Bible Commentaries

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jeremiah 34

Clinging to a Counterfeit Cross
Introduction

1  Jeremiah prophesies the captivity of Zedekiah and the city.
8  The princes and the people having dismissed their bond-servants, contrary to the covenant of God, re-assume them.
12  Jeremiah, for their disobedience, gives them and Zedekiah into the hands of their enemies.
Verse 1

The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities thereof, saying,
A. M. 3415. B.C. 589. The word. This chapter contains two discourses, one concerning the taking of the city, and Zedekiah's captivity and death, ver. 1-7; and the other containing an invective against the inhabitants of Jerusalem for retaining their Hebrew slaves, ver. 8-22; both of which were delivered in the tenth year of Zedekiah
when
7, 32:2, 39:1-3, 52:4-11, 2 Kings 25:1-9, 2 Chronicles 36:12-17
all the kingdoms
1:15, 27:5-7, Daniel 2:37,38, 4:1,22, 5:19
of his dominion
Heb. the dominion of his hand.
Verse 2

Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire:
Go
22:1,2, 37:1-4, 2 Chronicles 36:11,12
Behold
22, 21:4,10, 32:3,28,29, 37:8-10, 38:23, 39:8
Verse 3

And thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon.
And thou
21, 21:7, 32:4, 37:17, 38:18, 39:4,5, 52:7-9, 2 Kings 25:4,5
and thine
39:6,7, 52:10,11, 2 Kings 25:6,7, Ezekiel 12:13, 17:18-20, 21:25
he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth
Heb. his mouth shall speak to thy mouth.
Verse 5

But thou shalt die in peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
But thou
2 Kings 22:20, 2 Chronicles 34:28, Ezekiel 17:16
and with
2 Chronicles 16:14, 21:19
so
Daniel 2:46
and they
22:18, 2 Chronicles 21:20, Lamentations 4:20
Verse 6

Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem,
1 Samuel 3:18, 15:16-24, 2 Samuel 12:7-12, 1 Kings 21:19, 22:14, Ezekiel 2:7, Matthew 14:4, Acts 20:27
Verse 7

When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah.
fought against
1, 4:5, 8:14, 11:12, Deuteronomy 28:52
Lachish
Joshua 10:3,11, 12:11, 15:35,39, 2 Kings 18:13,14, 19:8, Micah 1:13
for
2 Chronicles 11:5-10, 27:4
Verse 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;
had
2 Kings 11:17, 23:2,3, 2 Chronicles 15:12-15, 23:16, 29:10, 34:30-33, Nehemiah 9:38, Nehemiah 10:1-27
to proclaim
14,17, Exodus 21:2-4, 23:10,11, Leviticus 25:10,39-46, Deuteronomy 15:12, Nehemiah 5:1-13, Isaiah 61:1
Verse 9

That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother.
Hebrew
Genesis 14:13, 40:15, Exodus 2:6, 3:18, Deuteronomy 15:12, 1 Samuel 4:6,9, 14:11, 2 Corinthians 11:22, Philippians 3:5
serve
10, 25:14, 27:7, 30:8, 1 Corinthians 6:8
Verse 10

Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard that every one should let his manservant, and every one his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go.
when
26:10,16, 36:12,24,25, 38:4
then
3:10,11, Isaiah 29:13, Mark 6:20
Verse 11

But afterward 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.
21, 37:5, Exodus 8:8,15, 9:28,34,35, 10:17-20, 14:3-9, 1 Samuel 19:6-11, 1 Samuel 24:19, 26:21, Psalms 36:3, 78:34-36, 125:5, Proverbs 26:11, Ecclesiastes 8:11, Hosea 6:4, 7:16, Zephaniah 1:6, Matthew 12:43-45, Romans 2:4,5, 2 Peter 2:20-22
Verse 13

Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; 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, saying,
I made
31:32, Exodus 24:3,7,8, Deuteronomy 5:2,3,27, 29:1, Hebrews 8:10,11
in the
7:22, 11:4,7, Deuteronomy 7:8, 15:15, 16:12, 24:18, Joshua 24:17, Judges 6:8
out of
Exodus 13:3,14, Deuteronomy 5:6, 6:12, 8:14, 13:10, Joshua 24:17, Judges 6:8
Verse 14

At the end of seven years let ye go every man his brother an Hebrew, which hath been sold 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 inclined their ear.
At the
8,9, Exodus 21:1-4, 23:10,11, Deuteronomy 15:12, 1 Kings 9:22, 2 Chronicles 28:10, Isaiah 58:6, Amos 2:6, 8:6
been sold
or, sold himself.
1 Kings 21:25, Isaiah 50:1, Romans 7:14-17,24
but
It appears from this and several other passages, that the sabbatical year had been wholly neglected some centuries before the captivity; and the author of the second book of Chronicles (ch. 36:21) assigns this as a reason for the captivity, "that the land might enjoy her sabbaths." Now, if we reckon the seventy years' captivity as a punishment for this neglect, it will follow that the law on this subject had been disregarded for about 490 years.
7:25,26, 11:8-10, 32:30, 1 Samuel 8:7,8, 2 Kings 17:13,14, 2 Chronicles 36:16, Nehemiah 9:30, Ezekiel 20:4,8, Zechariah 7:11,12
Verse 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:
ye
1 Kings 21:27-29, 2 Kings 10:30,31, 12:2, 14:3, Isaiah 58:2, Matthew 15:8
now
Heb. to-day. in proclaiming.
10,11
ye had
8, 2 Kings 23:3, Nehemiah 10:29, Psalms 76:11, 119:106
which is called by my name
Heb. whereupon my name is called.
7:10,11
Verse 16

But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
ye turned
11, 1 Samuel 15:11, Ezekiel 3:20, 18:24, 33:12,13, Luke 8:13-15
polluted
Exodus 20:7, Leviticus 19:12, Ezekiel 17:16-19, 20:39, 39:7, Malachi 1:7,12
and brought
Matthew 18:28-34
Verse 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, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
behold
When they proclaimed liberty to their slaves, God restrained the sword from cutting them off; but now having resumed their authority over them, He proclaimed liberty to these dire judgments to seize upon, and destroy them.
Leviticus 26:34,35, Deuteronomy 19:19, Judges 1:6,7, Esther 7:10, Daniel 6:24, Matthew 7:2, Luke 6:37,38, Galatians 6:7, James 2:13, Revelation 16:6
to the sword
15:2, 21:7, 24:10, 32:24,36, 47:6,7, Ezekiel 14:17-21
I will
15:4, 24:9,10, 29:18, Deuteronomy 28:25,64
to be removed
Heb. for a removing.
Lamentations 1:8; *marg:
Verse 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,
have transgressed
Deuteronomy 17:2, Joshua 7:11, 23:16, Hosea 6:7, 8:1
when
This was the ancient mode of making a covenant. (See on De 29:12 Jos 9:7.)
Genesis 15:10,17,18, Psalms 50:1
Verse 19

The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed between the parts of the calf;
princes
10, Ezekiel 22:27-31, Daniel 9:6,8,12, Micah 7:1-5, Zephaniah 3:3,4
the eunuchs
29:2, 38:7, 2 Kings 24:12,15; *marg:
Verse 20

I will even give them into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life: and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth.
and into
4:30, 11:21, 21:7, 22:25, 38:16, 44:30, 49:37
and their
7:33, 16:4, 19:7, 1 Samuel 17:44,46, 1 Kings 14:11, 16:4, 21:23,24, 2 Kings 9:34-37, Ezekiel 29:5, 32:4, 39:17-20, Revelation 19:17-21
Verse 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.
Zedekiah
3-5, 39:6, 52:10,24-27, 2 Kings 25:18-21, Lamentations 4:20, Ezekiel 17:16
which are
37:5-11
Verse 22

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.
I will command
2 Samuel 16:11, 2 Kings 24:2,3, 2 Chronicles 36:17, Isaiah 10:5-7, 13:3, 37:26, 45:1-3, Amos 3:6, Matthew 22:7
cause
They did return, and reinvested the city; and, after an obstinate defence, took it, plundered it, and burnt it to the ground, taking Zedekiah, his princes, and people, captive.
37:8-10
shall fight
21:4-10, 32:29, 38:23, 39:1,2,8, 52:7,13
and I will
9:11, 33:10, 44:2-6,22, Isaiah 6:11, 24:12, 64:10, Lamentations 1:1, Ezekiel 33:27,28, Micah 7:13, Zechariah 1:12, 7:14

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