ירמיהו, פרק ל״ח, פסוק י׳

A royal order to rescue a prophet from a deadly mud pit comes with a surprising requirement: the mobilization of an unusually large rescue team. The king instructs his servant to take command [מצודת ציון] of men from that exact location [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ] to carry out the mission. However, the sheer number of men assigned to the task, thirty individuals, raises an obvious question about why such a massive effort is needed to lift a single person out of the ground.

The primary approach among commentators explains this large team as a tragic result of the physical conditions in the city. A severe famine had devastated the population, leaving the people entirely drained of their physical strength. The men were so weak that it took the combined effort of thirty individuals just to pull one man out of the thick mud [רש״י, רד״ק, מצודת דוד, חומת אנך, ביאור שטיינזלץ].

Alternatively, another perspective suggests that the large number of men was necessary for security reasons rather than physical strength. Earlier, the king had given up his authority over the matter and handed the prophet over to his officials. Because of this, there was a real danger that the guards would resist the rescue attempt. A large force was required to extract the prophet by force, intimidate the guards, and ensure that no one would attack him once he was safely out of the pit [מלבי״ם, ביאור שטיינזלץ].