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Jeremías 38

VBL · Chapter 38/52

1Sefatías hijo de Matán, Gedalías hijo de Pasur, Jucal hijo de Selemías, y Pasur hijo de Malquías oyeron lo que Jeremías decía a todos:

2Esto es lo que dice el Señor: El que se quede en esta ciudad morirá de guerra, de hambre y de enfermedad, pero el que se pase a los babilonios vivirá. Su recompensa será salvar su vida.

3Esto es lo que dice el Señor: Estén seguros de esto: Jerusalén será entregada al ejército del rey de Babilonia. Él va a capturarla.

4Los oficiales le dijeron al rey: “Este hombre merece morir porque está desmoralizando a los defensores que quedan en la ciudad, y también a todo el pueblo, al decirles esto. Este hombre no trata de ayudar a esta gente, sólo va a destruirla”.

5“Bueno, puedes hacer lo que quieras con él”, respondió el rey Sedequías. “No puedo detenerte”.

6Así que tomaron a Jeremías y lo pusieron en la cisterna que pertenecía a Malquías, el hijo del rey, que estaba en el patio de la guardia. Bajaron a Jeremías con cuerdas a la cisterna. No tenía agua, sólo barro, y Jeremías se hundió en el barro.

7Ebed-melec el cusita, un funcionario real del palacio del rey, descubrió que habían metido a Jeremías en la cisterna. El rey estaba sentado en la puerta de Benjamín,

8Entonces Ebed-melec salió del palacio y fue a hablar con el rey

9“Mi señor el rey, todas estas cosas terribles que estos hombres le han hecho al profeta Jeremías son malas. Lo han metido en la cisterna, y allí morirá de hambre porque ya no queda pan en la ciudad”.

10Entonces el rey dio la orden a Ebed-melec el cusita: “Toma treinta hombres contigo y ve a sacar al profeta Jeremías de la cisterna antes de que muera”.

11Ebed-melec tomó a los hombres y se dirigió al almacén bajo el palacio. Tomó de allí algunos trapos y ropas viejas y se dirigió a la cisterna donde los bajó con cuerdas a Jeremías.

12Ebed-melec, el cusita, llamó a Jeremías: “Ponte estos trapos y ropas viejas bajo los brazos para protegerte de las cuerdas”. Jeremías así lo hizo,

13y con las cuerdas lo levantaron y lo sacaron de la cisterna. Jeremías se quedó allí en el patio de la guardia.

14Entonces el rey Sedequías mandó llamar al profeta Jeremías y se reunió con él en la tercera entrada del Templo. “Necesito pedirte algo”, le dijo el rey a Jeremías. “No debes ocultarme nada”.

15“Si te lo digo, seguro que haces que me maten”, respondió Jeremías. “Aunque te diera un consejo, de todos modos no me escucharías”.

16El rey Sedequías le prometió solemnemente a Jeremías en privado: “Vive el Señor, que nos dio esta vida, que no te haré matar, ni te entregaré a los que quieren matarte”.

17Entonces Jeremías le dijo a Sedequías: “Esto es lo que dice el Señor Dios Todopoderoso, el Dios de Israel: ‘Si te entregas a los oficiales del rey de Babilonia, entonces vivirás. Jerusalén no será incendiada, y tú y tu familia sobrevivirán.

18Pero si no te entregas a los oficiales del rey de Babilonia, esta ciudad será entregada a los babilonios. Ellos la incendiarán, y tú mismo no escaparás de ser capturado’”.

19Pero el rey Sedequías le dijo a Jeremías: “Tengo miedo de la gente de Judá que se ha pasado a los babilonios, porque los babilonios podrían entregarme a ellos para que abusen de mí”.

20“No te entregarán”, respondió Jeremías. “Si obedeces lo que dice el Señor haciendo lo que te digo, las cosas te irán bien y vivirás.

21Pero si te niegas a entregarte, esto es lo que me ha dicho el Señor:

22Todas las mujeres que queden en el palacio del rey de Judá serán sacadas y entregadas a los funcionarios del rey de Babilonia Esas mujeres dirán: ‘¡Esos buenos amigos tuyos! Te han acogido y te han conquistado. Tus pies se atascaron en el medio, por lo que te abandonaron’.

23Todas tus esposas e hijos serán entregados a los caldeos. Y tú mismo no escaparás, pues serás capturado por el rey de Babilonia, y Jerusalén será incendiada”.

24Sedequías advirtió a Jeremías: “Nadie puede enterarse de esta conversación, pues de lo contrario morirás.

25Si los oficiales se enteran de que he hablado contigo, y vienen a preguntarte: ‘¡Dinos de qué hablaron tú y el rey! No nos ocultes nada, o te mataremos;’

26entonces les dirás: ‘Le estaba pidiendo al rey que me concediera mi petición de no devolverme a la casa de Jonatán para morir allí’”.

27Cuando todos los oficiales vinieron a Jeremías queriendo saber, él les repitió exactamente lo que el rey le había dicho que dijera. Entonces no le preguntaron nada más, porque nadie había oído lo que se había dicho.

28Jeremías permaneció allí, en el patio de la guardia, hasta el día en que Jerusalén fue capturada.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Hostile princes throw Jeremiah into a muddy cistern to die, but the Ethiopian Ebed-melech intervenes and rescues him with King Zedekiah's permission.

Explanation

This episode reveals the extreme hostility Jeremiah faced for continuing to advise surrender to the Babylonians, something his opponents regarded as demoralizing the troops in wartime. The courageous action of Ebed-melech, a foreign Ethiopian and eunuch of the court, is remarkable: he risks his position to save the life of an unpopular prophet, standing in stark contrast to the passivity and cowardice of King Zedekiah, who held formal power but lacked the courage to act against his own princes. Even so, the king keeps seeking Jeremiah's counsel in secret, revealing an inner conflict between recognizing the truth and fearing the social consequences of following it.

