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Jeremiah 38

ירמיהו פרק ל״ח

Section: נביאים · נביאים אחרונים | Book: Jeremiah | Chapter: 38 of 52 | Day: 251 of 742

Date: October 20, 2026

קלאוד על הנ״ך

Chapter 38 is the darkest of Yirmiyahu’s personal ordeals and, at the same time, one of the most finely drawn scenes in all of prophetic narrative. The setting is the last months of the Babylonian siege of Yerushalayim, in the reign of Tzidkiyahu, after the brief Egyptian diversion described in chapter 37 has come to nothing and the army of Nevuchadnetzar has returned to its siege works. The prophet has already been beaten and imprisoned in the house of Yonatan the scribe on a charge of deserting to the Kasdim, and has been moved, at his own request and by the king’s quiet mercy, to the court of the guard (חצר המטרה), with a loaf of bread a day from the bakers’ street until the bread ran out (37:21). Chapter 38 picks up exactly there. The bread is running out, the officials are running out of patience, and the king is running out of choices. The final verse brings the story to the threshold of the city’s fall, and Radak, commenting on it, reminds us of the chronology: the siege began in Tzidkiyahu’s ninth year and ended with the capture of the city in his eleventh.

The chapter opens with four named officials, Shefatyah son of Matan, Gedalyahu son of Pashchur, Yuchal son of Shelemyahu and Pashchur son of Malkiyah, who hear what Yirmiyahu is saying to all the people. Metzudat David explains how a prisoner could be preaching publicly: while he was held in the court of the guard he spoke these words to the people who came there. The message itself (verses 2 and 3) is the one he has been delivering since chapter 21: whoever stays in the city will die by sword, famine and plague, and whoever goes out to the Kasdim will live, and his life will be his as spoil (והיתה לו נפשו לשלל). Rashi explains the image: just as a man profits from plundering booty, so this person will profit by saving his life. Radak adds that it is as if he has snatched his soul away from the sword and the famine. It is a bitter kind of victory, survival as the only prize left, and it is precisely the counsel that the war party could not tolerate. Their charge in verse 4 is military and political: he weakens the hands (מרפא את ידי) of the soldiers who remain in the city and of all the people, and he does not seek the welfare (שלום) of this people but their harm. Metzudat David fills in the background of their demand: because Tzidkiyahu had ordered the prophet removed from his harsh imprisonment so that he would not die, the officials now say, in effect, let him die after all, and what of it?

Tzidkiyahu’s answer in verse 5 is one of the most revealing sentences ever spoken by a king of Yehudah: behold, he is in your hand, for the king can do nothing against you. Metzudat David hears in it the voice of a man who knows he is defied by his own ministers and has no power to restrain them; Radak explains the grammar to mean that the king is not one who is able to do anything against you or against your will. The officials do not quite dare to kill the prophet outright. Instead they lower him by ropes into the pit of Malkiyahu son of the king, a cistern in the court of the guard with no water in it, only mud, and Yirmiyahu sinks into the mud (ויטבע ירמיהו בטיט). Metzudat David notes that part of his body sank in because the mud was soft and wet. The scene deliberately recalls Yosef thrown into a dry pit by his brothers (Bereshit 37:24), and it gives literal form to the cry of the psalmist, I have sunk in deep mire where there is no standing (Tehillim 69:3). The prophet who spoke of the broken cisterns that hold no water (2:13) now lies in one.

Rescue comes from the least expected quarter. Eved-melech the Kushite, a court official in the king’s house, hears what has been done and goes out to the king, who is sitting in judgment at the gate of Binyamin. The commentators are divided about who this man was. Rashi cites the rabbinic tradition that Eved-melech is Baruch son of Neriyah and that ‘the Kushite’ is a title for Tzidkiyahu himself: just as a Kushite is distinct in his skin, so Tzidkiyahu was distinct in his righteousness from all his generation. Radak records the same tradition from Targum Yonatan and Chazal, but then gives his own view that Eved-melech was simply the man’s name, since otherwise the text would have said ‘the servant of the king,’ and he compares the names Achimelech and Avimelech. Metzudat David likewise takes Eved-melech as his proper name and the man as a Kushite in complexion. On the plain reading, it is a foreigner and a palace servant who has the moral courage that Yehudah’s princes lack, and who tells the king to his face that these men have done evil (הרעו) in all they did to the prophet. His argument in verse 9 is subtle: Rashi and Metzudat David explain that had they left him where he was, he would have died of the famine by himself; they have simply hastened his death. Radak adds that in the court of the guard people saw him and pitied him, while in the pit no one would notice him at all.

