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Jeremiah 38:17

in Jeremiah 38

Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you indeed surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, then you will live, this city will not be burned down, and you and your household will survive.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: If thou wilt go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thy house.

KJV

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon’s princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house:

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This verse in Jeremiah 38

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Theodoret of Cyrus

ON JEREMIAH 8:38 · Written before 458.

He had often spoken these things previously. We must investigate why in the world he promises safety to those who go out of the city but threatens destruction to those who do not go out. When Nebuchadnezzar had elevated Zedekiah to the kingship, the latter …

This site's exposition

“Do not hide anything from me.”

on Jeremiah 38:14-18

Zedekiah meets Jeremiah and asks him to hide nothing, and Jeremiah answers, “you will surely put me to death.” The king swears secretly to spare him. The word sets two outcomes: if he surrenders, “you will live,” and if he refuses, he “will not escape their grasp.”

This site's exposition

If you indeed surrender

Jeremiah names the officers because Nebuchadnezzar was at Riblah, as Clarke and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say from 39:5. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown say God knows what either choice would bring, and ordains the means as well as the end. The king's life and the city hang on his answer.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Wilt assuredly go - On the king’s obedience to the advice of the prophet the safety of the city depended. Unto the king of Babylon’s princes - The generals of the army then returning to the siege from the defeat of the Egyptians; for Nebuchadnezzar himself was then at Riblah, in Syria, Jer 39:5, Jer 39:6.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

He does not say "to the king himself," for he was at Riblah, in Hamath (Jer 39:5; "If thou go forth" (namely, to surrender; Isa 36:16), God foreknows future conditional contingencies, and ordains not only the end, but also the means to the end.

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

The words behind it

28 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.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • יִרְמְיָ֣הוּJeremiah

    yirmeyahuH3414 →147 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • צִדְקִיָּ֡הוּZedekiah

    tzidkiyahuH6667 →63 times

  • כֹּֽה־thus

    koh-H3541 →577 times

  • אָמַ֣רhe says

    ʾamarH559 →5305 times

  • יְהוָה֩Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֱלֹהֵ֨י[the] God of

    ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times

  • צְבָא֜וֹתhosts

    tzevaotH6635 →485 times

  • אֱלֹהֵ֣י[the] God of

    ʾeloheiH430 →2601 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • אִם־<if>

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • יָצֹ֨אcertainly [if] <to go out>

    yatzo'H3318 →1067 times

  • תֵצֵ֜אyou will go out

    tetze'H3318 →1067 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • שָׂרֵ֤י[the] commanders of

    sareiH8269 →421 times

  • מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of

    melekh-H4428 →2525 times

  • בָּבֶל֙Babylon

    bavelH894 →262 times

  • וְחָיְתָ֣הand you will live

    vechayetahH2421 →282 times

  • נַפְשֶׁ֔ךָself your

    nafshekhaH5315 →754 times

  • וְהָעִ֣ירand the city

    vehairH5892 →1090 times

  • הַזֹּ֔את<the> this

    hazotH2063 →603 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תִשָּׂרֵ֖ףit will be burned

    tisarefH8313 →117 times

  • בָּאֵ֑שׁwith <the> fire

    baeshH784 →378 times

  • וְחָיִ֖תָהand you will live

    vechayitahH2421 →282 times

  • אַתָּ֥הyou

    ʾatahH859 →1094 times

  • וּבֵיתֶֽךָ׃and household your

    uveitekhaH1004 →2046 times

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

Related verses

15 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 27:12And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!7 worksJeremiah 27:17Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin?6 worksJeremiah 38:2“This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; he will retain his life like a spoil of war, and he will live.6 worksJeremiah 39:3Then all the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-sarsekim the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon.5 worksJeremiah 21:8–10Furthermore, you are to tell this people that this is what the LORD says: ‘Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.5 works2 Kings 24:12Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.4 works
The other 9 cross-references, with their words ▾
Jeremiah 7:6–7if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,4 worksPsalms 80:7Restore us, O God of Hosts, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.3 works1 Chronicles 17:24so that Your name will be established and magnified forever when it is said, ‘The LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, is God over Israel.’ And may the house of Your servant David be established before You.3 worksPsalms 80:14Return, O God of Hosts, we pray! Look down from heaven and see! Attend to this vine—3 worksAmos 5:27Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,” says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.3 worksEzra 9:4Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles, while I sat there in horror until the evening offering.2 worksJob 23:13But He is unchangeable, and who can oppose Him? He does what He desires.2 worksEzekiel 17:14so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to lift itself up, surviving only by keeping his covenant.2 worksZephaniah 3:7I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me and accept correction.’ Then her dwelling place would not be cut off despite all for which I punished her. But they rose early to corrupt all their deeds.2 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

    Jeremiah 38:2

    “This is what the LORD says: Whoever stays in this city will die by sword and famine and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live; he will retain his life like a…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 39:18

      For I will surely rescue you so that you do not fall by the sword. Because you have trusted in Me, you will escape with your life like a spoil of war, declares the…

    • Jeremiah 34:17

      Therefore this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed Me; you have not proclaimed freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. So now I proclaim freedom for you, declares…

    • Jeremiah 45:5

      But as for you, do you seek great things for yourself? Stop seeking! For I will bring disaster on every living creature, declares the LORD, but wherever you go, I will grant your life…

    • Ezekiel 14:21

      For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem My four dire judgments—sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague—in order to cut off from it…

    • Jeremiah 42:17

      So all who resolve to go to Egypt to reside there will die by sword and famine and plague. Not one of them will survive or escape the disaster I will bring upon them.’

  • Through

    Jeremiah 39:3

    Then all the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-sarsekim the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the rest of the officials of the…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 21:4

      this 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…

    • Jeremiah 39:13

      So Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the captains of the king of Babylon

  • Through

    Jeremiah 27:12

    And to Zedekiah king of Judah I spoke the same message: “Put your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon; serve him and his people, and live!

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 28:1

      In the fifth month of that same year, the fourth year, near the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, said to…

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

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 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); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theodoret of Cyrus, ON JEREMIAH 8:38.

Read on in Jeremiah 38 →