Here’s what we always knew and these deadly days are again reminded: Heroic humans come in many shapes and sizes. So many times brave outliers save a life or more and never even take or get the credit. As the tragic story of Jerusalem’s collapse continues in @belowthebiblebelt929 one such heroic figure steps up to help save the prophet - and the prophetic.
Jeremiah’s fate goes from bad to worse and the panicked people of Jerusalem under siege suspect him of being an enemy agent. They won’t kill him outright but they use an ancient method still favored by the mob: Like the brothers did to Joseph, they throw Jeremiah into a deep cistern - a death dungeon - in the prison courtyard:
וַיִּקְח֣וּ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֗הוּ וַיַּשְׁלִ֨כוּ אֹת֜וֹ אֶל־הַבּ֣וֹר ׀ מַלְכִּיָּ֣הוּ בֶן־הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ אֲשֶׁר֙ בַּחֲצַ֣ר הַמַּטָּרָ֔ה וַיְשַׁלְּח֥וּ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ בַּחֲבָלִ֑ים וּבַבּ֤וֹר אֵֽין־מַ֙יִם֙ כִּ֣י אִם־טִ֔יט וַיִּטְבַּ֥ע יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ בַּטִּֽיט׃
“They took Jeremiah and put him down in the pit of Prince Malchiah, which was in the prison compound; they let Jeremiah down by ropes. There was no water in the pit, only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud.”
And just when it seems all is lost, Jeremiah is saved by a hero who emerges out of nowhere, leaving his mark on the Bible, for all time, even if we do not know his real name:
וַיִּשְׁמַ֡ע עֶבֶד־מֶ֨לֶךְ הַכּוּשִׁ֜י אִ֣ישׁ סָרִ֗יס וְהוּא֙ בְּבֵ֣ית הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ כִּֽי־נָתְנ֥וּ אֶֽת־יִרְמְיָ֖הוּ אֶל־הַבּ֑וֹר וְהַמֶּ֥לֶךְ יוֹשֵׁ֖ב בְּשַׁ֥עַר בִּנְיָמִֽן׃
“Ebed-melech the Cushite, a eunuch who was in the king’s palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the pit. The king was then sitting at the Benjamin Gate.”
Who is this Ebed-Melech? His name means literally ‘The King’s Slave’, and Cushite likely means that he is Ethiopian, known as Cush. A Queer Black person we have not heard of before - shows up to save the prophet? This seems like an important story to explore.
Which is what Rev. Elizabeth M. Edman, @elizabethedman an Episcopal priest and political strategist, who also writes about Queer Virtue in the life of faith, wrote in this powerful piece called Sounding Queer Holiness on the Eve of Disaster.
Here are excerpts:
“As Jeremiah 38 begins, Jerusalem is under siege, about to fall to Babylon... Like besieged Judah sinking into the mire of hunger and hopelessness, Jeremiah sinks into the mud.
The princes are observed by a character who appears only in this story. Ebed-melech is, literally, “a servant of the King.” The text identifies him as an Ethiopian eunuch – meaning he’s Black and he is queer, occupying a place of liminal sexuality and gender identity.
In fact, let’s honor Ebed-melech with Ze/Hir pronouns.
Ebed-melech knows a thing or two about the princes who toss Jeremiah in the well, about their ugly nationalism and their false piety. Ebed-melech knows how vicious they are, how they abuse power with malevolent disregard for others’ wellbeing.
But Ebed-melech has power, too. Ze is trusted, perhaps even loved by the king. Ebed-melech approaches the king, encouraging him to claim his power by double-naming him: “Adonai Hammelech: My lord king.” Ze says, “These men have done evil by throwing Jeremiah into the cistern, where he will surely die.” The king gives Ebed-melech command of three men, and off they go to “lift Jeremiah out of the pit before he dies.”
In a remarkable act of tenderness, Ebed-melech tells Jeremiah to put rags under his arms as padding so that the ropes with which they hurl him out from the pit won’t hurt him. Jeremiah does, and ze and the others haul him up to dry ground. He is still imprisoned, but his immediate mucky misery has been abated. Ebed-melech has saved his life.
As we face the crisis of our own times, what might we learn from Ebed-melech?
First, Ebed-melech opens hir eyes both to the hypocrisy of the princes and to the suffering their actions breed. Ze determines to address Jeremiah’s situation.
Focused on hir own accountability, Ze spends zero time tweeting and virtue signaling about how awful the princes are. Ebed-melech’s tactics are embodied and relational. Ze walks right up to the king and speaks truth directly to power, intimately, capitalizing on a close relationship that ze and the king have forged over a course of years.
Ebed-melech claims hir own power and exercises it in a way that is simultaneously strong, effective, compassionate, and humane. Ze throws down both ropes and rags, paying explicit attention to the impact of hir actions on Jeremiah, recognizing that even a rescue can inflict discomfort and mitigating its painful toll.
Perhaps most importantly, in a moment of crisis and uncertainty, Ebed-melech sees the vital importance of keeping both the prophet and the prophecy alive. Jeremiah’s job is to help Judah make sense of its situation, to name what is happening in this very moment with clarity and power. Ebed-melech knows that looking directly into the cataclysm with unflinching honesty is the only way to move forward with strength, courage, and hope. Ebed-melech sees how crucial it is that Jeremiah survive. When Jeremiah and his embodied prophetic vision are about to be snuffed out, Ebed-melech defends him, rescues him, safeguards him. Ebed-melech does exactly what ze had determined to do: ze lifts Jeremiah out of the pit before he – and his prophetic witness – dies.”
Chapter 38 ends with a terrible verse, unfinished, broken - it is the last moment of Jerusalem before it becomes Babylon’s prisoner. Jeremiah’s plight and that of the city become one.
As for Ebed Melech, this brave hero’s fate is unknown although a blessing will be reserved for hir - by the grateful Jeremiah, in the next chapter. But not yet:
וַיֵּ֤שֶׁב יִרְמְיָ֙הוּ֙ בַּחֲצַ֣ר הַמַּטָּרָ֔ה עַד־י֖וֹם אֲשֶׁר־נִלְכְּדָ֣ה יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִם וְהָיָ֕ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר נִלְכְּדָ֖ה יְרוּשָׁלָֽ͏ִם׃
“Jeremiah remained in the prison compound until the day Jerusalem was captured.
When Jerusalem was captured…”
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