The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty to them; that every man should let his male servant, and every man his female servant, who is a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, go free; that no one should make bondservants of them, of a Jew his brother. All the princes and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant, that everyone should let his male servant, and everyone his female servant go free, that no one should make bondservants of them any more. They obeyed and let them go; but afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids.
Therefore Yahweh’s word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying, “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, At 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. You 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; but 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.’ ”
Therefore 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. I 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: the 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; I 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.
“I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes into the hands of their enemies, into the hands of those who seek their life and into the hands of the king of Babylon’s army, who has gone away from you. Behold, I will command,” says Yahweh, “and cause them to return to this city. They will fight against it, take it, and burn it with fire. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 He says, that all the princes and all the…
He says, that all the princes and all the people heard, who had come to the covenant, that every one should let his servant free, etc.; and then he adds, And they obeyed The verb שמע, shemo, is to be taken in a twofold sense; at the beginning of the verse it refers to the simple act of hearing, and at the end of the verse, to obedience. Then he says that they obeyed, and that every one set free his servant. By saying that the princes, as well as all the people, heard, he took away every pretense as to ignorance; so that they could not make an excuse, that they relapsed through want of knowledge or through inconsideration. How so? because they had heard; nor is it to be doubted, but that the Law of God to which we have referred, had been set before them, that they might be ashamed of the iniquity and tyrannical violence which they had exercised towards their servants. The hearing then mentioned here, proves that the Jews were wholly inexcusable, for they saw that God’s Law had been long disregarded by them. And hence we learn, that each of them had sinned the more grievously, as he had been taught what was right, and had, as it were, designedly cast off the yoke. So also Christ teaches us, that the servant who knows his master’s will and does it not, shall be more severely punished than one who offends through ignorance. (Luke 12:47)
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 vv8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 21 When the enemy was at hand, and they saw…
When the enemy was at hand, and they saw themselves in danger, they would seem holy, and so began some kind of reformation: but soon after they uttered their hypocrisy.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv8–22 Jer 34:8 [This is] the word that came unto…
Jer 34:8 [This is] the word that came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which [were] at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them;
Ver. 8. This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord.] Here beginneth a new sermon, reckoned the seventeenth; and here ought to begin a new chapter, saith Piscator.
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After that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant.] In their distress they made some shows of remorse, and some overtures of reformation. So did Pharaoh. {Exo 8:8; Exo 8:15; Exo 8:28; Exo 8:32; Exo 9:28; Exo 9:34; Exo 10:17; Exo 10:20} And the Israelites of old. {Jdg 10:15-16 Psa 78:34-36; see the notes there} Daemon languebat, &c. Pliny, in one of his epistles to one that desired rules from him how to order his life aright, I will, said he, give you one rule that shall be instead of a thousand: Ut tales esse perseveremus sani, quales nos futuros esse profitemur infirmi, i.e., That we continue to be as good in health as we promise and begin to be at the time of our sickness.
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 vv8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22 This verse plainly beginneth a new prophecy, but at…
This verse plainly beginneth a new prophecy, but at what particular time this revelation or the publication of it was we are not told, only the occasion of it is recorded. God had made a particular law respecting the Jewish nation, that if any had bought an Hebrew servant, he should serve but six years, and in the seventh should go out free, Exo 21:2; Deu 15:12. It came into Zedekiah’s mind to make a proclamation for the execution of this law; what moved him to it we have not recorded. The learned author of the English Annotations observeth well, that it was their usual course when they were in some great straits to make some partial reformation, Jdg 10:15,16; Psa 78:34,35; Ho 6 1.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v8 We have here another prophecy upon a particular occasion,…
We have here another prophecy upon a particular occasion, the history of which we must take notice of, as necessary to give light to the prophecy.
I. When Jerusalem was closely besieged by the Chaldean army the princes and people agreed upon a reformation in one instance, and that was concerning their servants.
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1. The law of God was very express, that those of their own nation should not be held in servitude above seven years, but, after they had served one apprenticeship, they should be discharged and have their liberty; yea, though they had sold themselves into servitude for the payment of their debts, or though they were sold by the judges for the punishment of their crimes. This difference was put between their brethren and strangers, that those of other nations taken in war, or bought with money, might be held in perpetual slavery, they and theirs; but their brethren must serve but for seven years at the longest. This God calls the covenant that he had made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, Jer 34:13, Jer 34:14. This was the first of the judicial laws which God gave them (Exo 21:2), and there was good reason for this law. (1.) God had put honour upon that nation, and he would have them thus to preserve the honour of it themselves and to put a difference between it and other nations. (2.) God had brought them out of slavery in Egypt, and he would have them thus to express their grateful sense of that favour, by letting those go to whom their houses were houses of bondage, as Egypt had been to their forefathers. That deliverance is therefore mentioned here (Jer 34:13) as the ground of that law. Note, God's compassions towards us should engage our compassions towards our brethren; we must release as we are released, forgive as we are forgiven, and relieve as we are relieved. And this is called a covenant; for our performance of the duty required is the condition of the continuance of the favours God has bestowed.
2. This law they and their fathers had broken. Their worldly profit swayed more with them than God's command or covenant. When their servants had lived seven years with them they understood their business, and how to apply themselves to it, better than they did when they first came to them, and therefore they would then by no means part with them, though God himself by his law had made them free: Your fathers hearkened not to me in this matter (Jer 34:14), so that from the days of their fathers they had been in this trespass; and they thought they might do it because their fathers did it, and their servants had by disuse lost the benefit of the provision God made for them; whereas against an express law, especially against an express law of God, no custom, usage, nor prescription, is to be admitted in plea. For this sin of theirs, and their fathers, God now brought them into servitude, and justly.
