Jeremiah 34:8-9

The Lord Threatens to Destroy Those Who Wronged Their Slaves

34:8 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah after King Zedekiah had made a covenant ¹  with all the people in Jerusalem ²  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. ³ 

Exodus 21:1-4

The Decisions

21:1 ⁴ “These are the decisions that you will set before them:

Hebrew Servants

21:2 ⁵ “If you buy ⁶  a Hebrew servant, ⁷  he is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he will go out free ⁸  without paying anything. ⁹  21:3 If he came ¹⁰  in by himself ¹¹  he will go out by himself; if he had ¹²  a wife when he came in, then his wife will go out with him. 21:4 If his master gave ¹³  him a wife, and she bore sons or daughters, the wife and the children will belong to her master, and he will go out by himself.

Exodus 23:10-11

Sabbaths and Feasts

23:10 ¹⁴ “For six years ¹⁵  you are to sow your land and gather in its produce. 23:11 But in the seventh year ¹⁶  you must let it lie fallow and leave it alone so that the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave any animal in the field ¹⁷  may eat; you must do likewise with your vineyard and your olive grove.

Deuteronomy 15:12

Release of Debt Slaves

15:12 If your fellow Hebrew ¹⁸  – whether male or female ¹⁹  – is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant ²⁰  go free. ²¹ 

Deuteronomy 15:1

Release for Debt Slaves

15:1 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation ²²  of debts.

Deuteronomy 9:22

9:22 Moreover, you continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, ²³  Massah, ²⁴  and Kibroth-Hattaavah. ²⁵ 

Deuteronomy 9:2

9:2 They include the Anakites, ²⁶  a numerous ²⁷  and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is able to resist the Anakites?”

Deuteronomy 28:10

28:10 Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, ²⁸  and they will respect you.

Isaiah 58:6

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ²⁹ 

I want you ³⁰  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ³¹ 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

Amos 2:6

God Will Judge Israel

2:6 This is what the Lord says:

“Because Israel has committed three covenant transgressions ³²  –

make that four! ³³  – I will not revoke my decree of judgment. ³⁴ 

They sold the innocent ³⁵  for silver,

the needy for a pair of sandals. ³⁶ 

Amos 8:6

8:6 We’re eager to trade silver for the poor, ³⁷ 

a pair of sandals ³⁸  for the needy!

We want to mix in some chaff with the grain!” ³⁹ 

[34:8]  ¹ tn Usually translated “covenant.” See the study note on 11:2 for the rationale for the translation here.

[34:8]  ² map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[34:9]  ³ tn Heb “after King Zedekiah made a covenant…to proclaim liberty to them [the slaves mentioned in the next verse] so that each would send away free his male slave and his female slave, the Hebrew man and the Hebrew woman, so that a man would not hold them in bondage, namely a Judean, his brother [this latter phrase is explicative of “them” because it repeats the preposition in front of “them”].” The complex Hebrew syntax has been broken down into shorter English sentences but an attempt has been made to retain the proper subordinations.

[21:1]  ⁴ sn There follows now a series of rulings called “the decisions” or “the judgments” (הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים, hammishpatim). A precept is stated, and then various cases in which the law is applicable are examined. These rulings are all in harmony with the Decalogue that has just been given and can be grouped into three categories: civil or criminal laws, religious or cultic laws, and moral or humanitarian laws. The civil and criminal laws make up most of chap. 21; the next two chapters mix the other kinds of laws. Among the many studies of this section of the book are F. C. Fensham, “The Role of the Lord in the Legal Sections of the Covenant Code,” VT 26 (1976): 262-74; S. Paul, “Unrecognized Biblical Legal Idioms in Light of Comparative Akkadian Expressions,” RB 86 (1979): 231-39; M. Galston, “The Purpose of the Law According to Maimonides,” JQR 69 (1978): 27-51.

