This chapter and the next record events in Jeremiah’s life during the final days of the siege of Jerusalem. We have already seen in Jeremiah 34, when the temporary siege had been lifted, that the slaves were freed and then taken back into slavery again because God’s people thought the war was over, Jeremiah 37:4. This chapter is about the same time as Jeremiah 34.
Here we have a brief history of the past eleven years, and here again, we see how hard it is to fit chapters into their rightful places. We also note that Jehoiachin’s three-month reign is left out. This is the same year that the Egyptian and Babylonian armies met in battle, and Jerusalem is having a reprieve.
The king here is Zedekiah, Jeremiah 37:1. The term ‘king’ is unusual here because Zedekiah was nothing more than a puppet for Babylon, chosen by Nebuchadnezzar and not by God, Jeremiah 37:1.
Zedekiah, his attendants, or the people of the land paid any attention to what God was saying through Jeremiah, Jeremiah 37:2. Zedekiah asks Jeremiah to intercede with God on behalf of the people, Jeremiah 37:3. His intention was to get the temporary reprieve to be made permanent.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The reason for Zedekiah’s request for Jeremiah to pray for the city seems to have been grounded in the hope that God would again spare the city from destruction as he had done by a miraculous intervention in the death of the entire army of Sennacherib in 701 B.C. Indeed, such a thing might have happened if Zedekiah had been the kind of man that Hezekiah was, but Jeremiah 37:2, above, indicates that Zedekiah and all the people were solidly committed to wickedness and rebellion against God.’
The men sent to Jeremiah were not his greatest friends. Zephaniah, Jeremiah 37:3, had been to Jeremiah on an earlier occasion, Jeremiah 21:1-2, and didn’t receive any ear-tickling words then.
Jehukal was opposed to him, Jeremiah 37:3, and was one of the officials who said in Jeremiah 38:4, ‘This man should be put to death.’ We note from Jeremiah 37:4 that Jeremiah had not yet been put into prison.
It seems that Zedekiah had requested help from Egypt at this time, and so, for a short time only, Nebuchadnezzar turned his attention away from Jerusalem and toward Egypt, Jeremiah 37:5.
Some scholars believe that the Egyptians were defeated by the Babylonians; others believe that the Egyptians withdrew from the battle. Either way, this was a disaster for Zedekiah.
The Pharaoh mentioned in Jeremiah 37:5 was Hophra, who reigned from 589-570 B.B. He made a rather rash decision when he decided to march northwards to assist Jerusalem, Ezekiel 17:11-21. The result of Hophra’s intervention was only temporary relief for Jerusalem.
Jeremiah receives word from God, and he is to go and tell Zedekiah, who sent him to inquire of God, that Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to support him, will go back to its own land, Jeremiah 37:6-7.
Zedekiah is more or less told not to count his chickens before they are hatched. Even this brief spell of freedom hadn’t caused them to change their lifestyles. The Babylonians were to come back with a vengeance, Jeremiah 37:8.
They would be deceiving themselves if they thought that the danger was over, Jeremiah 37:9. Even if they were to come back as wounded men, the Babylonians would still be too strong for God’s people, Jeremiah 37:10. Jerusalem is going to fall.
Jeremiah’s home was in Anathoth, in the territory of Benjamin, just a short distance from Jerusalem, Jeremiah 37:11. God’s word doesn’t tell us why Jeremiah was on his way out of the city, Jeremiah 37:12.
Perhaps it was to inspect the land that he had recently bought from his cousin. But his intentions were misinterpreted and he was arrested as a deserter and as a pro-Babylonian traitor, Jeremiah 37:13-14.
The captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah, accused him of deserting to the Babylonians, Jeremiah 37:14. This was a false allegation because he had no evidence of this.
The charge was vicious, and some scholars believe that this was for revenge against Jeremiah for predicting the death of his grandfather, Hananiah, in Jeremiah 28:16. Jeremiah was placed in a temporary prison, in the secretary of state’s house, Jeremiah 37:15. He was probably kept in solitary confinement.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following concerning Jeremiah 37:15.
‘In Asiatic countries, there is an apartment in the houses of the officers of the law, to confine all the accused that are brought before them. Jonathan was a scribe or secretary, and had a prison of this kind in his house.’
The prison mentioned in Jeremiah 37:16 was no more than a dungeon, a huge cistern-like excavation under the house of Jonathan. It would have had no light or ventilation.
Jeremiah seemed to survive for many days, even though prisoners in such a place would be expected to die from such treatment. But notice how weak and easily influenced Zedekiah was.
He went to Jeremiah secretly, for fear that his underlings would find him out, Jeremiah 37:17. Because he feared the opinions of his officials, he had ‘given in’ to the advice of the false prophets, even though he knew the truth.
The siege was now underway again, after the brief respite period, and Zedekiah had not believed Jeremiah’s first message. He requests the prophet’s help again and receives the same answer as before, Jeremiah 37:17.
Jeremiah then pleads his own case, just as a solicitor would do. ‘What is my offence? Jeremiah 37:18, you’ve got nothing against me. So why am I in prison? I like what Jeremiah says to the king in Jeremiah 37:19, ‘Where are your prophets who prophesied to you. The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’.
Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.
‘What a powerful argument this is! You are under siege, you are under attack, so where are these prophets who told you it wouldn’t happen? You put people who told the truth into prison, and you let liars go free.’
Having laid the foundation, Jeremiah then skilfully presents a plea for mercy, Jeremiah 37:20. Zedekiah eased up a little bit, and Jeremiah was translated to a place in the courtyard of the guard, Jeremiah 37:21, which was a much better prison.
This was probably as much for his own protection as anything else because Jeremiah felt that he would die if he were to stay where he was. And we will see when we come to the next chapter, Jeremiah 38, that he will ‘give in’ to an appeal made by a foreigner that Jeremiah’s life is taken.
He said he would not oppose them when they wanted to throw Jeremiah into a cistern to die. What a miserable life! What a miserable, weak leader this king was. Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone, Jeremiah 37:21.
Fienberg, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This is the only place in Scripture where the name of a street in Jerusalem appears. It was a Near Eastern custom to name streets after those who worked in them.’