Jeremiah 34:15-17 sits inside this longer paragraph.
12Therefore Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, 13“Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘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, 14At the end of seven years, every man of you shall release 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, and didn’t incline their ear. 15You had now turned, and had done that which is right in my eyes, in every man proclaiming liberty to his neighbor. You had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name; 16but you turned and profaned my name, and every man caused his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom you had let go free at their pleasure, to return. You brought them into subjection, to be to you for servants and for handmaids.’ ”
17Therefore Yahweh says: “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 Yahweh, “to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine. I will make you be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. 18I 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: 19the princes of Judah, the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land, who passed between the parts of the calf; 20I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life. Their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv15–17 And ye now turned, and did what was right…
And ye now turned, and did what was right in my eyes, by proclaiming liberty every one to his neighbor: God seems at first to commend the people; and no doubt it ought to have been deemed praiseworthy, that the people, after having been reminded that they had perversely disregarded God’s law, willingly engaged in doing their duty; but as they gave but a false proof of repentance, and did not really perform what they had promised, it was, as I have said, a great aggravation of their crime. So then God commended the repentance of the people, in order to shew how detestable is hypocrisy; for they shewed for a short time some feeling of humanity, but soon after proved that it was nothing but dissimulation. He therefore says, that they did what was right by proclaiming liberty And hence it also appears that they had not gone astray through ignorance, for God had required this kindness from them, that is, to restore what had been wickedly taken away from servants and maids, and to let them free again: except they had been constrained by the clear testimony of the Law, they would have never thus given up their private advantages. But after having made a pretense that they wished to obey God, they again soon remanded their servants and their maids. It hence appears evident that they trifled with God, and that it was a mere fraud to set free their servant only for a short time.
He says that they made a covenant in the house on which his name had been called, and also, that they had profaned his name All this added to their wickedness; for not only liberty had been proclaimed and confirmed by an oath, but this had also been done in the Temple. Hence he aggravates the sin of the people by this circumstance, — that they had made the covenant which they afterwards violated in the presence of God. For though the eyes of God penetrate into the most hidden recesses, yet the wickedness of the people became greater, and it was an evidence of men lost to all shame, that they dared to violate their pledged faith, and thus to shew no regard for the Temple, as though they had lost all reverence for God and all fear. It is hence evident how profane they were become, that they dared to come to the Temple and to make an oath before God, and then immediately to forfeit their faith.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv15, 17 Meaning, in the Temple, to declare that it was…
Meaning, in the Temple, to declare that it was a most solemn and straight covenant, made in the Name of the Lord.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Jer 34:15 And ye were now turned, and had…
Jer 34:15 And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:
Ver. 15. And you were now turned.] Being frightened into a temporary reformation: but all was in hypocrisy, as now well appeareth. Falling stars were never but meteors.
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In proclaiming liberty every one to his neighbour.] Your servants were your neighbours, and "their flesh as your flesh," {Neh 5:5} and should have been so considered. In the law the servant paid the half shekel as well as his master. And in the gospel, as there is "neither Jew nor Greek, so neither bond nor free, but all are one in Christ Jesus," {Gal 3:28} whether he be lord or lowlies. Servus est domini sui συναδελφος.
And ye had made a covenant before.] And have not all done so in baptism, that Beersheba, or Well of an oath?
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv15–17 Ye were now turned; that is, reformed in this…
Ye were now turned; that is, reformed in this particular, in which you had done the thing which I commanded you,
proclaiming a liberty to your servants. And you
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made a covenant in my presence to that purpose, and that in the temple, where it seemeth this covenant was made.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv15–17 And ye were now turned,.... Or, "today indeed ye…
And ye were now turned,.... Or, "today indeed ye were turned" (r) some little time ago, indeed, it must be owned, that ye turned from the evil ways of your fathers, for which you were to be commended, as having acted a better part than they:
and had done right in my sight; what was acceptable to the Lord, approved of by him, being agreeably to his law; and it would have been well if they had continued so doing:
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in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; for a manservant, or maidservant, was his neighbour, and to be treated as such, and loved as himself, especially a Hebrew one, of the same nation and religion; and not to be used as a slave, or retained for ever in bondage:
and ye made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name; this circumstance is mentioned as an aggravation of the breach of the covenant they had made, to dismiss their servants according to law; it was made in a very solemn manner, in the presence of God, appealing to him as a witness; it was done in the temple, a sacred place, devoted to him and his worship; which was called by his name, the temple of the Lord, and where his name was called upon, and where were the symbols of his presence.
