11. The fugitives. These were the people who had previously deserted to the Babylonians during the siege. Jeremiah had repeatedly urged submission (Jer. 27:12; 38:2-4, 17-23), and was himself falsely accused of falling away to the Babylonians (Jer. 37:13, 14).
The remnant. Three classes of people are distinguished in this verse: (1) those left in Jerusalem, (2) those who had deserted to the Babylonians, (3) the “multitude” who were in the country outside Jerusalem. According to the next verse, however, not all of the latter class were taken to Babylon.