37:1–5 The introduction of Zedekiah as Nebuchadnezzar’s puppet king (v. 1) hints at the theme of double-mindedness that will pervade chapters 37–38. Even though Zedekiah and the rest of the people reject Yahweh’s prediction of judgment through Jeremiah (v. 2), this posture evidently does not preclude him from asking Jeremiah to intercede and seek Yahweh’s will on his behalf (v. 3). The fact that Jeremiah is not yet imprisoned (v. 4) suggests that this episode dates from early in Babylon’s final siege of Jerusalem (cf. 32:3; 33:1). Sometime prior to rebelling against Babylon around 589 BC (52:3), Zedekiah had sought to strengthen his position through an alliance with Egypt. Help from Egypt now appears to be on the way, and the yoke of Babylon around Jerusalem appears to loosen (37:5). Could the now-deceased prophet Hananiah and his prophecy of deliverance have been right after all (cf. ch. 28)? Zedekiah is eager to know what might come next.

37:6–10 Jeremiah sends a dire message back to King Zedekiah with the messengers he had sent (vv. 6–7). Pharaoh Hophra will be no savior for Judah; he and the armies of Egypt will go back the way they came (v. 7; cf. 44:30), while the armies of Babylon will soon return to Jerusalem and ransack the city with fire (37:8). Zedekiah and his people must not delude themselves with the faulty theological reasoning “The Chaldeans will surely go away from us” (v. 9), as if Jerusalem’s deliverance from the armies of Assyria in 701 BC were guaranteed to repeat itself 120 years later.

The reason for this is that impious Zedekiah is nothing like his prayerful ancestor Hezekiah. Since false prophets have persuaded Zedekiah with the claim that Yahweh must, and not merely can, save his people from Babylon, the God of Israel has determined to use Babylon as his instrument of judgment against Judah. The question of Babylon’s power relative to Yahweh’s is therefore not the issue. Even in the hypothetical case of Babylon’s somehow being defeated before Judah, a weak remnant of the Chaldean army would still be sufficient to sack Jerusalem (v. 10). Indeed, the enemy of Judah at this moment is ultimately not Babylon but Yahweh himself, who has vowed, “I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath” (21:5)—the God of the exodus has resolved to deploy his “outstretched hand” and “strong arm” for the exile of his people instead.

37:11–15 The fate of a doomed nation finds its parallel in the life of Jeremiah. The prophet takes advantage of a respite from Babylon’s siege (v. 11) to claim a property that belongs to him in Benjamin (v. 12; cf. 32:8), just north of Jerusalem. But as Jeremiah leaves the city through the gate that leads to Benjamin, a sentry named Irijah detains him and claims he is planning to desert to the Chaldeans (37:13). Jeremiah’s pleas to the contrary fall on deaf ears (v. 14), since the officials have likely been scheming to entrap this prophet for sedition. He has managed to escape until now despite decades of speaking Yahweh’s words against the royal and priestly establishment in Jerusalem (e.g., chs. 7; 21–29). The narrator’s note that the house of Jonathan the scribe has been converted into a prison in which Jeremiah is detained after being assaulted (37:15) indicates that a mood of paranoia rather than penitence characterizes the last days of Jerusalem.

37:16–21 Sometime later King Zedekiah has a change of heart and seeks another prophetic word from Jeremiah (v. 16). The prophet replies that Yahweh has decreed that Zedekiah will be given over to Babylon (v. 17), just as he has said on previous occasions (e.g., 21:3–4; 24:8; 27:12–17). Yet this time a frustrated and broken Jeremiah adds a personal grievance to his oracle by challenging the king to compare Jeremiah’s motives with those of the false prophets. He is merely speaking the truth and has never sought to harm the king (37:18), in contrast to those who promised deliverance from Babylon but are nowhere to be found (v. 19). Above all, Jeremiah pleads with Zedekiah not to return him to the prison in Jonathan’s house, for this violent place would likely be the end of him (v. 20; cf. v. 15).

Thus conscience-stricken, Zedekiah directs his servants to move Jeremiah to the court of the guard, where he will receive his daily portion of food (v. 21). House arrest will be the setting of several other passages in the book (e.g., chs. 32–34) as well as the place whence Jeremiah witnesses the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC (cf. chs. 39; 52). The improvement in Jeremiah’s living conditions does not mean, however, that Zedekiah is now favorably disposed toward him. Other narratives from Jeremiah’s final detainment show how the weak-willed king of Judah alternates between lashing out at Jeremiah (32:3), feigning Sabbath obedience to Yahweh before reversing course (ch. 34), and handing Jeremiah over to death (38:5) before again changing his mind (38:10–11). These final confrontations of a righteous sufferer towering over an indecisive king in Jerusalem call to mind the sham trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate (Matt. 27:17–26; Mark 15:1–15). The guilt of ignoring God’s truth rests on both these rulers, one Israelite and one foreign, despite their best attempts to wash their hands.