Jeremiah delivers the LORD's prophecy to King Zedekiah, foretelling Jerusalem's capture and burning by Nebuchadnezzar, and Zedekiah's own captivity in Babylon, though he would die in peace. The chapter then details a broken covenant: Zedekiah and the people initially freed their Hebrew servants according to the law, but later re-enslaved them. For this transgression, the LORD declares a severe judgment of sword, pestilence, famine, and exile upon Judah. The Babylonian army, which had temporarily withdrawn, is promised to return to utterly destroy Jerusalem.
The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, 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 of it, saying:
Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, Go, and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
and you shall not escape out of his hand, but shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with you mouth to mouth, and you shall go to Babylon.
you shall die in peace; and with the burnings of your fathers, the former kings who were before you, so shall they make a burning for you; and they shall lament you, saying, Ah Lord! for I have spoken the word, says the LORD.
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 word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them;
that every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother.
All the princes and all the people obeyed, who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant, and everyone his female servant, go free, that no one should make bondservants of them any more; they obeyed, and let them go:
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.
Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying,
At the end of seven years you shall let go every man his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, and has served you six years, you shall let him go free from you: but your fathers didn’t listen to me, neither inclined their ear.
You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and you had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
but you turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and you brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.
Therefore thus says the LORD: you have not listened to me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim to you a liberty, says the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.
I will give the men who have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts;
the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf;
I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for food to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth.
Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, who have gone away from you.
Behold, I will command, says the LORD, 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.
Study Notes for Jeremiah 34
Verse 1
This prophecy occurs during the final, intense phase of the siege of Jerusalem (588-586 BC), when Nebuchadnezzar's forces were actively engaging the remaining strongholds of Judah.
Verse 3
This verse predicts Zedekiah’s capture and face-to-face confrontation with Nebuchadnezzar. While Zedekiah was later blinded (2 Ki 25:7), the prophecy focuses on his failure to escape and his forced deportation.
Verse 5
The promise to 'die in peace' likely means dying naturally in exile, rather than being executed or tortured by the Babylonians. The 'burnings' (burning spices/odors) refers to the customary royal funeral rites, ensuring he received proper honor.
Verse 7
Lachish and Azekah were major fortified cities southwest of Jerusalem. This highlights the severity of the siege, confirming that these were the last Judean fortresses to fall before Jerusalem itself.
Verse 8
This section begins a new narrative, detailing an attempt by Zedekiah and the people to gain divine favor by observing the Mosaic Law regarding indentured servants.
Verse 9
The law required that Hebrew servants (indentured laborers, not chattel slaves) be released after six years of service (Exod 21:2; Deut 15:12). This covenant sought to rectify years of neglecting this law.
Verse 11
The people revoked the covenant, likely when the Babylonian army temporarily lifted the siege (Jer 37:5). This demonstrated a profound lack of commitment to God's law once the immediate threat subsided.
Verse 14
God references the covenant made at Sinai, establishing that the requirement to free indentured servants was a fundamental element of Israel’s identity as a people freed from slavery in Egypt.
Verse 16
By swearing a covenant in the Temple (the house called by God’s name) and immediately breaking it, they demonstrated contempt for God’s holiness and integrity, thus 'polluting' His name.
Verse 17
God uses powerful irony: since the people refused to proclaim liberty to their brothers, God proclaims a different kind of liberty—freedom for the sword, pestilence, and famine to ravage them.
Verse 18
This describes the ancient ritual for ratifying a covenant (cf. Gen 15:9–10). Cutting an animal in two and walking between the parts symbolized that covenant breakers would suffer the same fate as the animal.
Verse 19
The mention of 'princes,' 'eunuchs,' and 'priests' confirms that the highest ranks of society, who should have been models of obedience, participated in the covenant-breaking ritual.
Verse 22
This confirms that the temporary lifting of the siege (which led the people to re-enslave their servants) was only a pause. God guarantees the Babylonian army will return to execute final, devastating judgment.
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