3. When they were besieged, and closely shut in, by the army of the Chaldeans, they, being told of their fault in this matter, immediately reformed, and let go all their servants that were entitled to their freedom by the law of God, as Pharaoh, who, when the plague was upon him, consented to let the people go, and bound themselves in a covenant to do so. (1.) The prophets faithfully admonished them concerning their sin. From them they heard that they should let their Hebrew servants go free, Jer 34:10. They might have read it themselves in the book of the law, but did not, or did not heed it, therefore the prophets told them what the law was. See what need there is of the preaching of the word; people must hear the word preached because they will not make the use they ought to make of the word written. (2.) All orders and degrees of men concurred in this reformation. The king, and the princes, and all the people, agreed to let go their servants, whatever loss or damage they might sustain by so doing. When the king and princes led in this good work the people could not for shame but follow. The example and influence of great men would go very far towards extirpating the most inveterate corruptions. (3.) They bound themselves by a solemn oath and covenant that they would do this, whereby they engaged themselves to God and one another. Note, What God has bound us to by his precept, it is good for us to bind ourselves to by our promise. This covenant was very solemn: it was made in a sacred place, made before me, in the house which is called by my name (Jer 34:15), in the special presence of God, the tokens of which, in the temple, ought to strike an awe upon them and make them very sincere in their appeals to him. It was ratified by a significant sign; they cut a calf in two, and passed between the parts thereof (Jer 34:18, Jer 34:19) with this dreadful imprecation, "Let us be in like manner cut asunder if we do not perform what we now promise." This calf was probably offered up in sacrifice to God, who was thereby made a party to the covenant. When God covenanted with Abraham, for the ratification of it, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between the pieces of the sacrifice, in allusion to this federal rite, Gen 15:17. Note, In order that we may effectually oblige ourselves to our duty, it is good to alarm ourselves with the apprehensions of the terror of the wrath and curse to which we expose ourselves if we live in the contempt of it, that wrath which will cut sinners asunder (Mat 24:51), and sensible signs may be of use to make the impressions of it deep and durable, as here. (4.) They conformed themselves herein to the command of God and their covenant with him; they did let their servants go, though at this time, when the city was besieged, they could very ill spare them. Thus they did right in God's sight, Jer 34:15. Though it was their trouble that drove them to it, yet he was well pleased with it; and if they had persevered in this act of mercy to the poor, to their poor servants, it might have been a lengthening of their tranquillity, Dan 4:27.
II. When there was some hope that the siege was raised and the danger over they repented of their repentance, undid the good they had done, and forced the servants they had released into their respective services again. 1. The king of Babylon's army had now gone up from them, Jer 34:21. Pharaoh was bringing an army of Egyptians to oppose the progress of the king of Babylon's victories, upon the tidings of which the Chaldeans raised the siege for a time, as we find, Jer 37:5. They departed from Jerusalem. See how ready God was to put a stop to his judgments, upon the first instance of reformation, so slow is he to anger and so swift to show mercy. As soon as ever they let their servants go free God let them go free. 2. When they began to think themselves safe from the besiegers they made their servants come back into subjection to them, Jer 34:11, and again Jer 34:16. This was a great abuse to their servants, to whom servitude would be more irksome, after they had had some taste of the pleasures of liberty. It was a great shame to themselves that they could not keep in a good mind when they were in it. But it was especially an affront to God; in doing this they polluted his name, Jer 34:16. It was a contempt of the command he had given them, as if that were of no force at all, but they might either keep it or break it as they thought fit. It was a contempt of the covenant they had made with him, and of that wrath which they had imprecated upon themselves in case they should break that covenant. It was jesting with God almighty, as if he could be imposed upon by fallacious promises, which, when they had gained their point, they would look upon themselves no longer obliged by. it was lying to God with their mouths and flattering him with their tongues. It was likewise a contempt of the judgments of God and setting them at defiance; as if, when once the course of them was stopped a little and interrupted, they would never proceed again and the judgment would never be revived; whereas reprieves are so far from being pardons that if they be abused thus, and sinners take encouragement from them to return to sin, they are but preparatives for heavier strokes of divine vengeance.
III. For this treacherous dealing with God they are here severely threatened. Be not deceived; God is not mocked. Those that think to put a cheat upon God by a dissembled repentance, a fallacious covenant, and a partial temporary reformation, will prove in the end to have put the greatest cheat upon their own souls; for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. it is here threatened, with an observable air of displeasure against them, 1. That, since they had not given liberty to their servants to go where they pleased, God would give all his judgments liberty to take their course against them without control (Jer 34:17): You have not proclaimed liberty to your servants. Though they had done it (Jer 34:10), yet they might truly be said not to have done it, because they did not stand to it, but undid it again; and factum non dicitur quod non perseverat - that is not said to be done which does not last. The righteousness that is forsaken and turned away from shall be forgotten, and not mentioned any more than if it had never been, Eze 18:24. "Therefore I will proclaim a liberty for you; I will discharge you from my service, and put you out of my protection, which those forfeit that withdraw from their allegiance. You shall have liberty to choose which of these judgments you will be cut off by, sword, famine, or pestilence;" such a liberty as was offered to David, which put him into a great strait, Sa2 24:14. Note, Those that will not be in subjection to the law of God put themselves into subjection to the wrath and curse of God. But this shows what liberty to sin really - it is but a liberty to the sorest judgments. 2. That, since they had brought their servants back into confinement in their houses, God would make them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, where they should live in servitude, and, being strangers, could not expect the privileges of free-born subjects. 3. That, since they had broken the covenant which they ratified by a solemn imprecation, God would bring on them the evil which they imprecated upon themselves in case they should break it. out of their own mouth will he judge them, and so shall their doom be; the penalty of their bond shall be recovered, because they have not performed the condition; for so some read Jer 34:18, "I will make the men which have transgressed my covenant as the calf which they cut in twain; I will divide them asunder as they divided it asunder." 4. That, since they would not let go their servants out of the hands, God would deliver them into the hands of those that hated them, even the princes and nobles both of Judah and Jerusalem (of the country and of the city), the eunuchs (chamberlains, or great officers of the court), the priests, and all the people, Jer 34:19. They had all dealt treacherously with God, and therefore shall all be involved in the common ruin without exception. They shall all be given unto the hand of their enemies, that seek, not their wealth only, or their service, but their life, and they shall have what they seek; but neither shall that content them: when they have their lives they shall leave their dead bodies unburied, a loathsome spectacle to all mankind and an easy prey to the fowls and beasts, a lasting mark of ignominy being hereby fastened on them, Jer 34:20. 5. That, since they had emboldened themselves in returning to their sin, contrary to their covenant, by the retreat of the Chaldean army from them, God would therefore bring it upon them again: "They have now gone up from you, and your fright is over for the present, but I will command them to face about as they were; they shall return to this city, and take it and burn it," Jer 34:22. Note, (1.) As confidence in God is a hopeful presage of approaching deliverance, so security in sin is a sad omen of approaching destruction. (2.) When judgments are removed from a people before they have done their work, leave them, but leave them unhumbled and unreformed, it is cum animo revertendi - with a design to return; they do but retreat to come on again with so much the greater force; for when God judges he will overcome. (3.) It is just with God to disappoint those expectations of mercy which his providence had given cause for when we disappoint those expectations of duty which our professions, pretensions, and fair promises, had given cause for. If we repent of the good we had purposed, God will repent of the good he had purposed. With the froward thou will show thyself froward.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv8–22 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from…
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,.... Here begins a new prophecy, which was delivered some time after the former; that was given out while the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem; this after he had quitted the siege for a while, and was gone to meet the king of Egypt, who was coming to the relief of the city, as appears from Jer 34:21; though the Jews (k) say this was delivered in the seventh year of Zedekiah, in the first month, and tenth day of the month; at the same time that the elders of Israel came to Ezekiel, to inquire of the Lord by him, Eze 20:1; which was two years before the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem; but this seems not likely. It is said to be
after that the King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people that were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; not unto the people, or to themselves, the king and the people; unless the sense is, that the king and the people entered into an agreement among themselves to make proclamation, that liberty would be granted by them to their servants; for the liberty proclaimed was to the servants, and not to them. This seems to confirm it, that it was while the city was besieged that this covenant was made; since it was made only with the people at Jerusalem, which were pent up in it; for otherwise it would in all probability have been made with all the people of the land; and seems to have been done with this view, to obtain this favour of the Lord, that they might gain their freedom from the enemy, and come not under the yoke and into the servitude of the king of Babylon: and very probable it is that they did not do this of their own accord, but were exhorted to it by Jeremiah; who perhaps, among other sins, had reproved them for the breach of the law respecting the liberty of servants.
