Chapter 34
Zedekiah transgresses the covenant
Lecture 1
Prophecy to Zedekiah
34:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth, that were under the power of his hand, and all the people fought against Jerusalem and against all her cities, saying:
34:2 thus says the Lord , the God of Israel: go and speak to Zedekiah, king of Judah, and say to him: thus says the Lord : behold, I will deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn her with fire.
34:3 And you shall not escape out of his hand, but you shall surely be captured, and you shall be handed over into his hand; and your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, and his mouth shall speak with your mouth, and you shall go to Babylon.
34:4 Yet hear the word of the Lord , O Zedekiah, king of Judah: thus says the Lord unto you: you shall not die by the sword.
34:5 But you shall die in peace, and according to the burnings of your fathers, the former kings that were before you, so shall they burn you: and they shall mourn for you, saying, ‘Alas, lord!’ For I have spoken the word, says the Lord .
34:6 And Jeremiah the prophet spoke all these words to Zedekiah, king of Judah in Jerusalem.
34:7 And the army of the king of Babylon fought against Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were left, against Lachish, and against Azeka; for these remained of the cities of Judah, walled cities.
184 . Because the Jews were so obstinate, inasmuch as they were neither frightened by severity nor turned by gladness, he rightly sets forth his threat and consolation, and, for the third time, the contradiction of those who were listening:
first, by the transgression of the judgment;
second, by the destruction of the writing: and it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah (Jer 36:1);
third, in the persecution of the prophet: and king Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned in the stead of Jekoniah, the son of Jehoiakim (Jer 37:1).
Concerning the former, there are two points.
First, they are convicted of their transgression by fact;
and second, by example: the word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord (Jer 35:1).
Now, he shows that they are transgressors from the fact that they did not even keep the covenant which they had made with God concerning the freeing of their slaves according to the Law.
Now, this is divided into two parts.
First is given a certain alleviation of their evils after the ratification of the covenant;
second is given the threat after they transgressed the covenant which they had entered into, at the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord (Jer 34:8).
Concerning the former, there are two points.
First, he gives the title of the prophecy, in which he describes the time: when Nebuchadnezzar . Above: behold, I will call together all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord , and they shall come, and each one shall place his throne in the entry of the gates of Jerusalem (Jer 1:15).
Second, he gives the prophetic word: thus says the Lord . And he makes three points.
First, he gives the threat for past faults with regard to the destruction of the city: behold, I will deliver this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn her with fire . They have burned your sanctuary with fire, they have defiled the dwelling place of your name on earth (Ps 73:7).
And with regard to the captivity of the king: and you shall not escape . In the day of the Lord’s wrath there was no one who escaped, and was left (Lam 2:22).
Second, he speaks of the reward for the covenant which he entered into: yet hear . . . you shall not die . This indeed was not fulfilled, because he did not remain faithful to the covenant. Further, he died shamefully, having taken a laxative medication at a feast. Woe to him who gives drink to his friend, mixing his gall, and making him drunk that he may look upon his nakedness (Hab 2:15). Notwithstanding, this can be said to have been fulfilled because he was not killed by the sword of the enemy. Above: they shall not mourn him, ‘Alas, brother!’ and, ‘Alas sister!’ They shall not lament for him, ‘Alas, lord,’ and, ‘Alas, glorious one!’ (Jer 22:18).
Third, he touches on the imminent tribulation, so that the promise should be more welcome: for I have spoken the word . He shall laugh at every defense, and will cast up his mound, and take it (Hab 1:10).
Lecture 2
Liberation of Hebrew slaves
34:8 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord , after king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem making a proclamation:
34:9 that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, who is a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, go free; and that they should not have dominion over them, that is, over the Jews their brethren.
34:10 And all the princes and all the people who entered into the covenant heard that every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant go free, and that they should no more have mastery over them: and they obeyed, and let them go free.
34:11 But afterwards they turned and brought back again their manservants and their maidservants, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as menservants and maidservants.
185 . Here, the threat is given after the transgression of the covenant.
First, he speaks of the transgression of the covenant;
second, he gives the threat against those who transgressed, at and the word came to Jeremiah from the Lord (Jer 34:12).
Concerning the former, there are three points.
