For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD.

JEREMIAH 39:18KJV
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Jeremiah 39:18 (KJV)

What does Jeremiah 39:18 mean?

Jeremiah 39:18 records the LORD’s promise to protect Ebed-melech when Jerusalem falls. Ebed-melech will escape death by the sword because he has trusted the LORD.

The phrase “thy life shall be for a prey unto thee” pictures a person carrying life away like something rescued from a battle. The promise comes through Jeremiah after Ebed-melech helped pull him from a muddy cistern, or water pit.

The Hebrew behind Jeremiah 39:18

  • “surely deliver” — מָלַט (malat): This word can mean to bring someone to safety or let someone escape. Its repeated form in Hebrew adds emphasis to the promise of rescue.
  • “life” — נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh): This word can refer to a person’s life or the person as a living being. Here it points to Ebed-melech surviving the danger.
  • “prey” — שָׁלָל (shalal): This word often refers to goods taken in war. Paired with “life,” it gives the striking picture of survival as something carried away from danger.

Why Jeremiah 39:18 matters

  • The promise is personal, even during a citywide disaster. The LORD addresses Ebed-melech as “thee” and “thy,” giving him an individual assurance amid Jerusalem’s fall.
  • Ebed-melech’s trust is the reason stated for his rescue. His earlier action also gives the promise a setting: he had spoken up for Jeremiah and arranged for his release from the cistern in Jeremiah 38:7–13.
  • The sentence stresses escape rather than possessions gained in war. What Ebed-melech carries away as “prey” is his own life.

Where else these words appear

“prey” Hebrew H7998 · used in 64 verses

  • Genesis 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
  • 1 Samuel 30:19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.
  • Proverbs 16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

“surely” Hebrew H4422 · used in 85 verses

  • Genesis 19:17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
  • 2 Chronicles 16:7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said unto him, Because thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied on the LORD thy God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of thine hand.
  • Isaiah 37:38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

“trust” Hebrew H982 · used in 117 verses

  • Deuteronomy 28:52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee.
  • Psalms 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.
  • Isaiah 26:4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: