34:1 The
word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, when a
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 its cities, saying,
(a) Who commonly by Jeremiah was called
Nebuchadrezzar and by others Nebuchadnezzar.
34:5
[But] thou shalt die in b peace: and
with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings who were before thee, so
shall they burn [incense] for thee; and they will lament thee, [saying], Ah c
lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
(b) Not of any violent death.
(c) The Jews will lament for you their lord and
king.
34:8
[This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after king Zedekiah had
made a covenant with all the people who [were] at Jerusalem, d
to proclaim liberty to them;
(d) 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.
34:9 That every man should release his male e
servant, and every man his female servant, [being] a Hebrew man or woman; that
none should retain them in service, [that is], a Jew his brother.
34:15
And ye had 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 f
the house which is called by my name:
(f) Meaning in the temple to declare that it was
a most solemn and straight covenant made in the name of the Lord.
34:17 Therefore thus saith
the LORD; Ye have not hearkened to 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 g the sword, to the
pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the
kingdoms of the earth.
(g) That is, I give the sword liberty to destroy
you.
34:18 And I will give the men that have
transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which
they had made before me, when they h cut
the calf in two, and passed between the parts of it,
(h) Concerning the manner of solemn covenant
which the ancients used by passing between the two parts of a beast, to
signify that the transgressor of the same covenant should be so divided in
pieces, read (Genesis
15:10).
34:21
And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will 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 i
are gone up from you.
(i) To fight against the Egyptians, as in (Jeremiah
37:11).
Jeremiah 34 Bible Commentary
The Geneva Study Bible
(a) Who commonly by Jeremiah was called Nebuchadrezzar and by others Nebuchadnezzar.
34:5 [But] thou shalt die in b peace: and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings who were before thee, so shall they burn [incense] for thee; and they will lament thee, [saying], Ah c lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD.
(b) Not of any violent death.
(c) The Jews will lament for you their lord and king.
34:8 [This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people who [were] at Jerusalem, d to proclaim liberty to them;
(d) 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.
34:9 That every man should release his male e servant, and every man his female servant, [being] a Hebrew man or woman; that none should retain them in service, [that is], a Jew his brother.
(e) According to the law, (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12).
34:15 And ye had 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 f the house which is called by my name:
(f) Meaning in the temple to declare that it was a most solemn and straight covenant made in the name of the Lord.
34:17 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened to 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 g the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
(g) That is, I give the sword liberty to destroy you.
34:18 And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, who have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, when they h cut the calf in two, and passed between the parts of it,
(h) Concerning the manner of solemn covenant which the ancients used by passing between the two parts of a beast, to signify that the transgressor of the same covenant should be so divided in pieces, read (Genesis 15:10).
34:21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will 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 i are gone up from you.
(i) To fight against the Egyptians, as in (Jeremiah 37:11).