Why do the officials and all the people say to all the priests and the prophets that Jeremiah does not deserve to die?

The judges, who are the officials and all the people give their verdict to Jeremiah’s accusers, who are the priests and the prophets, by saying, This man does not deserve the sentence of death, for he has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God. This verdict may come as a bit of a surprise to the reader. The court essentially concludes that Jeremiah is not a false prophet who deserves the death sentence. It is significant however that the court makes no reference at all to the content of Jeremiah’s message. They seem to take a middle road of not taking the risk of silencing Jeremiah by condemning him as a false prophet, but also giving no indication to the people of Judah that they should respond to his message.¹ There is no indication at all in the passage that the verdict leads to any response to Jeremiah’s message, not even after the elders of the land speak out in support of Jeremiah in the next three verses.