The rescue itself is narrated with an almost tender attention to detail. The king tells Eved-melech to take thirty men, a number that Rashi, Radak and Metzudat David all explain by the famine: the men were so weakened by hunger that it took thirty of them to lift a single man. Eved-melech goes to a storeroom beneath the treasury, takes worn-out rags and tattered garments (בלויי הסחבות ובלויי מלחים), and lowers them on ropes, not dropping them, Metzudat David notes, so that they too would not sink in the mud. He tells the prophet to put the rags under his armpits, beneath the ropes, so that the ropes will not hurt him, as Rashi and Metzudat David explain. Yirmiyahu is drawn up and remains in the court of the guard. In the next chapter (39:15-18) Eved-melech will receive his own prophecy of deliverance: because he trusted in God, his life will be his as spoil, the very phrase of verse 2. The man who saved the prophet’s life receives the same promise that the prophet offered to all who would listen.

The second half of the chapter, verses 14 through 28, is a secret interview between king and prophet at the third entrance of the House of the LORD. Rashi admits that he does not know where this was, suggesting the Israelites’ court; Radak identifies it as the passage by which the king came from his palace to the Temple. Tzidkiyahu asks for the whole truth, and Yirmiyahu, with the weariness of long experience, answers that if he tells it the king will kill him, and if he gives counsel the king will not listen. Tzidkiyahu swears in secret by the LORD who made us this soul (את הנפש הזאת), an oath that Radak reads as answering the prophet’s fear directly. The word itself is unchanged: surrender to the officers of the king of Bavel and you will live, your household will live, and the city will not be burned; refuse, and the city will be given to the Kasdim and burned, and you will not escape. Tzidkiyahu’s reply exposes his real fear. He is afraid not of the Kasdim but of the Judeans who have already gone over to them; Rashi explains that he dreads being handed over to them and mocked, and Radak spells out the humiliation he imagines, a vengeful death at the hands of men who made peace with the enemy behind his back.

Yirmiyahu’s answer is a vision. If you refuse, all the women left in the palace of the king of Yehudah will be led out to the officers of the king of Bavel, and they will sing a mocking lament: your friends (אנשי שלומך) have incited you and overcome you; your feet have sunk in the mire (הטבעו בבוץ רגלך), and they have turned back. Rashi identifies the friends as the false prophets who assured the king he would not be captured, and Radak and Metzudat David identify the women as those left behind in the house of Yehoyachin when he went into exile. The image of feet sunk in mud is the chapter’s most pointed irony. The king who allowed the prophet to be sunk in the mud of a cistern is himself sinking, and his counselors, unlike Eved-melech, will not pull him out. Then comes the hardest line: you will burn this city with fire (ואת העיר הזאת תשרף באש). Rashi and Metzudat David both explain that the king will be counted as though he burned it with his own hands, because he is its cause.

The chapter ends not with repentance but with a cover story. Tzidkiyahu asks Yirmiyahu to tell the officials only that he had petitioned the king not to be sent back to the house of Yonatan to die, which, as Metzudat David notes, was a true request he had once made. The officials come, the prophet answers as instructed, and they leave him alone, because, as Radak explains, no one had overheard the conversation. The king has heard the word of God plainly, under oath, in private, and he cannot act on it. His weakness is the true tragedy of the chapter: not an evil king like Yehoyakim who burns the scroll, but a well-meaning one who cannot defy his own ministers. And Yirmiyahu remains in the court of the guard until the day Yerushalayim is taken, the last sentence breaking off on the brink of catastrophe, as Metzudat David notes, with the prophet still there when the city fell.

פרק ל״ח · Chapter 38

פסוק א׳ · Verse 1

Hebrew:

וַיִּשְׁמַ֞ע שְׁפַטְיָ֣ה בֶן־מַתָּ֗ן וּגְדַלְיָ֙הוּ֙ בֶּן־פַּשְׁח֔וּר וְיוּכַל֙ בֶּן־שֶׁ֣לֶמְיָ֔הוּ וּפַשְׁח֖וּר בֶּן־מַלְכִּיָּ֑ה אֶ֨ת־הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֧ר יִרְמְיָ֛הוּ מְדַבֵּ֥ר אֶל־כׇּל־הָעָ֖ם לֵאמֹֽר׃

English:

Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchiah heard what Jeremiah was saying to all the people:

Four ministers of the war party hear what Yirmiyahu is telling the people. Metzudat David explains how a prisoner could preach publicly: while he was confined in the court of the guard he spoke these words to the people who came there. Two of the names are familiar -- Pashchur son of Malkiyah was among Tzidkiyahu's envoys in chapter 21, and Yuchal son of Shelemyahu was sent to request the prophet's prayer in chapter 37.

