Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 37:20

"And now hear, I pray thee, O my lord the king: let my supplication, I pray thee, be presented before thee, that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe, lest I die there." — Jeremiah 37:20 (ASV)

That you cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan the scribe ... —The petition shows the cruelty with which the prophet had been treated. Half-starved, and thrust into a foul and fetid dungeon, he felt that to return to it would be death.