John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 37:19

"Where now are your prophets that prophesied unto you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?" — Jeremiah 37:19 (ASV)

Here Jeremiah, taking confidence, advances to a higher ground, for he condemns the folly of Zedekiah because he had heeded the false prophets and their flatteries. But he did this so that he might more fully confirm his own innocence, as if to say, “I indeed am severely blamed because I threatened ruin to the city and the Temple; but what if the Lord had compelled me to do so?

“And it is evident that I was commissioned by God, and that I asserted nothing without authority; for I have always declared what has happened, and events have proved that I was sent from above when I announced to you what was to come. But where are your prophets? For they have always been flattering you, and it has happened through their falsehoods that you have not returned to the right way.

“It was still in your power to be reconciled to God when I first warned you; and all my labor and efforts were for this purpose, that you might anticipate God’s wrath by a willing repentance. Since, then, your prophets have deceived you, and the event now clearly proves this, know, O king, that I have been sent from above.”

We see, therefore, that Jeremiah was not so anxious about his life that he failed to remain steadfast to his purpose. He did not turn aside from making an honest profession of the truth in order to provide for his own safety, as those do who are fearful and think they act prudently when they are compliant and try to please men opposed to them at the expense of truth.

This was not Jeremiah's way. He did indeed have a regard for his life, as we will now see, but he continued in the discharge of his office and valued the truth communicated to him from above more than a hundred lives. It is, then, with reference to this that he says, Where are your prophets? as if to say, “You see that you have all been deceived by their false prophecies.”