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Jeremiah 38:9

in Jeremiah 38

“My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have dropped him into the cistern, where he will starve to death, for there is no more bread in the city.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city.

KJV

My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.

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This verse in Jeremiah 38

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

My lord the king, these men have done evil - He must have been much in the king’s confidence, and a humane and noble spirited man, thus to have raised his voice against the powerful cabal already mentioned. There is no more bread in the city - They had defended it to the last extremity; and it appears that bread had been afforded to the prophet according to the king’s commandment, as long as there was any remaining. See Jer 36:21.

This site's exposition

heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern

on Jeremiah 38:7-13

Ebed-melech, a Cushite, goes to the king and says, “these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet.” Ebed-melech lowers “old rags and worn-out clothes” to pad the ropes. The foreigner who rescues the prophet receives his own promise of deliverance in 39:15-18.

This site's exposition

these men have acted wickedly

Ebed-melech calls the officials' act wicked to the king's face. Adam Clarke says he must have stood high in the king's confidence to speak so against the powerful officials. The bread in the city was nearly gone, and Jeremiah's ration had come from it by the king's command (37:21).

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

My lord the king,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

"Seeing that there is the utmost want of bread in the city, so that even if he were at large, there could no more be regularly supplied to him, much less now in a place where none remember or pity him, so that he is likely to die for hunger." "No more bread," that is, no more left of the public store in the city (Jer 37:21); or, all but no bread left anywhere [MAURER].

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

thirty men Since they were weakened by the famine, all of them were required.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Jeremiah 38:10:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

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. 6 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

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.

  • אֲדֹנִ֣יO lord my

    ʾadoniH113 →333 times

  • הַמֶּ֗לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • הֵרֵ֜עוּthey have done evil

    hereuH7489 →107 times

  • הָאֲנָשִׁ֤יםthe men

    haanashimH582 →566 times

  • הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙<the> these

    haelehH428 →746 times

  • אֵ֣ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֤רthat

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • עָשׂוּ֙they have done

    ʾasuH6213 →2628 times

  • לְיִרְמְיָ֣הוּto Jeremiah

    leyirmeyahuH3414 →147 times

  • הַנָּבִ֔יאthe prophet

    hanavi'H5030 →314 times

  • אֵ֥ת<obj.>

    ʾetH853 →10935 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־whom

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • הִשְׁלִ֖יכוּthey have thrown

    hishlikhuH7993 →125 times

  • אֶל־into

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • הַבּ֑וֹרthe cistern

    haborH953 →66 times

  • וַיָּ֤מָתand he died

    vaiyamotH4191 →839 times

  • תַּחְתָּיו֙in it

    tachtavH8478 →505 times

  • מִפְּנֵ֣י<from> because of

    mipeneiH6440 →2123 times

  • הָֽרָעָ֔ב<the> famine

    haraavH7458 →101 times

  • כִּ֣יfor

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אֵ֥יןthere not

    ʾeinH369 →789 times

  • הַלֶּ֛חֶם[is] the food

    halechemH3899 →298 times

  • ע֖וֹדyet

    odH5750 →490 times

  • בָּעִֽיר׃in the city

    bairH5892 →1090 times

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

Related verses

13 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 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.6 worksJeremiah 37:21So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.5 worksLamentations 1:11All her people groan as they search for bread. They have traded their treasures for food to keep themselves alive. Look, O LORD, and consider, for I have become despised.5 worksLamentations 3:53They dropped me alive into a pit and cast stones upon me.4 worksIsaiah 3:1For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,3 worksJeremiah 52:6By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.3 works
The other 7 cross-references, with their words ▾
Exodus 23:2You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.3 works2 Corinthians 11:27in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.3 worksJob 31:34because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside—2 worksProverbs 31:8–9Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed.2 worksProverbs 24:11–12Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.2 worksEsther 7:4–6For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.”2 worksGenesis 47:18When that year was over, they came to him the second year and said, “We cannot hide from our lord that our money is gone and all our livestock belongs to you. There is nothing left for our lord except our bodies and our land.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 37:21

    So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in…

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 38:13

      and they pulled him up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern. And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.

    • Jeremiah 38:28

      And Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day Jerusalem was captured.

    • Jeremiah 52:6

      By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.

    • Jeremiah 32:2

      At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was in the palace of the king of…

    • Isaiah 33:16

      he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.

  • Through

    Job 31:34

    because I greatly feared the crowds and the contempt of the clans terrified me, so that I kept silent and would not go outside—

    it leads to

    • Exodus 23:2

      You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 52:6

    By the ninth day of the fourth month, the famine in the city was so severe that the people of the land had no food.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 39:2

      And on the ninth day of the fourth month of Zedekiah’s eleventh year, the city was breached.

    • Isaiah 3:1

      For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,

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; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Jeremiah 38 →