Jeremiah 37

ירמיהו פרק ל״ז

Section: נביאים · נביאים אחרונים | Book: Jeremiah | Chapter: 37 of 52 | Day: 250 of 742

Date: October 19, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

Chapter 37 marks a decisive shift in the shape of the book. Since chapter 34 the text has moved back and forth across the reigns of Yehoyakim and Tzidkiyahu, setting the episode of the Rechavim and the burning of the scroll beside oracles from the siege. Now the narrative settles into a continuous account of the last eighteen months of the kingdom, an account that will run, almost without interruption, through the fall of Yerushalayim in chapter 39 and the flight to Egypt that follows. The chapter opens like the beginning of a new book: and a king reigned, Tzidkiyahu son of Yoshiyahu, in place of Konyahu son of Yehoyakim, whom Nevuchadnetzar king of Bavel made king in the land of Yehudah. Rashi explains why the prophet starts afresh in this formal manner. From this point on, he says, the text comes to tell how the retributions Yirmiyahu had prophesied until now were fulfilled, and so it marks the moment when the time of visitation drew near. Radak notes the odd doubling ‘and a king reigned’ (וימלך מלך) and explains that Yehoyachin, whose reign lasted only three months, was not counted as a king at all; Tzidkiyahu is presented as the true successor to Yehoyakim. The verse also carries a quiet sting. Tzidkiyahu reigns because Nevuchadnetzar installed him, and his whole tragedy will be his attempt to rule as though that were not so.

The second verse is the thesis of everything that follows: neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land listened to the words of the LORD which He spoke through Yirmiyahu the prophet. The next verse then shows what that refusal looks like in practice. Tzidkiyahu sends Yehuchal son of Shelemyahu and Tzefanyahu son of Maaseyahu the priest with a request: pray now on our behalf to the LORD our God. This is the paradox of Tzidkiyahu, which the following chapters will explore again and again. He does not dismiss the prophet; he wants Yirmiyahu’s prayers, and later his secret counsel. What he will not do is obey. Prayer is sought as a substitute for repentance, a form of spiritual insurance purchased without changing policy. A parenthesis fills in the background. Yirmiyahu was still coming and going among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison (בית הכליא). Rashi, Radak and Metzudat David all explain that Yehoyakim had imprisoned him, and that when Tzidkiyahu came to the throne he ordered his release. Rashi adds the striking observation of Chazal that Tzidkiyahu was a righteous man in a wicked generation, while Yehoyakim was a wicked man in a righteous generation. The narrative bears this out: the king himself is weak rather than malicious, and the real persecution of the prophet will come from the officials around him.

The historical setting is the brief lifting of the siege in 588 or 587 BCE. Pharaoh’s army had set out from Egypt, and when the Kasdim besieging Yerushalayim heard the report, they withdrew from the city. Radak gives the full political background: Tzidkiyahu had rebelled against the king of Bavel, breaking the oath by God that he had sworn when Nevuchadnetzar placed him on the throne (compare Yechezkel 17), and had sent to the king of Egypt for help. When the Babylonian army came to punish the rebellion, Pharaoh marched out. For a few weeks it must have looked as though the pro-Egyptian party had been vindicated and the prophet of doom refuted. Into that moment of relief comes the word of the LORD: the army of Pharaoh that came out to help you is returning to its land, to Egypt, and the Kasdim will return, fight against this city, capture it and burn it with fire. Rashi preserves a vivid midrash on the Egyptian retreat. As the Egyptians came by sea, God caused shapes like inflated human skins to float on the water, and when they asked what these were, they were told: these are our forefathers, whom the forefathers of those we are going to help drowned. They turned back at once. The midrash makes a theological point through imagery: Egypt, the house of bondage whose armies sank in the Sea of Reeds, cannot be Israel’s savior. The warnings of Yeshayahu against those who go down to Egypt for help (Yeshayahu 30-31) are here fulfilled in a single retreat.

