Jeremiahchapter 39
18 verses · Jeremiah, written by Baruch · 7th to 6th century BC · The Prophets
For I will surely rescue you so that you do not fall by the sword. Because you have trusted in Me, you will escape with your life like a spoil of war, declares the LORD.’”
Introduction
Jeremiah, written by Baruch, The Prophets, Jeremiah Overview.
This chapter records the fall of Jerusalem, and it is written as a plain record with dates, names and places. It closes a warning Jeremiah had spoken for about forty years. Its first hearers were survivors who had lived through the breach of the wall and needed the account set down straight. Babylonian officers are named by their titles, and the name of one of them has been found on a clay tablet from Babylon. Listen for the two people singled out for mercy in the middle of the ruin. The chapter shows the word Jeremiah spoke coming to pass as he said.
Context
- Who
- Survivors who had lived through it and needed the record written straight
- What
- A record of the breach of Jerusalem's wall, Zedekiah's capture and punishment at Riblah, the burning of the city, and what became of Jeremiah and Ebed-melech.
- Where
- Jerusalem's broken wall and Middle Gate, the plains of Jericho, and Riblah in the land of Hamath.
- When
- From the ninth to the eleventh year of Zedekiah; the wall was breached in the fourth month of the eleventh year, 587 or 586 BC by the two common reckonings.
- Why
- To record that the judgment the prophets had warned of came to pass, and that God kept His word to the two who trusted Him.
Historical context
The siege ran about eighteen months, broken by the Egyptian interruption. The wall was breached on the ninth day of the fourth month in the eleventh year, in high summer, and the officers of the king of Babylon came and sat in the Middle Gate. Sitting in the gate was the formal act of taking possession, the gate was the seat of a city's government, and occupying it announced who now ruled.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The Babylonian officers are listed by name and title, and one of them can be matched to a cuneiform tablet. A small administrative tablet in the British Museum, dated to Nebuchadnezzar's tenth year, records a gold donation by Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief officer, the same name and office as the Nebo-Sarsekim listed among the officers here.
Zedekiah runs at night through the king's garden and the gate between the two walls and is caught on the plains of Jericho. He is taken to Nebuchadnezzar's field headquarters at Riblah in Syria, where his sons are executed in front of him and then his eyes are put out, a standard Babylonian punishment for a vassal who broke an oath of loyalty, and the last thing he saw was the reason.
The chapter also notes who stayed. The captain of the guard left some of the poorest people in the land of Judah and gave them vineyards and fields on that day. Empires deported the useful and left the destitute to keep the land producing.
Significance
For the first hearers this chapter closes an argument that had run forty years. Everything the prophet had said would happen, happened, and the record names the officers, the gates and the dates so that it cannot be softened later.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
Two people are singled out for kindness in the wreckage: the prophet, freed from the court of the guard by the enemy's own commander, and Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, who had pulled him out of the mud. God remembers a rope and some old rags.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, probed for this lane, printed no weekly portion and no Haftarah from this chapter, and no festival reading for the book. That table carries the Haftarah of each of the fifty-four weekly portions and the books read whole at the feasts, and it carries nothing for the special Sabbaths or the fast days. This card therefore names no public reading of the chapter and leaves that question to a source that holds those readings.
The corpus joins the chapter to the weeks of the Torah portions through the works arranged by portion. Under the third verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayikra 8:1. Under the sixth verse it carries Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vaetchanan 1:1.
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries, quoted here from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Every quotation of it is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern, and his headwords, which carry the verse in that translation's wording, are never quoted.
Rashi reads the officers seated in the middle gate as a fulfilment of the first chapter (Rashi on Jeremiah 39:3:1). There the kings of the north set their thrones at the gates of Jerusalem. The gate itself he places through Targum Jonathan as the Nicanor Gate, and he adds the reading of Sanhedrin 103a that it was the gate "where the halachoth were decided" (Rashi on Jeremiah 39:3:2).
The king's flight by the way of the garden he tells from the Midrash. Zedekiah had a cave from his house to the plains of Jericho. God set a deer running on the roof of the cave, the Chaldeans chased it to the cave's mouth, and "they saw Zedekiah going out of the cave" (Rashi on Jeremiah 39:4:1). The sentence at Riblah he reads as a question about the oath: "Why did you transgress the oath?" (Rashi on Jeremiah 39:5:1). The nobles who were killed "are the Sanhedrin, because they had annulled the oath" (Rashi on Jeremiah 39:6:1).
The houses of the people burned in the eighth verse Rashi names in two words, "The synagogues" (Rashi on Jeremiah 39:8:1). The Gedaliah of the fourteenth verse was appointed governor "over those remaining there" (Rashi on Jeremiah 39:14:1). The word to Ebed-melech ends with the promise that he will see the words come true (Rashi on Jeremiah 39:16:1).
