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Texts -- Jeremiah 34:6-22 (NET)

Context
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.”’”

Pericope

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  • Jer 34:8-22 -- The Lord Threatens to Destroy Those Who Wronged Their Slaves

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Abram asked God to strengthen his faith. In response Yahweh promised to give the patriarch innumerable descendants. This led Abram to request some further assurance that God would indeed do what He promised. God graciously ob...
  • Emphasis shifts in this chapter from ceremonial defilement (ch. 17) to moral impurity. The Lord wanted His people to be holy in their behavior and character as well as in less important ritual observances (cf. Matt. 23:28; Ro...
  • Baxter, J. Sidlow. Explore the Book. 6 vols. London: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott, 1965.Bromiley, Geoffrey W. God and Marriage. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1980.Bullock, C. Hassell. An Introduction to the Poe...
  • Jeremiah's purpose was to call his hearers to repentance in view of God's judgment on Judah, which would come soon from an army from the north (chs. 2-45). Judgment was coming because God's people had forsaken Yahweh and had ...
  • I. Introduction ch. 1A. The introduction of Jeremiah 1:1-3B. The call of Jeremiah 1:4-191. The promise of divine enablement 1:4-102. Two confirming visions 1:11-19II. Prophecies about Judah chs. 2-45A. Warnings of judgment on...
  • 1:4 The prophet now began speaking to his readers and telling them what the Lord had said to him. Throughout this book, an indication that the Lord had told Jeremiah something is often the sign of a new pericope, as here (cf....
  • This message demonstrates a structure that is quite typical of many others in the Book of Jeremiah (cf. 11:1-17; 17:19-27; 34:8-22). First there is an explanation of Yahweh's will (word, law; vv. 1-7), then a description of I...
  • This message to the people involved another symbolic act (cf. 13:1-11). This incident may have occurred between 609 and 605 B.C.19:1 Yahweh told Jeremiah to take some of Judah's elders and senior priests and to go and purchas...
  • This section consists of four parts: a summary of Jeremiah's Temple Sermon (vv. 2-6), the prophet's arrest and trial (vv. 7-16), the elders' plea for his life (vv. 17-19, 24), and the incident involving Uriah and his executio...
  • The Book of Consolation contained messages of future hope for Judah (chs. 30-33). Now Jeremiah returned to document her present judgment. Chapters 34-45 continue the theme of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem from chapters 2-29...
  • "The Book of Consolation has ended, and 34:1 confronts its readers with the full force of the invading imperial army. The destruction of Jerusalem and the remainder of Judah seems inevitable (v 3) because the LORD has made Ne...
  • This incident happened during the respite in the siege, as did those recorded in 32:1-15; 37-38; and 39:15-18 (cf. vv. 21-22). The year was about 588 B.C.34:8-9 The following message came to Jeremiah from the Lord after Zedek...
  • The theme of Judah's faithlessness carries over from chapter 34. The promise-breakers in 34:8-22 contrast with the promise-keepers in chapter 35. The events described in chapters 35 and 36 preceded those in chapters 32-34 chr...
  • 37:1 Nebuchadnezzar, sovereign over Judah since Jehoiakim's unsuccessful rebellion against him in 598 B.C., set up Zedekiah, Jehoiakim's brother, as Judah's king in 597 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 24:17). Jehoiakim's son, Jehoiachin (C...
  • This chapter belongs after chapter 36 chronologically, either after 36:8 or 36:32. It serves as an appendix to the historical incidents recorded there. Perhaps the writer or final editor placed it here to show that Yahweh exe...
  • This is one of four accounts of the fall of Jerusalem in the Old Testament (cf. 2 Kings 25; 2 Chron. 36:11-21; Jer. 39:1-14). The repetition underlines the importance of the event.52:1 Zedekiah (Mattaniah, 2 Kings 24:17) was ...
  • Aharoni, Yohanan, and Michael Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. Revised ed. London: Collier Macmillan Publishers; and New York: Macmillan Publishers Co., 1977.Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. Revis...
  • This book does not identify its writer. The common view that Jeremiah wrote it rests on a preface in the Greek Septuagint, which the Latin Vulgate adopted and elaborated on. The Septuagint version of Lamentations begins, "And...
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