“The word of Yahweh
Came to Jeremiah
A second time,
While he was still confined
In the court of the guard.”
As in the preceding chapter, King Zedekiah (598-587 BCE) has confined Jeremiah to the royal prison. Here, Jeremiah receives a second oracle from Yahweh. Like the preceding chapter, this is a different numbered chapter in the Greek translation of the Septuagint, chapter 40, not chapter 33 as here.
“But this is a people robbed.
This is a people plundered.
All of them are trapped in holes.
They are hidden in prisons.
They have become a prey,
With no one to rescue them.
They have become a spoil,
With none to say.
‘Restore!’
Who among you will give heed to this?
Who will attend for the time to come?
Who will listen for the time to come?
Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler?
Who gave up Israel to the robbers?
Was it not Yahweh?
They have sinned against him.
They would not walk in his ways.
They would not obey his law.
So he poured upon him
The heat of his anger.
He poured upon him
The fury of war.
It set him on fire all around.
But he did not understand.
It burned him.
But he did not take it to heart.”
In this section of Second Isaiah, it talks about the people and the individual servant together. The Israelite servants were robbed and plundered, and then put into prison holes. No one would rescue them as they were prey and a spoil to others. No one wanted to restore them to their former ways. No one paid attention. Yahweh made Jacob or Israel fall to these robbers and spoilers. This happened because they had sinned against Yahweh. They would not walk in his ways or follow his laws. Thus Yahweh poured out his heat and anger on his servant with the fury of a war. He set his servant on fire, but he still does not understand what was happening. He got burned, but he did not take it to heart.
“Save me from my persecutors!
They are too strong for me.
Bring me out of prison!
So that I may give thanks to your name.
The righteous will surround me.
You will deal bountifully with me.”
This psalm ends with a plea from David to save him from his persecutors. They were too strong for him. He could not deal with them himself. He wanted to be brought out of prison. There is no specific time mentioned in the stories of David where he was actually in a prison. This might be a metaphor since he feels like he cannot move. If he escaped he would give thanks to the name of Yahweh. He wanted to be surrounded by the righteous ones. He felt that Yahweh would deal with him mercifully and bountifully.
“Then Jonathan came to Jerusalem. He read the letter in the hearing of all the people, including the men in the citadel. They were greatly alarmed when they heard that the king had given Jonathan authority to recruit troops. However, the men in the citadel released the hostages to Jonathan as he returned them to their parents.”
The first thing that Jonathan did was to go to Jerusalem to get the release of all the prisoners from the citadel there, which was still held by the Syrians. The guards were astonished and alarmed that the king had given Jonathan the authority to recruit troops. Nevertheless, the people in the prison were released to Jonathan and their families.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 