Jeremiah 38:7

“Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, etc.] The Targum renders it, “a servant of King Zedekiah;” which Jarchi, and other writers, following, make Zedekiah to be the Ethiopian; so called, because as an Ethiopian differs in his skin, so Zedekiah differed in his righteousness, from the rest of his generation; and this his servant, he, with othersf715, takes to be Baruch the son of Neriah, but without any foundation; but, as Kimchi observes, with whom Abarbinel and Ben Melech agree, had this word “Ebedmelech” been an appellation, the usual article would have been prefixed before the word “king”, as in the next clause; and somewhere or other his name would have been given; but it is a proper name,…”

“Ebed-melech--The Hebrew designation given this Ethiopian, meaning "king's servant." Already, even at this early time, God wished to show what good reason there was for calling the Gentiles to salvation. An Ethiopian stranger saves the prophet whom his own countrymen, the Jews, tried to destroy. So the Gentiles believed in Christ whom the Jews crucified, and Ethiopians were among the earliest converts (Act 2:10, Act 2:41; Act 8:27-39). Ebed-melech probably was keeper of the royal harem, and so had private access to the king. The eunuchs over harems in the present day are mostly from Nubia or Abyssinia.”

“Ebed-melech - i. e., the king’s slave. By “Ethiopian” or Cushite is meant the Cushite of Africa, or negro. It seems (compare 2 Kings 23:11) as if such eunuchs (or, chamberlains) took their names from the king, while the royal family and the princes generally bore names compounded with the appellations of the Deity. return to 'Top of Page'”

“38:7-8 the Ethiopian (cp. Luke 17:18; Acts 28:28): Jeremiah’s rescuer was not from Judah; he was a foreigner who dared to defy the other officials. He ran to the Benjamin Gate, where Jeremiah was first arrested (Jer 37:11-13), and rushed into the king’s presence without ceremony.”

“Ebedmelech: Jer 39:16-18 Ethiopian: Jer 13:23; Psa 68:31; Mat 8:11, Mat 8:12, Mat 20:16; Luk 10:30-36, Luk 13:29, Luk 13:30; Act 8:27-39 eunuchs: Jer 29:2, Jer 34:19; Kg2 24:15 \*marg. the king: Jer 37:13; Deu 21:19; Job 29:7-17; Amo 5:10 Jeremiah 38:9”