Jeremiah 38:22

Jer 38:22 And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah’s house [shall be] brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those [women] shall say, Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: thy feet are sunk in the mire, [and] they are turned away back.

Ver. 22. And, behold, all the women that are left.] These shall mock thee and make songs of thee, exagitantes regem socordissimum, for a simple and sorry man, who hath undone them altogether with himself, by listening to flatterers and false prophets.

Thy feet are sunk in the mire.] In the mire of misery, where the prophet’s unworthy usage in the miry dungeon is hinted, and the king twitted with it, as some hold. Some again think that Zedekiah in his flight did run into some quagmire, where he was taken.

And they are turned away backward.] Thy flatterers have now left thee in the lurch.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When Jeconiah and his mother, with others, were carried away, these women of the king’s house were left: which shall be taken, saith the Prophet, and tell the king of Babel how Zedekiah hath been seduced by his familiar friends and false prophets, which have left him in the mire.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

women--The very evil which Zedekiah wished to escape by disobeying the command to go forth shall befall him in its worst form thereby. Not merely the Jewish deserters shall "mock" him (Jer 38:19), but the very "women" of his own palace and harem, to gratify their new lords, will taunt him. A noble king in sooth, to suffer thyself to be so imposed on!

Thy friends--Hebrew, "men of thy peace" (see Jer 20:10; Psa 41:9, Margin). The king's ministers and the false prophets who misled him.

sunk in . . . mire--proverbial for, Thou art involved by "thy friends'" counsels in inextricable difficulties. The phrase perhaps alludes to Jer 38:6; a just retribution for the treatment of Jeremiah, who literally "sank in the mire."

they are turned . . . back--Having involved thee in the calamity, they themselves shall provide for their own safety by deserting to the Chaldeans (Jer 38:19).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 22. All the women - brought forth] I think this place speaks of a kind of defection among the women of the harem; many of whom had already gone forth privately to the principal officers of the Chaldean army, and made the report mentioned in the end of this verse. These were the concubines or women of the second rank.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Behold, the women who as yet remain in the palace of the king, shall go forth to the princes of the king of Babylon, that is, having left the city they will betray thee to thine enemies; and they shall say, The men of thy peace have deceived thee, or persuaded thee, and have prevailed; thus fixed in the mire are thy feet, and they have turned backward There is here a part stated for the whole, for under one thing is included the whole calamity of the city. We indeed know that the female sex do not stand in the ranks to fight, and that when a city is taken, women are commonly spared. When, therefore, the Prophet says, Go forth shall women who are yet remaining in the king’s palace, it is the same thing as if he had said, “Even the women shall be compelled to go forth to the enemies, and give themselves up into their power; what then will become of the men, when such shall be the hard condition of the women?”

We now perceive the meaning of the Prophet: Go forth then shall women, that is, when the city is taken, the women in the palace shall be drawn forth from their hiding-places, and be constrained to appear before their enemies. And then he adds, and, behold, they shall say, etc. He used the particle הנה, ene, twice, in order to lead Zedekiah into the very scene itself; for it is necessary thus to rouse those who are torpid in their apathy. And, behold, he says, they will say Here Jeremiah declares that women would be witnesses to bear testimony to the folly of the king, and also to the wickedness and obstinacy of the princes, as though he had said, “Thou wilt not obey me to-day, and thy counsel-lors also pertinaciously resist; God has already pronounced judgment on you: ye despise, and regard it as nothing: God will at length rouse up women, who will openly proclaim thy folly, O king, and the perverseness of thy counselors, for having despised all the prophecies.”

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

22. all the women that are left] the women of the harem generally, concubines and their attendants. If Zedekiah prove obstinate, these also will join in the reproaches that shall be heaped upon him.

Thy familiar friends, etc.] lit. as mg. The men of thy peace. The women’s reproaches are in the Ḳinah measure.

have set thee on] incited, instigated thee. Cp. Oba_1:7.

thy feet are sunk in the mire] “The metaphor answers to the experience through which the prophet had passed.… He had been cast by his enemies into the cistern, and his feet had sunk in the mire; Zedekiah had been misled by his friends, but when his feet sank in the mire, no one drew him out.” Peake.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And, behold, all the women that are left in the king of Judah's house,.... That were left in the royal palace when Jehoiakim and Jeconiah were carried captives; or which were left of the famine and pestilence in, Zedekiah's house; or would be left there when he should flee and make his escape; meaning his concubines, or maids of honour, and court ladies;

shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes: who shall use them as they think fit, and dispose of them at pleasure:

and those women shall say, thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against thee: or, "the men of thy peace" (a); the false prophets, and the princes that hearkened to them, and promised and flattered him with peace and prosperity, these deceived him; they set him on to hold out against the Chaldeans, and not believe the Prophet Jeremiah; and they prevailed with him to do so, though it was against himself, and his own interest:

thy feet are sunk in the mire; not literally, as some Jewish writers suppose, that he got into a quagmire when he fled; though there may be a hint in the expression to the miry dungeon in which he suffered the prophet to be cast; and was now got into one himself, in a figurative sense, being involved in difficulties, out of which he could not extricate himself:

and they are turned away back; meaning either his feet, which were distorted, and had turned aside from the right way; or now could go on no further against the enemy, but were obliged to turn back and flee; or else the men of his peace, the false prophets and princes, who had fed him with vain hopes of safety, now left him, and every man shifted for himself. This would be said by the women, either in a mournful manner, by way of complaint; or as scoffing at the king, as a silly foolish man, to hearken to such persons; and so he that was afraid of being mocked by the Jews is jeered at by the women of his house.

(a) "viri pacis tuae", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Schmidt.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

All the women that are left - Belonging to the harems of former kings (compare 1Ki 2:22), attendants, and slaves.

Thy friends ... - This satirical song (compare Oba 1:7) should be translated as a distich:

Thy friends have urged thee on and prevailed upon thee:

Thy feet are stuck in the mire; they have turned back.

Thy friends - literally “men of thy peace,” thy acquaintance Jer 20:10. They urge Zedekiah on to a hopeless struggle with the Chaldaeans, and when he gets into difficulties leave him in the lurch.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Say. At parting, bewailing thy blindness, which has entailed misery upon all. (Haydock) --- Of peace. That is, thy false friends, promising thee peace and happiness, and by their evil counsels involving thee in misery. (Challoner) --- Mire. He alludes to his own treatment, (Calmet) which he had received from these false counsellors or princes, ver. 4. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Thou that art afraid of the insultings of men that are thy subjects shalt fall under the insultings and taunts of the women: either the court ladies who were left when Jehoiachin was carried away, or the women belonging to thine own court, shall be taken and brought forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, to be disposed of at their pleasure; and these women shall deride thee, and tell thee, for this thou mayst thank thy hearkening to thy priests and false prophets, called, in the Hebrew, the men of thy peace, because they soothed up the king with the promises of peace.

Thy feet are sunk in the mire: now they have left thee in evils out of which thou canst not escape.

And they are turned away back; and as for them whom thou believedst and trustedst to, and by whose words thou art brought into these snares, they have forsaken thee, every one shifting for himself.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

22. All the women — As the alternative of the mocking that might come to him should he go over to the Chaldeans, the prophet intimates that if he fails to do so the women of his household shall be insulted, and shall take up a satire against him.

In the mire — A very expressive figure, setting forth the difficulties into which he had been led, and then deserted by his friends.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

All the women that are left; i.e. probably the wives of Zedekiah"s royal predecessors, who had passed into his own harem as concubines. Even Hezekiah, as Payne Smith well points out, had a numerous harem ("Records of the Past," 1:39, where "daughters" is equivalent to "girls"). Zedekiah"s own wives are spoken of in the next verse. Thy friends have set thee on, etc. The first half of this taunting song (mashal) reminds of Oba_1:7. (for other points of contact with Obadiah, see on Jer_49:7-22) The meaning is that, after urging the weak-minded Zedekiah on to a conflict with the Chaldeans, they have left him involved in hopeless difficulties.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The women - Thou that art afraid of the insultings of men, shalt fall under the insultings of the women. Thy friends - For this thou mayest thank thy priests, and false prophets. And they - Have forsaken thee, every one shifting for himself.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

Jeremiah continues speaking with King Zedekiah.

All the women who are left ... will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon

The reader should understand that the officials will take these women as slaves. AT: "Soldiers will bring all the women who are left ... out to the officials of the king of Babylon" (See: Active or Passive)

You have been deceived by your friends

This can be translated in active form. AT: "Your friends have deceived you" (See: Active or Passive)

Your feet are now sunk into the mud

The king is now helpless. (See: Metaphor)

For all of your wives and children will be brought out to the Chaldeans

The reader should understand that the officials will take these people as slaves. AT: "Soldiers will bring your wives and children out to the Chaldeans" (See: Active or Passive)

will not escape from their hand

The word "hand" is a metonym for the power or control that the hand exercises. AT: "will not escape from their power" (See: Metonymy)

You will be captured by the hand of the king of Babylon, and this city will be burned

The word "hand" is a metonym for the power or control that the hand exercises. This can be translated in active form. The reader should probably understand that many people will help the king do this. AT: "The army of the king of Babylon will capture you and will burn the city" (See: Metonymy and Active or Passive)

translationWords

deceive

ruin

Chaldea

hand

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

“Your cohorts” [lit. the men of your peace,] the false prophets, who told you that you would not be caught.

into the mire Heb. בבץ, mire, an expression as in (Job 8:11): “Can the rush shoot up without mire (בצה)?”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.