First, the making of the covenant is given: after king Zedekiah had made a covenant (Jer 34:8)—and also after he broke it— that every man should go free , according to the Law. If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve you for six years; in the seventh he shall go free without cost (Exod 21:2). And in Leviticus 25 they are forbidden to take any of their brothers as slaves or to oppress them through their power with the service of bondsmen; but they are to be as hirelings and sojourners.
Second, he speaks of the fact that they observed the covenant for a time: the princes and all the people heard therefore, and let go free . They did it quickly, they forgot his work, and did not keep his counsel (Ps 105:13).
Third is given the transgression of the covenant: and afterwards they turned . They turned back that they might be without yoke; they became like a treacherous bow (Hos 7:16).
Lecture 3
Transgression of the covenant
34:12 And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord , saying:
34:13 thus says the Lord the God of Israel: I made a covenant with your fathers on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, saying:
34:14 ‘At the end of seven years, every man shall free his brother who is a Hebrew, who has been sold to you, so that he might serve you for six years; and you shall let him go free from you.’ And your fathers did not hearken to me, nor did they incline their ear.
34:15 And you turned today, and did that which was upright in my eyes, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother; and you made a covenant before me, in the house upon which my name is called.
34:16 But you have turned back and have polluted my name; and each one of you has brought back his manservant, and each one his maidservant, whom you released that they should be free, and under their own power, and you have subjugated them to be your manservants and your maidservants.
34:17 Therefore, thus says the Lord : you have not hearkened to me, that each man should proclaim liberty to his brother, and each man to his friend. Behold, says the Lord , I proclaim freedom to the sword, and the plague, and the famine, and I shall make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
34:18 And I shall give the men that have transgressed my covenant, and have not observed the words of the covenant to which they gave their assent in my presence, when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts thereof:
34:19 the princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land that passed between the parts of the calf:
34:20 and I will give them into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of those that seek their life; and their dead bodies shall be for meat to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
34:21 And Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his princes, I will give into the hands of their enemies, and into the hands of those who seek their lives, and into the hands of the armies of the king of Babylon, which have withdrawn from you.
34:22 Behold, I command, says the Lord , and I will bring them back 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, for there shall be no inhabitant.
186 . Here, he threatens those who transgressed.
First, he speaks of the guilt of their fathers when he speaks of the covenant: I made a covenant . Above: not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand, that I might lead them from the land of Egypt, a covenant which they have made void (Jer 31:32).
And the transgression: and they did not hearken to me . Above: they did not listen, nor did they incline their ear, but turned away, each one in the depravity of his own evil heart (Jer 11:8).
And the guilt of the children, when he speaks of the making of the covenant: and you turned , from the transgression of their fathers, in the house , in the temple. The house of our sanctification, and of our glory, where our fathers praised you (Isa 64:11).
But you have turned back and have polluted my name , by transgressing. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (Exod 20:7). Not because of you shall I act, O house of Israel, but because of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations unto whom you have gone (Ezek 36:22).
Second, he threatens punishment: therefore, thus says the Lord . And concerning this, there are two points.
First, he gives the punishment communally with regard to everyone when he predicts slaughter: behold, I proclaim freedom , that you should be freely killed. Above: those who are for the sword, to the sword, and those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity (Jer 15:2).
And the bondage of those who remain: and I shall give the men . . . the calf , that is, the covenant which they established by the division of a calf offered in sacrifice to God. This manner of speaking, “to strike a covenant” ( percutere foedus or ferire foedus ) grew up from this custom. The Lord gave me into a hand from which I shall not be able to escape (Lam 1:14).
He predicts also that their dead bodies shall be devoured: and their dead bodies shall be for meat to the birds of the air . They made the bodies of your servants food for the birds of the sky, and meat for the beasts of the earth (Ps 78:2).
And with regard to the princes particularly: and Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his princes . The Lord shall bring you and your king, whom you shall establish over you, into a people which you and your fathers knew not (Deut 28:36). Which have withdrawn from you , or were viewed as foreigners. See chapter 37 below (Jer 37:4).
Second, he speaks of the order in which this will be fulfilled: behold, I command . Above: they have made my pleasant field an empty wilderness. They have made it a desolation, and it has mourned for me (Jer 12:10–11).