Jeremiah 37:12
in Jeremiah 37Jeremiah started to leave Jerusalem to go to the land of Benjamin to claim his portion there among the people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go into the land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people.
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This verse in Jeremiah 37
Commentary
7 notes on this verseJeremiah went forth - At the time that Nebuchadnezzar had raised the siege, and gone to meet the Egyptian army. Go into the land of Benjamin - To Anathoth, his native city. To separate himself thence - “To receive a portion thereof among the people;” - Blayney: who supposes that Jeremiah went to receive a portion of the proceeds of his patrimony at Anathoth, which had, previously to the siege, been in the hands of the Chaldeans. The siege being now raised, he thought of looking thus after his own affairs.
This site's exposition
When the Chaldean army withdrew from Jerusalem
on Jeremiah 37:11-15
While the Chaldeans are withdrawn, Jeremiah sets out for Benjamin “to claim his portion there among the people.” Irijah seizes him with the charge, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!” Jeremiah answers, “That is a lie,” but he is beaten and jailed in the house of Jonathan the scribe.
This site's exposition
to claim his portion there among the people
Readers differ on what Jeremiah went to Benjamin to do. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read it as to slip away, while Barnes takes it as a portion of the produce of the priests' land. Clarke, following Blayney, takes it as Jeremiah's own portion of his family's land there.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Whether he designed for Anathoth or no does not appear; his concerns might call him thither, but his neighbours there were such as (unless they had mended since ch. xi. 21 ) might discourage him from coming among them; or he might intend to hide himself somewhere where he was not known, and fulfil his own wish ( ch. ix.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Benjamin--to his own town, Anathoth. to separate himself--Margin translates, "to slip away," from a Hebrew root, "to be smooth," so, to slip away as a slippery thing that cannot be held.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To separate himself thence ... - To receive a share thence. When the siege was temporarily raised, the first object would be food, and, accordingly, Jeremiah accompanied by others, who, like himself, had a right to share in the produce of the priests’ lands at Anathoth, started there to see whether any stores remained which might be available for their common use.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
to share [land] from there among the people Jonathan [renders]: To share his inheritance among the people, and as long as the Chaldeans were besieging it, he did not leave it, for he prayed that it should not be taken.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
and there was the captain of the guard Appointed to guard so that no man should leave the city to make peace with the Chaldeans.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֵּצֵ֤א | vaiyetze' | and he went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙ | yirmeyahu | Jeremiah | H3414 → | 147 times |
| מִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔ם | mirushalim | from Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| לָלֶ֖כֶת | lalekhet | to go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אֶ֣רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| בִּנְיָמִ֑ן | binyamin | Benjamin | H1144 → | 166 times |
| לַחֲלִ֥ק | lachalik | to receive a portion | H2505 → | |
| מִשָּׁ֖ם | misham | from there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| בְּת֥וֹךְ | betokh | in among | H8432 → | 418 times |
| הָעָֽם׃ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וַיֵּצֵ֤אand he went out
vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times
יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙Jeremiah
yirmeyahuH3414 →147 times
מִיר֣וּשָׁלִַ֔םfrom Jerusalem
mirushalimH3389 →643 times
לָלֶ֖כֶתto go
lalekhetH1980 →1546 times
אֶ֣רֶץ[the] land of
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
בִּנְיָמִ֑ןBenjamin
binyaminH1144 →166 times
לַחֲלִ֥קto receive a portion
lachalikH2505 →
מִשָּׁ֖םfrom there
mishamH8033 →834 times
בְּת֥וֹךְin among
betokhH8432 →418 times
הָעָֽם׃the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 10:23When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. Truly I tell you, you will not reach all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
it leads to
- Matthew 16:28
Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
- John 11:53–54
So from that day on they plotted to kill Him.
- Mark 13:26
At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
- Luke 4:29–31
They got up, drove Him out of the town, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw Him over the cliff.
- Acts 17:10
As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
- Matthew 16:28
Through
1 Kings 19:3And Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there,
it leads to
- Genesis 21:31
So that place was called Beersheba, because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.
- Matthew 26:56
But this has all happened so that the writings of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted Him and fled.
- Matthew 26:70–74
But he denied it before them all: “I do not know what you are talking about.”
- Genesis 21:31
About Jeremiah
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonLate monarchy / ExileJeremiahPriest of Anathoth called before birth to uproot and to plant; the weeping prophet of Jerusalem's fall who bought a field in the s…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.