פסוק ב׳ · Verse 2

Hebrew:

כֹּה֮ אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָה֒ הַיֹּשֵׁב֙ בָּעִ֣יר הַזֹּ֔את יָמ֕וּת בַּחֶ֖רֶב בָּרָעָ֣ב וּבַדָּ֑בֶר וְהַיֹּצֵ֤א אֶל־הַכַּשְׂדִּים֙ (יחיה) [וְחָיָ֔ה] וְהָיְתָה־לּ֥וֹ נַפְשׁ֛וֹ לְשָׁלָ֖ל וָחָֽי׃ {ס}         

English:

“Thus said GOD: Whoever remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans shall live; he shall at least gain his life and shall live.

The heart of the message: staying in the city means death by sword, famine and plague, while going out to the Kasdim means survival, and his life will be his as spoil. Rashi explains the image: as a man profits from plundering booty, so this person will profit by saving his life. Radak and Metzudat David agree -- it is as though he has snatched his soul away from the sword and the famine.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
והיתה לו נפשו לשלל. והיו לו חייו הצלה כאילו שלל נפשו כאדם השולל שלל ומשתכר כך ישתכר זה נפשו:
and he shall have his life as prey His life shall be saved, as if had "plundered" his soul; just as a man profits from plundering booty, so this person will profit [by saving] his life.

פסוק ג׳ · Verse 3

Hebrew:

כֹּ֖ה אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֑ה הִנָּתֹ֨ן תִּנָּתֵ֜ן הָעִ֣יר הַזֹּ֗את בְּיַ֛ד חֵ֥יל מֶלֶךְ־בָּבֶ֖ל וּלְכָדָֽהּ׃

English:

Thus said GOD: This city shall be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon’s army, and he shall capture it.”

פסוק ד׳ · Verse 4

Hebrew:

וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ הַשָּׂרִ֜ים אֶל־הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ י֣וּמַת נָא֮ אֶת־הָאִ֣ישׁ הַזֶּה֒ כִּֽי־עַל־כֵּ֡ן הֽוּא־מְרַפֵּ֡א אֶת־יְדֵי֩ אַנְשֵׁ֨י הַמִּלְחָמָ֜ה הַֽנִּשְׁאָרִ֣ים ׀ בָּעִ֣יר הַזֹּ֗את וְאֵת֙ יְדֵ֣י כׇל־הָעָ֔ם לְדַבֵּ֣ר אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם כַּדְּבָרִ֖ים הָאֵ֑לֶּה כִּ֣י ׀ הָאִ֣ישׁ הַזֶּ֗ה אֵינֶ֨נּוּ דֹרֵ֧שׁ לְשָׁל֛וֹם לָעָ֥ם הַזֶּ֖ה כִּ֥י אִם־לְרָעָֽה׃

English:

Then the officials said to the king, “Let that man be put to death, for he disheartens the soldiers, and all the people who are left in this city, by speaking such things to them. That man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm!”

The officials demand the prophet's death for weakening the hands of the soldiers and the people. Rashi and Radak explain the verb as an expression of slackening. Metzudat David fills in the background: since Tzidkiyahu had ordered him moved out of harsh imprisonment so that he would not die, they now say, in effect, let him die after all. He is not seeking peace for this people, they charge, but harm.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
על כן הוא מרפא. אלאקנ"ץ בלע"ז לשון רפיון:
since he weakens (a lacher in O.F.), an expression of weakness.

פסוק ה׳ · Verse 5

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ צִדְקִיָּ֔הוּ הִנֵּה־ה֖וּא בְּיֶדְכֶ֑ם כִּֽי־אֵ֣ין הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ יוּכַ֥ל אֶתְכֶ֖ם דָּבָֽר׃

English:

King Zedekiah replied, “He is in your hands; the king cannot oppose you in anything!”

Tzidkiyahu surrenders the prophet with a stark admission: he is in your hand, for the king can do nothing against you. Metzudat David hears a king defied by his own ministers and powerless to restrain them. Radak explains the grammar to mean that the king is not one who is able to act against you or against your will. Rashi reads the verb as 'able,' because they had claimed the prophet was weakening the people.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
יוכל. כמו יכול על אשר הוא מרפא את וגו':
cannot Heb. יוּכַל, like יָכוֹל, since he is weakening the hands of, etc.

פסוק ו׳ · Verse 6

Hebrew:

וַיִּקְח֣וּ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֗הוּ וַיַּשְׁלִ֨כוּ אֹת֜וֹ אֶל־הַבּ֣וֹר ׀ מַלְכִּיָּ֣הוּ בֶן־הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ אֲשֶׁר֙ בַּחֲצַ֣ר הַמַּטָּרָ֔ה וַיְשַׁלְּח֥וּ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ בַּחֲבָלִ֑ים וּבַבּ֤וֹר אֵֽין־מַ֙יִם֙ כִּ֣י אִם־טִ֔יט וַיִּטְבַּ֥ע יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ בַּטִּֽיט׃ {ס}         

English:

So they took Jeremiah and put him down in the pit of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the prison compound; they let Jeremiah down by ropes. There was no water in the pit, only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.

