Verse Lens · Context pointer
Jeremiah 38:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand: for the king is not he that can do any thing against you.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The narrated crisis and constrained human response carries the next action, claim, image, or measurement through “Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand” at Jeremiah 38:5 as part of “Officials Lower Jeremiah into a Muddy Cistern.”
Read It With
- Jeremiah 38:1–6
Read Jeremiah 38:5 with 38:1–6. By itself, “Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand” 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 It Needs Context
This context pointer tracks one step in Jeremiah 38:1–6: The narrated crisis and constrained human response carries the next action, claim, image, or measurement through “Then Zedekiah the king said, Behold, he is in your hand” at Jeremiah 38:5 as part of “Officials Lower Jeremiah into a Muddy Cistern.” Read the thought unit before assigning enduring truth or application.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Jeremiah 38:1–6 — Officials Lower Jeremiah into a Muddy CisternSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
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 ↗