Commentary
Old Testament : Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
The Song of Songs
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
![](images/minus.gif)
Text -- Jeremiah 34:1-22 (NET)
![](images/arrow_open.gif)
Strongs On/Off
Context
The Lord Makes an Ominous Promise to Zedekiah
34:1 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah while King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and the towns around it with a large army. This army consisted of troops from his own army and from the kingdoms and peoples of the lands under his dominion .
34:2 The Lord God of Israel told Jeremiah to go and give King Zedekiah of Judah a message . He told Jeremiah to tell him, “The Lord says , ‘I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon and he will burn it down .
34:3 You yourself will not escape his clutches , but will certainly be captured and handed over to him. You must confront the king of Babylon face to face and answer to him personally. Then you must go to Babylon .
34:4 However , listen to what I, the Lord , promise you, King Zedekiah of Judah . I, the Lord , promise that you will not die in battle or be executed.
34:5 You will die a peaceful death. They will burn incense at your burial just as they did at the burial of your ancestors , the former kings who preceded you. They will mourn for you, saying, “Poor, poor master !” Indeed , you have my own word on this. I , the Lord , affirm it!’”
34:6 The prophet Jeremiah told all this to King Zedekiah of Judah in Jerusalem .
34:7 He did this while the army of the king of Babylon was attacking Jerusalem and the cities of Lachish and Azekah . He was attacking these cities because they were the only fortified cities of Judah which were still holding out.
The Lord Threatens to Destroy Those Who Wronged Their Slaves
34:8 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to grant their slaves their freedom .
34:9 Everyone was supposed to free their male and female Hebrew slaves . No one was supposed to keep a fellow Judean enslaved .
34:10 All the people and their leaders had agreed to this. They had agreed to free their male and female slaves and not keep them enslaved any longer . They originally complied with the covenant and freed them.
34:11 But later they had changed their minds. They had taken back their male and female slaves that they had freed and forced them to be slaves again.
34:12 That was when the Lord spoke to Jeremiah ,
34:13 “The Lord God of Israel has a message for you. ‘I made a covenant with your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt where they had been slaves . It stipulated ,
34:14 “Every seven years each of you must free any fellow Hebrews who have sold themselves to you. After they have served you for six years , you shall set them free .” But your ancestors did not obey me or pay any attention to me.
34:15 Recently , however, you yourselves showed a change of heart and did what is pleasing to me. You granted your fellow countrymen countrymen their freedom and you made a covenant to that effect in my presence in the house that I have claimed for my own .
34:16 But then you turned right around and showed that you did not honor me . Each of you took back your male and female slaves whom you had freed as they desired , and you forced them to be your slaves again.
34:17 So I, the Lord , say : “You have not really obeyed me and granted freedom to your neighbor and fellow countryman . Therefore , I will grant you freedom , the freedom to die in war, or by starvation or disease . I, the Lord , affirm it! I will make all the kingdoms of the earth horrified at what happens to you.
34:18 I will punish those people who have violated their covenant with me. I will make them like the calf they cut in two and passed between its pieces . I will do so because they did not keep the terms of the covenant they made in my presence .
34:19 I will punish the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem , the court officials , the priests , and all the other people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf .
34:20 I will hand them over to their enemies who want to kill them. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals .
34:21 I will also hand King Zedekiah of Judah and his officials over to their enemies who want to kill them. I will hand them over to the army of the king of Babylon , even though they have temporarily withdrawn from attacking you.
34:22 For I, the Lord , affirm that I will soon give the order and bring them back to this city . They will fight against it and capture it and burn it down . I will also make the towns of Judah desolate so that there will be no one living in them.”’”
![](images/advanced.gif)
![](images/advanced.gif)
![](images/advanced.gif)
Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
![](images/arrow_open.gif)
Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Zedekiah |
Israel |
Babylon |
Covenant |
ZEDEKIAH (2) |
Servant |
COVENANT, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT |
Sabbatic Year |
Constitution |
Liberty |
King |
Emancipation |
SLAVE; SLAVERY |
ELIJAH |
HANDMAID |
CALF, GOLDEN |
Azekah |
Lachish |
Calf |
CREDITOR |
more
![](images/cmt_minus_head.gif)
expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Jer 34:1; Jer 34:1; Jer 34:1; Jer 34:2; Jer 34:2; Jer 34:2; Jer 34:3; Jer 34:3; Jer 34:4; Jer 34:4; Jer 34:4; Jer 34:5; Jer 34:5; Jer 34:5; Jer 34:5; Jer 34:5; Jer 34:7; Jer 34:8; Jer 34:8; Jer 34:8; Jer 34:9; Jer 34:9; Jer 34:10; Jer 34:11; Jer 34:11; Jer 34:12; Jer 34:13; Jer 34:13; Jer 34:13; Jer 34:13; Jer 34:13; Jer 34:14; Jer 34:15; Jer 34:15; Jer 34:16; Jer 34:16; Jer 34:16; Jer 34:17; Jer 34:17; Jer 34:17; Jer 34:17; Jer 34:18; Jer 34:18; Jer 34:19; Jer 34:19; Jer 34:20; Jer 34:21; Jer 34:21; Jer 34:22
NET Notes: Jer 34:1 It is difficult to assign dates to passages which have no dating formulas but there is sufficient detail in this passage to show that this incident oc...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:2 Heb 34:1 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord…saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Go and speak to Zedekiah k...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:4 The contrast is between death in battle or by execution and death in the normal course of life. Zedekiah was captured, had to witness the execution of...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:7 Heb “And the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah which were left, [namely] against La...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:8 For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:9 Through economic necessity some of the poorer people of the land had on occasion to sell themselves or their children to wealthier Hebrew landowners. ...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:10 Heb “And they complied, [that is] all the leaders and all the people who entered into the covenant that they would each let his male slave and h...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:11 Heb “they had brought them into subjection for male and female slaves.” However, the qualification of “male and female” is alr...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:12 Heb “And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying.” This is the resumption of the introduction in v. 8 after the length...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:13 Heb “made a covenant, saying.” This was only one of several stipulations of the covenant. The form used here has been chosen as an indirec...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:14 Compare Deut 15:12-18 for the complete statement of this law. Here only the first part of it is cited.
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:15 This refers to the temple. See Jer 7:10, 11, 14, 30 and see the translator’s note on 7:10 and the study note on 10:25 for the explanation of the...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:16 Heb “and you brought them into subjection to be to you for male and female slaves.” See the translator’s note on v. 11 for the same ...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:18 There is a little confusion in the syntax of this section because the noun “the calf” does not have any formal conjunction or preposition ...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:19 This verse is not actually a sentence in the Hebrew original but is a prepositioned object to the verb in v. 20, “I will hand them over.” ...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)
NET Notes: Jer 34:21 This refers to the relief offered by the withdrawal of the Babylonian troops to fight against the Egyptians which were coming to Zedekiah’s aid ...
![](images/cmt_minus.gif)