Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Jeremiah 38:4 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 4. 4Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death: for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them: for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The narrated crisis and constrained human response carries the next action, claim, image, or measurement through “Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death” at Jeremiah 38:4 as part of “Officials Lower Jeremiah into a Muddy Cistern.”
Read It With
- Jeremiah 38:1–6
Read Jeremiah 38:4 with 38:1–6. By itself, “Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, date, imperial horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: Leaders treat Jeremiah's surrender message as military demoralization, gain weak royal consent, and imprison him in a waterless pit where he sinks in mud.
Why This Verse Appears Here
This received unit develops “Officials Lower Jeremiah into a Muddy Cistern” through its own speaker, addressee, date, oracle, sign, lament, or historical scene. Its non-interchangeable movement is: Leaders treat Jeremiah's surrender message as military demoralization, gain weak royal consent, and imprison him in a waterless pit where he sinks in mud. This verse's placement is specific: The narrated crisis and constrained human response carries the next action, claim, image, or measurement through “Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death” at Jeremiah 38:4 as part of “Officials Lower Jeremiah into a Muddy Cistern.”
Follow the Context
- The unit begins at 38:1 with the speech, scene, image, or date named in its title.
- Leaders treat Jeremiah's surrender message as military demoralization, gain weak royal consent, and imprison him in a waterless pit where he sinks in mud.
- At 38:6 the movement reaches its response or transition before the next unit.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
The charge of weakening soldiers does not justify imprisoning dissenting or antiwar speech.
What Remains True
Officials frame Jeremiah's surrender message as a threat to morale during siege. In Jeremiah 38:4, that bounded truth is carried through this verse's role: The narrated crisis and constrained human response carries the next action, claim, image, or measurement through “Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death” at Jeremiah 38:4 as part of “Officials Lower Jeremiah into a Muddy Cistern.”
How It Can Shape Life
- Protect due process and distinguish genuine operational harm from political suppression. This verse directs that response through its exact role: The narrated crisis and constrained human response carries the next action, claim, image, or measurement through “Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death” at Jeremiah 38:4 as part of “Officials Lower Jeremiah into a Muddy Cistern.”
Teach It Back
Explain Jeremiah 38:4's precise role in Jeremiah 38:1–6: The narrated crisis and constrained human response carries the next action, claim, image, or measurement through “Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death” at Jeremiah 38:4 as part of “Officials Lower Jeremiah into a Muddy Cistern.” State how “Officials Lower Jeremiah into a Muddy Cistern” controls the line, keep this uncertainty visible—The scene does not authorize torture, incommunicado detention, or punishing speech merely because it affects morale.—trace role to contextual meaning to enduring truth to application, and reject one use the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Jeremiah 38:1–6 — Officials Lower Jeremiah into a Muddy CisternSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
Where care is needed
Readings differ over historical reconstruction, composition, rhetoric, theology, and later reception. The preferred reading follows this complete unit while preserving the limit: The scene does not authorize torture, incommunicado detention, or punishing speech merely because it affects morale.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Jeremiah 38:1–6, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Jeremiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2; fixed commit
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a critical apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Jer.xml, OSIS 38:1–6
Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Jeremiah with Translator, Textual, and Study Notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; official eBible PDF distribution, NET Bible Second Edition; official PDF accessed 2026
Supports: Verse-level controls for Hebrew, syntax, older KJV language, dates, names, textual problems, and material translation alternatives.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Jeremiah PDF, pp. 1258-1459, translator, study, and textual notes attached to Jeremiah 38:1–6
Open the official NET Jeremiah PDF ↗modern scholarly book course
Jeremiah: Summary, Outline, Background, Introductory Issues, Themes, and Bible in the World
Terence E. Fretheim and Michael Chan
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, current public course accessed 2026
Supports: Reader-oriented historical, literary, theological, and pastoral synthesis with ancient-to-modern limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Jeremiah course, Outline and Themes: restoration, new covenant, field, Baruch scroll, siege, and fall; applied to Jeremiah 38:1–6
Open the Enter the Bible Jeremiah course ↗open university study guide series
Jeremiah and Ezekiel: Jeremiah Parts 1-3 Study Guides
Joel S. Baden and Jacqueline Vayntrub
Yale Bible Study, 2024
Supports: Current university-level literary-historical synthesis and explicit composition questions.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, Jeremiah Part 3 study guide, pp. 1-6: Jeremiah 36, Baruch, scroll rewriting, composition, and final form; applied to Jeremiah 38:1–6
Open the Yale Jeremiah and Ezekiel course ↗