The oracle closes with one of the most extreme images in the book. Do not deceive yourselves (אל תשיאו נפשתיכם), saying the Kasdim will surely go away from us, for they will not go. Even if you struck down the whole army of the Kasdim and only wounded men remained, each in his tent, they would rise up and burn this city with fire. Metzudat David explains the warning against self-deception as the illusion that the Babylonians will depart entirely; they will leave, but they will come back. He reads the image of the wounded men as deliberate hyperbole (הפלגה וגוזמא), as if to say that no stratagem can avail against God’s decree. The point is not military analysis but theology. The fall of Yerushalayim is not a matter of armies and alliances; it has been decreed, and the decree will be carried out by whatever instruments remain.

The second half of the chapter turns from oracle to biography, and the account of the arrest is told with a reporter’s precision. During the lull in the siege, Yirmiyahu sets out from Yerushalayim to go to the land of Binyamin, la-chaliq mi-sham be-tokh ha-am (לחלק משם בתוך העם). The commentators divide over this obscure phrase. Rashi and Radak cite Targum Yonatan, that he went to take his share of an inheritance among the people there, which links the episode to the purchase of Chanamel’s field in Anatot in chapter 32. Rashi adds a moving detail: as long as the Kasdim were besieging the city, Yirmiyahu did not leave it, because he was praying that it not be taken. Radak and Metzudat David offer a different reading, deriving the word from slipperiness (חלקלקות): he wanted to slip away unnoticed among the crowds leaving the city. Radak suggests he feared he would be imprisoned for the harsh prophecy he had just delivered. At the Gate of Binyamin a sentry named Yiriyah son of Shelemyah son of Chananyah seizes him: you are defecting to the Kasdim (אל הכשדים אתה נופל). Rashi and Radak both report the tradition that this Chananyah is the false prophet Chananyah son of Azzur, whose death Yirmiyahu foretold in chapter 28. According to the midrash Chananyah commanded his son, and his son commanded his grandson, to trip up Yirmiyahu if they could, and now the grandson had found his pretext. Rashi also records the sharper lesson of the Talmud (Sotah 41b): Yirmiyahu once answered Chananyah ‘Amen, may the LORD do so,’ and whoever flatters a wicked man eventually falls into his hands, or his son’s, or his grandson’s.

Yirmiyahu’s denial is short and indignant: it is a lie (שקר), I am not defecting. But no one listens. The officials, enraged, beat him and put him in the house of Yehonatan the scribe, which had been converted into a prison, and he is lowered into the pit and the cells, where he remains many days. Metzudat David identifies the pit as the worst place in the prison. The irony is bitter. Yirmiyahu had indeed counselled surrender to Bavel as God’s will (21:9), and the accusation is not without a certain logic. But he is not a deserter, and the charge reveals how completely his enemies have confused faithfulness to God with treason against the state. The prophet who refused to flatter his people is now punished as a traitor to them, while the false prophets who promised peace remain in favor.

The final scene is an interview in the dark. Tzidkiyahu sends for him and questions him in secret in his house: is there a word from the LORD? Metzudat David explains the king’s question as asking whether a new prophecy has come recently. Yirmiyahu’s answer is two words of Hebrew, yesh (יש), there is, followed by a sentence the king does not want to hear: you will be handed over to the king of Bavel. Then the prisoner turns accuser. What sin have I committed against you or your servants or this people, that you have put me in prison? And where are your prophets who prophesied that the king of Bavel would not come against you? Metzudat David paraphrases: where is the promise of your prophets, when the king of Bavel is even now besieging the city? Yirmiyahu asks only not to be returned to the house of Yehonatan the scribe, lest he die there, and the king, in a characteristic half-measure, has him moved to the court of the guard (חצר המטרה) and orders that he be given a loaf of bread daily from the bakers’ street (חוץ האופים), until all the bread in the city ran out. Metzudat David notes that Yirmiyahu stayed there willingly and did not ask to be released further. The detail about the bread anticipates the famine of 52:6, and it explains why the next chapters, including the purchase of the field and the consolations of chapters 32 and 33, are set in the court of the guard. Tzidkiyahu emerges as a man who knows the truth, seeks it out in secret, protects its messenger just enough to keep him alive, and lacks the courage to act on it. In this he becomes the tragic counterpart of his father Yoshiyahu, who heard the words of the scroll and tore his garments, and the chapter leaves the reader waiting to see whether he will listen before the bread runs out.

