Jeremiah 38:7
New International Version
But Ebed-Melek, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,

New Living Translation
But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an important court official, heard that Jeremiah was in the cistern. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate,

English Standard Version
When Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern—the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate—

Berean Standard Bible
Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,

King James Bible
Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;

New King James Version
Now Ebed-Melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon. When the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,

New American Standard Bible
But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. Now the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin;

NASB 1995
But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin;

NASB 1977
But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin;

Legacy Standard Bible
But Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, while he was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. Now the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin;

Amplified Bible
Now Ebed-melech the Ethiopian (Cushite), one of the eunuchs who was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern, and while the king was sitting in the Gate of Benjamin,

Christian Standard Bible
But Ebed-melech, a Cushite court official in the king’s palace, heard Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
But Ebed-melech, a Cushite court official employed in the king’s palace, heard Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Benjamin Gate,

American Standard Version
Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin),

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Ebed Melek, an Ethiopian Eunuch man, was in the house of the King, and had heard that they had cast Jeremiah into the well, and the King was sitting in the gate of Benyamin

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Abdemelech the Ethiopian heard, (now he was in the king's household,) that they had put Jeremias into the dungeon; and the king was in the gate of Benjamin:

Douay-Rheims Bible
Now Abdemelech the Ethiopian, an eunuch that was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremias in the dungeon: but the king was sitting in the gate of Benjamin.

English Revised Version
Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an eunuch, which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;

GOD'S WORD® Translation
But an official in the royal palace, Ebed Melech from Sudan, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. The king happened to be sitting at Benjamin Gate.

Good News Translation
However, Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch who worked in the royal palace, heard that they had put me in the well. At that time the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate.

International Standard Version
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king's house, heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern. The king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate,

JPS Tanakh 1917
Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, an officer, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the pit; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;

Literal Standard Version
And Ebed-Melech the Cushite, a eunuch who [is] in the king’s house, hears that they have put Jeremiah into the pit; and the king is sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,

Majority Standard Bible
Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,

New American Bible
Now Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian, a court official in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the cistern. The king happened to be sitting at the Gate of Benjamin,

NET Bible
An Ethiopian, Ebed Melech, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put in the cistern. While the king was holding court at the Benjamin Gate,

New Revised Standard Version
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, a eunuch in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. The king happened to be sitting at the Benjamin Gate,

New Heart English Bible
Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king then sitting in the Benjamin Gate),

Webster's Bible Translation
Now when Ebed-melech the Cushite, one of the eunuchs who was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;

World English Bible
Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon (the king was then sitting in Benjamin’s gate),

Young's Literal Translation
And Ebed-Melech the Cushite, a eunuch who is in the king's house, heareth that they have put Jeremiah into the pit; and the king is sitting at the gate of Benjamin,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jeremiah Rescued
7 Now Ebed-melech the Cushite, a court official in the royal palace, heard that Jeremiah had been put into the cistern. While the king was sitting at the Gate of Benjamin, 8Ebed-melech went out from the king’s palace and said to the king,…

Cross References
Acts 8:27
So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official in charge of the entire treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship,

Deuteronomy 21:19
his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,

Joshua 20:4
When someone flees to one of these cities, stands at the entrance of the city gate, and states his case before its elders, they are to bring him into the city and give him a place to live among them.

Job 29:7
When I went out to the city gate and took my seat in the public square,

Isaiah 56:3
Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people." And let the eunuch not say, "I am but a dry tree."

Jeremiah 20:2
he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.

Jeremiah 26:16
Then the officials and all the people told the priests and prophets, "This man is not worthy of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God!"


Treasury of Scripture

Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin;

Ebed-melech.

Jeremiah 39:16-18
Go and speak to Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring my words upon this city for evil, and not for good; and they shall be accomplished in that day before thee…

Ethiopian.

Jeremiah 13:23
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

Psalm 68:31
Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.

Matthew 8:11,12
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven…

eunuchs.

Jeremiah 29:2
(After that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem;)

Jeremiah 34:19
The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;

2 Kings 24:15
And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

the king.

Jeremiah 37:13
And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans.

Deuteronomy 21:19
Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

Job 29:7-17
When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! …

Jump to Previous
Benjamin Cistern Cushite Dungeon Ears Ebedmelech Ebed-Melech E'bed-Mel'ech Ethiopian Eunuch Eunuchs Gate Heard Heareth House Jeremiah King's Officer Official Palace Pit Royal Seated Servant Sitting Time Unsexed Water-Hole
Jump to Next
Benjamin Cistern Cushite Dungeon Ears Ebedmelech Ebed-Melech E'bed-Mel'ech Ethiopian Eunuch Eunuchs Gate Heard Heareth House Jeremiah King's Officer Official Palace Pit Royal Seated Servant Sitting Time Unsexed Water-Hole
Jeremiah 38
1. Jeremiah, by a false suggestion, is put into the dungeon of Malchiah.
7. Ebed-Melech, by suit, gets him some enlargement.
14. Upon secret conference, he counsels the king by yielding to save his life.
24. By the king's instructions he conceals the conference from the princes.














(7) Bbed-melech the Ethiopian.--The name signifies "servant of the king," but the absence of the article in the Hebrew makes it probable that it had come to be used as a proper name, and so both the LXX. and Vulgate take it. The use of Ethiopian or Cushite slaves in the king's household, probably as keeping guard over the harem, had been of some standing; perhaps even as early as the time of David, as in the case of Cushr (or the Cushite), in 2Samuel 18:21. Then, as in other countries and times (Terent., Eunuch, i. 2), there was a fashion which led princes and men of wealth to think that eunuchs were part of their magnificence. The law of Moses, it may be noted, forbade such mutilation in the case of Israelites (Deuteronomy 23:1). In Psalm 87:4, we find probably a record of the admission of such persons on the register of the citizens of Zion. Of the previous history of the Eunuch thus named we know nothing but he appears here as the favourite of the king, using his influence to protect the prophet. The Ethiopian descent of Jehudi (Jeremiah 36:21) may probably have brought him into contact with an officer of the king's household of the same race, and Ebed-melech's feelings may have been drawn to the prophet by what he thus heard.

In the gate of Benjamin.--This was on the northern wall of the city, the most exposed to the attack of the invading army, and the king apparently had gone there either to direct the operations of the defence, or, perhaps, to prevent others from following, as they might think, Jeremiah's example, and either deserting to the enemy or abandoning the defence of the city (Jeremiah 37:13). Ebed-melech had accordingly to leave the palace, and went to seek the king at his post, in order to obtain an order of release in time to save the prophet's life. He alone, as if inheriting the blessing of Isaiah 56:3-6, has the courage to appear as the friend of the persecuted. . . .

Verse 7. - Ebed-melech the Ethiopian. The name means "the king's slave." Ebers remarks that the eunuchs employed are those on whom the shameful operation has been performed by Copts in Upper Egypt. Zedekiah's harem is referred to in vers. 22, 23.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now Ebed-melech
מֶ֨לֶךְ (me·leḵ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5663: Ebed-melech -- 'servant of a king', an official under King Zedekiah

the Cushite,
הַכּוּשִׁ֜י (hak·kū·šî)
Article | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3569: Cushite -- descendant of Cush

a court official
סָרִ֗יס (sā·rîs)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5631: A eunuch, valet, a minister of state

in the royal
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ (ham·me·leḵ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king

palace,
בְּבֵ֣ית (bə·ḇêṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1004: A house

heard
וַיִּשְׁמַ֡ע (way·yiš·ma‘)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

that Jeremiah
יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ (yir·mə·yā·hū)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3414: Jeremiah -- 'Yah loosens', the name of a number of Israelites

had been put
נָתְנ֥וּ (nā·ṯə·nū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

into
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the cistern.
הַבּ֑וֹר (hab·bō·wr)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 953: A pit, cistern, well

While the king
וְהַמֶּ֥לֶךְ (wə·ham·me·leḵ)
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king

was sitting
יוֹשֵׁ֖ב (yō·wō·šêḇ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 3427: To sit down, to dwell, to remain, to settle, to marry

at the Gate
בְּשַׁ֥עַר (bə·ša·‘ar)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8179: An opening, door, gate

of Benjamin,
בִּנְיָמִֽן׃ (bin·yā·min)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1144: Benjamin -- 'son of the right hand', youngest son of Jacob, also the name of two other Israelites


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OT Prophets: Jeremiah 38:7 Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian a eunuch (Jer.)
Jeremiah 38:6
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