The word
came to Jeremiah from the Lord after
Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had released him at Ramah. He had
found Jeremiah bound in chains among all the captives from Jerusalem and Judah
who were being carried into exile to Babylon. When the
commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The Lord your God decreed this disaster for this place. And now the
Lord has brought it about; he has
done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned
against the Lord and did not obey him. But today I
am freeing you from the chains on your wrists. Come with me to Babylon, if you
like, and I will look after you; but if you do not want to, then don’t come.
Look, the whole country lies before you; go wherever you please.” Jeremiah 40:1-4
It’s
apparent that the Babylonian officials knew about Jeremiah and his
prophecy/warnings to the people to surrender.
The only way to explain it is that word got out. The Babylonians probably appreciated Jeremiah’s
efforts to bring about a peaceful surrender instead of resorting to a bloody
invasion.
The
Babylonians respected a number of gods and saw Jeremiah as a gateway to one of
them. As time went on from here, the
king, Nebuchadnezzar, would meet God as the one true God, the one and only,
thanks to Daniel.
The
Babylonians were cruel, but you can see a bit of civility here in the way they
treated their prisoners.