פרק ל״ז · Chapter 37

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

וַיִּ֨מְלׇךְ־מֶ֔לֶךְ צִדְקִיָּ֖הוּ בֶּן־יֹאשִׁיָּ֑הוּ תַּ֗חַת כָּנְיָ֙הוּ֙ בֶּן־יְה֣וֹיָקִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר הִמְלִ֛יךְ נְבוּכַדְרֶאצַּ֥ר מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֖ל בְּאֶ֥רֶץ יְהוּדָֽה׃

English:

Zedekiah son of Josiah became king instead of Coniah son of Jehoiakim, for King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon set him up as king over the land of Judah.

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

וְלֹ֥א שָׁמַ֛ע ה֥וּא וַעֲבָדָ֖יו וְעַ֣ם הָאָ֑רֶץ אֶל־דִּבְרֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר דִּבֶּ֔ר בְּיַ֖ד יִרְמְיָ֥הוּ הַנָּבִֽיא׃

English:

Neither he nor his courtiers nor the people of the land gave heed to the words that GOD spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

וַיִּשְׁלַח֩ הַמֶּ֨לֶךְ צִדְקִיָּ֜הוּ אֶת־יְהוּכַ֣ל בֶּן־שֶׁלֶמְיָ֗ה וְאֶת־צְפַנְיָ֤הוּ בֶן־מַעֲשֵׂיָה֙ הַכֹּהֵ֔ן אֶל־יִרְמְיָ֥הוּ הַנָּבִ֖יא לֵאמֹ֑ר הִתְפַּלֶּל־נָ֣א בַעֲדֵ֔נוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ׃

English:

Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah son of the priest Maaseiah to the prophet Jeremiah, to say, “Please pray on our behalf to the ETERNAL our God.”

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

וְיִרְמְיָ֕הוּ בָּ֥א וְיֹצֵ֖א בְּת֣וֹךְ הָעָ֑ם וְלֹא־נָתְנ֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ בֵּ֥ית (הכליא) [הַכְּלֽוּא] ׃

English:

(Jeremiah could still go in and out among the people, for they had not yet put him in prison.

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

וְחֵ֥יל פַּרְעֹ֖ה יָצָ֣א מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם וַיִּשְׁמְע֨וּ הַכַּשְׂדִּ֜ים הַצָּרִ֤ים עַל־יְרוּשָׁלַ֙͏ִם֙ אֶת־שִׁמְעָ֔ם וַיֵּ֣עָל֔וּ מֵעַ֖ל יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃ {פ}

English:

The army of Pharaoh had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they raised the siege of Jerusalem.)

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

וַֽיְהִי֙ דְּבַר־יְהֹוָ֔ה אֶל־יִרְמְיָ֥הוּ הַנָּבִ֖יא לֵאמֹֽר׃

English:

Then the word of GOD came to the prophet Jeremiah:

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

כֹּה־אָמַ֤ר יְהֹוָה֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל כֹּ֤ה תֹֽאמְרוּ֙ אֶל־מֶ֣לֶךְ יְהוּדָ֔ה הַשֹּׁלֵ֧חַ אֶתְכֶ֛ם אֵלַ֖י לְדׇרְשֵׁ֑נִי הִנֵּ֣ה ׀ חֵ֣יל פַּרְעֹ֗ה הַיֹּצֵ֤א לָכֶם֙ לְעֶזְרָ֔ה שָׁ֥ב לְאַרְצ֖וֹ מִצְרָֽיִם׃

English:

Thus said the ETERNAL, the God of Israel: Thus shall you say to the king of Judah who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: “The army of Pharaoh, which set out to help you, will return to its own land, to Egypt.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

וְשָׁ֙בוּ֙ הַכַּשְׂדִּ֔ים וְנִלְחֲמ֖וּ עַל־הָעִ֣יר הַזֹּ֑את וּלְכָדֻ֖הָ וּשְׂרָפֻ֥הָ בָאֵֽשׁ׃ {פ}

English:

And the Chaldeans will come back and attack this city and they will capture it and destroy it by fire.”