They lower Yirmiyahu by ropes into the cistern of Malkiyahu son of the king, in the court of the guard. Rashi and Metzudat David explain it as the pit belonging to Malkiyahu, and Radak and Metzudat David note the ropes were needed because it was deep. There is no water, only mud, and the prophet sinks into it -- Metzudat David says part of his body sank, since the mud was soft and wet.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
הבור מלכיהו. של מלכיהו:
the pit of Malchiah lit. the pit Malchiah.

פסוק ז׳ · Verse 7

Hebrew:

וַיִּשְׁמַ֡ע עֶבֶד־מֶ֨לֶךְ הַכּוּשִׁ֜י אִ֣ישׁ סָרִ֗יס וְהוּא֙ בְּבֵ֣ית הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ כִּֽי־נָתְנ֥וּ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ אֶל־הַבּ֑וֹר וְהַמֶּ֥לֶךְ יוֹשֵׁ֖ב בְּשַׁ֥עַר בִּנְיָמִֽן׃

English:

Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch who was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the pit. The king was then sitting at the Benjamin Gate;

Eved-melech the Kushite, a palace official, hears of it while the king sits at the gate of Binyamin. Rashi cites the rabbinic tradition that he is Baruch, and that 'the Kushite' means Tzidkiyahu, distinct in righteousness as a Kushite is in skin. Radak records that tradition but holds that Eved-melech was simply his name, since otherwise the text would say 'the king's servant.' Metzudat David likewise takes it as his proper name.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
עבד מלך. ברוך בן נריה: הכושי. צדקיהו מה כושי משונה בעורו אף צדקיהו משונה בצדקו מכל דורו ויש מדרש דורש הכושי על ברוך: איש סריס. גבר רב:
Ebed-melech Baruch the son of Neriah. the Cushite Zedekiah. Just as a Cushite is different in his skin, so was Zedekiah different in his righteousness, from all his generation (Moed Katan 16b). And there is a Midrash that expounds "the Cushite," as referring to Baruch (Sifrei ibid.). an officer Heb. סריס, a great man.

פסוק ח׳ · Verse 8

Hebrew:

וַיֵּצֵ֥א עֶבֶד־מֶ֖לֶךְ מִבֵּ֣ית הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר אֶל־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ לֵאמֹֽר׃

English:

so Ebed-melech left the king’s palace, and spoke to the king:

Eved-melech leaves the palace and goes to speak to the king. Metzudat David explains that he went out to the gate of Binyamin, where the king was then sitting. The verse is brief, but the act is not: a servant goes in public, at the city gate where justice was done, to challenge what the king's own ministers have done with the king's consent.

פסוק ט׳ · Verse 9

Hebrew:

אֲדֹנִ֣י הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ הֵרֵ֜עוּ הָאֲנָשִׁ֤ים הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙ אֵ֣ת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֤ר עָשׂוּ֙ לְיִרְמְיָ֣הוּ הַנָּבִ֔יא אֵ֥ת אֲשֶׁר־הִשְׁלִ֖יכוּ אֶל־הַבּ֑וֹר וַיָּ֤מׇת תַּחְתָּיו֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י הָרָעָ֔ב כִּ֣י אֵ֥ין הַלֶּ֛חֶם ע֖וֹד בָּעִֽיר׃

English:

“O lord king, those men have acted wickedly in all they did to the prophet Jeremiah; they have put him down in the pit, to die there of hunger.” For there was no more bread in the city.

Eved-melech tells the king plainly that these men have done evil, leaving the prophet to die of hunger. Rashi and Metzudat David explain the argument: had they left him in place he would have died of the famine anyway, so they have merely hastened his death. Radak adds that in the court of the guard people saw and pitied him, while in the pit no one would notice him at all.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
וימת תחתיו וגו'. אילו הניחו אותו במקומו היה מת מאליו ברעב והם הריעו לקרב מיתתו:
He would have died in his place, etc. If they had left him in his place, he would have died by himself in the famine, but they have done harm to bring his death closer.

פסוק י׳ · Verse 10

Hebrew:

וַיְצַוֶּ֣ה הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ אֵ֛ת עֶבֶד־מֶ֥לֶךְ הַכּוּשִׁ֖י לֵאמֹ֑ר קַ֣ח בְּיָדְךָ֤ מִזֶּה֙ שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים אֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְֽהַעֲלִ֜יתָ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֧הוּ הַנָּבִ֛יא מִן־הַבּ֖וֹר בְּטֶ֥רֶם יָמֽוּת׃

English:

Then the king instructed Ebed-melech the Cushite, “Take with you thirty men from here, and pull the prophet Jeremiah up from the pit before he dies.”

The king reverses himself and orders Eved-melech to take thirty men and raise the prophet before he dies. Rashi, Radak and Metzudat David all explain the large number by the famine: the men were so weakened by hunger that thirty were needed to lift one man. The same king who said he could do nothing against his ministers now acts, showing he could have refused them from the start.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
שלשים אנשים. מתוך שכחן תש ברעב נצרכו כולן:
thirty men Since they were weakened by the famine, all of them were required.

פסוק י״א · Verse 11

Hebrew:

וַיִּקַּ֣ח ׀ עֶבֶד־מֶ֨לֶךְ אֶת־הָאֲנָשִׁ֜ים בְּיָד֗וֹ וַיָּבֹ֤א בֵית־הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ אֶל־תַּ֣חַת הָאוֹצָ֔ר וַיִּקַּ֤ח מִשָּׁם֙ בְּלוֹיֵ֣ (הסחבות) [סְחָב֔וֹת] וּבְלוֹיֵ֖ מְלָחִ֑ים וַיְשַׁלְּחֵ֧ם אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֛הוּ אֶל־הַבּ֖וֹר בַּחֲבָלִֽים׃

English:

So Ebed-melech took the men with him, and went to the king’s palace, to a place below the treasury. There they got worn cloths and rags, which they let down to Jeremiah in the pit by ropes.

Eved-melech goes to a storeroom beneath the treasury and takes worn-out rags and tattered garments. Rashi explains them as worn clothing fit only to be dragged about, and Radak analyzes the forms of the words. Metzudat David adds a fine detail: he lowered the rags on ropes rather than throwing them down, so that they too would not sink in the mud.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
בלויי סחבות. בלואי בגדים הנסחבים:
worn clouts Heb. בלוי סחבות, worn out garments, that are dragged.

פסוק י״ב · Verse 12

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֡אמֶר עֶבֶד־מֶ֨לֶךְ הַכּוּשִׁ֜י אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֗הוּ שִׂ֣ים נָ֠א בְּלוֹאֵ֨י הַסְּחָב֤וֹת וְהַמְּלָחִים֙ תַּ֚חַת אַצִּל֣וֹת יָדֶ֔יךָ מִתַּ֖חַת לַחֲבָלִ֑ים וַיַּ֥עַשׂ יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ כֵּֽן׃

English:

And Ebed-melech the Cushite called to Jeremiah, “Put the worn cloths and rags under your armpits, inside the ropes.” Jeremiah did so,

Eved-melech tells Yirmiyahu to place the rags under his armpits, beneath the ropes. Rashi and Metzudat David explain that this was so the ropes would not hurt him as he was hauled up, and Rashi connects the word for rags to an expression of decay. Radak identifies the armpits. The care for the prophet's comfort, even in a desperate rescue, is the mark of genuine compassion.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
והמלחים. לשון רקבון כמו כעשן נמלחו (ישעיה נא): תחת אצילות ידיך. שלא יזיקוך החבלים: אצילות. איישילא"ש בלעז:
and the rags Heb. והמלחים, an expression of decay. Cf. "shall vanish (נמלחוּ) like smoke" (Isa. 51: 6). under your armpits So that the ropes should not harm you. armpits Heb. אצילות, aisseles in French.

פסוק י״ג · Verse 13

Hebrew:

וַיִּמְשְׁכ֤וּ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙ בַּחֲבָלִ֔ים וַיַּעֲל֥וּ אֹת֖וֹ מִן־הַבּ֑וֹר וַיֵּ֣שֶׁב יִרְמְיָ֔הוּ בַּחֲצַ֖ר הַמַּטָּרָֽה׃ {ס}         

English:

and they pulled Jeremiah up by the ropes and got him out of the pit. And Jeremiah remained in the prison compound.

פסוק י״ד · Verse 14

Hebrew:

וַיִּשְׁלַ֞ח הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ צִדְקִיָּ֗הוּ וַיִּקַּ֞ח אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֤הוּ הַנָּבִיא֙ אֵלָ֔יו אֶל־מָבוֹא֙ הַשְּׁלִישִׁ֔י אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּבֵ֣ית יְהֹוָ֑ה וַיֹּ֨אמֶר הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֗הוּ שֹׁאֵ֨ל אֲנִ֤י אֹֽתְךָ֙ דָּבָ֔ר אַל־תְּכַחֵ֥ד מִמֶּ֖נִּי דָּבָֽר׃

English:

King Zedekiah sent for the prophet Jeremiah, and had him brought to him at the third entrance of the House of GOD. And the king said to Jeremiah, “I want to ask you something; don’t conceal anything from me.”