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(k) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 26. p. 74.
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 vv17, 18, 22 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 vv8, 11, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22 Verse 8. The word that came unto Jeremiah] Here…
Verse 8. The word that came unto Jeremiah] Here the second discourse begins, which was delivered probably a short time, even a few days, after the former.
Zedekiah had made a covenant] We find no account elsewhere of this covenant: "Every man should let his man-servant and his maid-servant go free;" i.e., as we learn from Jer 34:14, on the sabbatical year; for the seventh year was the year of release. See De 15:12.
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 vv10, 13, 15, 18, 19 Jer 34:10-11. Now when all the princes, &c., heard…
Jer 34:10-11. Now when all the princes, &c., heard — This verse is better translated by Blaney and others thus, And all the princes hearkened, or, consented, and all the people who entered into covenant to let every one his bondman, and every one his bond-woman go free, and not to exact service of them any more, they hearkened, I say, and let them go. That is, they conformed to the obligations of the covenant, which they had entered into at the instigation of their prince. But afterward they turned, and brought them into subjection, &c. — Namely, upon the advance of the Egyptian army, which caused Nebuchadnezzar to raise the siege of Jerusalem. When they thought themselves safe from their enemies, as if they had also got out of God’s hand, they repented of their repentance, and returned to their old oppressions. Now this was not only a contempt of the divine law, as if it were of no force at all, but they might either keep it or break it as they thought fit; but it was a contempt of the covenant which they had, in a very solemn manner, (see Jer 34:18-20,) made with him, and of that wrath which they had imprecated upon themselves in case they should break that covenant. It was jesting with God Almighty, as if he could be imposed on by fallacious promises, which, when they had gained their point, they would think themselves no longer obliged by. It was lying to God with their mouths, and flattering him with their tongues. It was likewise a contempt of the judgments of God, and setting them at defiance; as if when once the course of them was stopped a little, and interrupted, they would never proceed again, nor be revived: whereas, reprieves are so far from being pardons, that if they be abused thus, and sinners take encouragement from them to return to sin, they are but preparatives for heavier strokes of divine vengeance.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v8 It is usual with commentators to say that, the…
It is usual with commentators to say that, the laws dealing with the emancipation of the Hebrew slaves, as also that of the land resting during the sabbatical year, were not observed. The narrative teaches us the exact contrary. The manumission of the slaves on the present occasion was the spontaneous act of Zedekiah and the people. They knew of the law, and acknowledged its obligation. The observance of it was, no doubt, lax: the majority let their own selfish interests prevail; but the minority made might give way to right, and Zedekiah supported their efforts though only in a weak way.
Early in January, in the ninth year of Zedekiah, the Chaldaean army approached Jerusalem. The people made a covenant with the king, who appears as the abettor of the measure, to let their slaves go free. Possibly patriotism had its share in this: and as Jerusalem was strongly fortified, all classes possibly hoped that if the slaves were manumitted, they too would labor with a more hearty good-will in resisting the enemy. In the summer of the same year the Egyptians advanced to the rescue, and Nebuchadnezzar withdrew to meet their attack. The Jews with a strange levity, which sets them before us in a most despicable light, at once forced the manumitted slaves back into bondage. With noble indignation Jeremiah rebukes them for their treachery, assures them that the Chaldaean army will return, and warns them of the certainty of the punishment which they so richly merited.
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Jer 34:8
As the Chaldaean army swept over the country the wealthier classes would all flee to Jerusalem, taking with them their households. And as the Mosaic Law was probably more carefully kept there than in the country, the presence in these families of slaves who had grown grey in service may have given offence to the stricter classes at the capital.
To proclaim liberty unto them - The words are those of the proclamation of the year of jubile to the people, whereupon it became their duty to set their slaves free.
Jer 34:9
Should serve himself of them - Should make them serve him (see Jer 25:14).
Jer 34:11
They turned, and caused ... to return - But afterward they again made the slaves return.
Jer 34:13
The house of bondmen - The miserable prison in which, after being worked in the fields all day in gangs, the slaves were shut up at night.
Jer 34:16
At their pleasure - literally, for themselves.
Jer 34:17
I will make you to be removed into - “I will cause you to be a terror unto.” Men would shudder at them.
Jer 34:18
The words ... - The Jews spoke of “cutting” a covenant, because the contracting parties cut a calf in twain and passed between the pieces. Thus cutting a covenant and cutting a calf in twain, meant the same thing.
Jer 34:21
Which are gone up from you - i. e., which have departed for the present, and have raised the siege.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv9, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 Brethren. The sabbatical year happened in the 9th of…
Brethren. The sabbatical year happened in the 9th of Sedecias, when the Chaldeans approaching, caused him to shew some signs of religion. But when they departed to meet the Egyptians, the people repented of what they had done well. (Calmet) --- Such a relapse offends God more than the former sins, as our Saviour shews by a parable, Matthew xviii. (Worthington)
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).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v8 (Chap Jer_34:8-22 and Chap 35)
11. HISTORICAL APPENDIX TO THE COLLECTION OF DISCOURSES
(Chap Jer_34:8-22 and Chap 35)
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At the close of the collected discourses we find two portions which may be regarded as an appendix, inasmuch as they afford a glaring instance of Israel’s disobedience towards Jehovah, in contrast with the obedience of a non-Israelitish tribe towards the command of their ancestor. The history of the discharge of servants, ordered in the pressure of distress but taken back when the danger seemed to be past, is a proof how lightly obedience to Jehovah’s law sat on the hearts of the Israelites, while the obedience of the Rechabites to their ancestral ordinances was deeply rooted and impregnable. Although the two portions are chronologically far apart, the first belonging to the tenth year of Zedekiah (more exactly to the time of the temporary suspension of the siege), the second to the reign of Jehoiakim (more exactly when the first invasion of the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar was expected); yet it is quite appropriate that they should stand side by side, since, as remarked above, the second serves as a foil to the first.