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

כֹּ֣ה ׀ אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֗ה אַל־תַּשִּׁ֤אוּ נַפְשֹֽׁתֵיכֶם֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר הָלֹ֛ךְ יֵלְכ֥וּ מֵעָלֵ֖ינוּ הַכַּשְׂדִּ֑ים כִּי־לֹ֖א יֵלֵֽכוּ׃

English:

Thus said GOD: Do not delude yourselves into thinking, “The Chaldeans will go away from us.” They will not.

פסוק י׳ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

כִּ֣י אִם־הִכִּיתֶ֞ם כׇּל־חֵ֤יל כַּשְׂדִּים֙ הַנִּלְחָמִ֣ים אִתְּכֶ֔ם וְנִ֨שְׁאֲרוּ־בָ֔ם אֲנָשִׁ֖ים מְדֻקָּרִ֑ים אִ֤ישׁ בְּאׇֽהֳלוֹ֙ יָק֔וּמוּ וְשָׂ֥רְפ֛וּ אֶת־הָעִ֥יר הַזֹּ֖את בָּאֵֽשׁ׃

English:

Even if you defeated the whole army of the Chaldeans that are fighting against you, and only wounded men were left lying in their tents, they would get up and burn this city down!

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

וְהָיָ֗ה בְּהֵעָלוֹת֙ חֵ֣יל הַכַּשְׂדִּ֔ים מֵעַ֖ל יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם מִפְּנֵ֖י חֵ֥יל פַּרְעֹֽה׃ {ס}         

English:

When the army of the Chaldeans raised the siege of Jerusalem on account of the army of Pharaoh,

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

וַיֵּצֵ֤א יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙ מִיר֣וּשָׁלַ֔͏ִם לָלֶ֖כֶת אֶ֣רֶץ בִּנְיָמִ֑ן לַחֲלִ֥ק מִשָּׁ֖ם בְּת֥וֹךְ הָעָֽם׃

English:

Jeremiah was going to leave Jerusalem and go to the territory of Benjamin to share in some property there among the people.

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

וַֽיְהִי־ה֞וּא בְּשַׁ֣עַר בִּנְיָמִ֗ן וְשָׁם֙ בַּ֣עַל פְּקִדֻ֔ת וּשְׁמוֹ֙ יִרְאִיָּ֔יה בֶּן־שֶׁלֶמְיָ֖ה בֶּן־חֲנַנְיָ֑ה וַיִּתְפֹּ֞שׂ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֤הוּ הַנָּבִיא֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר אֶל־הַכַּשְׂדִּ֖ים אַתָּ֥ה נֹפֵֽל׃

English:

When he got to the Benjamin Gate, there was a guard officer there named Irijah son of Shelemiah son of Hananiah; and he arrested the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “You are defecting to the Chaldeans!”

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יִרְמְיָ֜הוּ שֶׁ֗קֶר אֵינֶ֤נִּי נֹפֵל֙ עַל־הַכַּשְׂדִּ֔ים וְלֹ֥א שָׁמַ֖ע אֵלָ֑יו וַיִּתְפֹּ֤שׂ יִרְאִיָּיה֙ בְּיִרְמְיָ֔הוּ וַיְבִאֵ֖הוּ אֶל־הַשָּׂרִֽים׃

English:

Jeremiah answered, “That’s a lie! I’m not defecting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials.

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

וַיִּקְצְפ֧וּ הַשָּׂרִ֛ים עַֽל־יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ וְהִכּ֣וּ אֹת֑וֹ וְנָתְנ֨וּ אוֹת֜וֹ בֵּ֣ית הָאֵס֗וּר בֵּ֚ית יְהוֹנָתָ֣ן הַסֹּפֵ֔ר כִּי־אֹת֥וֹ עָשׂ֖וּ לְבֵ֥ית הַכֶּֽלֶא׃

English:

The officials were furious with Jeremiah; they beat him and put him into prison, in the house of the scribe Jonathan—for it had been made into a jail.

