Jeremiah 38:9

Translations

Modern

“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.”

Traditional

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.

Literal

“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 cistern; and he is likely to die from hunger in his place, for there is no more bread in the city.

Latin

Domine mi rex, male fecerunt viri isti omnia quæcumque perpetrarunt contra Jeremiam prophetam, mittentes eum in lacum, ut moriatur ibi fame: non sunt enim panes ultra in civitate.

Original

Hebrew

English

“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.”

Notes

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

Jeremiah 37:21–38:6
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 the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Proverbs 31:8–9
Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed.
Proverbs 24:11–12
Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.
Esther 7:4–6
For 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.”
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—
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.

People

Jeremiah: Son of Hilkiah, the prophet during Judah's final days

Glossary

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

Topics

Christian Minister: Kindness to Ebed-Melech to Jeremiah, Ebed-Melech: Jeremiah Rescued By Ethiopia: Treats Jeremiah Kindly Eunuch: Influential Court officials 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 38:9

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