The reason for placing the older portion last may be that the following chapter (36) belongs to the same period, viz., the fourth year of Jehoiakim.
The division into two parts is very clear and simple. The facts are narrated in Jer_34:8-11. Then in Jer_34:12-16 the facts are recapitulated by the prophet with reference to the legal enactments, finally in Jer_34:17-22 the divine sentence is pronounced on the covenant-breaking Israelites.—Chap. 35 is plainly divisible into two halves. In the first (Jer_34:1-11) the facts are again related, in the second the parallel is drawn between the behaviour of the Rechabites and of Israel, and corresponding recompense announced to both.
A. the disobedience of the israelites shown in their behaviour in setting free their servants
Jer_34:8-22
8This is the word that came unto Jeremiah, from the Lord, after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, to9proclaim liberty unto them;5 That every man should let his man-servant, and every man his maid servant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should10serve himself of them,6 to wit, of a Jew his brother. Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his man-servant, and every one his maid-servant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.11But afterward they turned, and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought them into subjection for [or compelled12them to be]7 servants and for handmaids.8 Therefore the word of the Lord came13to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of14the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying, At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold [or who hath sold himself] unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined15their ear, And ye were now [to-day] turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name [whereupon my name is called]: 16but ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection [compelled them], to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
17Therefore thus saith the Lord [Jehovah], Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord [Jehovah], to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed9 into all the18kingdoms of the earth. And I will give10 [or deliver] the men that have transgressed my covenant, which [who] have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed be 19tween the parts thereof, the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the20parts of the calf; I will even give them into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat21unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s22army, which are gone up from you. Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city; and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Jer_34:8-11. This is the word … for servants and for handmaids. Though the expression “to make a covenant” generally means that two persons pledge themselves to a mutual performance, which accrues to the advantage of both parties, the expression here denotes a performance which all do in common in the interest of a third, from which, however, advantage is expected for all. For the setting free was chiefly for the advantage of those set free. It was, however, also hoped that it would be for the general good, account being taken partly of the gratitude of the freedmen and their increased activity in the defence, partly perhaps also of the favor of Jehovah thus to be procured. It is clear that the word “covenant” is thus employed in essentially the same sense as usual.—To proclaim liberty unto them. The expression is found in this sense besides only in Lev_25:10; Isa_61:1; Eze_46:17. Them of course refers to the servants mentioned afterwards. The law on this point is found in Exo_21:1 sqq.; Lev_25:39-41; Deu_15:12. Every servant of Hebrew origin was to be set free after six years’ service (without respect to the Sabbatical year); according to Leviticus 25 this was to be done in the year of jubilee. This involves no contradiction, for in Leviticus 25 it is the law of the jubilee year which is given. The former enactment is merely supplemented from this point of view, the jubilee year is to end the service unconditionally, wherefore the price was to be determined by the time intervening before the jubilee (Jer 34:50 sqq. where it is the sale of Israelitish servants to heathen inhabitants which is spoken of, but there is no reason to doubt the application of this rule to the purchase by Israelites). Comp. Saalschuetz, Mos. Recht. Kap., 14 and 101, § 3.—These legal prescriptions had, like so many others, remained unobserved. The reformation under Josiah may have revived the knowledge, but not the observance of them. The pressure of the siege aroused the thought that the observance of this law might be of use in both the ways above indicated. They therefore pledged themselves on the king’s demand by mutual agreement to set free the Hebrew servants and maids, and as appears from Jer_34:9, all of them, even those who had not served six years. The supererogation with regard to some was outweighed by their short-comings with respect to the others. But—and this is a striking instance of false conversion, springing from bad motives,—when the danger seemed over on the withdrawal of the Chaldeans, they brought the servants again under the yoke.
Jer_34:12-16. Therefore the word … for handmaids.—In the day. Comp. Jer_7:22; Jer_11:4; Jer_31:32.—House of bondmen. Themselves delivered from oppressive servitude, Israel should be kind towards their servants, which is expressly designated in Deu_15:16 as the motive of the law of manumission.—At the end of seven years cannot mean at the end of every seven years. This would contradict what follows, “after he has served six years,” and the similar legal enactments (Exo_21:2; Deu_15:12). It can only signify at the close of a septennium. The preposition מֵן then retains its proper signification;—from the close, i. e., when the close of the septennium, the seventh year, has begun. Comp. similar expressions in Deu_15:1; Deu_14:28 coll. Jer_31:10.—Who hath sold himself. These words are a quotation from memory from Deu_15:12.—Turned, Jer_34:15-16. The meaning of the verb is the same in both cases, only the termini a quo and in quem are opposite.—Called by my name. Every transgression of the divine commands, but especially a breach of a covenant sworn in His name, is a desecration thereof (comp. Lev_19:12; Lev_20:3).—At their pleasure. The expression occurs also in Deu_21:14. It is there used of the captive woman, married but afterwards disapproved. Here the antithesis is evidently not property or family, so that the sense would be, what she possesses belongs to her, but thou shalt set her person at liberty. But the antithesis is the unfreedom of the sold, who must go wherever his master sends him, and the freedom of the dismissed, to go wherever he wishes. The word then=according to, or at, their pleasure, נֶכֶּשׁ being regarded as the seat of desire, as in the expression “if it be your mind,” Gen_23:8; 2Ki_9:15.
Jer_34:17-22. Therefore … without an inhabitant.—Liberty is used the second time in Jer_34:17 ironically; because ye did not proclaim liberty (that which is taken back again directly is as good as none), liberty shall be proclaimed to you, but a liberty of which you will be the victims. [I set you, whom I have hitherto regarded as my servants, free, deliver you over, to your fate, to the sword, etc.—Hitzig].—The calf. Jer_34:18 seems to me better connected with I will give [make], in which we are grammatically fully justified (comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 69, 3). So also Luther and others. The symbolical meaning of the rite here alluded to appears then immediately applied, in order to present before the covenant breakers the threatening punishment. They themselves are to be the calf cut in two. On this rite comp. Gen_15:10, and Delitzsch thereupon. According to the other explanation, “the calf” is in opposition to “the covenant.” Then, however, the similarity in the fate of the transgressor to that of the calf, is only implicitly hinted at, not expressed. The late and anacoluthic resumption “I will give,” in Jer_34:21, is then also troublesome.—In Jer_34:19 chiefs of tribes, city-chiefs (elders of the city), courtiers, priests and common people, are distinguished. When afterwards, verse 21, his princes are again mentioned with the king, we must attribute this to Jeremiah’s diffuseness, and emphasize it the less, as it is very common to mention the king and princes together (Jer_24:8; Jer_25:19, etc.).
