Berean Standard Bible
Jeremiah 38:7
7Now Ebed-melech the Cushite,1 a court official2 in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,
Jeremiah 38:7 in other versions
- King James Version (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;
- New International Version (NIV)But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,
- English Standard Version (ESV)When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate—
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. When the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,
Context of Jeremiah 38:7
5“Here he is,” replied King Zedekiah. “He is in your hands, since the king can do nothing to stop you.” 6So 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, 8Ebed-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.”
Read all of Jeremiah 38Jeremiah 38:7 word by word
וַיִּשְׁמַ֡ע עֶֽבֶד־מֶ֨לֶךְ הַכּוּשִׁ֜י אִ֣ישׁ סָרִ֗יס וְהוּא֙ בְּבֵ֣ית הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ כִּֽי־נָתְנ֥וּ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ אֶל־הַבּ֑וֹר וְהַמֶּ֥לֶךְ יוֹשֵׁ֖ב בְּשַׁ֥עַר בִּנְיָמִֽן׃Read the interlinear
- Now Ebed-melechעֶ֫בֶד מֶ֫לֶךְ‛ebed melek · Ebed-melechH5663
- the Cushiteכּוּשִׁיkûshîy · EthiopianH3569
- the Cushiteאִישׁ'îysh · manH376
- a court officialסָרִיסsârîys sâris · eunuchH5631
- a court officialהוּאhû' hîy' · he/she/itH1931
- in the royalמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- in the royalכִּיkîy · forH3588
- palaceבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: palaceH1004
- heardשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- that Jeremiahיִרְמְיָ֫הוּyirmeyâh yirmeyâhû · JeremiahH3414
- had been putנָתַןnâthan · to give: putH5414
- ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
- intoאֶל'êl 'el · to(wards)H413
- the cisternבּוֹרbôr · pitH953
- was sittingיָשַׁבyâshab · to dwellH3427
- at the Gateשַׁ֫עַרsha‛ar · gateH8179
- of Benjaminבִּנְיָמִיןbinyâmîyn · Benjamin (Gate)H1144
Cross-references for Jeremiah 38:7
- Jeremiah 39:16“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.
- Jeremiah 13:23Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Neither are you able to do good— you who are accustomed to doing evil.
- Psalms 68:31Envoys will arrive from Egypt; Cush will stretch out her hands to God.
- Matthew 8:11I 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.
- Matthew 20:16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
- Luke 10:30Jesus took up this question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
- Luke 13:29People will come from east and west and north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.
- Acts 8:27So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship,
- 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.)
- Jeremiah 34:19The officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf,
- 2 Kings 24:15Nebuchadnezzar carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, as well as the king’s mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of the land. He took them into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
- Jeremiah 37:13But 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!”
- Deuteronomy 21:19his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,
- Job 29:7When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,
- Amos 5:10There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
Commentaries on Jeremiah 38:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Ebed-melech - The servant of the king one of the eunuchs who belonged to the palace. Perhaps it should be read, "Now, a servant of the king, a Cushite, one of the eunuchs," etc. The king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin - To give audience, and to administer justice. We have often seen that the gates of cities were the places of public judicature.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Ebed-melech - i. e., the king‘s slave. By “Ethiopian” or Cushite is meant the Cushite of Africa, or negro. It seems (compare 2 Kings 23:11) as if such eunuchs (or, chamberlains) took their names from the king, while the royal family and the princes generally bore names compounded with the appellations of the Deity.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-8The Ethiopian (compare Luke 17:18; Acts 28:28): Jeremiah’s rescuer was not from Judah. He was a foreigner who bravely opposed the other officials. He ran to the Benjamin Gate, where they first arrested Jeremiah (Jeremiah 37:11–13), and entered the king’s presence without ceremony.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. Ebed-melech--The Hebrew designation given this Ethiopian, meaning "king's servant." Already, even at this early time, God wished to show what good reason there was for calling the Gentiles to salvation. An Ethiopian stranger saves the prophet whom his own countrymen, the Jews, tried to destroy. So the Gentiles believed in Christ whom the Jews crucified, and Ethiopians were among the earliest converts (Ac 2:10, 41; 8:27-39). Ebed-melech probably was…Read the comment
Topics related to Jeremiah 38:7
In the dictionaries
Notes
Commentaries on Jeremiah 38
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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