When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;

JEREMIAH 37:16KJV
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Jeremiah 37:16 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 37:16 mean?

Jeremiah 37:16 describes Jeremiah’s confinement in a dungeon for a lengthy period. The verse places the reader inside the experience of his imprisonment, showing that his detention was not just a brief arrest but a stay that continued for many days.

After the officials placed Jeremiah in a prison house in verse 15, the narrator describes the place where he was held. The KJV’s “cabins” refers to compartments or cells associated with the dungeon, not small houses.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 37:16

  • “dungeon” — בַּיִת (bayit) and בּוֹר (bor): These words can mean “house” and “pit.” Together they describe a prison place associated with a pit, helping explain the KJV’s word “dungeon.”
  • “cabins” — חֲנוּת (ḥanut): This word is often understood here as a vaulted chamber or cell. The KJV’s “cabins” therefore points to spaces in the prison, rather than to separate dwellings.
  • “remained” — יָשַׁב (yashav): This word can mean “sit,” “dwell,” or “remain.” Here it describes Jeremiah’s continuing stay in confinement.

Why Jeremiah 37:16 matters

  • The sentence carries forward into verse 17. The KJV’s “When” and the semicolon prepare the reader for King Zedekiah’s later decision to send for Jeremiah.
  • Jeremiah’s confinement forms the setting for his conversation with the king. In verse 17, Zedekiah questions him privately, after the “many days” mentioned in verse 16.

Where else these words appear

“dungeon” Hebrew H953 · used in 64 verses

  • Genesis 37:20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
  • 1 Chronicles 11:18 And the three brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD,
  • Jeremiah 6:7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually is grief and wounds.

“Jeremiah” Hebrew H3414 · used in 133 verses

  • 2 Kings 23:31 Jehoahaz was twenty and three years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah.
  • Jeremiah 28:15 Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
  • Jeremiah 38:9 My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city.