Tzidkiyahu secretly summons the prophet to the third entrance of the House of the LORD and asks him to conceal nothing. Rashi admits he does not know the place, suggesting the Israelites' court beyond the rampart and the women's court; Metzudat David follows this. Radak identifies it as the passage from the palace to the Temple. Metzudat David explains the request: tell me God's word and prophecy without holding back.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
מבוא השלישי. לא ידעתי היכן הוא ושמא בעזרת ישראל היא לומר שהחיל ועזרת נשים לפניה:
the third entrance I do not know where it is. Perhaps it is in the Israelites' Court. The appellation "third" is to say that the hel [the wall surrounding the Temple Court], and the Women's Court are before it.

פסוק ט״ו · Verse 15

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙ אֶל־צִדְקִיָּ֔הוּ כִּ֚י אַגִּ֣יד לְךָ֔ הֲל֖וֹא הָמֵ֣ת תְּמִיתֵ֑נִי וְכִי֙ אִיעָ֣צְךָ֔ לֹ֥א תִשְׁמַ֖ע אֵלָֽי׃

English:

Jeremiah answered the king, “If I tell you, you’ll surely kill me; and if I give you advice, you won’t listen to me.”

Yirmiyahu answers with the weariness of experience: if I tell you, you will kill me, and if I counsel you, you will not listen. Metzudat David paraphrases: why should I tell you, when there is danger to me and no benefit to you? The prophet has been beaten, imprisoned and left in a pit for this message; he knows the king's pattern of asking and not obeying.

פסוק ט״ז · Verse 16

Hebrew:

וַיִּשָּׁבַ֞ע הַמֶּ֧לֶךְ צִדְקִיָּ֛הוּ אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ בַּסֵּ֣תֶר לֵאמֹ֑ר חַי־יְהֹוָ֞ה (את) אֲשֶׁר֩ עָשָׂה־לָ֨נוּ אֶת־הַנֶּ֤פֶשׁ הַזֹּאת֙ אִם־אֲמִיתֶ֔ךָ וְאִם־אֶתֶּנְךָ֗ בְּיַד֙ הָאֲנָשִׁ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֥ר מְבַקְשִׁ֖ים אֶת־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃ {ס}         

English:

Thereupon King Zedekiah secretly promised Jeremiah on oath: “As GOD lives who has given us this life, I will not put you to death or leave you in the hands of those who seek your life.”

Tzidkiyahu swears in secret by the LORD who made us this soul that he will neither kill the prophet nor hand him to those who seek his life. Radak notes the oath answers the prophet's fear of death, and reads 'this soul' as the soul with the power of speech and prophecy. Metzudat David explains it as the soul placed in each of our bodies. Radak also notes a word written but not read.

פסוק י״ז · Verse 17

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יִרְמְיָ֣הוּ אֶל־צִדְקִיָּ֡הוּ {ס}         כֹּה־אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָה֩ אֱלֹהֵ֨י צְבָא֜וֹת אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אִם־יָצֹ֨א תֵצֵ֜א אֶל־שָׂרֵ֤י מֶֽלֶךְ־בָּבֶל֙ וְחָיְתָ֣ה נַפְשֶׁ֔ךָ וְהָעִ֣יר הַזֹּ֔את לֹ֥א תִשָּׂרֵ֖ף בָּאֵ֑שׁ וְחָיִ֖תָה אַתָּ֥ה וּבֵיתֶֽךָ׃

English:

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “Thus said the ETERNAL, the God of Hosts, the God of Israel: If you surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down. You and your household will live.

פסוק י״ח · Verse 18

Hebrew:

וְאִ֣ם לֹֽא־תֵצֵ֗א אֶל־שָׂרֵי֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ בָּבֶ֔ל וְנִתְּנָ֞ה הָעִ֤יר הַזֹּאת֙ בְּיַ֣ד הַכַּשְׂדִּ֔ים וּשְׂרָפ֖וּהָ בָּאֵ֑שׁ וְאַתָּ֖ה לֹא־תִמָּלֵ֥ט מִיָּדָֽם׃ {ס}         

English:

But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, who will burn it down; and you will not escape from them.”

פסוק י״ט · Verse 19

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֛אמֶר הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ צִדְקִיָּ֖הוּ אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֑הוּ אֲנִ֧י דֹאֵ֣ג אֶת־הַיְּהוּדִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר נָֽפְלוּ֙ אֶל־הַכַּשְׂדִּ֔ים פֶּֽן־יִתְּנ֥וּ אֹתִ֛י בְּיָדָ֖ם וְהִתְעַלְּלוּ־בִֽי׃

English:

King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I am worried about the Judeans who have defected to the Chaldeans; that they [the Chaldeans] might hand me over to them to abuse me.”