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

כִּ֣י בָ֧א יִרְמְיָ֛הוּ אֶל־בֵּ֥ית הַבּ֖וֹר וְאֶל־הַחֲנֻי֑וֹת וַיֵּשֶׁב־שָׁ֥ם יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ יָמִ֥ים רַבִּֽים׃

English:

Thus Jeremiah came to the pit and the cells, and Jeremiah remained there a long time.

פסוק י״ז · Verse 17

Hebrew:

וַיִּשְׁלַח֩ הַמֶּ֨לֶךְ צִדְקִיָּ֜הוּ וַיִּקָּחֵ֗הוּ וַיִּשְׁאָלֵ֨הוּ הַמֶּ֤לֶךְ בְּבֵיתוֹ֙ בַּסֵּ֔תֶר וַיֹּ֕אמֶר הֲיֵ֥שׁ דָּבָ֖ר מֵאֵ֣ת יְהֹוָ֑ה וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙ יֵ֔שׁ וַיֹּ֕אמֶר בְּיַ֥ד מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֖ל תִּנָּתֵֽן׃

English:

Then King Zedekiah sent for him, and the king questioned him secretly in his palace. He asked, “Is there any word from GOD?” “There is!” Jeremiah answered, and he continued, “You will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.”

פסוק י״ח · Verse 18

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יִרְמְיָ֔הוּ אֶל־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ צִדְקִיָּ֑הוּ מֶה֩ חָטָ֨אתִֽי לְךָ֤ וְלַעֲבָדֶ֙יךָ֙ וְלָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה כִּֽי־נְתַתֶּ֥ם אוֹתִ֖י אֶל־בֵּ֥ית הַכֶּֽלֶא׃

English:

And Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What wrong have I done to you, to your courtiers, and to this people, that you have put me in jail?

פסוק י״ט · Verse 19

Hebrew:

(ואיו) [וְאַיֵּה֙] נְבִ֣יאֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־נִבְּא֥וּ לָכֶ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר לֹא־יָבֹ֤א מֶֽלֶךְ־בָּבֶל֙ עֲלֵיכֶ֔ם וְעַ֖ל הָאָ֥רֶץ הַזֹּֽאת׃

English:

And where are those prophets of yours who prophesied to you that the king of Babylon would never move against you and against this land?

פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20

Hebrew:

וְעַתָּ֕ה שְֽׁמַֽע־נָ֖א אֲדֹנִ֣י הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ תִּפׇּל־נָ֤א תְחִנָּתִי֙ לְפָנֶ֔יךָ וְאַל־תְּשִׁבֵ֗נִי בֵּ֚ית יְהוֹנָתָ֣ן הַסֹּפֵ֔ר וְלֹ֥א אָמ֖וּת שָֽׁם׃

English:

Now, please hear me, O lord king, and grant my plea: Don’t send me back to the house of the scribe Jonathan to die there.”

פסוק כ״א · Verse 21

Hebrew:

וַיְצַוֶּ֞ה הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ צִדְקִיָּ֗הוּ וַיַּפְקִ֣דוּ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֘הוּ֮ בַּחֲצַ֣ר הַמַּטָּרָה֒ וְנָתֹן֩ ל֨וֹ כִכַּר־לֶ֤חֶם לַיּוֹם֙ מִח֣וּץ הָאֹפִ֔ים עַד־תֹּ֥ם כׇּל־הַלֶּ֖חֶם מִן־הָעִ֑יר וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב יִרְמְיָ֔הוּ בַּחֲצַ֖ר הַמַּטָּרָֽה׃

English:

So King Zedekiah gave instructions to lodge Jeremiah in the prison compound and to supply him daily with a loaf of bread from the Bakers’ Street—until all the bread in the city was gone. Jeremiah remained in the prison compound.

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