Yirmiyahu chapter 38. Shefatyah son of Matan, Gedalyah son of Pashchur, Yuchal son of Shelemyah, and Pashchur son of Malkiyah heard the words that Yirmiyahu was speaking to all the people, saying: So says Hashem, whoever remains in this city will die by sword, by famine, and by plague, but whoever goes out to the Kasdim will live, and his life will be his as spoil, and he will live.
Notice that there is a repetition here. Whoever goes out to the Kasdim will live, and his life will be his as spoil, and he will live. The Malbim explains that the king's guards would kill anyone who went out to the Kasdim, because this, so to speak, weakens the people's resolve and encourages the Kasdim, giving a sense of collapse and defeat. Therefore he said, whoever goes out and lives, meaning is not killed by the king's guards, then his life will be his as spoil and he will live. That is, the Kasdim will not kill him. In other words, you need to get past one hurdle, which is to get past the king's guards. If whoever goes out to the Kasdim lives, meaning you managed to get past the king's guards alive, you have nothing to worry about. You should not fear the Kasdim, they will not kill you, and through this his life will be his as spoil. But if you remain here in the city, the Kasdim will enter and burn the city and kill everyone dwelling in it. Therefore it is worthwhile to try to escape, this still offers an opening of hope.
So says Hashem: This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Bavel, and he will capture it. There would be many people who would prefer to endure famine and plague in the city in order to save the city rather than go out to the Kasdim. Therefore he tells them: Do not make the mistake of thinking that if I stay here there will be famine and plague, but we will save the city. He tells them the war is lost. You will also die of famine and plague, and the city will not be saved either. This city will surely be given into the hand of the army of the king of Bavel, and he will capture it.
The officials said to the king: Let this man be put to death, for he weakens the hands of the soldiers who remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man does not seek the welfare of this people, but their harm. The officials come to the king and tell him: Kill this prophet. He weakens the hands of the soldiers who remain in this city, he causes their hands to grow slack. And also the hands of all the people, saying, as he speaks such words to them. And they tell him: This man, when he says these things, this proves that he does not seek the welfare of this people but their harm. He has no good intention. His whole aim is to bring evil upon us. He only wants Nevuchadnetzar to conquer us, and that is why he keeps telling us surrender, surrender, because he wishes us ill.
King Tzidkiyahu said: Behold, he is in your hands, for the king can do nothing against you. Behold, he is in your hands, meaning I the king do not wish to harm him or do him evil on my own account, but he tells them I give you the possibility to do with him as you see fit.
They took Yirmiyahu and cast him into the pit of Malkiyahu the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard, and they lowered Yirmiyahu with ropes. In the pit there was no water, only mud, and Yirmiyahu sank into the mud. They take Yirmiyahu and cast him into the pit of Malkiyahu the king's son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. And there the mud that was inside the pit was quicksand, and he stands there in the mud, and slowly, slowly, he begins to sink into the mud. In the pit there was no water, only mud.
Eved Melech the Kushi, a man who was a eunuch and was in the king's house, heard that they had put Yirmiyahu into the pit, and the king was sitting at the Binyamin Gate. Eved Melech went out from the king's house and spoke to the king, saying. This was his name, his name was Eved Melech. He says to him: My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Yirmiyahu the prophet, whom they cast into the pit, and he will die there of hunger, for there is no more bread in the city. He tells him: These men did evil. Why? Because they went and harmed him by an active deed. It is unnecessary, they tell him. There is no need, Eved Melech the Kushi tells him: My lord the king, after all he will die there of hunger, for there is no more bread in the city. Leave him another day or two and what happens to him? He will die on his own and our hand will not be against him. Why should you take his killing on your conscience? In any case the bread in the city is finished, in any case there is famine, in any case he is going to die. Let him end this way and that is that. Why should you go and commit an act of murder?
The king commanded Eved Melech the Kushi, saying: Take with you thirty men from here and bring up Yirmiyahu the prophet from the pit before he dies. He tells him: Take thirty men with you and bring him up from the pit before he dies. What does this mean? The Malbim explains that the king had already removed himself from the matter, for he had told them, behold he is in your hands. And now in this situation he tells him, now I am inserting myself back into the matter and commanding to save him. So I told you do as you see fit, but now I retract. I command to go and save him.
Eved Melech took the men with him and came to the king's house, to a place beneath the treasury, and took from there worn rags and worn cloths (meaning old garments) and lowered them to Yirmiyahu into the pit with ropes. He made a special rope and with special garments that he lowered down to him. Why was this necessary? Eved Melech the Kushi said to Yirmiyahu: Put the worn rags and cloths under your armpits, beneath the ropes, and Yirmiyahu did so. They pulled Yirmiyahu up with the ropes and raised him from the pit, and Yirmiyahu remained in the courtyard of the guard. That is, if they had tied Yirmiyahu with a rope and pulled, it would have hurt him greatly. And especially since he was stuck in the mud, thirty men were needed to pull him. It is not one person pulling him. He is stuck in the mud, it is like a vehicle that needs to be extracted when it is sunk, that is a problem. Therefore what did they tell him? You put these garments on yourself for padding, the worn rags, and tie the rope around that so that you will not be cut by the rope.
