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Jeremiah 38:1

in Jeremiah 38

Now Shephatiah son of Mattan, Gedaliah son of Pashhur, Jucal son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur son of Malchijah heard that Jeremiah had been telling all the people:

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashhur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashhur the son of Malchijah, heard the words that Jeremiah spake unto all the people, saying,

KJV

Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people, saying,

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This verse in Jeremiah 38

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Then Shephatiah - This was the faction - what Dahler terms the Antitheocratic faction - who were enemies to Jeremiah, and sought his life.

This site's exposition

heard the words that Jeremiah had spoken unto all the people

on Jeremiah 38:1-6

Four princes report Jeremiah's public message, he that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans shall live, and demand his execution on the ground that he weakeneth the hands of the men of war, treating the prophecy of doom as itself the cause of the coming doom rather than its accurate forecast. Zedekiah's answer, behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you, is the king's own confession of powerlessness before his court, the same weak man who had privately asked for a word from the Lord now surrendering the messenger to men who want him dead. Jeremiah is let down by cords into Malchiah's dungeon where there was no water, but mire, so that Jeremiah sunk in the mire, a slower death than the sword the princes did not formally order but plainly intended, as the bench reads their choice of method.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedaliah the son of Pashur,.... Of these two persons we nowhere else read.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The deputation in Jer 21:1, to whom Jeremiah gave this reply, if not identical with the hearers of Jeremiah (Jer 38:1), must have been sent just before the latter "heard" him speaking the same words. Zephaniah is not mentioned here as in Jer 21:1, but is so in Jer 37:3. Jucal is mentioned here and in the previous deputation (Jer 37:3), but not in Jer 21:1.

The words behind it

22 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיִּשְׁמַ֞עand he heard

    vaiyishma'H8085 →1159 times

  • שְׁפַטְיָ֣הShephatiah

    shefatyahH8203 →

  • בֶן־[the] son of

    ven-H1121 →4930 times

  • מַתָּ֗ןMattan

    matanH4977 →

  • וּגְדַלְיָ֙הוּ֙and Gedaliah

    ugedalyahuH1436 →32 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • פַּשְׁח֔וּרPashhur

    pashchurH6583 →14 times

  • וְיוּכַל֙and Jucal

    veyukhalH3116 →

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • שֶׁ֣לֶמְיָ֔הוּShelemiah

    shelemyahuH8018 →10 times

  • וּפַשְׁח֖וּרand Pashhur

    ufashchurH6583 →14 times

  • בֶּן־[the] son of

    ben-H1121 →4930 times

  • מַלְכִּיָּ֑הMalkijah

    malkiyahH4441 →16 times

  • אֶ֨ת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַדְּבָרִ֔יםthe words

    hadevarimH1697 →1440 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֧רwhich

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • יִרְמְיָ֛הוּJeremiah

    yirmeyahuH3414 →147 times

  • מְדַבֵּ֥ר[was] speaking

    medaberH1696 →1141 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • הָעָ֖םthe people

    haamH5971 →1873 times

  • לֵאמֹֽר׃ ס<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

11 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Jeremiah 21:1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur son of Malchijah and the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah. They said,5 worksJeremiah 39:17But I will deliver you on that day, declares the LORD, and you will not be delivered into the hands of the men whom you fear.4 worksNehemiah 7:9the descendants of Shephatiah, 372;3 worksActs 4:1–2While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them,3 worksEzra 2:3the descendants of Parosh, 2,172;3 works1 Chronicles 9:12Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah; Maasai son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;3 works
The other 5 cross-references, with their words ▾
Acts 4:6–10along with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and many others from the high priest’s family.3 worksNehemiah 11:12and their associates who did the work at the temple—822 men;3 worksActs 5:28“We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us responsible for this man’s blood.”3 worksJeremiah 37:3–4Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the priest, the son of Maaseiah, to Jeremiah the prophet with the message, “Please pray to the LORD our God for us!”3 worksJeremiah 37:13But when he reached the Gate of Benjamin, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, seized him and said, “You are deserting to the Chaldeans!”3 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Ezra 2:3

    the descendants of Parosh, 2,172;

    it leads to

    • Ezra 8:3

      from the descendants of David, Hattush of the descendants of Shecaniah; from the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men;

    • Ezra 10:25

      And among the other Israelites, from the descendants of Parosh: Ramiah, Izziah, Malchijah, Mijamin, Eleazar, Malchijah, and Benaiah.

    • Nehemiah 7:8

      the descendants of Parosh, 2,172;

  • Through

    1 Chronicles 9:12

    Adaiah son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah; Maasai son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;

    it leads to

  • Through

    Nehemiah 7:9

    the descendants of Shephatiah, 372;

    it leads to

    • Ezra 2:4

      the descendants of Shephatiah, 372;

    • Ezra 8:8

      from the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men;

What the record shows

3 entries
  • Gedaliah (son of Pashhur) — attested in contemporary inscriptionwell-supported

    City of David bulla (2008, E. Mazar)

    Biblical figure (Official under Zedekiah, 597-586 BC) identified in extra-biblical epigraphy.

    Counterpoint: The seal carries no office, so the tie to Zedekiah's official is a match of name plus father's name. Both were common Judahite names, and standard method for these identifications, set out by Lawrence Mykytiuk, asks for a third mark such as a title before calling a match secure.

  • Pashhur — attested in contemporary inscriptionwell-supported

    City of David bulla (2008, E. Mazar)

    Biblical figure (Father of the official Gedaliah, late 7th c. BC) identified in extra-biblical epigraphy.

    Counterpoint: Pashhur appears only as a father's name on his son's seal, with no title. Jeremiah alone names at least three different men called Pashhur, so the seal by itself cannot say which one this is.

  • Jehucal (Jucal) — attested in contemporary inscriptionwell-supported

    City of David bulla (2005, E. Mazar)

    Biblical figure (Official under Zedekiah, 597-586 BC) identified in extra-biblical epigraphy.

    Counterpoint: The bulla is genuine and excavated, but it names no office. The standard set out by Lawrence Mykytiuk asks for three matching marks of identity, usually name, father's name, and title; this seal gives name and father's name only, in a period when both names were common in Jerusalem.

About Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Prophet Jeremiah, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 38 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Jeremiah 38 →