Bible Strands
Jeremiah 37:14
“That is a lie,” Jeremiah replied. “I am not deserting to the Chaldeans!” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and took him to the officials.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeremiah responds to Irijah, captain of the guard, at the Gate of Benjamin immediately after being seized on false accusations of desertion. Irijah ignores the denial, arrests Jeremiah, and delivers him to the city officials.
The words — The Hebrew שֶׁקֶר (She.ker) translates literally as "a lie," directly negating Irijah's accusation. The verb נֹפֵל (no.Fel) means "[am] falling," which Jeremiah uses to deny the physical act of defecting to the Chaldeans.
The thread — The false accusation pattern appears in Psalms 27:12 and Psalms 52:1, where adversaries fabricate charges against the righteous. The narrative continues in Jeremiah 40:4 when authorities later release Jeremiah from his chains.
Why it lands — The text establishes that a truthful denial does not prevent unjust detention or institutional hostility. It requires readers to accept that obedience to divine instruction frequently meets human resistance.
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
Then said Jeremiah, It is false; I fall not away to the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him: so Irijah took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes.
Cross-references
- Psalms 27:12 Do not hand me over to the will of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence.
- Psalms 52:1 For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.
- Jeremiah 40:4 But now, behold, I am freeing you today from the chains that were on your wrists. If it pleases you to come with me to Babylon, then come, and I will take care of you. But if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, go no farther. Look, the whole land is before you. Wherever it seems good and right to you, go there.”
- Matthew 5:11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
- Nehemiah 6:8 Then I sent him this reply: “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”
- Psalms 35:11 Hostile witnesses come forward; they make charges I know nothing about.
- Luke 6:22 Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.
- Luke 6:26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers treated the false prophets in the same way.
- 1 Peter 3:16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.
- 1 Peter 4:14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.