Jeremiah 37:14
in Jeremiah 37“That is a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
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This verse in Jeremiah 37
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The princes - Not the noblemen trained in the days of Josiah and Jeremiah’s friends Jer 26:16, but those described in Jer 24:8. They assumed that the accusation was true; they first scourged and then imprisoned Jeremiah.
This site's exposition
the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from Jerusalem
on Jeremiah 37:11-15
With the Chaldean army withdrawn to meet Pharaoh, Jeremiah tries to leave the city for Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people, on business the text does not further specify. Irijah, a captain of the ward, arrests him at the gate on the charge thou fallest away to the Chaldeans, reading an innocent departure as treason, and Jeremiah's flat denial, it is false, changes nothing: he is beaten and shut in the house of Jonathan the scribe, made into a prison for the purpose. The commentators note the irony that the prophet who had just told the princes Babylon would surely return is arrested as Babylon's own defector.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then said Jeremiah, it is false,....
Thus have the blackest characters been put upon the fairest purest minds, and, in such a malicious world as this is, innocency, nay, excellency itself, is no fence against the basest calumny. When at any time we are thus falsely accused we may do as Jeremiah did, boldly deny the charge and then commit our cause to him that judges righteously.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
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
16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יִרְמְיָ֜הוּ | yirmeyahu | Jeremiah | H3414 → | 147 times |
| שֶׁ֗קֶר | sheker | a lie | H8267 → | 113 times |
| אֵינֶ֤נִּי | ʾeineni | not I | H369 → | 789 times |
| נֹפֵל֙ | nofel | [am] falling | H5307 → | 435 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַכַּשְׂדִּ֔ים | hakasdim | the Chaldeans | H3778 → | 80 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמַ֖ע | shama' | he listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֵלָ֑יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| וַיִּתְפֹּ֤שׂ | vaiyitpos | and he seized | H8610 → | 65 times |
| יִרְאִיָּיה֙ | yiriyaih | Irijah | H3376 → | |
| בְּיִרְמְיָ֔הוּ | beyirmeyahu | <in> Jeremiah | H3414 → | 147 times |
| וַיְבִאֵ֖הוּ | vayviehu | and he brought him | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַשָּׂרִֽים׃ | hasarim | the officials | H8269 → | 421 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יִרְמְיָ֜הוּJeremiah
yirmeyahuH3414 →147 times
שֶׁ֗קֶרa lie
shekerH8267 →113 times
אֵינֶ֤נִּיnot I
ʾeineniH369 →789 times
נֹפֵל֙[am] falling
nofelH5307 →435 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַכַּשְׂדִּ֔יםthe Chaldeans
hakasdimH3778 →80 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמַ֖עhe listened
shama'H8085 →1159 times
אֵלָ֑יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
וַיִּתְפֹּ֤שׂand he seized
vaiyitposH8610 →65 times
יִרְאִיָּיה֙Irijah
yiriyaihH3376 →
בְּיִרְמְיָ֔הוּ<in> Jeremiah
beyirmeyahuH3414 →147 times
וַיְבִאֵ֖הוּand he brought him
vayviehuH935 →2568 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַשָּׂרִֽים׃the officials
hasarimH8269 →421 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Psalms 27:12Do not hand me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.
it leads to
- Psalms 31:8
You have not delivered me to the enemy; You have set my feet in the open.
- Matthew 26:59–60
Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death.
- Psalms 35:11
Hostile witnesses come forward; they make charges I know nothing about.
- Psalms 41:11
By this I know that You delight in me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.
- Psalms 35:25
Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha, just what we wanted!” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up!”
- Psalms 31:8
About Jeremiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.