The corpus carries thirteen further notes on this chapter without an English text. Each is marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref, so each is cited here and none is quoted. The notes of Malbim are cited at Malbim on Jeremiah 39:1:1 and 39:2:1. The notes of Metzudat David are cited at Metzudat David on Jeremiah 39:2:1, 39:9:1 and 39:18:1. The notes of Radak are cited at Radak on Jeremiah 39:4:1, 39:5:1, 39:6:1, 39:7:1, 39:8:1, 39:9:1, 39:10:1 and 39:12:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries thirty-two rabbinic locators on this chapter and the text of none, so each is cited and linked here rather than quoted. On the second verse it holds Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 4:5:5 and Seder Olam Rabbah 30:1. On the third verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sanhedrin 11:79, Jerusalem Talmud Eruvin 5:1:15, Kohelet Rabbah 10:6:1, Kohelet Rabbah 3:16:1, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayikra 8:1, Midrash Tanchuma, Vayikra 6:1 and Sanhedrin 103a:9. It holds Tanna DeBei Eliyahu Rabbah 30:1 and Vayikra Rabbah 4:1 there as well. On the fifth verse it holds Aggadat Bereshit 67:3. On the sixth verse it holds Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vaetchanan 1:1 and Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 735:12. On the seventh verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Moed Katan 3:18, Midrash Lekach Tov on Lamentations 4:20:1, Midrash Tanchuma, Vaetchanan 1:1 and Moed Katan 28b:20.
On the twelfth verse it holds Eikhah Rabbah, Petichta 34, Midrash Aggadah, Leviticus 8:2:5, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Chukat 28:1, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Tzav 14:1 and Midrash Tanchuma, Tzav 10:1. It holds Otzar Midrashim, Keri & K'tiv, Introduction 4, Pesikta DeRav Kahana 13:9, Pesikta Rabbati 29:1, Pesikta Rabbati 29:7 and Tractate Soferim 6:9 there as well. On the thirteenth verse it holds Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim of Rabbi Akiba, The Small Letters and their Purposes 22. On the fifteenth verse it holds Midrash Tannaim on Deuteronomy 16:8:3 and Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 53:6. The corpus also prints one locator anchored past the chapter's last verse, the eighteenth, cited here with the anchor it gives. It prints Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Prayer of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai 8 at Jeremiah 39:26. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Jeremiah 39:3:1 to 39:16:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Malbim, Malbim on Jeremiah 39:1:1 and 39:2:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on Jeremiah 39:2:1, 39:9:1 and 39:18:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Radak, Radak on Jeremiah 39:4:1, 39:5:1, 39:6:1, 39:7:1, 39:8:1, 39:9:1, 39:10:1 and 39:12:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/jeremiah/39.json, the 32 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, printing no portion and no Haftarah for this chapter and no festival reading for this book.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
The Wall Broken Up and Zedekiah's Eyes Put Out
Jeremiah 39:1-3
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his entire army: The siege is dated from the ninth year to “the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year,” when “the city was breached.” Babylon’s officials take their seats in the Middle Gate. Keil and Barnes identify Nergal-sharezer with Neriglissar of the Greek historians, a later king of Babylon.
Jeremiah 39:1
“The Capture of Jerusalem” - The majority of the particulars given in Jer 39:1-14 occur again (marginal reference); and are by some regarded as an interpolation. The external evidence (that of the versions) is, however, in favor of their authenticity. Jer 39:14 is to be reconciled with Jer 40:1-4 by remembering that Gedaliah had left Jerusalem and gone to Mizpah Jer 40:6, a city in the immediate neighborhood; and as he was not at home to protect the prophet, nothing is more probable than that Jeremiah in company with the main body of captives was brought to Ramah in chains.
the city was breached: in the summer of Zedekiah's eleventh year, eighteen months after the siege began, as Adam Clarke counts it. John Gill says famine had left Jerusalem unable to hold out (52:6). Matthew Henry compares the city to Samson with his hair cut.
Jeremiah 39:2
“The eleventh year - in the fourth month - This month in the Hebrew calendar is called Thammuz, and commences with the first new moon of our July. The siege had lasted just eighteen months. The city was broken up - A breach was made in the wall by which the Chaldeans entered.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 39:2
“Jerusalem was so strong a place that nobody would have believed the enemy could ever enter its gates, Lam. iv. But sin had provoked God to withdraw his protection, and then, like Samson when his hair was cut, it was weak as other cities.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
sat in the Middle Gate: The officials of Babylon sit in the Middle Gate as its new masters, as Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read their sitting. Albert Barnes says Rabsaris means chief of the eunuchs and Rabmag chief of the Magi. Adam Clarke places the gate between the upper and lower city.
