The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah 34
Chapter XXXIV · Vol. III, pp. 1275–1276
1 Jeremiah prophesieth the captivity of Zedekiah and the city. 8 The princes and the people having dismissed their bond-servants, contrary to the covenant of God, afterward re-assume them. 12 Jeremiah, for their disobedience, giveth them and Zedekiah into the hands of their enemies.
1 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, awhen Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion,1 and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all bthe cities thereof, saying,
A.M. cir. 3415. B.C. cir. 589.
a 2 Ki.25.1,9,&c. ch.39.1-3; 52.4.
1 Heb. the dominion of his hand.
b ver.7; ch.49.2; 51.43; 19.15.
2 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD, cBehold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
c ch.32.3,4,28,29; 19.3,12; 21.4-10; 22.5; 37.8,10,17; 38.23; 39.8; 52.13.
3 And dthou shalt not escape2 out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes3 shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth,4 and thou shalt go to Babylon.
d ch.32.3,4; ver.21; 37.17; 38.23. Eze.12.13; 17.18,20; 21.25. ch.39.5-7; 52.9-11.
2 Zedekiah and the garrison attempted to escape by night; but the army was scattered, and the king made prisoner near Jericho, 2 Ki.25.5,6.—C.
3 There is something peculiar in the repeated reference made to Zedekiah's eyes beholding the eyes of the king of Babylon (see ch. 32. 4), for after Zedekiah had seen him, the cruel Babylonian, according to a barbarous custom of the East, put out his eyes, bound him in fetters of brass, and carried him away to Babylon, 2 Ki.25.7.—C.
4 Heb. his mouth shall speak to thy mouth.
4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah king of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thoue shalt not die by the sword;
5 But thou shalt die in peace: and gwith the burnings5 of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and hthey will lament thee, saying, Ah, lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
g 2 Ch.16.14; 21.19. La.4.20.
5 Burnings were customary at royal burials, 2 Ch. 16. 14; but whether the body was burned with the odours (odoriferous woods and spices, as is common still among the Hindoos), or whether the odoriferous substances were burned alone, and the body buried, is matter of question. The Talmudists deny the burning of the bodies, considering it as a heathen, and not a Jewish custom; but that the Jews did occasionally, at least, burn dead bodies, is certain from 1 Sa. 31. 2. Am. 6. 10; that the custom did not continue, if it ever was more than an occasional occurrence, is obvious from the case of Elisha, 2 Ki. 13. 21, of Lazarus, and of our Lord. See Jn. 19. 40.—C.
h ch.22.18.
6 Then Jeremiah the prophet ispake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
i 2 Sa.12.7. 1 Ki.21.19. Eze.2.7. Mat.14.4.
7 When the king of Babylon's army fought againstj Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against kLachish, and against Azekah: for lthese defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.
j Le.26.25. De.28.25,52. ch.4.5,7,20; 5.6,17; 6.5,12; 10.18,20; 11.12; 12.11; 16.16; 25.11; 8.14.
k Jos.10.3,11; 15.35,39. 2 Ch.11.9; 32.9.
l 2 Ki.18.13; 19.8.
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 nliberty unto them;
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 oserve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew hisp brother.
o ch.27.7; 30.8.
p Le.25.39-46. 1 Co.6.8.
10 Now, when all the qprinces, 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,6 and let them go.
q ch.26.10; 36.12; 38.4.
6 God's law required that, when a Hebrew servant had served six years, he should go free upon the seventh, Ex.21.2. De. 15. 12. A law of which the wisdom and humanity of the divine institution are equally obvious; a law, not of slavery, but apprenticeship, so that the retiring servant might be master of his business, and so enabled to provide for himself in a state of freedom.—C.
11 But rafterward7 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.
r ch.37.5. Ex.9.34. Ho.6.4. 2 Ch.28.10. Ne.5.5. Ps.78.36. 2 Pe.2.22.
7 It is not improbable that this manumission was conceded to engage the bond-servants in the defence of the city; and when the Chaldean army retired to oppose the Egyptians (see ver. 22; ch. 37. 5), the concession was ungenerously and unjustly withdrawn.—C.
12 Therefore the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
13 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, I made a covenant with your fathers sin the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondmen, saying,
14 Att the end of seven years, let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold8 unto thee; and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him go free from thee: but uyour fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear.
15 And vye were now9 turned, and had done right1 in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour: and xye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name:2
v Ps.78.34. Mat.15.8. Is.58.2.
9 Heb. to-day.
1 God pronounces the manumission of slaves to be 'right;' that is, the thing that he has commanded—'right in his sight,' intimating that his eyes are continually upon the slave and his taskmaster.—C.
x 2 Ki.23.2,3. Ps.76.11; 119.106. Ne.10.29.
