Jeremiah 38:7

5 “Here he is,” replied King Zedekiah. “He is in your hands, since the king can do nothing to stop you.”

6 So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.

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,

8 Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and said to the king,

9 “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.”

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
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,
KJV
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;
WEB
Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king was then sitting in Benjamin’s gate),
ASV
Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king`s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin,)
DARBY
And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon now the king was sitting in the gate of Benjamin,
BLB
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—
ÅB
Men etioperen Ebed-Melek, en gilding som tjente i kongens hus, hørte at de hadde kastet Jeremias i brønnen - kongen satt da i Benjamin-porten.
OTB
Men Ebed-Melek, en kusjitt, en tjenestemann i det kongelige palasset, hørte at de hadde satt Jeremias i brønnen. Nå satt kongen ved Benjamin-porten;
B1930
Men etioperen Ebed-Melek, en gilding som tjente i kongens hus, hørte at de hadde kastet Jeremias i brønnen - kongen satt da i Benjamin-porten.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Amos 5:10

    There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.

    Read in context
  • 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,

    Read in context
  • 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!”

    Read in context
  • 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.)

    Read in context
  • Matthew 20:16

    So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

    Read in context
  • 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.

    Read in context
  • 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.

    Read in context
  • 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.

    Read in context