Person Old Testament
Jonathan
Jonathan was a scribe who had a house in Jerusalem that was used as a prison. Mentioned in 3 verses across 1 book, first at Jeremiah 37:15.
Why it matters. Scribe with a house used as prison
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Jonathan
Jonathan was a scribe in Jerusalem during the time of King Zedekiah of Judah. His house was used as a prison where the prophet Jeremiah was confined (Jer.37.15). Jeremiah appealed to King Zedekiah not to send him back to Jonathan's house, fearing he would die there (Jer.37.20). Later, Jeremiah told the king's officials that he had only petitioned the king not to send him back to Jonathan's house to die when they questioned him (Jer.38.26). Jonathan's role as a scribe and the use of his house as a prison suggest he was a person of some importance in Jerusalem just prior to the Babylonian conquest in 586 BC.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
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Appears in Scripture
Named in 3 verses across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.