[21:2]  ⁵ sn See H. L. Elleson, “The Hebrew Slave: A Study in Early Israelite Society,” EvQ 45 (1973): 30-35; N. P. Lemche, “The Manumission of Slaves – The Fallow Year – The Sabbatical Year – The Jobel Year,” VT 26 (1976): 38-59, and “The ‘Hebrew Slave,’ Comments on the Slave Law – Ex. 21:2-11,” VT 25 (1975): 129-44.

[21:2]  ⁶ tn The verbs in both the conditional clause and the following ruling are imperfect tense: “If you buy…then he will serve.” The second imperfect tense (the ruling) could be taken either as a specific future or an obligatory imperfect. Gesenius explains how the verb works in the conditional clauses here (see GKC 497 §159.bb).

[21:2]  ⁷ sn The interpretation of “Hebrew” in this verse is uncertain: (l) a gentilic ending, (2) a fellow Israelite, (3) or a class of mercenaries of the population (see W. C. Kaiser, Jr., “Exodus,” EBC 2:431). It seems likely that the term describes someone born a Hebrew, as opposed to a foreigner (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 210). The literature on this includes: M. P. Gray, “The Habiru-Hebrew Problem,” HUCA 29 (1958): 135-202.

[21:2]  ⁸ sn The word חָפְשִׁי (khofshi) means “free.” It is possible that there is some connection between this word and a technical term used in other cultures for a social class of emancipated slaves who were freemen again (see I. Mendelsohn, “New Light on the Hupsu,” BASOR 139 [1955]: 9-11).

[21:2]  ⁹ tn The adverb חִנָּם (hinnam) means “gratis, free”; it is related to the verb “to be gracious, show favor” and the noun “grace.”

[21:3]  ¹⁰ tn The tense is imperfect, but in the conditional clause it clearly refers to action that is anterior to the action in the next clause. Heb “if he comes in single, he goes out single,” that is, “if he came in single, he will go out single.”

[21:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “with his back” meaning “alone.”

[21:3]  ¹² tn The phrase says, “if he was the possessor of a wife”; the noun בַּעַל (ba’al) can mean “possessor” or “husband.” If there was a wife, she shared his fortunes or his servitude; if he entered with her, she would accompany him when he left.

[21:4]  ¹³ sn The slave would not have the right or the means to acquire a wife. Thus, the idea of the master’s “giving” him a wife is clear – the master would have to pay the bride price and make the provision. In this case, the wife and the children are actually the possession of the master unless the slave were to pay the bride price – but he is a slave because he got into debt. The law assumes that the master was better able to provide for this woman than the freed slave and that it was most important to keep the children with the mother.

[23:10]  ¹⁴ sn This section concerns religious duties of the people of God as they worship by giving thanks to God for their blessings. The principles here are: God requires his people to allow the poor to share in their bounty (10-11); God requires his people to provide times of rest and refreshment for those who labor for them (12); God requires allegiance to himself (13); God requires his people to come before him in gratitude and share their bounty (14-17); God requires that his people safeguard proper worship forms (18-19).

[23:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and six years”; this is an adverbial accusative telling how long they can work their land. The following references to years and days in vv. 10-12 function similarly.

[23:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and the seventh year”; an adverbial accusative with a disjunctive vav (ו).

[23:11]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “living thing/creature/beast of the field.” A general term for animals, usually wild animals, including predators (cf. v. 29; Gen 2:19-20; Lev 26:22; Deut 7:22; 1 Sam 17:46; Job 5:22-23; Ezek 29:5; 34:5).

[15:12]  ¹⁸ sn Elsewhere in the OT, the Israelites are called “Hebrews” (עִבְרִי, ’ivriy) by outsiders, rarely by themselves (cf. Gen 14:13; 39:14, 17; 41:12; Exod 1:15, 16, 19; 2:6, 7, 11, 13; 1 Sam 4:6; Jonah 1:9). Thus, here and in the parallel passage in Exod 21:2-6 the term עִבְרִי may designate non-Israelites, specifically a people well-known throughout the ancient Near East as ’apiru or habiru. They lived a rather vagabond lifestyle, frequently hiring themselves out as laborers or mercenary soldiers. While accounting nicely for the surprising use of the term here in an Israelite law code, the suggestion has against it the unlikelihood that a set of laws would address such a marginal people so specifically (as opposed to simply calling them aliens or the like). More likely עִבְרִי is chosen as a term to remind Israel that when they were “Hebrews,” that is, when they were in Egypt, they were slaves. Now that they are free they must not keep their fellow Israelites in economic bondage. See v. 15.

