What Does Jeremiah 38:18 Mean?
But if you will not go out to the princes of the king of Babylon, then this city shall be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and you shall not slip out of their hand.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon’s princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand.THE KEY
The exit offered here is not freedom from the conquerors; it is surrender before their hand closes around the city.
THE MEANING
This verse places before you a stark choice: go out to the king of Babylon’s princes, or remain while the city is handed to the Chaldeans and burned. It says plainly that refusing this route does not keep you beyond their reach; you will not escape their hand. The stated exit is surrender into their power, not escape from it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that refusing an offered surrender preserves freedom: refusal leaves the person in the conquerors’ power after the city is destroyed.
THE ROOT
וְנִתְּנָה
wə-nittənāh
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
give, set, place
The city does not simply vanish; it is given into another’s hand, an image of authority transferred. The root’s range, give, set, place, makes that handoff concrete.
ALSO GROWS
nātan: give, set, place
נָתַן
The verb’s basic sense makes clear that the city is placed under another power.
mattānāh: gift, something given
מַתָּנָה
This related form shows the same root’s focus on transfer, though here what is given is a city to its conquerors.
תִּמָּלֵט
timmālēṭ
GROWS FROM
מלט
m-l-ṭ
slip away, escape; in a causative form, deliver
“slip out” in this verse is timmālēṭ. The root can describe both slipping free and delivering someone else. Here the verse denies escape from the conquerors’ hand: the possibility of getting clear is expressly shut down.
ALSO GROWS
mālaṭ: escape, slip away
מָלַט
This is the root’s direct sense and the very possibility the verse denies.
millēṭ: deliver, rescue
מִלֵּט
The same root can describe bringing another to safety, sharpening the force of the verse’s denial of escape.
תֵצֵא
tēṣēʾ
GROWS FROM
יצא
y-ṣ-ʾ
go out, come forth
The same root can describe someone going out or being brought out. Here the addressed person must go out toward the princes himself; the named route runs through a meeting with the power already pressing in.
ALSO GROWS
yāṣāʾ: go out, come forth
יָצָא
This is the movement required in the verse: the person addressed must leave the city.
hōṣîʾ: bring out, lead out
הוֹצִיא
The causative form shows the same root can describe another power bringing someone out; here, the addressed person must make the departure himself.
THE PATTERN
When destruction approaches, a route away from it is named before remaining becomes deadly.
And it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, Escape for your living soul. Do not look behind you, and do not stand still anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be swept away.He who settles in this city shall die by the sword, by hunger, and by the plague. But he who goes out and falls before the Chaldeans who press against you shall live, and his living soul shall be to him as plunder.Then let those in Judea flee to the mountains.THE THREAD
And it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, Escape for your living soul. Do not look behind you, and do not stand still anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountain, lest you be swept away.Both verses use מלט (malat), “escape”: Genesis commands it, while Jeremiah says escape from the conquerors’ hand will not come if the offered exit is refused. The shared verb makes the difference turn on an open route versus a refusal that leaves no escape.
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