9 that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant , a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman ; so that no one should keep them, a Jew his brother , in bondage . 10 And all the officials and all the people obeyed who had entered into the covenant that each man should set free his male servant and each man his female servant , so that no one should keep them any longer in bondage ; they obeyed , and set them free. 11 But afterward e they turned around and took back the male servants and the female servants whom they had set free , and brought them into subjection for male servants and for female servants .
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 34:9-11
Commentary on Jeremiah 34:8-22
(Read Jeremiah 34:8-22)
A Jew should not be held in servitude above seven years. This law they and their fathers had broken. And when there was some hope that the siege was raised, they forced the servants they had released into their services again. Those who think to cheat God by dissembled repentance and partial reformation, put the greatest cheat upon their own souls. This shows that liberty to sin, is really only liberty to have the sorest judgments. It is just with God to disappoint expectations of mercy, when we disappoint the expectations of duty. And when reformation springs only from terror, it is seldom lasting. Solemn vows thus entered into, profane the ordinances of God; and the most forward to bind themselves by appeals to God, are commonly most ready to break them. Let us look to our hearts, that our repentance may be real, and take care that the law of God regulates our conduct.