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Jer_34:8-11. “The peculiar difference between hypocritical repentance and true conversion. The hypocrites when they do penance, do it (1) not from faith, but from fear of distress and danger, in which they are at the time; (2) they do not make a change in all points of disobedience, but only in the ethical, as here with the jubilee year, as if there were nothing more to be altered; (3) they do such things as make a show for the people and have a high regard, as the manumission, letting loose the rabble, would have a great noise and show, but meanwhile there were few thoughts of faith, love, fear of God, hope and thanksgiving; (4) such penitence does not last long, but as soon as the distress finds a hole, the devotion goes with it.” Cramer.
2. On Jer_34:12. “Qua locutione mystica (verbum Jovæ factum esse a Jovæ) qualis etiam, Gen_19:24, innuitur mysterium Trinitatis juxta regulam Lutheri commendatam nobis in aureo scripto de ultimis verbis Davidis. Insinuatur enim hac et similibus loquendi formulis pluralitas personarum, ut hic Filii et Spiritus sancti.” Förster.
3. On Jer_34:15-16. “Converted, but not rightly; friendship made when the foot is on the neck, Pharisaic repentance. Yet thus, there is often an interval, a period of rest and of refreshment for the kingdom of Christ. And God has this in view when He extorts conversions of this kind.” Zinzendorf.
4. On Jer_34:15-16; Jer_34:18-22. The Jews thus committed a double sin: 1. They did not keep the promise made to each other and to the servants; 2. They desecrated the name of God by their disobedience and breach of the oath sworn in God’s name and house.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
True repentance in distinction from false. 1. The occasion may be the same in both; external distress (comp. ex. gr., Isa_28:19; 1Co_11:32; Tit_2:12). 2. In false penitence the inward disposition remains unchanged; in true penitence man turns inwardly with pain and sorrow from evil and to God. 3. False penitence lasts as long only as the outward need; true penitence is a permanent -condition of the heart, and notwithstanding single backslidings, advances to a more complete subjugation of the old man (the old Adam in us is to be drowned and perish by daily sorrow and repentance).
Footnotes:
[5]Jer_34:8.—The construction is ad sensum, and very common in Hebrew. Comp. 2Ki_10:24; Naegelsb. Gr., § 95, 2.
[6]Jer_34:9.—עבר בם. Comp. Jer_22:13; Jer_25:14; Jer_30:8.
[7]Jer_34:11.—ויכבישׁום. The Hiphil does not occur elsewhere. The Masoretes therefore read Kal (Jer_34:16; 2Ch_28:10).
[8]Jer_34:11.—On the construction לְַעַבַדִים ו comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 95 g., Anm. 5.
[9]Jer_34:17.—[A. V. marg.: for a removing; Naegelsb.: for a horror; Henderson: give you up to agitation.—S. R. A.]
[10]Jer_34:18.—[Naegelsb., Hitzig, Wordsworth: I will make the men who … the calf which they cut; i. e. like the calf, etc.—Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., § 69, 3.—S. R. A.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22 By the law a Hebrew, after having been a…
By the law a Hebrew, after having been a bond-servant for six years, on the seventh was to be let go free (Exo 21:22; Deu 15:12).
Zedekiah made a covenant--with solemn ceremonial in the temple (Jer 34:15, Jer 34:18-19).
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them--bond-servants (Jer 34:9).
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 vv8, 11, 13, 14, 17, 18 JUDGMENTS DENOUNCED AGAINST THE PEOPLE FOR ANNULLING THE MANUMISSION…
JUDGMENTS DENOUNCED AGAINST THE PEOPLE FOR ANNULLING THE MANUMISSION OF THEIR SLAVES, Jer_34:8-22.
8. Had made a covenant… to proclaim liberty — By the law, as given in Deu_15:12, and Exo_21:2, Hebrews held as bond-servants were to be emancipated after being held in service for six years. It does not seem that this means the sabbatical year, but only after six years. Their great danger had, doubtless, quickened their consciences in this matter, and the proper observance of this law was one of the reforms which the king sought to institute. It is possible, too, that slaves were liberated without reference to the time of their servitude.
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 vv8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18 8. had made a covenant] According to Exo_21:2 [E]…
8. had made a covenant] According to Exo_21:2 [E] a Hebrew male slave was to be set free after six years’ service, and by Deu_15:12 this was extended to female slaves. The conscience-quickening power of impending danger, in meeting which the slaves, if enfranchised, would be more ready to co-operate with their former masters, seems to have induced Zedekiah, naturally too weak-minded a man to have displayed much vigour in urging any such conduct upon his subjects, to make the agreement with them here spoken of. This view of the motive is to be preferred to Du.’s theory that the slaves were turned out of the city during the siege because of the burden of feeding persons whose normal occupation of tillage, etc. was necessarily in abeyance. The narrative on the contrary implies that the action was to the slaves’ advantage (see Jer_34:16), and that it was from motives of selfishness that the edict, though sanctioned by the solemnity of an oath, was cancelled on the temporary withdrawal of the besiegers to meet the approaching army of Pharaoh (Jer_34:21).
to proclaim liberty unto them] The same phrase is used of the proclamation made in the year of jubilee (Lev_25:10). “Unto them,” if it be not an insertion, refers to the slaves.
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8–22. Condemnation of the perjury involved in the treatment of the Hebrew slaves
The subsection may be summarized as follows. (i) Jer_34:8-11. Zedekiah induces the people solemnly to bind themselves to release their slaves. They do so, but presently cancel their agreement. (ii) Jer_34:12-16. Jeremiah is bidden to remind the people of the terms of the Law on the subject, and to charge them with perjury in the violation of the covenant they had recently made under solemn sanctions. (iii) Jer_34:17-22. They shall in consequence fall victims to the sword. Their bodies after death shall suffer indignities. The king and his princes shall be taken captive, Jerusalem captured and burnt, and the cities laid waste.
