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Jeremiah 34

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Prophecy Concerning King Zedekiah 1–7

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The word which came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth that were under his dominion, and all the peoples, were fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying: ​
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Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
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and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. ​
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Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O Zedekiah king of Judah: thus saith Jehovah concerning thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword;
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thou shalt die in peace; and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings that were before thee, so shall they make a burning for thee; and they shall lament thee, saying, Ah Lord! for I have spoken the word, saith Jehovah. ​
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Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
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when the king of Babylon’s army was fighting against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish and against Azekah; for these alone remained of the cities of Judah as fortified cities. ​

The Broken Covenant of Freedom 8–11

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The word that came unto Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; ​
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that every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid-servant, that is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that none should make bondmen of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother. ​
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And all the princes and all the people obeyed, that had entered into the covenant, that every one should let his man-servant, and every one his maid-servant, go free, that none should make bondmen of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go:
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but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. ​

Judgment for Violating the Law 12–22

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Therefore the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying,
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Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,
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At the end of seven years ye shall let go every man his brother that is a Hebrew, that hath been sold unto thee, and hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear. ​
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And ye were now turned, and had done that which is right in mine eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
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but ye turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and ye brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. ​
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Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Ye have not hearkened unto me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim unto you a liberty, saith Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth. ​
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And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, that have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof; ​
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the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, that passed between the parts of the calf; ​
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I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food unto the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth.
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And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, that are gone away from you.
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Behold, I will command, saith Jehovah, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 34

Verse 1

all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion — The besieging army was drawn from the peoples under Babylon's rule, as the LORD had told Jeremiah at his call: 'I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north' (Jer 1:15). The siege began 'in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month' of Zedekiah (2 Ki 25:1), and this word comes while it is under way.

Verse 3

mouth to mouth — The meeting is the one told in 2 Ki 25:6–7: Zedekiah was brought to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where 'they gave judgment upon him', and his sons were slain before his eyes before his own eyes were put out. The same words stand in Jer 32:4; Ezek 12:13 adds that he would come 'to Babylon… yet shall he not see it'.

Verse 5

die in peace — The promise is peace (shalom) in the manner of death: Zedekiah would not 'die by the sword' (v.4). The 'burnings' (misraphah) are the spices burned at a king's burial, like the 'very great burning' made for Asa (2 Chr 16:14) and withheld from Jehoram (2 Chr 21:19). The lament 'Ah lord!' was denied Jehoiakim (Jer 22:18).

Verse 7

Lachish, and against Azekah — These two 'defenced cities' (mibtsar, fortified towns) were the last still holding in Judah. Both are named earlier in Scripture: Azekah where hailstones fell on Joshua's enemies (Josh 10:11), and Lachish where Hezekiah 'sent to the king of Assyria' (2 Ki 18:14).

Verse 8

to proclaim liberty — Deror is the word of the jubile law, 'proclaim liberty throughout all the land' (Lev 25:10), and of Isa 61:1, 'to proclaim liberty to the captives'. Zedekiah's covenant with the people in Jerusalem was a release of servants, sworn 'in the house which is called by my name' (v.15).

Verse 9

an Hebrew or an Hebrewess — The release follows the law that a Hebrew sold to a brother serves 'six years' and goes out free in the seventh (Ex 21:2; Deut 15:12). 'Free' is chophshi, the word of those laws and of Isa 58:6, 'let the oppressed go free'. The ground of the release is kinship: 'a Jew his brother'.

Verse 11

they turned, and caused the servants… to return — 'Turned' and 'return' are one Hebrew verb, shuv. It is the verb of v.15, where they 'turned' and did right, and of v.16, where they turned back from it. The Chaldeans had 'gone up' from the city (v.21; Jer 37:5), and the freed servants were brought back 'into subjection'.

Verse 14

At the end of seven years — The command is that of Deut 15:12, 'in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free', and it belonged to the covenant made 'in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt' (v.13). 'Inclined their ear' is the idiom of Jer 7:24, where the fathers 'hearkened not, nor inclined their ear'.

Verse 16

polluted my name — Chalal, to profane, the verb of Lev 19:12, 'neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God'. The release had been sworn 'in the house which is called by my name' (v.15), so undoing it profaned the name they swore by. 'At their pleasure' is literally 'to their soul' (nephesh), wherever the servants chose to go.

Verse 17

I proclaim a liberty for you — The LORD answers in their own word deror: since they would not proclaim liberty to their brothers, he proclaims a 'liberty' to the sword, the pestilence and the famine. 'Removed' (zaavah, agitation, ill-treatment) is the word of Deut 28:25, 'shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth', and of Jer 15:4; 24:9; 29:18.

Verse 18

cut the calf in twain — The covenant was made by cutting an animal, and the parties passed between the 'parts' (bether). The same word names the 'piece' of Abram's sacrifice (Gen 15:10); it occurs only there and in vv.18–19. The men who broke this covenant are given up, and their 'dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven' (v.20).

Verse 19

the eunuchs, and the priests — Five groups are named: the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs (saris, court officers), the priests, and 'all the people of the land'. They match those who 'entered into the covenant' in v.10, 'all the princes, and all the people', and v.21 gives Zedekiah and his princes into Babylon's hand.

Verse 22

I will command… and cause them to return — The Chaldeans who had 'gone up' (v.21) are brought back: 'the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire' (Jer 37:8). It was fulfilled when the city was taken and 'the Chaldeans burned the king's house' (Jer 39:1–2, 8).