Jeremiah 39:3
“These princes were four: (1) Nergal, Sharezer, i. e., Nirgal-sar-usur (May Nergal protect the king); (2) Samgar-Nebo (Be gracious, O Nebo); (3) Sarsechim. No explanation is given at present of this name. He was Rab-saris, i. e., chief of the eunuchs (2Ki 18:17 note). (4) another Nergal-sharezer, who was Rab-mag, i. e., chief of the Magians. He is known in history as Neriglissar, the son-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar, and probably his vicegerent during his seven years of madness.”
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 39:3
“The middle gate - The city was encompassed with two walls, before they came to the wall of the temple; the gate in the inner wall is supposed to have been that which is called the middle gate.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Jeremiah 39:4-7
they fled: Zedekiah flees “at night by way of the king’s garden,” and he is overtaken “in the plains of Jericho.” At Riblah the king of Babylon kills his sons “before his eyes,” then puts out his eyes. Ezekiel 12:13 had said he would be brought to Babylon yet not see it.
Jeremiah 39:4
“Went forth out of the city by night - Probably there was a private passage under ground, leading without the walls, by which Zedekiah and his followers might escape unperceived, till they had got some way from the city. The way of the plain - There were two roads from Jerusalem to Jericho. One passed over the mount of Olives; but, as this might have retarded his flight, he chose the way of the plain, and was overtaken near Jericho, perhaps about sixteen or eighteen miles from Jerusalem.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
at Riblah in the land of Hamath: Zedekiah is caught near Jericho and brought north to Riblah. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say the king of Babylon judged him as a common criminal. John Wesley says Zedekiah had sworn to serve the king of Babylon, and Matthew Henry says the judgment on him was that of a rebel.
Jeremiah 39:5
“Riblah - Riblah was upon the borders of Canaan. Zedekiah was a tributary to the king of Babylon, and so subject to his power, having made a covenant with him, and secured his allegiance by his oath to him.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 39:5
“To Riblah - This city was situated on the northern frontier of Palestine, and Hamath was a large city belonging also to Syria. See Gen 10:18.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes: John Gill notes that the sons must have been young, some very young, for Zedekiah was only thirty-two. The nobles of Judah die with them, so the king loses his heirs and his court in one day. Verse 7 makes this the last sight of his life.
Jeremiah 39:6
“Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes,.... Not with his own hands, but gave orders to do it: these must be very young, at least some of them; since Zedekiah at this time was but thirty two years of age.”
bound him with bronze chains: The blinding reconciles two prophecies that seemed to clash. Jeremiah had said Zedekiah would see the king of Babylon (32:4), and Ezekiel that he would be brought to Babylon yet never see it (12:13). Henry reads the darkness as fitting for a king who shut his eyes to God's word.
Jeremiah 39:7
“Bounds him with chains - Margin: “Two brazen chains;” one for his hands, and the other for his feet.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah 39:8-10
The Chaldeans set fire to the palace of the king: The Chaldeans burn the palace and the houses and break down the walls, as Jeremiah said in 37:8. Nebuzaradan carries the people to Babylon, but he leaves “some of the poor people who had no property” and gives them “vineyards and fields.” Gill and Barnes explain this as Babylon’s policy.
Jeremiah 39:8
“And the Chaldeans burnt the king's house,.... His palace: this was a month after the city was taken, as appears from Jer 52:12; and the houses of the people, with fire; the houses of the common people, as distinct from the king's house, and the houses of the great men, Jer 52:13; though Jarchi interprets of the synagogues.”
Nebuzaradan captain of the guard carried away: The Targum, as John Gill cites it, renders Nebuzaradan's title captain of those that kill. He carries to Babylon the remnant left in Jerusalem, with the deserters, whom Adam Clarke explains as men who went over during the siege. The deserters Zedekiah feared in 38:19 share the exile.
Jeremiah 39:9
“Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard,.... The Targum is, "the captain of those that kill;'' of the soldiers, of the militia.”
some of the poor people who had no property: The poorest are left to work the land, and Adam Clarke reads the verse as giving them the fields and vineyards of those carried away. The poor now hold the property of the rich. Their harvest under Gedaliah is recorded at 40:12.