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 vv8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 (8) After that the king Zedekiah had made a…
(8) After that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant . . .—The remainder of the chapter brings before us an historical episode of considerable interest. The law of Moses did not allow in the case of a free-born Hebrew more than a temporary bondage of seven years (Exo_21:2; Deu_15:12-18), extended (but under the form of serfage rather than slavery) in the later regulations of Lev_25:39-40 to the time that might intervene between the date of purchase and the commencement of the next year of jubilee. In 2Ki_4:1 we have an instance of the working of the law, as bringing even the sons of a prophet into this modified slavery. Only if the man preferred his state as a slave to the risks of freedom could his master retain him after the appointed limit (Exo_21:5-6). The law had apparently fallen into disuse, and the nobles of Judah, like those of Athens before Solon, and Rome before the institution of the Tribunate, had used the law of debt to bring a large number of their fellow citizens into slavery, just as their successors did after the return from Babylon (Neh_5:5). Under the pressure of the danger from the Chaldæan invasion, and that he might have the ready service of freemen instead of the forced work of slaves, perhaps also in consequence of the revival of the law, that followed on its discovery, probably in the form of the Book of Deuteronomy, in the days of Josiah (2Ki_22:8), Zedekiah had been led to promise freedom to all the slave population of this class that were within the walls of Jerusalem, either as a celebration of a Sabbatic year, or jubilee, or, irrespective of any such observance, as a reparation for past neglect. The step was probably not without its influence in giving fresh energy to the defenders of the city. The Chaldæans, threatened by the approach of an Egyptian army (Jer_37:5), raised the siege (Jer_34:21). When the danger was past, however, the princes who had agreed to the emancipation returned to their old policy of oppression (Jer_34:11), and those who had been liberated were brought under a bondage all the more bitter for the temporary taste of freedom. Against this perfidious tyranny the prophet, stirred by “the word of the Lord,” bears his protests. His sympathies, like those of true prophets at all times, were with the poor and the oppressed. The phrase “proclaim liberty” was closely connected with the year of jubilee, as in Lev_25:10, Isa_61:1.
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 vv8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21 A covenant. The scene of this "covenant" was the…
A covenant. The scene of this "covenant" was the temple (veto. 15, 18). Solemn agreements of this kind were not uncommon. (comp. 2Ch_15:12 2Ki_11:17 2Ki_23:3 Ne 10) To proclaim liberty unto them. The phrase, a very peculiar one, is taken from the law of jubilee, (Lev_25:10) though the prescription on which the covenant was based refers exclusively to the seventh year of the slave"s servitude.
Vers. 8-11. Superficial repentance.
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In liberating their slaves under the influence of terror, and reclaiming them when the cause of alarm had disappeared, the Jews afford a striking instance of superficial repentance. This must be distinguished from an insincere repentance referred to in an earlier prophecy. (Jer_3:10) That is nothing but a hollow mockery from the first, a mere pretence of conscious hypocrisy; but this is genuine so far as it goes only it goes but a very little way.
I THE CAUSE OF SUPERFICIAL REPENTANCE IS FEAR OF PAINFUL CONSEQUENCES. When the invader was at their gates Zedekiah and his people were so terrified that they were willing to do and promise anything that would mitigate the wrath of God who had permitted the calamity to visit them for their sins. Fear was the sole motive of their hasty covenant of emancipation. Now, this may be a useful initiative of a thorough repentance; but then it must lead to deeper feelings of hearty detestation of sin on its own account. Fear of penalties, without any abhorrence of the moral evil that merits them can only produce superficial results. Earnest repentance involves a turning from sin rather than a flight from its penalties. Hence the importance of seeking to lead men to repentance through influencing the conscience, rather than by means.of mere appeals to selfish terror. Thus St, Paul reasoned with Felix "of righteousness and temperance" as well as of "judgment to come". (Act_24:25) Lurid pictures of the horrors of hell may work upon the feelings, of people with visible effect, but if these take the place of the far more difficult rousing of the moral sense, the effect of them will be very superficial and not all spiritual. Such a sensational style of preaching is tempting because it is easy, and apparently very effective, but its fruits are disappointing, and come short of the less pretentious efforts that aim at awakening the conscience.
II THE CHARACTERISTIC OF SUPERFICIAL REPENTANCE IS CHANGE OF CONDUCT WITHOUT CHANGE OF HEART. That was no genuine reformation which Zedekiah hurried through in the face of imminent danger. True, the slaves were freed and the Law was obeyed. But there was no indication of a revived respect for the Law, nor of a lessening of greed and cruelty, nor of a larger recognition of the rights of fellow citizens. There was no change of heart, in fact. Such is the result of a repentance of fear without conviction of conscience. This reformation is worthless in the sight of God, who looks at the disposition of the heart.
III THE EFFECT OF SUPERFICIAL REPENTANCE IS A TEMPORARY REFORMATION. As soon as Nebuchadnezzar withdrew his army, the Jews renounced their covenant and took back their slaves. The motive for the change was gone, and with it the change ceased. A repentance of terror is not likely to outlive the terror. The fears of the night are forgotten in the thoughtless confidence of the day. This is strikingly illustrated in the vacillation of Pharaoh willing to let the Hebrews go while a plague was raging, but withdrawing his promise as soon as it was stayed. Therefore this superficial repentance is practically worthless. Nothing can be solid and enduring in life that does not spring from personal conviction and true feeling. We need a real desire to turn from sin, and a determination to seek a better life for its own sake, in order to secure a lasting change. For this we must seek Divine grace, in order that we may be "born from above.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR Vers. 8-22. False obedience.
An incident of the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. At the first alarm the liberation of the Hebrew slaves was declared and solemnly ratified, according to the sabbatic law, which had long sunk into desuetude. The aim of this was a purely military one, viz. the advantage to be derived from the services of the freedmen in the army, and the removal of disabilities that might occasion disaffection within the walls. Yet an appearance of religion was given to it by the form it was made to assume as connected with the Law, and the solemn rites which were observed. That it was really only a time-serving expedient was shown by the restoration of the state of slavery directly it upreared as if the Chaldeans were going to desist from their purpose.
I WHEREIN IT DIFFERS FROM TRUE OBEDIENCE. This will consist in the essence of the action, which, being moral, must have to do with motives. The form of the action was religions, but the real aim of it was one of selfish policy. Good people and bad are frequently found doing the same good and proper actions, but events frequently prove that they have acted from the most opposite motives. It was not to glorify God or to benefit the bondmen that the edict was put forth, but simply to advance their own interests and to "serve themselves" in a more effective way of their brethren. When righteousness is immediately and evidently advantageous, there are many who will become formally righteous; and when religion is fashionable, there are many who will be religious. When misdeeds are rectified it is so far a good thing; but that the reform may be real and permanent it must proceed from true repentance, and an earnest desire to serve God and the interests of our fellow men.
