Bible Strands
Jeremiah 32:2
At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard, which was in the palace of the king of Judah.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative records Jeremiah’s imprisonment in the courtyard of the guard within the king of Judah’s palace during the tenth year of Zedekiah’s reign (Jeremiah 32:1). This moment coincides with the Babylonian army actively besieging Jerusalem before Zedekiah questions Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jeremiah 32:3).
The words — The Hebrew term צָרִים (tza.Rim) denotes the besieging forces, and חֵיל (cheil) specifies the military army surrounding the city. These terms ground the verse in a concrete historical siege rather than abstract prophecy.
The thread — The courtyard of the guard reappears when Zedekiah orders Jeremiah’s confinement there (Jeremiah 37:21) and when the word of the Lord reaches Jeremiah while still confined (Jeremiah 33:1). The palace complex is later noted during restoration work in Nehemiah 3:25.
Why it lands — The text places divine communication inside an active military siege and a royal prison. It requires the reader to accept that God’s message is recorded within, not apart from, the reality of confinement and impending capture.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For then the king of Babylon’s army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah’s house.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 37:21 So King Zedekiah gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread daily from the street of the bakers, until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
- Nehemiah 3:25 and Palal son of Uzai made repairs opposite the angle and the tower that juts out from the upper palace of the king near the courtyard of the guard. Next to him, Pedaiah son of Parosh
- Jeremiah 33:1 While Jeremiah was still confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him a second time:
- Jeremiah 38:6 So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah with ropes into the cistern, which had no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
- Jeremiah 32:8 Then, as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and urged me, ‘Please buy my field in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for you own the right of inheritance and redemption. Buy it for yourself.’” Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 36:5 Then Jeremiah commanded Baruch, “I am restricted; I cannot enter the house of the LORD;
- Jeremiah 39:13 So Nebuzaradan captain of the guard, Nebushazban the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the captains of the king of Babylon
- Matthew 5:12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.
- Jeremiah 32:3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had imprisoned him, saying: “Why are you prophesying like this? You claim that the LORD says, ‘Behold, I am about to deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it.