Jeremiah 38:7

Translations

Modern

Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,

Traditional

Now when Ebed–melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;

Literal

And Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—and the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin—

Latin

Audivit autem Abdemelech Æthiops, vir eunuchus, qui erat in domo regis, quod misissent Jeremiam in lacum. Porro rex sedebat in porta Benjamin:

Original

Hebrew

English

Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,

Notes

Jeremiah 38:7–8

The Ethiopian (compare Luke 17:18; Acts 28:28): Jeremiah’s rescuer was not from Judah. He was a foreigner who bravely opposed the other officials. He ran to the Benjamin Gate, where they first arrested Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:11–13), and entered the king’s presence without ceremony.

Jeremiah 38:1–13

Jeremiah could talk to people while in the prison courtyard. He shared the Lord's judgments, which angered some government officials. Zedekiah showed cowardice by allowing these men to put Jeremiah in a muddy cistern. However, the king showed courage when he let a palace servant rescue Jeremiah and bring him back to the palace prison.

Jeremiah 37:1–38:28

The focus now returns to Zedekiah, who became king of Judah after his nephew Jehoiachin. These chapters describe meetings between Zedekiah and Jeremiah, highlighting Zedekiah’s struggle to fully commit to God's word (compare Deuteronomy 10:12–13). Zedekiah is a classic example of a person with divided loyalty (James 1:6–8).

Theme notes and profiles

Jeremiah David's Response to Unfriendly Leaders God Protects His Servant Persecution The Righteous Suffer

Events

Prophecies of Jeremiahc. 628 BC

Related verses

Amos 5:10
There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
Jeremiah 29:2
(This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.)
Deuteronomy 21:19
…his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,
Jeremiah 37:13
But 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!”
Jeremiah 13:23
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good—you who are accustomed to doing evil.
Matthew 8:11–12
I say to you that many will come from the east and the west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 20:16
So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
Luke 10:30–36
Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
Luke 13:29–30
People will come from east and west and north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.
Jeremiah 39:16–18
“Go and tell Ebed-melech the Cushite that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I am about to fulfill My words against this city for harm and not for good, and on that day they will be fulfilled before your eyes.
Jeremiah 34:19
The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf,
2 Kings 24:15
Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.

People

Ebed-melech: Ethiopian eunuch who rescued Jeremiah from a cistern Jeremiah: Son of Hilkiah, the prophet during Judah's final days

Places

Benjamin Gate: Gate in Jerusalem, associated with the tribe of Benjamin Cush: Ancient region in Africa; associated with Egypt and Babylon

Glossary

Benjamin, Gate of Book of Jeremiah Courts and Trials Ebed-Melech Eunuch Guard, Courtyard of the Jehoiachin

Topics

Benjamin: A Gate of Jerusalem Christian Minister: Kindness to Ebed-Melech to Jeremiah, Ebed-Melech: Jeremiah Rescued By Ethiopia: Treats Jeremiah Kindly Eunuch: Influential Court officials Gates: Thrones of Kings At God in Rescuing Jeremiah Intercession: Ebed-Melech for Jeremiah Jeremiah: The Prophet: Ebed-Melech, the Egyptian, Intercedes to the King for Him, and Secures his Release Jeremiah: The Prophet: Imprisoned by Zedekiah Prisoners: Jeremiah Prisoners: Kindness To by the Prison Guard to Jeremiah Zedekiah: Made King of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar: Imprisons Jeremiah on Account of his Denunciations

Jeremiah 38:7

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