Jeremiah 34:10

_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._ No JFB commentary on this verse....

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 heari...

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....

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 poss...

EXPOSITION This chapter must be taken in connection with Jeremiah 35:1. The whole section consists of three passages, introduced with a superscription in the same form, but otherwise unrelated. It serves to finish off the earlier prophetic portion of the book, Jeremiah 36:1. opening a series of narratives. The first passage (Jeremiah 34:1) is virtually a postscript to Jeremiah 32:1; Jeremiah 33:1.; it apparently contains the prophecy referred to in...

NOW WHEN ALL THE PRINCES, AND ALL THE PEOPLE, WHICH HAD ENTERED INTO THE COVENANT,.... The king had made with the people. Here the princes are mentioned, who were not before, but included in the people; they and the rest of the people are here meant, who having agreed to the covenant, HEARD THAT EVERYONE SHOULD LET HIS MANSERVANT, AND EVERYONE HIS MAIDSERVANT, GO FREE, THAT NONE SHOULD SERVE THEMSELVES OF THEM ANY MORE; or any longer, which they had done, contrary to law: when they understood that this was the sum of the covenant they had entered into, and this the intent of the proclamation they agreed unto; or when they heard the law read and explained by the prophet, concerning the manumission of the Hebrew servants, when the time of their servitude was expired, THEN THEY OBEYED, AND LET [THEM] GO; dismissed them from their service, in obedience to the law of God, agreeably to their...

CHAPTER 34:8-22 The Message of Condemnation The king had made a covenant that all Hebrew slaves should be released Exodus 21:1; Deuteronomy 15:12. 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....

THE CANCELLED LIBERATION OF SLAVES. In the interval during which the besiegers had withdrawn (Jeremiah 34:21; _cf._ Jeremiah 21:2; Jeremiah 37:5), Jeremiah is commissioned to condemn the breach of the promises made by king and people during the earlier straits. They had agreed to emancipate all Hebrew slaves, and had solemnly covenanted to this effect. They broke this agreement (when the Babylonian peril seemed to be removed), and in so doing they profaned (Jeremiah 34:16) Yahweh's name, by disregard of His original covenant (Jeremiah 34:1

THE TWENTY-NINTH PROPHECY OF JEREMIAH (see book comments for Jeremiah). EVERY ONE. ' _ish_, as in Jeremiah 34:9....

Condemnation of the perjury involved in the treatment of the Hebrew slaves The subsection may be summarized as follows. (i) Jeremiah 34:8. Zedekiah induces the people solemnly to bind themselves to release their slaves. They do so, but presently cancel their agreement. (ii) Jeremiah 34:12. 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) Jeremiah 34:17. 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....