6 Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king's son , which was in the court of the guardhouse ; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes . Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud , and Jeremiah sank into the mud . 7 But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian , a eunuch , while he was in the king's palace , heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern . Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin ; 8 and Ebed-melech went out from the king's palace and spoke to the king , saying , 9 "My lord the king , these men have acted wickedly in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet whom they have cast into the cistern ; and he will die right where he is because e of the famine , for there is no more bread in the city ." 10 Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian , saying , "Take thirty men from here under your authority and bring up Jeremiah the prophet from the cistern before he dies ." 11 So Ebed-melech took the men under his authority and went into the king's palace to a place beneath the storeroom and took from there worn-out clothes and worn-out rags and let them down by ropes into the cistern to Jeremiah . 12 Then Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said to Jeremiah , "Now put these worn-out clothes and rags under your armpits e under the ropes "; and Jeremiah did so . 13 So they pulled Jeremiah up with the ropes and lifted him out of the cistern , and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the guardhouse .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 38:6-13
Commentary on Jeremiah 38:1-13
(Read Jeremiah 38:1-13)
Jeremiah went on in his plain preaching. The princes went on in their malice. It is common for wicked people to look upon God's faithful ministers as enemies, because they show what enemies the wicked are to themselves while impenitent. Jeremiah was put into a dungeon. Many of God's faithful witnesses have been privately made away in prisons. Ebed-melech was an Ethiopian; yet he spoke to the king faithfully, These men have done ill in all they have done to Jeremiah. See how God can raise up friends for his people in distress. Orders were given for the prophet's release, and Ebed-melech saw him drawn up. Let this encourage us to appear boldly for God. Special notice is taken of his tenderness for Jeremiah. What do we behold in the different characters then, but the same we behold in the different characters now, that the Lord's children are conformed to his example, and the children of Satan to their master?