Jeremiah 39:11

Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(11) Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon. . . .—It is clear that Nebuchadrezzar had been well informed of the part which Jeremiah had taken from first to last in counselling submission. This he may have heard from the deserters named in Jeremiah 39:9, or even from the lips of Zedekiah. Possibly the journey to Euphrates, of which we read in Jeremiah 13:5, may, at even an earlier period, have brought the king and the prophet into contact. From the time of Nebuzar-adan’s arrival, the position of Jeremiah was obviously changed for the better, and he became an honoured and trusted counsellor. It appears from Jeremiah 40:1 that the prophet had at first been taken in chains to Ramah, with the other captives. Probably he had been sent back to Jerusalem when the others were carried off to Riblah, or Babylon (Jeremiah 39:6-9).

Benson Commentary

Jeremiah 39:11-12. Now Nebuchadrezzar gave charge concerning Jeremiah — He had undoubtedly been informed of the advice which Jeremiah had given, both to the king and people, to submit themselves to his authority: which advice, if it had been taken, would have prevented the charge and labour of so long a siege, and the bloodshed that attended it. Saying, Take him and look well to him — Through this order of the king of Babylon, God fulfilled his promise made Jeremiah 15:11, I will cause the enemy to treat thee well in the day of evil. Jeremiah had been faithful to his God as a prophet, and now God approves himself faithful to him, and the promise he had made him. Now he is comforted, according to the time wherein he had been afflicted, and sees many fall on each hand while he is safe. The false prophets fell by those judgments which they affirmed would never come, (Jeremiah 14:15,) which made their misery the more terrible to them. The true prophet escaped those judgments which he said would come, and that made his escape the more comfortable to him. The same persons who were the instruments of punishing the persecutors, were the instruments of relieving the persecuted; and Jeremiah did not the less prize his deliverance, because it came by the hand of the king of Babylon, but saw thereby more of the hand of God in it.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

39:11-14 The servants of God alone are prepared for all events; and they are delivered and comforted, while the wicked suffer. They often meet with more kindness from the profane, than from hypocritical professors of godliness. The Lord will raise them up friends, do them good, and perform all his promises.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Compare the marginal reference. The differences between the two accounts are slight.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. Jeremiah's prophecies were known to Nebuchadnezzar through deserters (Jer 39:9; Jer 38:19), also through the Jews carried to Babylon with Jeconiah (compare Jer 40:2). Hence the king's kindness to him.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard,.... Of whom he had heard, by one or another of his generals or officers; who had been informed, by those Jews that deserted to them, that Jeremiah had prophesied of the taking of the city by the Chaldeans; had advised the people to fall off to them; and had even exhorted the king and princes to surrender up the city, and themselves, unto them; and that he had suffered much on this account; wherefore the Lord put it into the heart of this monarch, otherwise not at all disposed to the prophets of the Lord, to show regard to him; and therefore, when he sent Nebuzaradan upon an expedition to Jerusalem, he gave him a particular charge concerning Jeremiah:

saying; as follows:

Geneva Study Bible

Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge concerning Jeremiah to Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, saying,

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

11–14. See introd. summary to the section.

Jeremiah 39:11

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Nebuchadnezzar gave orders regarding Jeremiah, through Nebuzaradan, the chief of the body-guards: "Take him, and set thine eyes upon him, and do him no harm; but, just as he telleth thee, so do with him." In obedience to this command, "Nebuzaradan, the chief of the body-guards, sent-and Nebushasban the head chamberlain, and Nergal-sharezer the chief magician, and all (the other) chief men of the king of Babylon-they sent and took Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and delivered him over to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, to take him out to the house. Thus he dwelt among the people." - On the names of the Chaldean grandees, see on Jeremiah 39:3. Instead of the chief chamberlain (רב־סריס) Sarsechim, there is here named, as occupying this office, Nebushasban, who, it seems, along with Nebuzaradan, was not sent from Riblah till after the taking of Jerusalem, when Sarsechim was relieved.

We cannot come to any certain conclusion regarding the relation in which the two persons or names stand to one another, since Nebushasban is only mentioned in Jeremiah 39:13, just as Sarsechim is mentioned only in Jeremiah 39:3. Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the man who had already on a former occasion given protection to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 26:24), was, according to Jeremiah 40:5, placed by the king of Babylon over the cities of Judah, i.e., was nominated the Chaldean governor over Judah and the Jews who were left in the land. To him, as such, Jeremiah is here (Jeremiah 39:14) delivered, that he may take him into the house. בּית is neither the temple (Hitzig) nor the palace, the king's house (Graf), but the house in which Gedaliah resided as the governor; and we find here הבּית, not בּביתו, since the house was neither the property nor the permanent dwelling-place of Gedaliah. - According to this account, Jeremiah seems to have remained in the court of the prison till Nebuchadnezzar came, to have been liberated by Nebuzaradan only at the command of the king, and to have been sent to Gedaliah the governor. But this is contradicted by the account in Jeremiah 40:1., according to which, Nebuzaradan liberated the prophet in Ramah, where he had been kept, confined by manacles, among the captives of Judah that were to be carried to Babylon: Nebuzaradan sent for him, and gave him his liberty. This contradiction has arisen simply from the intense brevity with which, in this verse, the fate of Jeremiah at the capture and destruction of Jerusalem is recorded; it is easy to settle the difference in this way: - When the city was taken, those inhabitants, especially males, who had not carried arms, were seized by the Chaldeans and carried out of the city to Ramah, where they were held prisoners till the decision of the king regarding their fate should be made known. Jeremiah shared this lot with his fellow-countrymen. When, after this, Nebuzaradan came to Jerusalem to execute the king's commands regarding the city and its inhabitants, at the special order of his monarch, he sent for Jeremiah the prophet, taking him out from among the crowd of prisoners who had been already carried away to Ramah, loosed him from his fetters, and gave him permission to choose his place of residence. This liberation of Jeremiah from his confinement might, in a summary account, be called a sending for him out of the court of the prison, even though the prophet, at the exact moment of his liberation, was no longer in the court of the prison of the palace at Jerusalem, but had been already carried away to Ramah as a captive.