Jeremiah 37:13-14

37:13 But he only got as far as the Benjamin Gate.¹ There an officer in charge of the guards named Irijah,² who was the son of Shelemiah and the grandson of Hananiah, stopped him. He seized Jeremiah and said,³ “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”⁴ 37:14 Jeremiah answered, “That’s a lie! I am not deserting to the Babylonians.”⁵ But Irijah would not listen to him. Irijah put Jeremiah under arrest and took him to the officials.

¹sn The Benjamin Gate would have been a gate in the northern wall leading out toward the territory of Benjamin. It is mentioned only here and in Jer 38:7 and Zech 14:10.

²sn Nothing further is known about Irijah. It is generally agreed that the Hananiah mentioned here is not the same as the false prophet of the same name whom Jeremiah confronted approximately six years earlier (28:1, 5, 10, 15).

³tn Heb “And he was in the gate of Benjamin and there was an officer of the guard whose name [more literally, and his name] was Irijah…and he seized the prophet Jeremiah, saying.” The sentence has been broken down and simplified to better conform with contemporary English style.

⁴tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

sn Irijah’s charge was based on the suspicion that Jeremiah was following his own counsel to the people to surrender to the Babylonians if they wanted to save their lives (Jer 21:9).

⁵tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.