Tzidkiyahu reveals his real fear: not the Kasdim but the Judeans who have already gone over to them. Rashi explains he fears the Kasdim will hand him to those Judeans, saying your king will be your slave since you made peace with us first, and that they will mock him. Radak imagines a vengeful death, since they made peace secretly against his will, and Metzudat David similarly explains the fear.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
דואג. ירא: פן יתנו אותי. הכשדים ביד היהודים לומר מלככם יהי עבדכם על שקדמתם להשלים עמנו: והתעללו בי. היהודים איגברונ"ט בלע"ז:
"I fear" Heb. דֹאֵג. lest they deliver me [Lest] the Chaldeans [deliver me] into the hands of the Jews, saying, Your king shall be your slave since you have made peace with us first. and mock me [i. e.,] the Jews [will mock me] (engregier in O.F.), complain.

פסוק כ׳ · Verse 20

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ לֹ֣א יִתֵּ֑נוּ שְֽׁמַֽע־נָ֣א ׀ בְּק֣וֹל יְהֹוָ֗ה לַאֲשֶׁ֤ר אֲנִי֙ דֹּבֵ֣ר אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיִ֥יטַב לְךָ֖ וּתְחִ֥י נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃

English:

“They will not hand you over,” Jeremiah replied. “Listen to GOD’s voice, to what I tell you, that it may go well with you and your life be spared.

Yirmiyahu reassures him that the Kasdim will not hand him over, as Metzudat David explains, and pleads: listen to the voice of the LORD in what I tell you, and it will be well with you and you will live. The prophet's tone is not triumph but entreaty -- he wants the king to be saved, and answers the specific fear that is holding him back.

פסוק כ״א · Verse 21

Hebrew:

וְאִם־מָאֵ֥ן אַתָּ֖ה לָצֵ֑את זֶ֣ה הַדָּבָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֥ר הִרְאַ֖נִי יְהֹוָֽה׃

English:

For this is what GOD has shown me if you refuse to surrender:

Yirmiyahu introduces a vision of what will happen if the king refuses to go out. Metzudat David paraphrases: I will tell you the word of God, and this is the thing the LORD has shown me. Radak comments only on the vowel of the verb. The prophet moves from argument to image, hoping that a picture of the consequence will move the king where reasoning has failed.

פסוק כ״ב · Verse 22

Hebrew:

וְהִנֵּ֣ה כׇל־הַנָּשִׁ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר נִשְׁאֲרוּ֙ בְּבֵ֣ית מֶֽלֶךְ־יְהוּדָ֔ה מוּצָא֕וֹת אֶל־שָׂרֵ֖י מֶ֣לֶךְ בָּבֶ֑ל וְהֵ֣נָּה אֹמְרֹ֗ת הִסִּית֜וּךָ וְיָכְל֤וּ לְךָ֙ אַנְשֵׁ֣י שְׁלֹמֶ֔ךָ הׇטְבְּע֥וּ בַבֹּ֛ץ רַגְלֶ֖ךָ נָסֹ֥גוּ אָחֽוֹר׃

English:

All the women who are left in the palace of the king of Judah shall be brought out to the officers of the king of Babylon; and they shall say: Those who were your friends Have seduced you and vanquished you. Now that your feet are sunk in the mire, They have turned their backs [on you].

The vision: the women left in the palace led out to Bavel's officers, chanting that the king's friends misled him, his feet sank in the mire, and they turned back. Rashi identifies the friends as the false prophets who promised he would not be captured; Radak and Metzudat David identify the women as those left from Yehoyachin's house. The king who let the prophet sink in mud will sink himself.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
אנשי שלומך. נביאי השקר שאמרו לך לא תלכד: בבוץ. טיט לשון היגאה גומא בלי בצה:
"Your cohorts" [lit. the men of your peace,] the false prophets, who told you that you would not be caught. into the mire Heb. בבץ, mire, an expression as in (Job 8:11): "Can the rush shoot up without mire (בצה)?"

פסוק כ״ג · Verse 23

Hebrew:

וְאֶת־כׇּל־נָשֶׁ֣יךָ וְאֶת־בָּנֶ֗יךָ מֽוֹצִאִים֙ אֶל־הַכַּשְׂדִּ֔ים וְאַתָּ֖ה לֹא־תִמָּלֵ֣ט מִיָּדָ֑ם כִּ֣י בְיַ֤ד מֶֽלֶךְ־בָּבֶל֙ תִּתָּפֵ֔שׂ וְאֶת־הָעִ֥יר הַזֹּ֖את תִּשְׂרֹ֥ף בָּאֵֽשׁ׃ {ס}         

English:

They will bring out all your wives and children to the Chaldeans, and you yourself will not escape from them. You will be captured by the king of Babylon, and this city shall be burned down.”

