Verse Lens · Context pointer
Jeremiah 39:12 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 12. 12Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The dated report or historical recital introduces or commands “Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm” at Jeremiah 39:12 as “Babylonian Officials Release Jeremiah to Gedaliah” develops.
Read It With
- Jeremiah 39:11–14
Read Jeremiah 39:12 with 39:11–14. By itself, “Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, date, imperial horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: Nebuchadnezzar's command leads officers to remove Jeremiah from the guard court and entrust him to Gedaliah for residence among the people.
Why It Needs Context
Keep the line with Jeremiah 39:11–14. The dated report or historical recital introduces or commands “Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm” at Jeremiah 39:12 as “Babylonian Officials Release Jeremiah to Gedaliah” develops. The literary form and this limit govern it: Imperial protection does not make Babylon benevolent or Jeremiah a simple collaborator.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Jeremiah 39:11–14 — Babylonian Officials Release Jeremiah to GedaliahSources 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 39:11–14, 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 39:11–14
Open the fixed Hebrew Jeremiah file ↗