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Jeremiah 32:3

in Jeremiah 32

For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: “Why are you prophesying like this? You claim that the LORD says, ‘Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

KJV

For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it;

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This verse in Jeremiah 32

Commentary

9 notes on this verse

A commentator

John Calvin

1509–1564

Commentaries (1554)

The Prophet here declares, that though he was shut up in prison, the Word of God was not bound, and that he himself was not less loose and free in his confinement than if he rambled through the whole city and visited all the lanes and the streets.

This site's exposition

in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah

on Jeremiah 32:1-5

The date is exact, “the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar.” His offense is the message that the city will fall, and the king confines the messenger. The chapter's sign of hope takes place in this same prison yard.

This site's exposition

Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him

The words Zedekiah throws back at Jeremiah come from the oracle of Jeremiah 21:4-7 and 9, as Barnes notes. Matthew Henry observes that the king kept up his persecution even in the depth of the siege. Calvin adds that the word itself stayed unbound.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Jerome

Commentary on Jeremiah · Written before 420.

proposed

(Chapter XXXII, verse 1 and following). The word that was spoken to Jeremiah by the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, was the eighteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the courtyard of the prison, which was in the palace of the king of Judah. For King Zedekiah of Judah had locked him up, saying, 'Why do you prophesy, saying, "Thus says the Lord"?

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

He prays with admiration of God's majesty and works; and represents his own conflict, ver. 16-25. God confirms the captivity for their sins, ver. 26-35. but promises a gracious return, ver. 36-44.

quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-26/36-anchored-1-15

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

So far was he from humbling himself before Jeremiah, as he ought to have done ( 2 Chron. xxxvi. 12 ), that he hardened himself against him. Though he had formerly so far owned him to be a prophet as to desire him to enquire of the Lord for them ( ch. xxi.

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

For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up,.... In prison, at least in the court of the prison; he had given orders for his imprisonment, which were executed, and it was the same as if he had done it himself; the reason of which was, as follows: saying, wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, thus saith the Lord, behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it? meaning the city of Jerusalem, now besieged by the king of Babylon.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Persecution was one of the sins for which God was now contending with them, and yet Zedekiah persists in it even now that he was in the depth of distress. No providences, no afflictions, will of themselves part between men and their sins, unless the grace of God work with them. Nay, some are made worse by those very judgments that should make them better.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

For the prophecies on which the charge was grounded see Jer 21:4-7, Jer 21:9.

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.

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwhere

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • כְּלָא֔וֹhe had shut up him

    kelaoH3607 →

  • צִדְקִיָּ֥הוּZedekiah

    tzidkiyahuH6667 →63 times

  • מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of

    melekh-H4428 →2525 times

  • יְהוּדָ֖הJudah

    yehudahH3063 →819 times

  • לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • מַדּוּעַ֩why?

    madua'H4069 →72 times

  • אַתָּ֨ה[are] you

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • נִבָּ֜אprophesying

    niba'H5012 →115 times

  • לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • כֹּ֚הthus

    kohH3541 →577 times

  • אָמַ֣רhe says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָ֔הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • הִנְנִ֨יhere I

    hiniH2005 →316 times

  • נֹתֵ֜ן[am] about to give

    notenH5414 →2011 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הָעִ֥ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • הַזֹּ֛את<the> this

    hazotH2063 →603 times

  • בְּיַ֥דin [the] hand of

    beyadH3027 →1618 times

  • מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of

    melekh-H4428 →2525 times

  • בָּבֶ֖לBabylon

    bavelH894 →262 times

  • וּלְכָדָֽהּ׃and he will capture it

    ulekhadahH3920 →121 times

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

Related verses

18 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 34:2–3The LORD, the God of Israel, told Jeremiah to go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him that this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it down.7 worksJeremiah 21:4–7this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will turn against you the weapons of war in your hands, with which you are fighting the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who besiege you outside the wall, and I will assemble their forces in the center of this city.5 worksJeremiah 32:28Therefore this is what the LORD says: Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who will capture it.5 worksJeremiah 26:8–9and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die!4 works2 Chronicles 36:16But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.4 worksJeremiah 32:36Now therefore, about this city of which you say, ‘It will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword and famine and plague,’ this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:4 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Jeremiah 32:24See how the siege ramps are mounted against the city to capture it. And by sword and famine and plague, the city has been given into the hands of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened, as You now see!3 worksJeremiah 36:29You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?’3 worksJeremiah 38:8Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and said to the king,2 worksActs 6:12–14So they stirred up the people, elders, and scribes and confronted Stephen. They seized him and brought him before the Sanhedrin,2 worksJeremiah 2:30“I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.”2 works2 Kings 6:31–32He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”2 works2 Chronicles 28:22In the time of his distress, King Ahaz became even more unfaithful to the LORD.2 worksJeremiah 38:4Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.”2 worksJeremiah 5:3O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.2 worksExodus 5:4But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you draw the people away from their work? Get back to your labor!”2 worksJeremiah 27:8As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under his yoke, I will punish that nation by sword and famine and plague, declares the LORD, until I have destroyed it by his hand.2 worksAmos 7:13But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”2 works

Where this verse is studied

About Jeremiah

Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem, Rembrandt, 1630. Public domain.
Jeremiah: the study guide →Read Jeremiah 32 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Carl Friedrich Keil, The Prophecies of Jeremiah; Jerome, Commentary on Jeremiah; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Jeremiah 32 →