Jeremiah 39:15

¹ Now the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse, ² 

While Jeremiah had been confined in the courtyard of the guard, the word of the LORD came to him:

Now the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guardhouse, saying,

The LORD had given the following message to Jeremiah while he was still in prison:

Earlier, while Jeremiah was still in custody in the courtyard of the royal guards, GOD's Message came to him:

Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the place of the armed watchmen, saying,

The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah while he was confined in the court of the guard:

Meanwhile the word of the LORD had come to Jeremiah while he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying,

¹ Now the Lord had spoken to Jeremiah while he was still confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse, ² 

¹ sn Jer 39:15-18. This incident is out of chronological order (see Jer 38:7-13). It is placed here either due to a desire not to interrupt the sequential ordering of events centering on Jeremiah’s imprisonment and his release (38:14–39:14) or to contrast God’s care and concern for the faithful (Ebed-Melech who, though a foreigner, trusted in God) with his harsh treatment of the faithless (Zedekiah who, though informed of God’s will, was too weak-willed in the face of opposition by his courtiers to carry it out).

² tn Heb “Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah while he…saying.” The form of this clause is disjunctive showing that it does not follow the preceding events in either chronological or logical sequence. For a discussion of the form and function of such disjunctive clauses see IBHS 650-52 §39.2.3. This example most closely fits the description and function of example 12, Ruth 4:18, 21-22 on p. 652.