(r) "jam, vel et quidem conversi fuistis hodie", Schmidt; "reversi quidem vos hodie", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v17 Behold - You shall perish by the sword, famine…
Behold - You shall perish by the sword, famine and pestilence, and those of you who escape them, shall be slaves, in many nations.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16–17 Verse 16. Ye - polluted my name] Had made…
Verse 16. Ye - polluted my name] Had made the covenant in my name, calling me to witness it; now ye have dishonoured my name, by breaking that covenant, and acting contrary to my law.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v15 Jer 34:15-17. And ye were now turned — That…
Jer 34:15-17. And ye were now turned — That is, reformed in this particular; and had done right in my sight — In proclaiming liberty to your servants. And ye had made a covenant before me — Had entered into solemn engagements in my presence and temple to that purpose. This was probably such a covenant as Josiah and all the people had made formerly, (2Ki 23:2-3,) whereby they obliged themselves to serve God, and obey his laws in general, and this concerning giving freedom to their servants in particular. But ye turned — Declined from these good beginnings; and polluted my name — That is, profaned it, in swearing, or solemnly promising in and by it, to do that which you have not done. Certainly, whoever uses the name of God, by way of sanction to his promises, that the greater confidence may be placed in them, and afterward does not perform them, profanes or pollutes the name of God. Therefore, behold I proclaim liberty for you to the sword, &c. — I now declare that I give free commission and liberty to my sore judgments, the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, to invade and destroy multitudes of you. See Jer 32:24; Jer 32:36. The expressions here used import, that these calamities come upon men by direction and commission from God, as the executioners of his justice. And to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth — Those of you who escape destruction shall be dispersed through different nations, where you shall learn by experience how great are the hardships and miseries attendant on a state of servitude. See note on Jer 24:9.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv16–17 And set. Hebrew, "to their own soul," to do…
And set. Hebrew, "to their own soul," to do as they pleased. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv15–17 in the house . . . called by my…
in the house . . . called by my name--the usual place of making such covenants (Kg2 23:3; compare Kg1 8:31; Neh 10:29).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v17 17. I proclaim a liberty for you — I…
17. I proclaim a liberty for you — I will punish you according to your offence. I will set you free from my care and guidance — will manumit you from my safe and happy service — will substitute a liberty to calamity and death for a service of prosperity and life. Make you to be removed, etc. — Make you to be a dread unto. Others translate, make you an agitation.
Keil, make you a tossing hither and thither. According to these last there is here predicted the condition of unrest in which the Jewish people have been.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–17 16. at their pleasure] lit. according to their soul.…
16. at their pleasure] lit. according to their soul. See on Jer_22:27.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv15–17 (15) Ye had made a covenant before me in…
(15) Ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name.—The words point to the solemnity with which the new engagements had been contracted. It was not merely that the king had issued an edict, or that judges had given their decisions in accordance with the old law, but princes and people had met together in the courts of the Temple, and there, in the presence of Jehovah, had entered into this covenant, as did their descendants afterwards in the days of Nehemiah (Neh_5:12-13), with Him and with each other. Their sin in breaking their covenant was therefore a sin against Him as well as against their brethren.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv15, 17 Ye were now turned; or, ye returned (the primary…
Ye were now turned; or, ye returned (the primary meaning is simply "to turn;" hence
(1) to turn away, as in ver. 16;
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(2) to return, as here; comp. (Jer_8:4)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v17 Ye have not hearkened unto Me, in proclaiming liberty.
Jer_34:17
Ye have not hearkened unto Me, in proclaiming liberty.
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The liberty of sin
The Word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah that all bondservants in Israel should be forthwith emancipated. At first the princes obeyed, and the enslaved were allowed to go free. But eventually the princes played falsely, and once more brought their old servants into bondage. Then comes the text with its terrible irony.
I. The mutiny against the law. In the first instance the governors felt the reasonableness of the commandment, they agreed to it, but at length they resisted it, violated it. And this spirit of revolt against the higher law is ever working in us and displaying itself in some form of disobedience.
1. There is a theoretical repudiation of the law. Literary men are ever urging upon us that the moral law as given in revelation is unphilosophical, and the sooner it is renounced by all educated people the better. One by one they ingeniously find us a way out of all the ten great precepts. In our simplicity we thought the Saviour taught us that heaven and earth might pass away, but that the moral commandments should persist in absolute authority and force, but eloquent writers affect to show that the commandments are mere bye-laws, ripe for repeal.