Chazal say that Yirmiyahu began to say: Master of the Universe, is this what I deserve? Master of the Universe, why is this being done to me, that I am being lifted up like some sheep with a rope? The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Yirmiyahu, did not your grandmother do the same? Who is his grandmother? Rachav. How did Rachav lower the two righteous men? Pinchas and who? Kalev. By a rope through the window. Ah, there is an accounting, my Master. This is not grandmother's tales. Your grandmother lowered by a rope, so do not complain, you too will go down by a rope. We see that with the Holy One, blessed be He, everything comes into account.
And then they return him to the courtyard of the guard. King Tzidkiyahu sent and took Yirmiyahu the prophet to him, to the third entrance that was in the House of Hashem, and the king said to Yirmiyahu: I am asking you something, do not hide it from me. That is, I want to ask you one thing that includes within it several things, and I want you to tell me all that you know. Do not hide it from me, do not hide anything from me.
Yirmiyahu said to Tzidkiyahu: If I tell you, will you not surely put me to death? And if I give you counsel, you will not listen to me. Yirmiyahu argues with him and says: I want to tell you something of what is going to happen. Of the evil that is still hidden and lies in store in the future. So he tells him: If I tell you the evil thing that is going to happen, you will kill me. And if I give you counsel, meaning I give you advice how to be saved, then you in any case will not listen to me. So what will it help? In short, it is pointless. It is pointless, for what purpose should I tell you a prophecy? You will neither accept the prophecy nor accept the advice how to escape the evil.
King Tzidkiyahu swore to Yirmiyahu in secret, saying: As Hashem lives, who made for us this soul, I will not put you to death, nor will I give you into the hand of these men who seek your life. He tells him: I swear to you regarding both matters. First, that I will not put you to death myself. You might say, fine, you will not put me to death yourself, but you will hand me over to men who will put me to death. He tells him no, and also into the hand of these men who seek your life, I will not hand you over to them either. In truth he is very afraid to tell him the prophecy, because this prophecy could cause harm to come to him.
Yirmiyahu said to Tzidkiyahu: So says Hashem, the God of Hosts, the God of Yisrael: If you indeed go out to the officials of the king of Bavel, then your soul will live, and this city will not be burned with fire, and you and your household will live. He tells him: If you go out to the king of Bavel, what does this mean? Surrender. Surrender before the king of Bavel, Hashem crowned him. Surrender, and through this, first of all, you will not be rebelling against Hashem. So he tells him one thing: your soul will live. Your soul will live, both here and in the future to come they will not hold you accountable, you did the will of Hashem. Second, he tells him this city will not be burned with fire, you will save the city. Third, and you and your household will live, the king of Bavel will not kill you. That is, in every respect what I am now telling you as a prophecy in the name of Hashem is the best possible thing that can help you and save you.
And if you do not go out to the officials of the king of Bavel, what would you say? Perhaps even then I will live, perhaps even then nothing will happen. No, no, no. If you do not go out to the officials of the king of Bavel, this city will be given into the hand of the Kasdim, and they will burn it with fire, and you will not escape from their hand. And this is what I actually want to tell you in the name of Hashem. Notice this is essentially a repetition of the same idea he told him earlier, only here he promises him that if you truly surrender, there will be salvation in this for you and for the people. This is essentially a good prophecy.
King Tzidkiyahu said to Yirmiyahu: I am afraid of the Yehudim who defected to the Kasdim, lest they give me into their hand and they abuse me. He tells him: Look, in Yerushalayim there were two factions. It was divided into right and left. There was one group that wanted to fight against the Kasdim, and there was a second group that said let us make peace with them. And these two groups were likewise divided, as those who know from the days of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. In the days of Rabban Yochanan, when Rabban Yochanan went up to the emperor and there were the Sicarii there, there were the zealots who did not agree that he should go and make peace with the emperor and so on. He tells him: There is one group, those who defected to the Kasdim, and these people already went and made peace with the king of Bavel, and they are, as it were, among the king of Bavel's men. Now the moment I come to the king of Bavel and tell him I too am ready to make peace, the king of Bavel will hand me over to the Yehudim who already made peace with him. And these Yehudim hate me, and they will abuse me, disgrace me, humiliate me, torment me. I am very afraid to go and fall into his hand, because then the king of Bavel will want to give them a reward: here is your leader, take him and do with him as you see fit. This is the one who insisted until now on not coming to make peace, on not accepting my authority, this is the one who tried to rebel against me, take him and do with him as you see fit.
But the prophet told you that you would live, and your soul will live. He tells him: Yes, you promised me that I would live, you did not promise me that they would not torment me. You did not promise me that they would not afflict me.
