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Jeremiah 38:22

in Jeremiah 38

All the women who remain in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon, and those women will say: ‘They misled you and overcame you—those trusted friends of yours. Your feet sank into the mire, and they deserted you.’

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

Behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, Thy familiar friends have set thee on, and have prevailed over thee: now that thy feet are sunk in the mire, they are turned away back.

KJV

And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back.

This verse in Jeremiah 38

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

All the women - brought forth - I think this place speaks of a kind of defection among the women of the harem; many of whom had already gone forth privately to the principal officers of the Chaldean army, and made the report mentioned in the end of this verse. These were the concubines or women of the second rank.

This site's exposition

I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen

on Jeremiah 38:19-28

Zedekiah's real fear surfaces at last, I am afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they mock me, terror of his own defectors outweighing terror of Babylon or of God, and Jeremiah's answer, they shall not deliver thee, cannot move him past it. The vision of the king's own women taunting him, thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, and they are turned away back, echoes Jeremiah's own dungeon in mire back at the king who put him there, a detail the bench reads as deliberate. Zedekiah extracts a promise of silence about the conversation, and Jeremiah keeps it exactly when the princes come asking, so that he remains in the court of the prison until the day Jerusalem falls, obedient to the letter of a secrecy the king demanded but not to the counsel the king refused.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Now thy feet are sunk in the mire, thou art embarrassed, and hast noway to help thyself; thy feet cannot get forward, but are turned away back. " Thus will Zedekiah be bantered by the women, when all his wives and children shall be made a prey to the conquerors,

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes

And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Not merely the Jewish deserters shall "mock" him (Jer 38:19), but the very "women" of his own palace and harem, to gratify their new lords, will taunt him. A noble king in sooth, to suffer thyself to be so imposed on! Thy friends--Hebrew, "men of thy peace" (see Jer 20:10;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

All the women that are left - Belonging to the harems of former kings (compare 1Ki 2:22), attendants, and slaves. Thy friends ... - This satirical song (compare Oba 1:7) should be translated as a distich: Thy friends have urged thee on and prevailed upon thee: Thy feet are stuck in the mire; they have turned back. Thy friends - literally “men of thy peace,” thy acquaintance Jer 20:10. They urge Zedekiah on to a hopeless struggle with the Chaldaeans, and when he gets into difficulties leave him in the lurch.

The words behind it

25 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.

  • וְהִנֵּ֣הand there!

    vehinehH2009843 times

  • כָל־all

    khol-H36055413 times

  • הַנָּשִׁ֗יםthe women

    hanashimH802781 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רwho

    ʾasherH8345497 times

  • נִשְׁאֲרוּ֙they are left

    nisharuH7604133 times

  • בְּבֵ֣יתin [the] house of

    beveitH10042046 times

  • מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of

    melekh-H44282525 times

  • יְהוּדָ֔הJudah

    yehudahH3063819 times

  • מוּצָא֕וֹת[are] about to be brought out

    mutzaotH33181067 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • שָׂרֵ֖י[the] commanders of

    sareiH8269421 times

  • מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of

    melekhH44282525 times

  • בָּבֶ֑לBabylon

    bavelH894262 times

  • וְהֵ֣נָּהand they

    vehenahH2007

  • אֹמְר֗וֹת[will be] saying

    ʾomerotH5595305 times

  • הִסִּית֜וּךָthey misled you

    hisitukhaH5496

  • וְיָכְל֤וּand they prevailed

    veyakheluH3201194 times

  • לְךָ֙to <the> you

    lekha

  • אַנְשֵׁ֣י[the] people of

    ʾansheiH582566 times

  • שְׁלֹמֶ֔ךָpeace your

    shelomekhaH7965236 times

  • הָטְבְּע֥וּthey are sunk

    hatebeuH2883

  • בַבֹּ֛ץin the mire

    vabotzH1206

  • רַגְלֶ֖ךָfeet your

    raglekhaH7272247 times

  • נָסֹ֥גוּthey have turned

    nasoguH5472

  • אָחֽוֹר׃backwards

    ʾachorH26841 times

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

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

    Psalms 69:14

    Rescue me from the mire and do not let me sink; deliver me from my foes and out of the deep waters.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 144:7

      Reach down from on high; set me free and rescue me from the deep waters, from the grasp of foreigners,

    • Jeremiah 38:6–13

      So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no…

    • Psalms 109:21

      But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name; deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.

  • Through

    Lamentations 1:2

    She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

    it leads to

    • Psalms 6:6

      I am weary from groaning; all night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.

    • Micah 7:5

      Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.

  • Through

    Lamentations 5:11

    Women have been ravished in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 13:16

      Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes, their houses will be looted, and their wives will be ravished.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 43:6

    the men, the women, the children, the king’s daughters, and everyone whom Nebuzaradan captain of the guard had allowed to remain with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as well as Jeremiah…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 39:10

      But Nebuzaradan left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people who had no property, and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.

    • Jeremiah 40:7

      When all the commanders and men of the armies in the field heard that the king of Babylon had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam over the land and that he had put him in…

About Jeremiah

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.