II CONSIDERATIONS DETERMINING THE REAL NATURE OF REPUTED OBEDIENCE. In discovering the true character of reputed obedience it is well to study:
1. The circumstances. Here there were immediate pressure and distress, the existence of a dangerous element in the state, and the possibility of advantages from the military service of the freedmen. The greatest care is requisite in judging of the professions of persons in straitened or perilous circumstances, and to whom religion presents pecuniary, social, or other advantages. The existence of such circumstances affords a presumption against the genuineness of their conversion; and yet it is not of itself conclusive. A better criterion is to be found in:
2. Subsequent conduct. The speedy consignment of the freedmen back again to a state of slavery showed that the observance of the Law was unreal. Actions are ever more eloquent than words. So, when ardent and apparently enthusiastic professions rapidly cool down, and give place to calculating and selfish conduct, we see that the religious movement has had no deep root or has been unreal from its commencement. Death bed repentances are proverbially doubtful, because of the impossibility in most cases of applying this test; nevertheless we are justified in believing that in some cases these are genuine. Prisoners frequently belie their declarations when set at liberty. The subject of false repentance may deceive himself, the emotion being genuine, but the nature not being radically changed. Hence the necessity of insisting upon continued obedience from all who are under the influence of conviction, or who appear to be so.
III THE PECULIAR OFFENSIVENESS OF FALSE OBEDIENCE. It is not a simple act of transgression, but complex and supremely self-conscious. As on this occasion the Jews were manifoldly sinful in
(1) their breach of faith with God and their fellow countrymen;
(2) in the dishonour they showed to God by lightly regarding the most solemn oath and ordinance; and
(3) in the hypocrisy by which the whole proceeding was characterized; so the false saint is a sinner of the deepest dye. Nor is he at liberty to confine his transgression within definite and foreseen limits; once committed to the false attitude, a repetition and intricate complexity of sin is inevitable. It is, therefore, often a culminating sin.
IV THE PUNISHMENT OF FALSE OBEDIENCE. (Vers. 17-22) The penalty inflicted is very terrible and thorough; as if there were no hope for such men to be spiritually renewed again.
1. Exemplary. A curious and instructive parallelism between their crime and its punishment is to be observed: "Behold, I proclaim a liberty for you," and "Their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth." This is in harmony with the didactic and symbolical character of the old dispensation.
2. Thorough and unmitigated. No word of hope or compassion is uttered. An end is to be made of such transgressions.
3. An element of scorn and contempt is discoverable. There is a terrible irony in the words, "I proclaim a liberty for you," etc., which reveal the depth and absoluteness of their curse. The gospel dispensation, as it offers greater privileges and blessings to the truly penitent, is also accompanied with more awful penalties. M. (Heb_4:11, 12 6:4-8 10:29 Pro_1:26)
Vers. 8-22. Playing fast and loose with God.
See the history. Under fear occasioned by the prophet"s earnest appeals and the obvious fact that the judgment of God was drawing near for the Chaldeans were at the gates the king and his people solemnly vow to release their slaves. They had no right to retain them; they were sinning against God and them in so doing. Hence they let them go. But the fear departs, they think their danger has disappeared, and they enslave their brethren again. It was an abominable wickedness, and the prophet denounces awful doom upon them for it. Now, concerning such playing fast and loose with God, note that
I THIS IS A VERY FREQUENT SIN. Illustrations are Pharaoh, Balaam, Israel"s whole career. And there are many such instances now. All insincere repentances are such. They may be:
1. Very general. This was so. All the people joined, high and low. Like the professed repentance of the people at John"s baptism.
2. Very solemnly entered upon. How deeply moved these people seemed! What vows they uttered!
3. And some fruits meet for repentance may be produced. These people did for a while set free their slaves. There was a real reformation for the time. The evil spirit went out of the man.
4. But yet it is all worthless, for the evil spirit returns, and with increased power. The repentance was so short-lived that it was as if it had never been. Yea, worse: "The last end of that man was worse than the first.
II ITS ORIGIN AND CAUSE ARE THE UNCHANGED HEART. Underneath the superficial soil there is, in spite of all the seeming repentance, the hard layer of rock. The motive was not the conviction of sin wrought by the Holy Spirit, but a craven fear and a desire, therefore, to buy off God"s anger. And in this ease it was a cheap way, for liberating their slaves was the best means of securing a strong addition to the forces by which they would defend their city and themselves. Hence, when danger ceased, as they thought, their repentance ceased along with it. What need we all have to be on our guard against the semblances of real religion which our evil hearts are so prone to take up with! And what need to pray that the Lord would show us if we be now self-deceived, and that he would perfectly renew our hearts within us!
III ITS GUILT VERY GREAT. What an outrage it is to God! We would not bear the like conduct from our fellow men. What awful presumption it manifests! what hardness of heart! And its guilt is the more aggravated because such conduct so plainly shows that we clearly know and understand God"s will, though we only make pretence of obeying it.
IV ITS DOOM IS VERY TERRIBLE. See the burning words of the prophet here (vers. 17-22). And we have portents of that future doom in the hardening of the heart, the searing of the conscience, the being "given over to a reprobate mind," the audacity in wickedness which such conduct produces. How hard to bring such men to repentance! or, if conviction of sin do come, into what depths of despair does it plunge the sinner! All these are indications of the holy displeasure of God which rests on such sin. May he keep us from it. C.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 8-22. A right act done in a wrong spirit.
I CONSIDER THE ACT ITSELF. It was emphatically a right act in itself. It did not become right or necessary merely by becoming a covenanted thing. It was an act that meant the attainment of liberty to a very considerable number of people who were not their own masters. God is always on the side of liberty, for only to the free individual is full opportunity given of serving God. And yet this must be said with qualification. External liberty is only of use when it is accompanied with deliverance from inward bondage. Hence, in the New Testament, no great stress is laid upon civil liberty; that would come in due time, and, irresistibly, by the growth and conquering power of Christian principle. The stress in the New Testament is on the maintenance by the individual of liberty within himself. But in ancient Israel there was a God-governed nation as well as God-governed individuals, and civil liberty had to be sought as far as possible by Divine provisions and commands.
II THE CAUSE OF THE LIBERATION SO FAR AS IT WAS ACCOMPLISHED. There is some obscurity as to the origin of the covenant and act. Some unmentioned motive seems to have combined king and people to resolve on the liberation of all slaves; but it could only have been a motive of fear and worldly prudence. The same sort of forces must have been in operation as we observe in Pharaoh. A plague drags him a little in the direction of letting Israel go; then the plague ceases, and he draws back again. External force, then, or a shallow repentance, or perhaps something of both, led the people into making this covenant. It was not a deep pity for the oppressed that moved them. The covenant did not come from a deep and perfect insight into the golden rule. Thus there is a revelation of the moral attainments of the people. It is already shown to us how little the better they were for all their opportunities of knowing God"s Law and will.
