Jeremiah 38:27

Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

38:14-28 Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

So - And. In addition to the ridicule there shall be the miseries of the capture.

Thou shalt cause this city to be burned - literally, as margin. It shall be thy own act as completely as if done with thine own hand.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

26. presented—literally, "made my supplication to fall"; implying supplication with humble prostration (see on [954]Jer 36:7).

Jonathan's house—(Jer 37:15), different from Malchiah's dungeon (Jer 38:6). This statement was true, though not the whole truth; the princes had no right to the information; no sanction is given by Scripture here to Jeremiah's representation of this being the cause of his having come to the king. Fear drove him to it. Compare Ge 20:2, 12; on the other hand, 1Sa 16:2, 5.

left off speaking with—Hebrew, "were silent from him," that is, withdrawing from him they left him quiet (1Sa 7:8, Margin).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

As the king suspected, so it came to pass; the king’s private discourse with the prophet took wind, and all the princes then at court came and inquired of Jeremiah what was the substance of his discourse. Jeremiah answered them according as the king had directed. A man is not bound in all cases to speak the whole truth, much less to those who have nothing to do to inquire of us, which these princes had not. By this means the princes never knew the matter of this discourse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Then came all the princes to Jeremiah, and asked him,.... After he had parted with the king, and was come back to the court of the prison; as soon as the princes had been informed of the interview between the king and the prophet, which soon came to their ears, they came in a body to him, to the court of the prison, where he was, and asked him of what passed between him and the king:

and he told them according to all those words that the king had commanded; what he told them, no doubt, was truth; though he did not tell them all the truth; which he was not obliged to do, having no command from God, and being forbid by the king:

so they left off speaking with him; or, "were silent from him" (e); went away silent, not being able to disprove what he had said, or object unto it, and finding they could get nothing more out of him:

for the matter was not perceived; or, "was not heard" (f); though there were persons that saw the king and the prophet together, yet nobody heard anything that passed between them; and therefore Jeremiah could not be confronted in what he had said, or be charged with concealing anything.

(e) "et tacuerunt ab eo", Pagninus, Montanus; "siluerunt", Calvin. (f) "quia non auditum est verbum", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt.

Geneva Study Bible

Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and asked him: and he told them according to all these words that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking with him; for the matter was not perceived.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

27. perceived] mg. reported, i.e. the princes were given no further particulars as to the conversation.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 27. - He told them according to all these words. A controversy has arisen as to whether Jeremiah was justified in concealing the truth. But is a man bound to confess the truth to a murderer? Jeremiah 38:27

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

What the king had supposed actually occurred, and Jeremiah gave the princes, who asked about the conversation, the reply that the king had prepared for him. יחרשׁוּ ממּנּוּ .mih rof deraperp, they went away in silence from him, and left him in peace; cf. 1 Samuel 7:8. כּי לא נשׁמע , for the matter, the real subject of the conversation did not become known. So Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison till the day of the capture of Jerusalem. - The last sentence of Jeremiah 38:28 belongs to the following chapter, and forms the introductory sentence of the passage whose conclusion follows in Jeremiah 39:3.