty Seven

By Brent Kercheville

1 What is the sin of King Zedekiah, his attendants, and the people of the land (Jeremiah 37:1-3)?

2 What is ironic about what Zedekiah then does? What is the message to the reader?

3 What is God’s message through Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:4-10)?

4 What happens to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:11-21)? Who helps Jeremiah?

TRANSFORMATION:

How does this relationship change your relationship with God?

What did you learn about him?

What will you do differently in your life?