Jeremiah 39:10
“Left of the poor of the people - The very refuse of the inhabitants, who were not worthy of being carried away; and among them he divided the fields and vineyards of those whom he took away.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Jeremiah Set Free; a Word of Life for Ebed-melech
Jeremiah 39:11-14
had given orders about Jeremiah: Nebuchadnezzar gives orders about Jeremiah: “Take him, look after him, and do not let any harm come to him; do for him whatever he says.” Babylon’s officers bring him from the courtyard of the guard and turn him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whose father protected Jeremiah in 26:24.
Jeremiah 39:11
“Jeremiah's prophecies were known to Nebuchadnezzar through deserters (Jer 39:9; Jer 38:19), also through the Jews carried to Babylon with Jeconiah (compare Jer 40:2). Hence the king's kindness to him.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
look after him: The king's order protects the man Judah's officials tried to kill. Adam Clarke and John Wesley both suppose the king had heard that Jeremiah foretold the city's capture and urged surrender. Theodoret of Cyrus sets this beside Ebed-melech's rescue, two foreigners honoring the prophet whom the Jews refused to hear.
Jeremiah 39:12
“Take him - look well to him - Nebuchadnezzar had heard that this prophet had foretold his capture of the city, and had frequently used all his influence to induce Zedekiah to pay the tribute, and not rebel against him; and on this account would be inclined to show the prophet especial favor.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Nebushazban the Rabsaris: The senior officers who sat in the Middle Gate in verse 3 now carry out the order about one prisoner. Barnes gives Nebuzaradan's name from the inscriptions as Nabu-zir-iddina, Nebo has given offspring, and notes that some identify Nebushazban with the Rabsaris of verse 3.
Jeremiah 39:13
“Nebuzar-adan is in the inscriptions Nabu-zir-iddina (Nebo has given offspring); and Nebushasban, Nabu-sizibanni (Nebo save me), whom some identify with Sarsechim Jer 39:3.”
they turned him over to Gedaliah son of Ahikam: Gedaliah's father Ahikam had saved Jeremiah's life at 26:24. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that Babylon set Gedaliah over the remnant as a man likely to stay loyal. Albert Barnes reconciles the verse with 40:1, where Jeremiah turns up in chains at Ramah, by placing Gedaliah already at Mizpah.
Jeremiah 39:14
“Gedaliah--son of Ahikam, the former supporter of Jeremiah (Jer 26:24). Gedaliah was the chief of the deserters to the Chaldeans, and was set over the remnant in Judea as one likely to remain faithful to Nebuchadnezzar. His residence was at Mizpah (Jer 40:5). home--the house of Gedaliah, wherein Jeremiah might remain as in a safe asylum.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Jeremiah 39:14
“Jeremiah was to be taken out of the court of the watch, and placed in the palace close by. He dwelt among the people - i. e., he was no longer in custody, but master of his own actions.”
Jeremiah 39:15-18
while Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard: Ebed-melech is told, “you will not be delivered into the hands of the men whom you fear.” The reason is given: “Because you have trusted in Me.” The promise that he will escape “like a spoil of war” repeats the promise to those who surrender in 21:9 and 38:2.
Jeremiah 39:15
“This prophecy probably came to Jeremiah after his interview with Zedekiah Jer 38:14, but is added here as a supplement in order not to break the sequence of events.”
The oracle for Ebed-melech came while Jeremiah was still confined, and Albert Barnes dates it after the interview of 38:14. It stands here, after the fall, where the two rescues of the prophet can be read together. Matthew Henry notes that the comfort fits his fear.
Jeremiah 39:16
“That God took notice of the fear he had of the judgments coming. Though he was bravely bold in the service of God, yet he was afraid of the rod of God. The enemies were men of whom he was afraid, Note, God knows how to adapt and accommodate his comforts to the fears and griefs of his people, for he knows their souls in adversity.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the men whom you fear: Readers differ on whom Ebed-melech feared. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say the officials he crossed by rescuing Jeremiah (38:7-13), and Barnes says the Chaldeans and the bloodshed when the city fell. The LORD promises to deliver him on that day either way.
Jeremiah 39:17
“Of whom thou art afraid - The Chaldaeans. Ebed-melech apparently looked forward with much alarm to the b oodshed sure to take place at the storming of the city.”
Because you have trusted in Me: The ground of the promise is trust, and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown trace Ebed-melech's courage before the officials to it. The life he risked for Jeremiah is the life he keeps, like a spoil of war, the phrase of 21:9 and 38:2. Albert Barnes calls it an unlooked-for gain.
Jeremiah 39:18
“I will surely deliver thee - Thou hast feared the Lord, and not the king, nor his princes, and thou hast taken the part of the prophet, and become his intercessor. Thou shalt not be slain. Thou hast put thy trust in me; thou shalt therefore be safe whithersoever thou goest. They that fear God need fear nothing besides.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Keep studying
Studies2
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 8:39.