Fun facts

  • Ebed-melech is remembered favorably again in chapter 39, where he receives a special promise of God's protection for his faith and courage — a rare case of detailed individual recognition in the book.
  • Dry cisterns used as prisons were a real practice of the time; structures carved into rock to store water, when empty, easily served as improvised dungeons.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Jeremías 38:1Introduces four court officials -- Shephatiah, Gedaliah, Jucal, and Pashur -- who heard Jeremiah repeating the message of surrender to the people and decided to act against him.
  2. Jeremías 38:2Sums up the message that troubled them so much: whoever stayed in the city would die by sword, famine, or plague, but whoever surrendered to the Chaldeans would come out alive -- advice to surrender that sounded like defeatism.
  3. Jeremías 38:3Restates without compromise that the city would certainly fall into the hands of the Babylonian army -- the same prophecy repeated since the earlier chapters.
  4. Jeremías 38:4The officials ask the king for Jeremiah’s death, accusing him of weakening the morale of the soldiers and the people with this message -- treating an uncomfortable truth as an act of sabotage in wartime.
  5. Jeremías 38:5Zedekiah gives in to the pressure without resistance, saying he has no power to stop the officials -- the portrait of a weak king controlled by his own court.
  6. Jeremías 38:6The dungeon was an empty cistern used as a prison, with no water but plenty of mud at the bottom, where Jeremiah sinks in. It is a way of executing someone slowly without staining anyone’s hands with blood: letting a person die of hunger and cold at the bottom of a pit.
  7. Jeremías 38:7Ebedmelech, an Ethiopian official, probably a foreign eunuch at court with no political power of his own, is the one who risks his own position to save Jeremiah. A foreigner with no status acts with more courage than the officials of Judah.
  8. Jeremías 38:8Ebedmelech, the foreign official who learned of Jeremiah’s situation in the cistern, rushes out of the palace to intervene directly with the king.
  9. Jeremías 38:9Ebedmelech confronts the king with courage, calling the officials’ action wicked: letting Jeremiah die of hunger in a muddy cistern, in a city that already had no more bread for anyone.
  10. Jeremías 38:10Zedekiah authorizes the rescue, sending Ebedmelech with thirty men to pull Jeremiah out of the cistern before he dies -- a quick response to a direct appeal.
  11. Jeremías 38:11Ebedmelech gathers old rags from the palace storeroom before lowering the ropes -- a practical precaution meant to keep Jeremiah from getting hurt during the rescue.
  12. Jeremías 38:12He instructs Jeremiah to put the rags under his arms so the ropes would not cut into his skin while being pulled up -- a gesture of care that shows attention to detail, not just good will.
  13. Jeremías 38:13The rescue works: Jeremiah is pulled out of the cistern and returns to the court of the guard, a milder confinement than the muddy pit he had been in.
  14. Jeremías 38:14Zedekiah sends for Jeremiah again, this time at a specific entrance to the temple, asking for complete honesty -- a request for sincere counsel from a king still torn between his court and the truth.
  15. Jeremías 38:15Jeremiah hesitates to answer, knowing that telling the king the truth could cost his own life, since Zedekiah could not protect him from his own officials.
  16. Jeremías 38:16Zedekiah swears in secret that he will not kill Jeremiah or hand him over to those who wanted him dead -- a personal guarantee, but hidden from the very court he did not control.
  17. Jeremías 38:17Jeremiah’s final offer: if Zedekiah surrenders voluntarily to the Babylonians, his life and the city would be spared -- surrender is still presented as salvation, not cowardice.
  18. Jeremías 38:18The alternative is harsh: refusing to surrender means the city will fall, be burned, and the king himself will not escape the hands of the Chaldeans in any way.
  19. Jeremías 38:19Zedekiah reveals the real fear behind his indecision: it is not Babylon, but being handed over and mocked by the Jews who had already deserted to the Babylonian side.
  20. Jeremías 38:20Jeremiah tries to reassure him: that specific fear will not come true if he simply obeys the instruction to surrender.
  21. Jeremías 38:21Before detailing the alternative, Jeremiah warns that he is about to reveal what God showed him about a refusal -- preparing the king for a harsh vision of what comes next.
  22. Jeremías 38:22The vision: the women of the royal harem would be brought out to the Babylonian officials and would sing a mocking verse, blaming the king’s own trusted advisers for leading him to ruin.
  23. Jeremías 38:23Sums up the final outcome if Zedekiah does not surrender: wives and children taken to the Chaldeans, the king himself captured, and the city burned -- everything surrender could have prevented.
  24. Jeremías 38:24Zedekiah asks for secrecy about this conversation, fearing how the officials would react if they knew what was really said -- more concerned with protecting himself from his own court than with acting on the warning.
  25. Jeremías 38:25Anticipates that the officials will question Jeremiah about the content of the conversation, pressing him for details.
  26. Jeremías 38:26Teaches Jeremiah a safe, partial answer to give the officials: to say only that he asked not to be sent back to the prison in Jonathan’s house, hiding the real content of the conversation about surrender.
  27. Jeremías 38:27The officials do question Jeremiah, and he answers exactly with the agreed-upon version -- a strategic deception that avoids revealing the true counsel given to the king.
  28. Jeremías 38:28Jeremiah remains in the court of the guard, a relatively mild confinement, until the day Jerusalem finally falls -- closing the chapter on the threshold of the final disaster.

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