The king's wives and children will be led out to the Kasdim, he will be captured by the king of Bavel, and you will burn this city with fire. Rashi, Radak and Metzudat David all explain the startling phrasing: it is as though the king burns it with his own hands, because his refusal to go out and make peace is its cause.
▶Commentaries (1)
רש״יRashi
ואת העיר הזאת תשרף באש. הרי אתה כאילו שורפה בידים שאתה גורם לה:
and this city you shall burn with fire It is as though you are burning it with your hands for you are causing it.

פסוק כ״ד · Verse 24

Hebrew:

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר צִדְקִיָּ֜הוּ אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֗הוּ אִ֛ישׁ אַל־יֵדַ֥ע בַּדְּבָֽרִים־הָאֵ֖לֶּה וְלֹ֥א תָמֽוּת׃

English:

Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “Don’t let anyone know about this conversation, or you will die.

Tzidkiyahu asks that no one learn of their conversation, and then you will not die. Metzudat David explains that if the officials learned what was said they would kill the prophet. The plea exposes the king's priorities: having heard God's word plainly, his first concern is secrecy from his own ministers, the very men whose counsel he knows is leading the city to ruin.

פסוק כ״ה · Verse 25

Hebrew:

וְכִֽי־יִשְׁמְע֣וּ הַשָּׂרִים֮ כִּי־דִבַּ֣רְתִּי אִתָּךְ֒ וּבָ֣אוּ אֵלֶ֣יךָ וְֽאָמְר֪וּ אֵלֶ֟יךָ הַגִּידָה־נָּ֨א לָ֜נוּ מַה־דִּבַּ֧רְתָּ אֶל־הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ אַל־תְּכַחֵ֥ד מִמֶּ֖נּוּ וְלֹ֣א נְמִיתֶ֑ךָ וּמַה־דִּבֶּ֥ר אֵלֶ֖יךָ הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃

English:

If the officials should hear that I have spoken with you, and they should come and say to you, ‘Tell us what you said to the king; hide nothing from us, or we’ll kill you. And what did the king say to you?’

The king anticipates the officials' interrogation: if they hear we spoke and say, tell us what you said and what the king said, and we will not kill you. Metzudat David paraphrases their expected demand. The king of Yehudah must coach a prisoner on how to answer the princes -- a vivid picture of how completely real power has passed from the throne to the court.

פסוק כ״ו · Verse 26

Hebrew:

וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם מַפִּיל־אֲנִ֥י תְחִנָּתִ֖י לִפְנֵ֣י הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ לְבִלְתִּ֧י הֲשִׁיבֵ֛נִי בֵּ֥ית יְהוֹנָתָ֖ן לָמ֥וּת שָֽׁם׃ {פ}

English:

say to them, ‘I was presenting my petition to the king not to send me back to the house of Jonathan to die there.’”

The cover story: tell them you were petitioning the king not to send you back to the house of Yonatan to die there. Metzudat David explains that this was the house where the prophet had first been imprisoned, and that he feared dying there from the harshness of the confinement -- a request he had in fact once made, recorded in chapter 37.

פסוק כ״ז · Verse 27

Hebrew:

וַיָּבֹ֨אוּ כׇל־הַשָּׂרִ֤ים אֶֽל־יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙ וַיִּשְׁאֲל֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ וַיַּגֵּ֤ד לָהֶם֙ כְּכׇל־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוָּ֖ה הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ וַיַּחֲרִ֣שׁוּ מִמֶּ֔נּוּ כִּ֥י לֹֽא־נִשְׁמַ֖ע הַדָּבָֽר׃

English:

All the officials did come to Jeremiah to question him; and he replied to them just as the king had instructed him. So they stopped questioning him, for the conversation had not been overheard.

The officials come and question the prophet, he answers as the king instructed, and they let him be. Metzudat David and Radak both explain that they believed him because the conversation had not been overheard by anyone, so no one could contradict him. Yirmiyahu keeps the king's secret, and the king keeps his oath -- but the word itself remains unheeded.

פסוק כ״ח · Verse 28

Hebrew:

וַיֵּ֤שֶׁב יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙ בַּחֲצַ֣ר הַמַּטָּרָ֔ה עַד־י֖וֹם אֲשֶׁר־נִלְכְּדָ֣ה יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם {ס}         וְהָיָ֕ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר נִלְכְּדָ֖ה יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃

English:

Jeremiah remained in the prison compound until the day Jerusalem was captured. When Jerusalem was captured…

Yirmiyahu remains in the court of the guard until the day Yerushalayim is captured. Metzudat David notes that he was still there when the city fell and did not move from the place on his own. Radak explains that the mention of the capture leads into the account of how it happened: the siege began in Tzidkiyahu's ninth year and the city fell in his eleventh.

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