2. And if there is a theoretical repudiation of the law on the part of the literary few, is there not a personal, practical mutiny against it on the part of us all? In manifold ways we criticise the law, fret at it, evade it, violate it. We spurn the circumscriptions which deny us so much, and in blind passion break into forbidden ground. And yet how gracious and beautiful is the law! How generous is the law referred to in the text enjoining upon the rich and great mercy and brotherliness! And the whole of the moral law as expressed in revelation is equally rational and benign. The commandments are not grievous. No, indeed, they are gracious. Every commandment is an illumination, a light shining in a dark place to guide our feet in a dim and perilous way. Every commandment is a salvation. The commandment enjoining love is to save us from the damnation of selfishness; enjoining meekness to save us from the devil of pride; enjoining purity to save us from the hell of lust. Every commandment is a benediction. Scientists are always descanting on the grandeur of natural law, the law which builds the sky, which transfigures the flower, which rules the stars. The scientist, the mathematician, the musician will tell you that law is good, that the secret of the worlds beauty is to be found in the wonderful laws which God wrote in tables of stone long before Moses came. And ii natural law, which rules things, is so sublime, how much does that moral law, which rules spirits, excel in glory! And yet how blindly do we mutiny against the great words of light and love! Some time ago it was told in the paper that a herd of cows was being driven through a long, dark, wooden tubular bridge. Here and there in the woodwork were knotholes, which let in the sun in bars of light. The animals were afraid of these sun-bars; they shied at them, were terrified at them, and then, leaping over them, made a painful hurdle-race of it, coming out at the other end palpitating and exhausted. We are just like them. The laws of God are golden rays in a dark path, they are for our guidance and infinite perfecting and consolation. But they irritate us, they enrage us, we count them despotic barriers to our liberty and happiness, and too often we put them under our feet. So foolish was I, and ignorant, I was as a beast before Thee.
II. The liberty of licence. Behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord. These nobles wished to be free themselves in enslaving their brethren, but in doing this they gave themselves away into servitude; they wished to enrich themselves, and they lost everything; they sought personal indulgence at the expense of their neighbours, and they suffered sword and famine and pestilence. Disobedience always means bondage, disgrace, suffering, death. A liberty to the sword, the famine, and the pestilence! Most awful is the liberty of unrighteousness; who can express the fulness of its woe! Some of you have visited the Castle of Chillon on the Lake of Geneva. In that castle is a dungeon which contains a shaft, at the bottom of which you see the waters of the lake; that shaft is called the way of liberty. Tradition says that in the old days the jailor in the darkness of the dungeon would whisper to the prisoner, Three steps and liberty, and the poor dupe, hastily stepping forward, fell down this shaft, which was planted full of knives and spikes, the mutilated, bloody corpse finally dropping into the depths. That is precisely the liberty of sin. The dupe of sin takes a leap in the dark, he is forthwith pierced through with many sorrows, and mangled and bleeding falls into the gulf. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
1. I want you to feel the madness of contending with God, for that is exactly what sin means.
2. I want you to believe that only through self-limitation can you find the highest liberty and blessedness. All civilisation is the giving up of liberty to find a nobler liberty.
3. If you are to keep the law, you must seek the strength of God in Christ. Born of God, living in fellowship with Him, full of faith, of love, of hope, we shall find the yoke of the law easy, and its burden light. The inner force is equal to the outward duty. (W. L. Watkinson.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 17 Now you yourselves repented
Now you yourselves repented
Here the word "now" is used to draw attention to the important point that follows.
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right in my eyes
"Eyes" here is a metonym for someone's opinion or idea. AT: "what I consider to be right" (See: Metonymy)
the house that is called by my name
This can be translated in active form. AT: "the house that belongs to me" or "the building in which they worship me" (See: Active or Passive Metonymy)
turned and polluted my name
A person's name is a metonym for what people think of him. AT: "stopped doing what was right and did evil things that have made people think that I am evil" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
repent
preach
neighbor
call
name
turn
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv15, 17 34:15-16 The slaveholders had done what was right in…
34:15-16 The slaveholders had done what was right in releasing their slaves; they had obeyed God’s command. But their covenant had been made in the Temple, and when they broke their covenant, they defiled God’s name and treated it with contempt (in violation of Deut 5:11).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.