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Text -- Jeremiah 34:8-22 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
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.”’”
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Covenant |
Zedekiah |
Servant |
Babylon |
Israel |
Sabbatic Year |
COVENANT, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT |
ZEDEKIAH (2) |
King |
Liberty |
Emancipation |
Constitution |
SLAVE; SLAVERY |
HANDMAID |
Calf |
CALF, GOLDEN |
ELIJAH |
Decision |
Prophecy |
TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> 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 34:8 For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
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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. ...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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.
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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...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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.” ...
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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 ...
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