2 Heb. whereupon my name is called, ch.7.10.
16 But ye turned, and ypolluted3 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 zsubjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
y Ex.20.7. Le.19.12. Mal.2.7-11.
3 My name is 'merciful,' Ex. 34. 5; my name is 'the true God,' Je. 10. 10, and in that name ye have vowed to show mercy, and to keep the truth: but ye have polluted my name by your profane and faithless abuse of it; ye have taken it in vain, and I will not hold you guiltless. See ver.18.—C.
z Mat.18.28-34.
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 neighbour: behold, aI proclaim a liberty4 for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed5 into all the kingdoms of the earth.
a Ju.1.7. Mat.7.2. 1 Th.4.6. Ga.6.7. Ep.5.6. Ja.2.13. ch.32.24,36. Le.26.34,35. Eze.14.17.
4 A 'liberty' that dismisses you from my care, provision, and protection; and that, providentially and judicially, delivers you over to the hands of your enemies.—C.
5 Heb. for a removing, De.28.25,64. ch.29.18; 15.4; 24.9.
18 Andb 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 ccut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof,6
b Is.3.11. Eze.13.4. Ro.2.8,9.
c Ge.15.10,17,18. Ne.10.29. Ps.50.5. Mat.24.51.
6 When solemn covenants were made, in order to make the engagements more impressive, it was a common practice to slay an animal, cut it in two parts, place the parts near each other, and then the contracting parties passed between them. This act was intended to signify that they were willing to be cut in twain if they should break through their engagements.—P.
19 Thed princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs,7 and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;8
d ver.10. Zep.3.3,4. Mi.7.1-5. ch.32.32. Da.9.6,8,12.
7 Or officers, ch.29.2; 38.7. 2 Ki.24.12,15; 25.19.
8 The covenant of God with Abram was ratified by dividing certain of the sacrifices, between which the emblems of the divine presence passed, Ge. 15. 10; whence, to ratify a covenant, is, in the Hebrew, literally to cut a covenant. By this solemn and expressive rite (a rite moreover of divine institution—the only kind of rite God would acknowledge), the covenant of liberty was ratified, and the faithless violators were speedily given up to destruction.—C.
20 I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and etheir dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
e ch.7.33; 16.4; 19.7; 8.1,2; 9.22. Is.18.6. Re.19.17,18,21.
21 Andg 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 hgone up from you.
g See ver.3; ch.39.6; 52.10,24-27. 2 Ki.25.18-21. La.4.20.
h ch.37.5,11.
22 Behold, iI will command, saith the LORD, and cause them to return to this city; jand they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire: and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation kwithout an inhabitant.
i 2 Sa.16.10. 2 Ki.24.2,3. Is.45.7. Am.3.6. 2 Ch.36.17. ch.49.14; 37.8-10.
j ch.21.4-10; 24.2,8-10; 29.16-18; 32.29; 33.10; 6.8; 9.11; xxxix.; 52.7,13; 40.2,3. 2 Ki.25.9.
A.M. cir. 3398. B.C. cir. 606.
k ch.44.2,6. La.1.1.
Notes
Ver. 2. This prediction was historically fulfilled according to the narrative, 2 Ki. 25. 9; 2 Ch. 26. 19. C.
Ver. 20. Them that seek their life. The Scripture history gives no direct account of the origin of this deadly antipathy of the Babylonians against the Jews. But when it is recollected that Babylon and Egypt were rival kingdoms—commercial rivals in the trade to the E. Indies, as well as military rivals in power, and that Israel was under the protection and in political alliance with Egypt, the cause of the murderous rancour of Babylon becomes plain; for similar causes still continue to produce similar national collisions. C.
Reflections.—God mixes his judgments here with mercy, even to the wicked. It is a great advantage for kings and others to have faithful ministers to tell them the fatal consequences of their sins, that they may repent and live. And it is well if captivity and imprisonment lead to true reformation. God's compassion towards us ought to influence our compassion towards our inferiors and neighbours. But reformations occasioned by fear and danger are seldom sincere and lasting. The most solemn vows will not long restrain them whose hearts are not right with God. But if his reprieves from judgment be abused, he will quickly proceed to execution. None ever hardened their hearts against him and prospered. And broken vows especially hasten his fearful judgments. If men will not subject themselves to his law, he must subject them to his wrath and curse. If judgments depart from us before we are humbled, they will return with redoubled force. And promising beginnings, to which the end does not correspond, only produce more aggravated guilt and surer destruction.