Ebed-Melech
Ebed-melech the Ethiopian is a eunuch in the household of king Zedekiah during the final siege of Jerusalem. He intervenes when Jeremiah is left to die in a cistern, presses the king to act, organizes the rescue himself, and is later told by Yahweh that he will be spared when the city falls because he trusted in Yahweh's word.
The Rescue from the Dungeon
Ebed-melech is identified by his nationality, his condition, and his place: he is "the Ethiopian, a eunuch, who was in the king's house" (Jer 38:7). When he hears that Jeremiah has been cast into the dungeon, he goes out to find Zedekiah at the gate of Benjamin and speaks bluntly: "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 likely to die in the place where he is, because of the famine; for there is no more bread in the city" (Jer 38:9).
The king reverses the decision and gives Ebed-melech a detail of men: "Take from here thirty men with you, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he dies" (Jer 38:10). Ebed-melech does the work himself with attention to the prophet's body. He goes "into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah" (Jer 38:11), and then instructs the prophet from above: "Put now these rags and worn-out garments under your armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. So they drew up Jeremiah with the cords, and took him up out of the dungeon: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard" (Jer 38:12-13). The padding under the armpits is Ebed-melech's own provision; the rescue is careful, not just procedural.
The Word of Deliverance
A separate oracle in the next chapter is addressed to Ebed-melech personally. Jeremiah is told to seek him out: "Go, and speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: Look, I will bring my words on this city for evil, and not for good; and they will be accomplished before you in that day" (Jer 39:16). The judgment on Jerusalem stands; Ebed-melech is exempted from it. Yahweh's promise is direct: "But I will deliver you in that day, says Yahweh; and you will not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely save you, and you will not fall by the sword, but your soul will be for a prey to you; because you have put your trust in [my Speech], says Yahweh" (Jer 39:17-18). The ground of the deliverance is named — trust in Yahweh's Speech — and that trust is what the cistern rescue had made visible.