Jeremiah 38

In the Mud

It wasn’t enough for Jeremiah to be off the streets. The king’s officials wanted him dead. Because of how he discouraged the people, they convinced the king to have him put into a pit/cistern (בּוֹר, bor). Cisterns typically hold water, but “it had no water in it, only mud” (Jeremiah 38:6). This hints back to Joseph. Rather than outright killing him, his brothers threw him into a pit (bor) which had no water in it (Genesis 37:24). The imagery of being in a muddy pit is used metaphorically for death or being in a difficult situation. For instance:

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

Psalm 40:2

Jeremiah has previously compared the people to broken cisterns which cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2:13). Having an empty cistern during a siege is troubling – where are they getting their water?

Thankfully, not everyone is against Jeremiah, and he is lifted out of the pit. Zedekiah speaks to him secretly again, perhaps hoping for a better response, but Jeremiah gives him the same reply to surrender or the city will be destroyed. On top of that, he says:

All the women left in the palace of the king of Judah will be brought out to the officials of the king of Babylon. Those women will say to you:
“‘They misled you and overcame you—
those trusted friends of yours.
Your feet are sunk in the mud;
your friends have deserted you.’

Jeremiah 38:22

This time it is Zedekiah whose feet are metaphorically stuck in the mud. While the word “mud” used here is a completely different term than used earlier in the chapter (It’s only used here, but is related to “marsh” or “swamp” used in passages like Job 8:11), it parallels Jeremiah’s predicament in the pit. While Jeremiah had been physically stuck in the mud, Zedekiah was about to be stuck in a much worse place if he didn’t repent.

To Ponder…

• How has God rescued you from sticky situations?