Yirmiyahu said: They will not give you over. Listen now to the voice of Hashem in what I am speaking to you, and it will go well with you and your soul will live. He tells him: You have nothing to worry about, they will not give you over. Know that I promise you that in this situation they will also not afflict you and will not torment you. Listen to the voice of Hashem in what I am speaking to you, meaning from what I promise you, know that besides the life that you will receive, whereas here you are going to die, I have an additional prophecy that contains a promise and not, Heaven forbid, an evil thing. And if you refuse to go out, this is the thing that Hashem has shown me. I have yet another prophecy, from which speech you will understand that if you go out it will go well with you, for you will emerge innocent if you go out yourself.
And behold, all the women who remained in the house of the king of Yehudah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Bavel, and behold they will say: Your friends have incited you and prevailed over you, your feet have sunk in the mud, they have turned back. They will ask the women who are brought out of the house of the king of Yehudah, those who will be brought out to the officials of the king of Bavel, for what reason did Tzidkiyahu rebel? The men of Bavel, the king of Bavel, will ask them, why on earth did Tzidkiyahu decide to rebel against me? And they will defend you, they will say that you are not at fault. For they will say that your friends are the ones who enticed you, those around you, the inner circle, all the various advisers, they are the ones who enticed you and told you that you have no reason to listen to Nevuchadnetzar. Your feet have sunk in the mud, that is, they will defend you by saying that you truly had no independent power, you were subject to the hands of others.
And all your wives and your sons they are bringing out to the Kasdim, and you will not escape from their hand, for you will be seized by the hand of the king of Bavel, and you will burn this city with fire. He says all your wives and your sons, they will all be brought out to the Kasdim. Why? To carry out judgments against them, because it turned out that they were the close ones, the women, the officials, all those close ones incited you. And therefore we will see that they killed Tzidkiyahu's sons before his eyes. Why? Because they will say Tzidkiyahu is not at fault, we incited him. But he tells him: Know that in the end you too will not escape, because your eyes will be gouged out. It is written that they blinded Tzidkiyahu's eyes. He tells him: Why? Because you did not see the truth, you walked in darkness after your wives, after your advisers, after your sons. And you will burn this city with fire. Who will burn it? He is speaking with Tzidkiyahu, seemingly implying that Tzidkiyahu will. Why would Tzidkiyahu burn it with fire? The Malbim explains that Scripture reckons it against you as if you burned it. The moment you continue to insist on not going out to the Kasdim, saying I will remain here come what may, you, as it were, cause the burning of the city with fire.
Tzidkiyahu said to Yirmiyahu: Let no man know of these words, and you will not die. There is no problem, I accept what you tell me, but I ask of you, do not publicize what you told me. These are intelligence assessments that will remain confidential just between us, that no one on the outside will know.
And if the officials hear that I have spoken with you, and they come to you and say to you: Tell us now what you spoke to the king, do not hide it from us and we will not put you to death, and what did the king speak to you. That is, Tzidkiyahu knows that Yirmiyahu will not utter a falsehood from his mouth. And they will ask him the two questions, what did you speak to the king and what did the king speak to you. And then he tells Yirmiyahu, you tell them like this, how you will extricate yourself from them. And you shall say to them: I am presenting my plea before the king, that he not return me to the house of Yehonatan to die there. You will tell them: I present my plea, meaning I pleaded with the king. See, he is already building him a cover story. He already tells him what he should tell the officials. This shows that Tzidkiyahu was not so strong a king, because on some level he feared the officials. He tells him: You will come and tell them that I pleaded with the king not to return me to the house of Yehonatan. And this is essentially an answer to the question, what did you speak to the king? I pleaded with him. And then he tells him: With this you are essentially giving them an answer. Why? Let us think for a moment, is this really true? Yirmiyahu did not plead with the king. Rather what? They will ask you: What did you speak to the king and what did the king speak to you? When you tell them I am presenting my plea before the king that he not return me to the house of Yehonatan, that will be an answer to what the king spoke to me, because he is now saying this sentence. But not an answer to what I spoke to the king. Only they will think that you are answering them the question of what you spoke to the king. In short, you will mislead them. You will tell them I present my plea and so on, they will think that this is what you spoke with the king, but they will not understand that in fact this is not what you spoke with him, rather this is what the king spoke with you. And with this it will not be a falsehood.
All the officials came to Yirmiyahu and asked him, and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded, and they were silent toward him, for the matter was not heard. They asked him the two questions, what did you tell the king and what did the king tell you. And he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded him. And as we said, there is no falsehood in this, because they think that this is what he spoke to the king, when in fact this is what the king spoke to him. And they were silent, meaning they did not understand his answer, the matter was not heard, they did not understand his intent. He succeeded in misleading them, and therefore they were silent.
And Yirmiyahu remained in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Yerushalayim was captured, and so it was when Yerushalayim was captured. Yirmiyahu sits in the courtyard of the guard until the day that Yerushalayim was captured. And so it was when Yerushalayim was captured, the meaning of this is an introduction to the next chapter. For in the next chapter, in verse 3, there we see that Yerushalayim is captured, and all the officials of Bavel came and so on. And this is a continuation, the ending of our chapter is a continuation of verse 3. And verses 1 and 2 of the next chapter are essentially a kind of parenthetical statement written in the middle.