[15:12]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your brother, a Hebrew (male) or Hebrew (female).”

[15:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “him.” The singular pronoun occurs throughout the passage.

[15:12]  ²¹ tn The Hebrew text includes “from you.”

[15:1]  ²² tn The Hebrew term שְׁמִטָּת (shÿmittat), a derivative of the verb שָׁמַט (shamat, “to release; to relinquish”), refers to the cancellation of the debt and even pledges for the debt of a borrower by his creditor. This could be a full and final remission or, more likely, one for the seventh year only. See R. Wakely, NIDOTTE 4:155-60. Here the words “of debts” are not in the Hebrew text, but are implied. Cf. NAB “a relaxation of debts”; NASB, NRSV “a remission of debts.”

[9:22]  ²³ sn Taberah. By popular etymology this derives from the Hebrew verb בָעַר (ba’ar, “to burn”), thus, here, “burning.” The reference is to the Lord’s fiery wrath against Israel because of their constant complaints against him (Num 11:1-3).

[9:22]  ²⁴ sn Massah. See note on this term in Deut 6:16.

[9:22]  ²⁵ sn Kibroth-Hattaavah. This place name means in Hebrew “burial places of appetite,” that is, graves that resulted from overindulgence. The reference is to the Israelites stuffing themselves with the quail God had provided and doing so with thanklessness (Num 11:31-35).

[9:2]  ²⁶ sn Anakites. See note on this term in Deut 1:28.

[9:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “great and tall.” Many English versions understand this to refer to physical size or strength rather than numbers (cf. “strong,” NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[28:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the name of the Lord is called over you.” The Hebrew idiom indicates ownership; see 2 Sam 12:28; Isa 4:1, as well as BDB 896 s.v. קָרָא Niph. 2.d.(4).

[58:6]  ²⁹ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ³⁰ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “crushed.”

[2:6]  ³² tn For this translation see the note at 2:4.

[2:6]  ³³ tn Heb “Because of three violations of Israel, even because of four.”

[2:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “I will not bring it [or “him”] back.” The translation understands the pronominal object to refer to the decree of judgment that follows; the referent (the decree) has been specified in the translation for clarity. For another option see the note on the word “judgment” in 1:3.

[2:6]  ³⁵ tn Or “honest” (CEV, NLT). The Hebrew word sometimes has a moral-ethical connotation, “righteous, godly,” but the parallelism (note “poor”) suggests a socio-economic or legal sense here. The practice of selling debtors as slaves is in view (Exod 21:2-11; Lev 25:35-55; Deut 15:12-18) See the note at Exod 21:8 and G. C. Chirichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East (JSOTSup). Probably the only “crime” the victim had committed was being unable to pay back a loan or an exorbitant interest rate on a loan. Some have suggested that this verse refers to bribery in legal proceedings: The innocent are “sold” in the sense that those in power pay off the elders or judges for favorable decisions (5:12; cf. Exod 23:6-7).

[2:6]  ³⁶ tn Perhaps the expression “for a pair of sandals” indicates a relatively small price or debt. Some suggest that the sandals may have been an outward token of a more substantial purchase price. Others relate the sandals to a ritual attached to the transfer of property, signifying here that the poor would be losing their inherited family lands because of debt (Ruth 4:7; cf. Deut 25:8-10). Still others emend the Hebrew form slightly to נֶעְלָם (ne’lam, “hidden thing”; from the root עָלַם, ’alam, “to hide”) and understand this as referring to a bribe.

[8:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “to buy the poor for silver.”

[8:6]  ³⁸ tn See the note on the word “sandals” in 2:6.

[8:6]  ³⁹ tn Heb “The chaff of the grain we will sell.”