Therefore the princes said unto the king,.... The four princes mentioned in Jer 38:1, having heard what Jeremiah said to the people, laid the case before the king, and addressed him upon it in the following manner:we beseech thee, let this man be put to death; or,"let this man now be put to death,''as the Targum.
They speak very disrespectfully of the prophet, him "this man"; and with great authority to the and not in a submissive supplicating way, as we render it; the king, being in distress, was in their hands; he stood in fear of them, and could do nothing against their will and pleasure; and they urge that he might die instantly; they were for taking away his life at once.