Verse 28. - And he was there when, etc. The words, of which this is an incorrect version, ought to begin the first verse of the next chapter. Render (with Coverdale), And it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken (in the ninth year of Zedekiah came Nebuchadrezzar, etc.; in the eleventh year...the city was cleft open) that all the princes, etc. The correctness of the reading is, however, open to some doubt (see introduction to next chapter)

38:14-28 Jeremiah was not forward to repeat the warnings, which seemed only to endanger his own life, and to add to the king's guilt, but asked whether he feared to do the will of God. The less men fear God, the more they fear men; often they dare not act according to their own judgments and consciences.So Jeremiah abode in the court of the prison,.... Where he was ordered to be by the king, before he was cast into the dungeon, and where he was replaced by Ebedmelech; and which was now confirmed by the king, and here he continued:

until the day that Jerusalem was taken; but how long it was from his conversation with the king, to the taking of the city, is not certain:

and he was there when Jerusalem was taken; as appears from Jeremiah 39:14. Kimchi connects this with the beginning of the next chapter; and so the Targum, rendering it,

"and it came to pass when Jerusalem was taken;''

namely, what is related in the following chapter.