Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 38:10

"Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die." — Jeremiah 38:10 (ASV)

Take from hence thirty men. —The number seems a large one for the purpose, especially when we consider that the men were sent from a post from which they could hardly be spared, but the king may have wished to guard against resistance on the part of the princes. Hitzig, however, conjectures that “three men” was the original reading of the Hebrew text.