III THE RESULT OF A RIGHT ACT DONE IN A WRONG SPIRIT. The result is just what might have been expected. Inconvenience, awkwardness, daily, almost hourly, irritation, must have come at once. Just try to estimate some of the results. Only when the slaves had become free would the masters understand how dependent they had been upon them. The work of the covenant was not done when the slave was liberated. Really, it was only begun. The master bad then to set to work for himself. His former servant is now given opportunity to become his rival. Moreover, the liberated slave himself does not all at once get the spirit of a free man. When things have been going wrong for generations, they cannot be got right by some magical swiftness. Hence, many potent considerations tempted the masters in forcing a return to the former state of things. They had not counted the cost in beginning, and thus, it seems, they were able to take only a very few steps in the right course.
IV THE PUNISHMENT. This is specially attached to the breaking of the covenant. The people had really no excuse to offer for breaking it, save the inconvenience and the temporal loss occasioned by keeping it. As far as we can see, this particular covenant was a voluntary one on their part. It recognized a law that had been made in the very coming out from the land of bondage, and it was a covenant to perform a certain outward act. The punishment was just enough; the real wonder would have been if something of the kind had failed to fall on those breaking such a covenant. Y.
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.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v8 The Message of Condemnation
CHAPTER 34:8-22
The Message of Condemnation
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The king had made a covenant that all Hebrew slaves should be released Exo 21:1-36; Deu 15:12-23. The princes and people agreed, but afterwards broke the covenant. The message of condemnation tells them, since they had done this, that the Lord will set them free to fall a prey to the sword, the pestilence and famine. The text explains itself.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v8 Of The Evil Treatment of Bond-Servants.
Of The Evil Treatment of Bond-Servants.
v. 8. This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, which he recorded as faithfully as he had received it, after that the King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem, entering into a solemn agreement with them, to proclaim liberty unto them, according to the Lord’s ordinance which permitted the Hebrews to keep the members of their own nation as bond-servants for only six years, since in the seventh year they must all be given their liberty, Exo 21:22; Deu 15:12,
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v. 9. that every man should let his man-servant and every man his maid-servant being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess go free, that none should serve himself of them, cause or compel them to be bond-servants, to wit, of a Jew, his brother, for the Law concerned these only, not the slaves of another nationality.
v. 10. Now, when all the princes and all the people which had entered into the covenant, with due solemnity, including the bringing of sacrifices, heard that every one should let his man-servant and every one his maid-servant go free that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed and let them go. They were momentarily impressed by the Lord’s command and acted in agreement with it.
v. 11. But afterward they turned, they changed their minds, and caused the servants and the handmaids whom they had let go free to return and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. When the Chaldean invasion was upon them, they pretended a meek submission under the will of the Lord, but when the danger seemed to be past, at the temporary withdrawal of the invading army, they once more brought their servants under the yoke, thus proving that their conversion was not sincere. Like the hypocrites of our day they feigned submission in order to gain their end.
v. 12. Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
v. 13. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, in reproving the hypocritical behavior of the Jewish nobles, I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, this ordinance being included in the laws given during the wilderness journey, saying,
v. 14. At the end of seven years, in the so-called Sabbatical Year, let ye go every man his brother, an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee, rather, "who hath sold himself to thee"; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee; Cf Exo 21:2; Deu 15:12. But your fathers hearkened not unto Me, neither inclined their ear, they paid not the slightest attention to His command.
v. 15. And ye were now turned, in a change which seemed sincere enough, and had done right in My sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor,
v. 10. and ye had made a covenant before Me in the house which is called by My name, in a solemn service in the Temple;
v. 16. but ye turned and polluted My name, by violating the oath made in the name of Jehovah, and caused every man his servant and every man his handmaid whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, as the bond-servants themselves chose, to return and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids, in the same state of peonage and even of slavery as before.
v. 17. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, Ye have not hearkened unto Me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother and every man to his neighbor, for the ceremony in which they had taken part in the Temple had been nothing but sham and hypocrisy and had no value in the sight of the Lord. Behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, He would now, in just retribution, dismiss them from being His servants, He would sever the relation of which they had been so proud, delivering them, instead, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, the three dreaded scourges of nations; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, as exiles among strangers.
v. 18. And I will give the men that have transgressed My covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before Me, when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof, a solemn rite in which the contracting parties walked through between the halves of a slaughtered animal. As such a slain beast the Lord intended to deliver the nobles of Judah, as He now expressly states.
v. 19. The princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the chamberlains or officers of the court, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf,
v. 20. I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them that seek their life, to be slain without mercy; and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven and to the beasts of the earth, so that the birds and beasts of prey would feast on their carcasses—a gruesome meal.
v. 21. And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them that seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon’s army, which are gone up from you, having temporarily abandoned the siege of Jerusalem on account of the approach of Pharaoh-hophrah.
v. 22. Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city, acting in this case as the Lord’s servants; and they shall fight against it and take it and burn it with fire; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant. The punishment of the Lord is sure to find the offenders against His holy Law, and hypocrites particularly are an abomination in His sight.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 20 The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh
The word came to Jeremiah from Yahweh
This idiom is used to introduce a special message from God. However, the actual message does not begin until Jeremiah 34:12. See how you translated a similar phrase in Jeremiah 7:1. AT: "Yahweh gave a message to Jeremiah" or "Yahweh spoke a message to Jeremiah" (See: Idiom)
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word
message
after King Zedekiah had made a covenant ... his brother
These words all provide background information to events that will be described later. (See: Background Information)
translationWords
Yahweh
free
servant
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 vv8, 15, 17, 21 34:8–35:19 Here are faithless (34:8-22) and faithful (35:1-19) examples…
34:8–35:19 Here are faithless (34:8-22) and faithful (35:1-19) examples of covenant-keeping.
34:8-22 Zedekiah ordered the people to free their slaves; he was apparently trying to curry favor with God by enforcing the covenant requirements regarding the Hebrew ownership of slaves (Exod 21:2-4) that had been neglected since Moses’ time. However, the order was worse than useless because the people soon went back on this new affirmation of the covenant, just as they had broken their treaty with Nebuchadnezzar (see Ezek 21:23-24) and their original covenant with the Lord. The Lord would punish them as their treachery deserved.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.