Jeremiah 37:15-16

Jeremiah 37:15-16

[15] Wherefore the princes  were wroth  with Jeremiah,  and smote  him, and put  him in prison  in the house  of Jonathan  the scribe:  for they had made  that the prison.  [16] When Jeremiah  was entered  into the dungeon,  and into the cabins,  and Jeremiah  had remained  there many  days; 

What does Jeremiah 37:15-16 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The officials angrily beat Jeremiah and confined him in the house of a scribe named Jonathan, which they had converted into a jail. This reference begins what some scholars have referred to as "Jeremiah"s passion." Jeremiah remained in an underground dungeon for many days. The Hebrew words describing this cell are difficult to interpret. They may describe "a complex of large, underground cisterns that had been converted into a prison," [1] or "a vaulted cell in a dungeon." [2] Jeremiah feared for his life there ( Jeremiah 37:20). The hostile attitude of Zedekiah"s officials contrasts sharply with that of Jehoiakim"s officials in the previous chapter ( Jeremiah 36:11-19).